Kind of like hanging a picture. They also did not come with drywall anchors. :-( This was poor design and if wall mounts weren't going to be included they could have at least had one screw hole at the top and bottom of the speaker so it would be a little more sturdy. There is only one at the top so I can actually go by and twist the speaker on the wall. Another downside is that you cannot tilt the speakers. They have to be mounted flat against the wall. With that said, I had to make a choice in regards to my surround speakers. The Left, right, and center speakers were wall mounted around the TV but as I said earlier, my surround speakers are on the ceiling tilted down so obviously I would not be able to do the same thing with these speakers. I would have to mount them flat against the top of the wall and they wouldn't tilt down so i decided to not even use them. I left the two speakers up there that I already had because they were brand new and they actually seem better quality. That was the biggest negative for me. Now I have speakers i paid for but couldn't use. I also thought these speakers should have came with covers and they did not. I think they are kind of ugly without the covers.
So after getting everything mounted and plugged in I powered it on to check it out. I have a u-verse box and an xbox plugged into the unit both through HDMI and then the blu-ray unit plugged into the TV with HDMI. It seems to power on faster than my previous samsung blu-ray player which is good and blu-rays seem to load up faster as well. My previous samsung unit made clunking noises while trying to load discs and sometimes took a while but this one seems fine.The main thing I noticed is that my TV (Sharp 70" Aquos Smart TV) has recognized the system, activated something called aquos link (which I didn't even know I had) and automatically muted my TV speakers and sent the volume to my surround system and my main TV remote actually controls the blu-ray player which was great. I have u-verse TV as well and my u-verse remote is programmed to my TV so it all works together. My U-verse remote works with the blu-ray player as well because it is programmed to my TV and my TV has linked to the system. This was the biggest + for me because I did not want to have to deal with multiple remotes, I have friends who do this and it is annoying. It is nice that I can power on and off the surround system by simply turning my TV on and off. They power off and on together so I don't have to get the other remote or walk over and turn it on. The unit works flawlessly in this aspect although if you want to switch to any of the other inputs (xbox, radio, smarthub etc..) you will have to get the unit's remote. An issue that I did notice is that if you use the "function" button on the unit's remote to switch to another source it seems to only want to switch back and forth between radio and HDMI 2. I'm not sure why it does this but I can have it on tv, then by pressing function I can switch to the xbox or the radio but it won't switch back to the HDMI 1 (TV). This is not a huge problem as you can easily just press the "home" button and it will bring up the main menu and then you can go to function on the screen and select the TV.
As far as settings go, it does have some nice features. You can change the distance of each speaker in regards to the user's position. You can also adjust the volume of each speaker individually so if one speaker if furthest from you it won't be a problem, you can turn it up higher than the rest. It also has a test tone feature while you are changing these settings so you can actually hear each speaker as you change the setting instead of just guessing. The subwoofer volume can be adjusted as well. The unit has an equalizer as well but I did not use it. For 3D settings, you can set the size of your TV screen (not sure how this affects it, I don't have 3d tv). Another useful feature is that you can adjust the audio sync (if this is an issue). If the audio and video are out of sync, you can delay the audio to try and match the video. This wasn't an issue with mine. I saw some other people had this problem but it worked flawlessly for me.
With the built in wifi my network connection was easy to set up and it connected right to my router with no problem. + on this feature as my previous samsung did not have built in wifi and they wanted almost $100 for the adapter!! Upon initial setup, the "update" feature would not work. It kept saying update not available on the server. After a few days It finally let me update.
Now for the sound quality. Initially I thought with these speakers being quite small it wasn't going to be that great. This is not a outstanding sounding system but don't get me wrong, for the money I am satisfied with the sound quality. It is quite clear, I haven't had any issues with the rear surround speakers and with the subwoofer it sounds nice. I bought and RCA HTIB a few years back from wal-mart for a few hundred and it wasn't near as good. I ended up returning it the next day. The subwoofer sits on the floor next to the tv stand and with the vent pointing behind the stand and it provides good bass. I actually have it's volume turned all the way up. This surround system has made a HUGE improvement to the sound quality over only the TV speakers. Watching blu-rays is now more enjoyable and the feature that I really like was that it came with an IPOD dock. You can sit your IPOD on the dock you can change songs with the remote. Although you still have to control the ipod on the ipod display itself you can at least change tracks with the remote which is nice if you just select a playlist then you can use the remote. It also comes with a single video rca to hook to your TV so you can watch videos or photos from the IPOD directly on your TV. (bye bye monster cable!). The FM tuner works well also. I had trouble at first programming the stations but after figuring out that you have to use the "stop" button to switch from manual tuning to preset tuning I was good to go.
Another great feature is the "Virtual 7.1". If you are listening to your IPOD , XBOX, Radio, Pandora or any show that isn't broadcast in full surround sound obviously the sound only comes from the front left and right speakers. You can turn on "Virtual 7.1" and it will use all of the speakers. You can also do this by selecting Dolby Pro Logic II. It has some other nice sound effects as well like, MP3 enhancer, Power Bass, and a few others.
Now to the BAD! Just let me say if you are purchasing this system for the Smarthub features, find another system. The smarthub does not work well, if at all. Over the first few days of owning this system I have opened the smart hub system many many times to try and get some things to work and they don't. First, it wants to update. Then update again. Then update again. It keeps coming up with these privacy policies you have to accept but when I try to click accept it is very slow to react. One of them actually got stuck on the screen and I'm sure it wasnt supposed to be there because I could move you selection around behind it but I could no longer click accept. After a reset, It updates and tells me it is installing around 15 apps. After installation it restarts and all of the apps that were there, including the ones it said it was installing were gone. There was only 3 left. Vudu, Pandora and Web browser. While in the smarthub the unit just seems slow... and glitchy. It operates fairly quick in any other part of the unit but when you open that smarthub it just seems slow. So I figured I would try the web browser. I click to open it and.....updating....updating. I get nothing. Thankfully I don't have to restart the system I can just press the "home button and it takes me back to the main menu. The unit doesn't seem to freeze, just can't open this app. I open smarthub again and try the browser again. Connecting.....Connecting.... 30 minutes later, Connecting.... It doesn't work. Over a few days I tried opening this web browser maybe 30 times with no success. It just said updating or connecting every time and never loaded. Then finally as I said earlier in the settings page, I was able to update the system firmware. After doing this I thought I would try it again. This time it loaded!! brought up msn.com no problem. Although it seems kind of impossible to use without a keyboard and mouse. Thankfully this unit has the ability to use a keyboard and mouse via the USB and it also has a few settings for them in the setting. As of now, I have not tried using them yet, I will probably stick to my laptop, I plug it into the TV anyway. But it should be noted that using the remote in the web browser it is very slow and glitchy. I don't think adding a keyboard and mouse will fix this issue but I don't know. I tried downloading one of the samsung fitness apps, (pushup app) and after installing it and opening it, it went through a few screen and the the app just froze. I had to restart. Then it starts updating AGAIN. It downloads about 15 apps again and installs them. Afterwards, about 4 of them show up. Obviously this thing has some problems and wasn't tested very well. It's like they put it out there to sell it but it doesn't even work. So again, if you are purchasing this system for the smarthub feature, DON'T!
Pandora works fine, and so does Netflix, Vudu and Hulu so you at least have those. but until they get these issue resolved they get a ZERO on this feature. I also did not try the ALLshare or the digital to disc features so I cannot comment on that.
Overall, this is a decent system for the price. I like that it works well with my TV and it sounds good. If you are looking for a quality blu-ray player w/ built in wifi and surround sound system for a cheap price then I would recommend this system. If you are wanting the "SMARTHUB" features then stay away. If you are looking to Wall mount your speakers then you may want to look into other options. I'm not sure if Samsung makes wall mounts for this system but if they do, you will need them.
PROS:
* Linked up with my Sharp Aquos TV and works flawlessly
* Loads quick
* Good Sound
* 3D playback
* Built in Wifi
* Good Speaker Settings (distance, volume level)
* Built in equalizer
* Audio Sync Adjust
* IPOD Dock (with video/photo support)
* Built In FM Reciever
* Sound Effect (Virtual 7.1, Dolby Pro logic II etc...)
* Price
CONS:
* Smarthub almost unusable (slow and glitchy)
* No speaker covers
* No speaker wall mounts
* Poor speaker mount design (only one screw hole)
* Inability to tilt speakers
* "Wireless" Speakers MUST be wireless (cannot be wired directly to unit)
* "WIRELESS" speakers require "WIRED" receiver box
* Surround cannot be ceiling mounted
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