Home theater in a box systems are a dime a dozen and most lack the flexibility of a good component system, but for the price the newly announced HS 500 and HS 300 integrated home theater systems from Harman Kardon might be worth a look… and a listen. Available later this spring for $1,199 and $999 respectively, these systems feature a 5.1-channel receiver/DVD-Audio/Video player, five sleek satellites and a pretty beefy subwoofer. What impressed us is the HDMI connectivity and built-in video processing to 1080i, as well as dual USB ports for connection to portable players. Neither the HS 500 or HS 300 are the final word in integrated systems, but with their minimalist design they’re a lot better than many more expensive HTIB packages out there!

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