Best Sonos Playbar Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:
The Playbar is a Home Cinema sound bar that complements the rest of the Sonos offer ( Sub , Play: 3 and Play: 5). It offers on paper all the advantages of the brand’s other products: wireless, easy integration into an existing Sonos installation and a complete application. It remains to be seen whether the audio part is of the same level …
Best Sonos Playbar Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020
1. Sonos Playbar – The Mountable Sound Bar for TV, Movies, Music, and More – Black
2. Sonos Playbar and Wall Mount Bundle
3. Sonos Playbar Wall Mount Bracket Kit with Mounting Accessories for Sonos Soundbar, Designed in The UK by Soundbass
Ergonomics
With measurements of 8.5 x 14 x 90 cm (wxhx L) for a weight of 5.4 kg, this bar is not the most bulky, but its aluminum frame gives it a small solid side. It incorporates the sober aesthetic codes of Sonos with, however, a novelty: a metallic gray and matt black dress, whereas until then we had the choice between all black or all white.
It can be placed below, above, or in front of a TV (on a flat surface, or against the wall). A level detector is responsible for communicating the position information to the DSP, which will allow it to calculate the orientation of the signal to optimize the sound in the broadcasting context. A concept already seen at Bose with its Lifestyle 135 .
The physical controls are identical to those of the rest of the range, namely: volume control, mute and synchronization. To control this soundbar remotely, you can either use the TV remote control or download the Sonos application available on smartphones, tablets, PCs and Macs.
Sonos integrates an IR repeater in its bar which makes it “transparent” vis-à-vis signals intended for TV. Convenient when the bar is placed in front of the TV!
Connectivity side, two Ethernet ports and an optical input are available. We regret, however, the noted absence of HDMI!
Nothing is very complicated to integrate the bar into an existing Sonos installation: by wire, you just need to plug in the Ethernet connector. In wireless, the bar connects to the existing Bridge. Know that it is mandatory to go through one of these two solutions to use this product.
Audio (4/5)
The Playbar is equipped with 9 amplified class D loudspeakers, the two located at each end form an angle of about 70 ° with the central axis, for immersive lateral diffusion. The DSP does its job very well and adapts well to the position of the bar.
This soundbar has a rather surprising sound power which makes it possible to cover a large space very easily. The whole spectrum is well controlled on this point, without saturation. However, there is a lack of balance in the V signature with a hole in the midrange. The rendering is flattering, but lacks a bit of fidelity. The voices are very well reproduced, with a high end highlighted.
It is ultimately the lack of seriousness that is most felt. The Playbar is really struggling to transcribe any music with a minimum of bass. Whether you use the equalizer or not, it sounds a little “cardboard” and demands unreasonable HP. You can hear it clearly and that’s when adding the SUB seems essential to this system.
The Playbar is a continuation of Sonos products. It also allows classic home cinema use as well as listening to music streaming , so dear to the brand. Above all, it is one of the very few products to offer wide scalability today. Thus, we can switch to a similar system 3.1, by adding the SUB box , in which case the frequency response will be automatically readjusted to combine with it. But if you have Play: 3 , it will also be possible to enjoy 5.1 surround sound. A nice evolutionary aspect and still too rare on the market. Especially since the total installation requires a budget equivalent to that of the most upscale sound bars.
STRONG POINTS
- Power and sound quality.
- Ease of use.
- Application.
- Finish.
WEAK POINTS
- Bass missing.
- Lack of loyalty.
- No HDMI.
- Ethernet connection or via bridge required.
CONCLUSION
A well finished sound bar that allows wireless use with ease and without damaging the sound. However, you will need to add the Sonos Sub to take full advantage of the Playbar.
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