Computer Shopper - UK (2021-01)

32 JANUARY2021|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE395

LG SoundBarGX

★★★★★

£700•Fromwww.currys.co.uk

SOUNDBARANDSUBWOOFER

VERDICT

The GX delivers oodles ofdetailand aheftyypunch,butthelack

ofsurroundsoundandreallydeepbassmaaydisappoint some

SPEAKERS (^8) • RMSPOWER OUTPUT420W•INPUTSHDMI,
opticalS/PDIF•DIMENSIONS150x1,440x33mm•
NETWORKINGWi-Fi,Bluetooth•WARRANTYTwoyearsparts
andlabour•DETAILSwww.lg.com•PART CODEGX.DGBRLLK

SPECIFICATIONS

ASTVsBECOMEever slimmer,soundbars

attempt to pack movie-quality sound into

ever more slender,unobtrusive designs.

That said, LG’s Sound Bar GX soundbar has

one of the tougher design briefs:it’s been

specifically built to match the company’s

stunningly slim GX OLED TV.Since the GX

OLED is purpose-built forwall-mounting,so

tooisthe Sound Bar GX, squeezing Dolby

Atmos and DTS:X support intoacasing

measuring amere 33mm deep.

While other similarly-priced soundbars

pack in numerous side-firing, upwards-firing

and satellitespeakers forthe ultimatein

sound immersion, the GX is amere 3.1

soundbar.This means it has to downmix

surround-sound formats to feed its left,

centre and right channels, while the .1 is

taken care of by awireless subwoofer.

VERTICALLYINCLINED

Wall-mounting brackets are included in the

box, although you’ll need to buy the correct

bolts and/or wall plugs to attach them to

your wall separately.It’s also disappointing

that the soundbar needs alaptop-style

external power supply; an internal supply

would make the process of wall mounting

and cabling alittle easier.

Metal feet are also supplied in the box for

those who really want to place the Sound Bar

GX on AV furniture,but we wouldn’t

necessarily recommend it. The widely placed

feet require awideAVrack to accommodate

them and, even though the feet lean it back

slightly,placing the 150mm-tall Sound Bar GX

in front of aTVislikelytoobscure the picture

with most stand-mounted

TVs. The final issue is

that the feet only slot

loosely intoplace,so

they’re not the most

robust option, particularly

if you have pets or unruly

toddlers careering around

your home.

Peek at the rear of the

soundbar and you’ll find

two HDMI ports –one

input and one eARC-

compatible output –as

well as an optical digital

input. There’s also aUSB

input on the bar’s

right-hand side,along with

afew buttons formanually

turning on the soundbar,

selecting the source and adjusting the

volume.The Sound Bar GX also has Bluetooth

connectivity forwireless streaming duties.

Meanwhile,the wireless subwooferconnects

automatically via 5GHz Wi-Fi, and connects to

the mains with afigure-of-eight power lead.

Connect the Sound Bar GX to aTV’s eARC

HDMI output and it works beautifully.AnLED

displayinthe centre of the bar beams intolife

behind the fabric grille,and indicates the

current volume or sound mode.It’s ashame

youcan’t disable or dim the display, however,

as it can be alittle distracting lateatnight,

particularly when watching darker scenes.

While the Sound Bar GX is connected to a

TV via eARC, you barely need to touchits own

remoteatall: it automatically powers on and

off when you power on the TV,and the TV

remotealsocontrols volume and muting.

There are five preset sound modes –AI

Sound Pro,Bass Blast, Standard, Movie and

Music –but we mostly preferred the very

similar-sounding Standard and Music

presets. The Movie preset sounds alot

louder than the other presets, likely because

it raises the volume of the centre channel

forpunchier dialogue.The only exception

to this is with DolbyAtmos or DTS:X audio

streams, where it’s not possible to

select asound preset.

STRAIGHTAHEAD

If you’re expecting ahuge,

all-enveloping sound,

then you might want

to recalibrateyour

expectations. It’s not that it

doesn’t sound good –it’s

actually surprisingly capable

–but the lack of surround,

height and side-firing

speakers means audio

remains tied to the

soundbar rather than

spreading around the room.

Once you acclimatise

to the relatively narrow

soundfield, however,the

Sound Bar GX does quitealot right. There’s

enough detail in the mid-range and high

frequencies to keep dialogue intelligible even

at high volume levels, and that’s balanced

with enough low mid-range and upper bass

impact to tackle the shake,rattle and roll of

action movies. There’s perhaps alittle too

much mid-bass, and voices can sound atad

toosmall on occasion, but the balance is

well judged by soundbar standards.

KEEP IT DOWN

What there isn’t, however,isany really deep

bass. The 6in driver in the subwooferdoesits

best, but struggles to produce anything much

below 50Hz, with distortion levels rising

dramatically as the frequency drops lower.

This isn’t surprising given how small and

lightweight the subwooferis, but the

room-shuddering, chest-compressing rumble

of many film soundtracks is entirely absent.

Music sounds good, however.Vocals are

crisp and clear,bass delves as deep as the

subwooferphysicallycan, and the soundbar

does arather good job of creating an illusion

of fronttoback depth, with layers of sounds

and instruments stretching out behind.

At least, it does if you don’t turn up the

volume toofar; this puts the Sound Bar GX

somewhat out of itsdepth, with action

scenes in particular sounding compressed

and strained when pushed toofar.

This doesn’t change the slim design

making it perfect forwall-mounting,and

depending on how determined you are you

have an entirely mounted AV setup,you

might be willing to look past some of these

audio infidelities. Forbetter sound quality,

however,your £799 is better spent on the

Sonos Arc (Shopper392).

SashaMuller

It’s not thatitdoesn’t sound good, but the lack of surround,

heightand side-firing speakersmeans audio remains tied

to the soundbar ratherthan spreading around the room