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We've become so resigned to rubbish flatscreen audio that finding a set able to do movie soundtracks some semblance of justice is scarcely less than a revelation.
The Philips 42PFL96664 carries four drivers in total, but it's the two rear-firing bass units that grab your attention. These provide a solid, muscular foundation to proceedings, investing the audio image with the kind of presence almost invariably absent from LCD sets, particularly wafer-thin ones.
Broadcast programmes are handled effortlessly and the performance with film is sufficiently impressive to make anyone considering investing in a small home cinema system to accompany the set think twice about parting with their cash.
The audio image is expansive and airy and, while not strictly 'surround' in nature, does at least conjure an approximation of three dimensions.
The bass drivers, while necessarily limited in scope by their compact size, manage to produce enough low-end rumble to give a convincing amount of heft to 'big' scenes involving, say, explosions and invest the overall experience with the sort of visceral impact and depth that few other equivalent LCD screens can match.
Despite all this, it would feel somewhat remiss if we didn't urge you to do those lovely, cinematic pictures the audio service they so richly deserve by pairing this set up with a top-class home movie audio system.
