Stuff - UK (2021-03)

VERSUS COMPACT SOUNDBARS

Not everyone has a huge telly or a huge budget, so these two teeny

soundbars aim to help you save space and cash without sacrificing sound

Titch, better

halve my money

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What’s the story?

If you’re a movie buff, there are plenty of

soundbars at a wide variety of prices ready

to bring your audio experience into line

with the superb images from your TV. If

you’re a gamer, though, there aren’t many

inexpensive options that will do the same

job for your console or PC.

Companies like Creative and Razer do

have pricier bars that can do games justice,

but now a proper mainstream brand is

getting in on the action. Hands up who

thought that would be Panasonic?

Is it any good?

Sure, this soundbar is always ready to get

a bit hard and shouty at high volume, and

the bassy stuff can overstay its welcome...

but overall it’s a far better sonic experience

than your TV is capable of delivering. Mind

you, if all what you want is a budget bar

to improve film night, then your choice is

already extensive.

As a music speaker, the SC-HTB01 is a

bit of a blunt instrument; but for big gaming

audio, this slightly ridiculously named

SoundSlayer is well worth a listen. It’s

better made, better specified and less

showy than most gaming speakers, and

crucially it sounds better too.

Price £250 / stuff.tv/SoundSlayer

O80W, 2x 40mm drivers, 2x 14mm

tweeters, 1x 80mm woofer O Dolby Atmos,

DTS:X, DTS Virtual:X O 2x HDMI, optical,

Bluetooth O 431x132x52mm, 1.8kg

Stuff says ++++,

For big gaming audio without a big speaker,

this is a mighty mini choice

What’s the story?

If anyone knows what’s what when it

comes to soundbars, Yamaha knows. The

company’s been liberating big, high-quality

sound from slim little bars for most of this

century. This SR-C20A is small (by anyone’s

standards), cheap (by Yamaha’s standards

if no one else’s), and designed as a sort of

all-round option.

Want to put a rocket up your TV’s sound

without finding space for a gigantic slab?

Want to improve your gaming experience

no end but don’t want to have to rearrange

all your gear? This could be the answer.

Is it any good?

Despite its titchiness, this wee Yamaha has

plenty of width and even a little height to

its soundstage, while bass is properly varied

depending on whether you’re listening

to instruments or the solid fist-on-jaw

impact of a beat-’em-up.

It’s not perfect: Yamaha’s suggestion

that the SR-C20A can convince you sound

is coming from the side or even the rear is

far-fetched; and if you just want a soundbar

for one specific purpose, you can probably

do better than this without spending any

more. But if you want something small and

discreet yet able to sound convincing no

matter what the content, this should be

near the top of a very short list.

Price £229 / stuff.tv/SRC20A

O 100W, 2x 46mm drivers, 1x 75mm woofer

O Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II O HDMI, 2x

optical, Bluetooth O 600x94x64mm, 1.8kg

Stuff says +++++

A little bit of a soundbar that can do a little

bit of everything

Yamaha SR-C20A Panasonic SC-HTB01

SoundSlayer

O The monstrous

Sonos Arc and

Sennheiser Ambeo

soundbars are each

the width of a 55in

TV. That’s great for

packing in numerous

drivers and

directional speakers,

but not so good

for the bedroom.

Yamaha’s mini

bawler would still

have room to spare

when sitting in front

of a 32in screen,

and that even puts

it in home office

territory.

O But wait! If

you think that’s

small, Panasonic’s

SoundSlayer could

be considered

the ultimate

space-saver.

It’s 17cm slimmer

than Yamaha’s

effort – which

means not only

that it’ll sit in front

of a minuscule TV

or a gaming monitor,

but also that you

could conceivably

take it with you on

holiday or carry it

round to a pal’s place

when all this is over.

BAGUETTES

GET READY

TO RUMBLE