Tag Archives: definitive technology

The Best Soundbar for your New LED TV

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Sound bars aren’t just about augmenting your TV’s tiny little speakers: No, these days sound bars are essentially a way of providing surround sound in small spaces or areas where you can’t position a lot of speakers. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the best soundbars of 2016 and see just what they can do for your awesome new LED TV.

Sonos Playbar TV – $700

Sonos Playbar

If you are looking for a single-unit sound bar with high-fidelity sound that can dominate a room, this Sonos model is sure to impress. But fortunately, the speaker setup is just the beginning. This model offers a total of nine different speakers inside a single high-end speaker bar, and although they are all close together they can still provide 5.1 surround sound to a surprising degree of accuracy, ideal for those who want lots of sound but don’t have the space (or authorization) to set up multiple speakers.

It’s also ultra-easy to install. There are two cords, power and optical. The built-in Wi-Fi can communicate with your network and download everything it needs to operate, include updates. The Sonos app allows you to wireless play music from a variety of apps straight from your tablet or phone. If you decide to get more Sonos speakers in the future, you can link them together in a fuller surround sound system, so there’s also a lot of flexibility here. The speaker can even connect with your current remote so that you can turn it on at the same time as your TV or receiver, and control sound just as easily.

The only issue for some may be the price. Yes, this is one of the best single-unit sound solutions out there, but paying more than you did for your last game console may not sound like that great of a deal. For those of you who shake your head at a $700 price, take a look at our next pick!

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Vizio SB4051-C0 – $338

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At only around $340, this sound bar is in the price range of those looking for better budget deals…and it doesn’t come alone. There’s also a subwoofer and two rear speakers, a great setup for those of you who want a little bit of surround sound to go with your sound bar. There are also wireless and Bluetooth features built into this system, so connecting your smartphone music playlist or downloading updates is a snap. The wall mount allows you more freedom when it comes to positioning, while the simple HDMI interface allows you to hook the speakers to your current system within minutes. It also supports both Dolby and DTS surround sound formats, so don’t worry about the inputs!

The only notable addition we’ve got is that you are skipping out on a lot of the high-end features with the decreased price. You’ll have an extra remote to juggle, for instance, instead of handy remote-learning capabilities. But those are minor quibbles for a sound bar that offers great fidelity at a more affordable price.

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Definitive Technology W Studio – $1,000

 

Studio W

All right: Here’s the best of the best for those of you who are really interested in the high end. It includes a sound bar and powerful subwoofer for basic but extremely effective sound. The W Studio is also ideal for more complex entertainment setups, with three HDMI inputs and one digital optical input to work with – as well as a Wi-Fi connection for updates and streaming.

The bar includes three tweets and three woofers for 5.1 surround sound, and the 8-inch subwoofer (that’s the driver, not the total size) makes for a complete and impressive sound ecosystem. You don’t even need to attach the subwoofer and bar, allowing for more flexible placement.

This minimalistic, aluminum sound bar has awesome base, high fidelity, and tons of style…but that price should help you make up your mind. Do you want to pay a lot for extra class, or back down from a $1,000 sound bar?

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Review: Definitive Technology W Studio Micro 3.1 Soundbar and Subwoofer

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If you’re looking to amp up the sound in your living room from those tinny speakers built into your TV, but don’t want to run wires all over the place, a soundbar system is one of the best solutions. I recently had the chance to go hands- and ears-on with Definitive Technology’s W Studio Micro – a soundbar-based system that packs a punch into a clean and minimal package.

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The W Studio Micro is comprised of two main components – a downright slim soundbar that measures just 1.75″ high, and a wireless subwoofer that measures about 12.5″(w) x 12.5″(d) x 14″(h). The soundbar is about 43″ wide, so it fits neatly beneath the screen of just about every widescreen display on the market. If your TV is hung on the wall, there are two keyholes for easy wall mounting, and all the connectors attach at a right angle to keep things tidy.

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Inside the soundbar are a total of seven drivers, including four 1″ mid/bass drivers and 3″ aluminum dome tweeters. The powered subwoofer packs a big, downward-firing 8″ driver.

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Setup is simple – just plug connect the soundbar to the digital optical output on your TV, and power on the speaker and the subwoofer. The two come pre-paired from the factory, which makes setup a breeze. You can also connect a second device via optical or a 3.5mm analog jack.

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You can also stream audio via USB or from various music services using a smartphone app and your Wi-Fi network. Supported services include Amazon Music, Pandora, Songza, Deezer, Rhapsody, Spotify, SiriusXM, KKBOX, and TIDAL, and you can also stream tracks stored locally on your smartphone.

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The system works in a 3.1 configuration, meaning you get left, center, right and low-frequency channels, and it supports popular encoding formats from Dolby and DTS right out of the box. In order to keep things simple, there are only two selectable modes, “Music” and “Movie,” each tuned for optimal listening of said source material. Music mode offers a more traditional stereo soundscape, while Movie mode offers an expansive soundstage with increased emphasis on both dialogue and low frequency effects. You can also increase or decrease center channel and bass levels yourself.

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Overall audio quality is extremely good in Movie mode, with the ability to push out a tremendous amount of volume for a system of its size. Dialogue is crisp, clean and easy to understand, while cinematic scores and sound effects come to life in a way that belies the small size of the soundbar. The subwoofer does a good job filling in the low end where the soundbar leaves off, though I’d describe its sound as rich and full, rather than earthshaking. I really liked the overall sense of spaciousness in Movie mode, which adds both width and depth to its soundfield. That said, you won’t be able to pinpoint specific surround locations like you can with individual speakers.

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Music mode works well too, providing a more intimate listening stage, and less low end. I ran through a variety of my regular music test tracks, and found the sound to be enjoyable and again truly room-filling. Given its pedigree as a home theater system, it’s especially good with orchestral music. That said, I did find a bit the mid-high range in music to be a bit harsh at higher volumes. I was able to smooth this out for the most part by increasing bass, but it would be nice to have a full equalization feature for more precise frequency sculpting.

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The Definitive Technology W Studio Micro is a great choice for anyone in the market for a modern and minimal way to increase the sound quality and volume of their movies and TV shows. It shines in Movie mode with a spacious and enveloping soundstage, offering plentiful volume, and exciting, cinematic sound, and doubles as a wireless music streamer. The W Studio Micro is available directly from Definitive Technology for $899(USD).

Review: Definitive Technology Symphony 1 Headphones

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When you think about headphones these days, the first thing that comes to mind is those silly little earbuds you attach to your iPhone. But serious audio junkies know that proper over-the-ear headphones can sound better than loudspeakers, providing an immersive, dynamic and personal listening experience like no other. Definitive Technology’s Symphony 1 Headphones aim to do just that, while including features like Bluetooth wireless connectivity and active noise cancellation.

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Going on looks alone, the Symphony 1s mean business. From the premium styling of their packaging materials, to the substantive build of the headphones themselves, it’s clear that that lots of thought and effort went into their creation.

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The headphones come packaged in an elegant padded case with cutouts for their accessories, and a carabiner for carrying. For times you don’t want to travel with something so big, there’s also a microfiber carrying pouch.

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Build quality is exceptional, using materials like aluminum and leather, yet despite their substance and size, they’re quite lightweight and comfortable. They also have some handy features, like a built-in microphone for calls, and buttons for controlling tracks.

Naturally, the most important thing about headphones is how they sound, and these don’t disappoint. Musically, they’re quite clean, offering smooth and natural sounds. They’re ideal for tracks where sonic purity is desired and aren’t boomy or shrill in the least.

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The Symphony 1s have an extraordinarily wide and flat frequency response, and are rated from 8Hz to 28kHz. Those looking for artificial emphasis of bass or other frequencies should look elsewhere. That said, I think they’re best for jazz, classical, rock and electronic music.

Their large padded earcups do a good job mitigating ambient sounds, but if you plan on wearing them on an airplane or other noisy environment, their active noise cancelling technology goes further to decrease background noise. While they didn’t totally drown out my library of test sounds (airplane, vacuum cleaner, buzzsaw, subway car), the feature decreased their volume enough to make listening to even quiet music a pleasant experience. I particularly like how they adapt to the ambient noise level, and they don’t have that annoying hiss that so many noise cancelling headphones during quiet passages. Keep in mind that enabling this feature decrease battery life from about 15 hours down to 10 hours, so you probably won’t want to leave it on unless you’re somewhere noisy.

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Sound quality is very good both over Bluetooth and wired connections, though I did find that the sound was even more impressive over the included 3.5mm cable – something to keep in mind if you want the absolute best sound quality, and with the added bonus that you can listen without using any battery at all.

If you’re looking for a pair of versatile, high-end headphones, you can’t go wrong with the Symphony 1. They’re impeccably built, comfortable, and offer extremely good sound whether over wireless or wired connections. They’re available to order from Definitive Technology for $399(USD).

Review: Definitive Technology W7 & W9 Wireless Speakers

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If you’re in the market for a wireless sound system, you’ll definitely want to check out the speaker lineup from Definitive Technology. The company offers a variety of wireless speaker systems which connect to your Wi-Fi network to provide high quality audio in every room of your home.

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I recently got my hands on a selection of their speakers for review, and the first ones I’ll be checking out are the W7 ($399 USD) and W9 ($699), both self-contained sound systems that work well on a bookshelf or tabletop. The W9 is the larger of the two, offering six drivers, and a total of 180 watts of amplification. The smaller W7 has five drivers and 90 watts of power.

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Both speakers offer a clean and minimal modern design aesthetic that should look good just about anywhere. Their cabinets are quite substantial, wrapped on all sides with black grille cloth, and a shiny piano black lid with Definitive’s “D” logo embossed into it. It may look great, though I’m not a fan of piano black plastic, it’s a notorious fingerprint, dust and scratch magnet. A small control pod sits at the front right of the matte metallic base, providing volume, play/pause, and input selector buttons. Around back, there are inputs for USB sources, Ethernet for wired networks, and optical and 3.5mm auxiliary inputs.

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The W9’s speakers push sound out front and across the sides using a pair of 1″ tweeters up front, two 2″ full range drivers on the sides, and a pair of 5-1/4″ woofers up front. The smaller W7 has a 4″ mid/bass driver and two 1″ tweeters up front, two 1″ tweeters on the sides, and passive bass radiators on the sides.

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Sound quality from the W9 is excellent, offering up big, room filling sound and wall-shaking bass. This speaker’s sweet spot starts once you’re about 40% up the volume range, but once you get there, it’s pretty awesome all the way to the peak volume level, with absolutely no distortion I could discern. If there’s any color to the sound, it’s one of warmth and smoothness, so it’s very pleasing to the ear. That said, if you like shrill or overly bright high end, that’s not part of its repertoire.

The W7 doesn’t push out the sort of enormous volume its bigger brother is capable of. It is, however, a very good speaker, offering crisp and clean sound without taking up much space at all, and it offers a surprising amount of low end for its size. Again, no perceptible distortion even the highest volume level, which was loud enough to fill a 15′ x 15′ room at good level for a party.

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Both speakers use the same Definitive Technology App to pair with your Wi-Fi network and access music services. You can play tracks from your device’s local music library, from a media server on your network, or stream from services including Amazon Music, Spotify, Deezer, TIDAL, Rhapsody, Pandora, SiriusXM and more.

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Streaming is built on DTS’ Play-Fi tech, which works well for streaming multi-room audio, but there’s no support for AirPlay, so if you want to stream from other apps not on the list, you’re out of luck. There’s still a good variety of audio sources available, so this really isn’t that big of a concern.

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Definitive Technology has made a duo of excellent speakers, both of which could easily form the foundation of a whole home audio system, with the smaller W7 ideal for your bedroom or kitchen, and the W9 better suited to the living room or dining room. In the coming weeks, I’ll be taking a look at the W Studio Micro, their wireless 3.1 home theater system, as well as their Symphony 1 wireless noise-cancelling headphones. Keep your eyes peeled for more details.