Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)We just purchased a new 55" LED TV for our great room and needed a sound system (as is well known, the flat panel tv speakers are horrible). We did research for several days and had finally settled on either the Sony CT150 or the Boston Acoustics TVEEM20. Both had recieved great reviews. The problem with Sony is that the subwoofer is wired and contains all the inputs as well as the sensor for the remote. Thus, the subwoofer must be near the TV and easily visible (given the wall mounted location in our room, its a pain to run 10 foot cables through the wall). The problem with the BA is that it only has the circa 1980 RCA input (which few modern TVs seem to have as an output option). After much research we decided we had to settle for one or the other and went to Best Buy to test them. Once there, we stumbled upon the LG which hadn't even been stocked yet (just saw the box in the corner). After checking out the specs, we were delighted to see that LG had settled the problems! Wireless subwoofer can sit out of sight yet provides great effect. The sound bar has two optical inputs, plus a USB port and is Bluetooth enabled. All ports are on the bar, so you only need a short single optical cable from the TV to the bar.
Set up took about 2 minutes; plug in the bar, the subwoofer and plug in the optical cable. That's it. Be sure to turn off your TV's speakers to avoid any issues with sound bleeding.
Sound is great, assuming you have realistic expectations. This is not a $2000 home theater system so don't expect that. However, for a $300-$350 range soundbar, the sound is outstanding! Other than a tiny bit of static when set on a couple of the pre-installed sound effects (which goes away when we tried a different setting), its great. Plenty of power for our great room which is open on two sides and has 20 foot ceilings open to a loft (basically the worst acoustical set up you can imagine). Yet the LG puts out plenty of power; haven't even turned it up more than half way as even that was blasting. Great range of sound as far as we can tell; seems to hand music, movies, games, etc very well (again, use the different sound settings to get the best effects depending on source and type of content).
The Bluetooth sync is extremely easy. My wife had the Ipod running through the system by the time I was done putting away the box. The LG has a specific sound setting for MP3 files that upscales the frequencies, etc. The sound is really amazing.
If we had to come up with any negatives, we only have 2 very minor ones. My wife doesn't like the look as much as the Sony (the LG speakers are exposed, so it looks a bit more industrial); but even this is relative and very minor. We both agree its stylish and low profile. The only other negative is that it won't sync with our DVR universal remote, so we have to use the sound bar remote for volume control, and the other for everything else. Not really a big deal.
In sum, we stumbled upon this by accident (didn't even know LG made a soundbar, which is ironic given that we had bought a new LG LED tv just a few days earlier) and couldn't be more pleased. If you're looking for a good, low profile sound system for your tv but don't want to go to a full theater system, this is a good option. If you're an audio snob, you probably won't like it, but then again you probably sholdn't be looking at soundbars anyway.
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LG LSB316 Sound Bar with Wireless SubwooferLHB316 Sound Bar This powerful sound bar & wireless subwoofer are designed for optimal use with your flat-panel TV and have flexible placement options on either a wall or a tabletop.
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