When you want a simple and practical upgrade of the TV sound, the choice often falls on a soundboard. Unfortunately, even the best soundbars have a rather monotonous and flat sound image compared to a traditional stereo system – especially when it comes to music. Modern audio formats and DSP technology do not quite mask …
Samsung HW-Q960A takes over for last year’s model, HW-Q950T, which we named the best soundbar of the year in the high-end class of 2020. This year’s model is similar to the old one in terms of appearance, but has even more speaker channels to reproduce surround sound. Exactly what that means, we’ll come back to …
The compact soundbar Beam is Sonos’ most relevant answer when the need for good sound in a small TV room arises. If you have a small TV in a small room, you will not want a large soundbar, and that way Beam is right in the eye – or rather the ear. Beam was Sonos’ …
We rarely test Blu-ray players anymore, for the simple reason that the market has been a bit quiet in recent years! Ever since Chinese Oppo shut down production of their popular players, several of the major electronics manufacturers have stopped making BD players. And those who still do, rarely come up with something new and …
The first time we reviewed the Sonos Arc was last summer. A likeable soundbar, that completely on its own – without a subwoofer or anything else – managed to elevate the film experience considerably. Not only is it much better than the sound you get from any TV (like mostly anything would be!), But it …
Creative is known for its affordable products. Admittedly, the low prices often come at the expense of the most important criterion for us, namely the sound quality. Creative may have gotten tired of standing in the cheap corner, when they now launch the home cinema soundbar SXFI Carrier. A packed soundbar with Dolby Atmos, and …
The Panasonic SC-HTB490 is a relatively small and compact soundbar made to match the Japanese manufacturer’s own TV models. With a fabric-covered exterior and glossy plastic sides, it should be able to slide into most interiors. It can be placed directly under the TV or hung on the wall with the included mounting brackets. The …
TCL TS8132 is a relatively large soundbar of exactly 1 meter in width. On the other hand, it looks discreetly dressed in black fabric, and the included subwoofer is quite tight and compact with a down-facing woofer. On the connectivity side, the TS8132 boasts HDMI eARC, and it also supports wireless music playback via Bluetooth, …
The Yamaha ATS-2090 is a compact soundbar with round shapes, and the wireless subwoofer does not take up much space on the floor either. Dolby Atmos is not supported; instead, DTS Virtual:X should give the impression of a height dimension in the soundstage. Even without top-mounted speaker units. You get Wi-Fi connectivity and voice control …
“Wow, that is a menacing looking sub!” exclaims Audun as he sees Geir unpack the box from Klipsch. On the underside of the Klipsch Cinema 600 is a hefty 10-inch woofer, which makes the other test participants fade in comparison. In front of the soundbar there are three horn tweeters for the left, center and …
Samsung HW-Q610A takes over from last year’s model HW-Q66T, which we named the best soundbar of the year in the basic class in 2020. The newcomer is pleasantly updated with 3D sound in the form of the sound formats Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Samsung’s soundbar is equipped with an HDMI input and output, and an …
Home entertainment has changed dramatically in recent years. Instead of having a lot of black boxes in the living room, you basically just need a TV with internet connection to stream the latest movie titles at home in the living room. But then you will miss at least half of the experience: Great sound! Fortunately, …
Samsung delivers a wide range of soundbars in all sizes and price ranges, crammed full of speakers that send surround sound to all sides. The common denominator for many of these, however, is that they have a pretty – well, industrial design! Not necessarily the most tempting to decorate the living room with – especially …
Samsung has just released this year’s new TV models, and as usual they have many exciting new features and improved picture quality on the equipment list. But the common denominator for these (and pretty much all TVs) is that the sound seems to come as an afterthought! If you want a sound reproduction that matches …
Panasonic has kept a low profile in soundbars so far, but now things are starting to happen at the Japanese manufacturer, which also has the sound specialists from Technics behind it. Although their latest soundboard, SC-HTB01, is not very big! In fact, this is one of the smallest soundbars we’ve had in our hands. The …