LG SJ2 160W 2.1Ch Bluetooth Sound Bar with Wireless Sub
- Thread starter Tattooed
- Start date
LG soundbars have never set the world alight for their sound quality. Then again, it currently retails at around £90, and TBH, £90 retail isn't really enough cash to make and sell any sort of soundbar with a wireless sub that's going to lead to standing ovations. What we have here then is a soundbar that improves on the internal speakers of a TV, and that's probably the main reason most people buy this sort of thing.
Bearing in mind the price range, I think it's useful to take an objective view on the features and where the manufacturing budget is best spent.
The first question is whether the money out of the manufacturing budget for the sub is well used, or would it have better spent on the main soundbar performance or features? Next is what features do rival products have instead of the sub. LG puts a 5.25" bass driver of unspecified quality in to a lightweight MDF box. It would be unreasonable to expect such a sub to shake the room, but it will help the LG dig a little deeper, albeit in a kind of 'one-notey' fashion. The trade-offs are in the main bar drivers and in the lack of a HDMI ARC connection. A JBL Bar Studio doesn't have a sub, but does include a HDMI connection and arguably has better fidelity.
Whether an HDMI ARC connection is important or not depends on the TV features. Where a TV is equipped, it makes running the soundbar much simpler. The alternative of an Optical connection will deliver the same sound quality in the signal, but it means either keeping hold of the soundbar remote, or working out if the TV remote will do the soundbar as well.
Bearing in mind the price range, I think it's useful to take an objective view on the features and where the manufacturing budget is best spent.
The first question is whether the money out of the manufacturing budget for the sub is well used, or would it have better spent on the main soundbar performance or features? Next is what features do rival products have instead of the sub. LG puts a 5.25" bass driver of unspecified quality in to a lightweight MDF box. It would be unreasonable to expect such a sub to shake the room, but it will help the LG dig a little deeper, albeit in a kind of 'one-notey' fashion. The trade-offs are in the main bar drivers and in the lack of a HDMI ARC connection. A JBL Bar Studio doesn't have a sub, but does include a HDMI connection and arguably has better fidelity.
Whether an HDMI ARC connection is important or not depends on the TV features. Where a TV is equipped, it makes running the soundbar much simpler. The alternative of an Optical connection will deliver the same sound quality in the signal, but it means either keeping hold of the soundbar remote, or working out if the TV remote will do the soundbar as well.
Start by defining what you want the soundbar to do. Here's a starter for 10. (Choose ONE option from each applicable line)
I would be happy if the soundbar...
... is an improvement over the TV speakers / is good enough to be my main audio system for the lounge
... is loud enough for a small to medium size lounge / can fill the entire open-plan ground floor with sound
... makes use of the HDMI ARC feature on my TV / just connects with digital Optical
... works with the TV remote for volume control / works just with its own remote
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There may be things that are important to you that I haven't even touched on. The trick here is to prioritise what's important to you and your family. For some, that might mean a basic soundbar will tick all the boxes, but for others it could mean a rethink of the budget once the priorities have been really nailed down.
I would be happy if the soundbar...
... is an improvement over the TV speakers / is good enough to be my main audio system for the lounge
... is loud enough for a small to medium size lounge / can fill the entire open-plan ground floor with sound
... makes use of the HDMI ARC feature on my TV / just connects with digital Optical
... works with the TV remote for volume control / works just with its own remote
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There may be things that are important to you that I haven't even touched on. The trick here is to prioritise what's important to you and your family. For some, that might mean a basic soundbar will tick all the boxes, but for others it could mean a rethink of the budget once the priorities have been really nailed down.
Pound for Pound, no soundbar will.
Try putting the sub in a room corner if poss and then play with the equaliser or sound mode settings.