![]() ![]() Yes, a thousand pounds sounds like a lot for a ‘just’ a soundbar. You also get access to Google Assistant and loads of music streaming services. ![]() There’s Wi-Fi and AirPlay 2 on-board, plus support for Google Home – which means easy setup and built-in Chromecast. The modern design extends to the features, too. While bass is well controlled, there can be a little too much – but that’s a very minor complaint considering how well the Multibeam performs overall. Powered by 210W of Class D amplification, it wields enough power to fill all but the most cavernous living rooms, with plenty of dynamism and good separation. It’s never going to compete with a proper Dolby Atmos setup, but it certainly spreads wider than the width of the unit itself. You’ll find a 25mm horn-loaded tweeter at each end, working together with five 50mm front-facing woofers to fire out audio at different angles, bouncing waves off the walls of your gaff to create some semblance of surround sound. ![]() But Harman Kardon’s Citation MultiBeam 700 is about as sleek and sophisticated as soundbar styling gets, with an acoustically transparent Kvadrat wool covering and neat, compact dimensions that don’t compromise the sound. There’s only so much you can do to differentiate the design of a long home theater slab. Read our full Denon Home 550 review here.But as long as you listen at sensible levels, the Home 550 is a good-looking and likeable soundbar. Turn it up and a lot of that quality is compromised, with the Denon losing its poise and composure at higher volumes. This is impressive, up to a point: the bar delivers a big sound with noticeable height, showing good dynamic potency and plenty of detail across the frequency range. Like the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), none of these point upwards, so the Home 550 relies on algorithms to produce a 3D effect. Sonic services are provided by a pair of 19mm tweeters, four 55mm full-range drivers and three passive radiators. Its plastic shell is nothing special, but the unit is well-built and finished with neat acoustic cloth.Īs well as DTS:X and Dolby Atmos, the Home 550 can handle full-fat high-res audio – handy if you’re subscribed to a premium streaming service, which you can integrate through the useful HEOS smartphone app. Just the right size to sit beneath a 40-55in TV, it’s both discreet and sophisticated. Link the Beam (Gen 2) above, Denon’s Home 550 is a usefully compact soundbar with some Dolby Atmos support. Read our full Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review here.Paired with an impressively expansive soundstage, the Beam (Gen 2) is a small but effective solution for superior sound – and you can always add a Sub if you want more whump. But thanks to psychoacoustic techniques used across five speaker arrays, it does a deft job of replicating overhead effects. With the same acoustic architecture as the first version, the updated Beam doesn’t have upward-firing speakers for full Atmos immersion. While just a single HDMI port resides in the rear input array, it’s an eARC number – which means it has the bandwidth for Dolby Atmos. Otherwise, it’s visually the same understated slab.ĭespite its compact proportions, the Beam (Gen 2) benefits from plenty of sonic smarts. Low enough to fit beneath the majority of TVs, the second-gen Sonos is set apart from its predecessor only by the polycarbonate grille which replaces the fabric finish of the first edition. It’s not the biggest soundbar around, but the Beam is still a winner for most living rooms. ![]() Still, effective sound modes – including Speech Enhancement – and clever connectivity make this a smart choice for Sonos owners. Voice assistant support requires a separate smart speaker, while music streaming means making use of the Sonos app or AirPlay 2: annoyingly, there’s no Bluetooth option. That said, there’s no Dolby Atmos, and you’ll want something beefier if your living room is larger than average. Quality is predictably superb, trumping some bigger bars and coping well with busy scenes. Setup is through the Sonos app, which includes using your smartphone’s mic to automatically adjust acoustic output to suit your viewing room.įour amps, two tweeters and two mid-woofers work together with a bass reflex system to fill most spaces with forward-firing sound. This is simple enough, but can cause issues when trying to control the bar with your TV remote. Networking is via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, but there’s no HDMI here: the Ray relies on optical for talking to your telly. Bearing the usual hallmarks and styling cues of Sonos kit, the Ray’s premium build belies its relatively accessible price tag. Squeezing multi-room smarts into a compact bar, the Ray is a tempting accessory for owners of other Sonos speakers. ![]()
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