Latest news with #SonosArcUltra
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Marshall Heston 120 Soundbar review: Rock n' roll styling meets movie magic
Price: $999/£899Colors: BlackSize: H x 2.9" D x 5.7" W x 43.3" Weight: 15.5 poundsConnectivity: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, Ethernet, HDMI, AirPlay 2, RCA,USB-CBluetooth range: up to 30 feet (9 m)Custom EQ: YesVoice assistant: NoSurround: 5.1.2Multi-speaker connectivity: Yes The Marshall Heston 120 has a tough job on its hands. It not only has to prove that Marshall has the chops to live under your TV in the form of a multi-channel soundbar, but that it can do it better than any of the other options you can buy for a similar price. It seems that Marshall pulled its suspenders on, slapped its ripped jeans, and grabbed some pretty impressive sound gear from its gig bag to make its new soundbar a success. The Heston 120 is a very impressive soundbar to rival the likes of the Sonos Arc Ultra with a pair of built-in subwoofer drivers, excellent repairability, and that unique style that just screams 'crank it to 11.' To find out if it's going to land a place on our list of the best soundbars, I've lived with the soundbar for the last few weeks — and now I've come to my verdict: The Heston 120 is an excellent alternative to the competition, albeit with a couple of caveats for some users. Here's the whole Heston 120 story. What is it? Rock 'n roll soundbar from the kings of the genreWhat does it cost? $999/£899Who is it for? People looking for a new soundbar that looks the part, with top-notch inputs and great musical soundWhat do we like? Its sense of style, sound quality for movies and music, and its significant bassy rumble from its pair of sub driversWhat don't we like? It's expensive, and some might not appreciate its 'in your face' style At $999 / £899, the Heston 120 has been positioned against the likes of the Sonos Arc Ultra ($999 / £999), Samsung's latest flagship soundbars, and other premium surround options from JBL like the JBL BAR 1300X. In order to justify that price the Heston is built like a tank, features a unique, rock 'n roll-inspired design, and packs in some audio goodies for music lovers just as much as movie buffs. But that doesn't stop it from being in a precarious position, given that it doesn't quite offer the same surround options as the Sonos or the included subwoofer of Samsung's bars. In order to compete, the Marshall relies on its looks and musical tuning. Make no mistake, it is worth every one of the one thousand dollars it costs, but it joins a very crowded space. Marshall's home audio division has become known for a certain style: amp-like speakers and headphones, covered with premium fabric and brass accents. Expect control knobs galore, and a punk-rock attitude. The Heston 120 stretches that design out to fit a large TV stand, retaining all the key elements of the marque's house style — rugged endplates that look ready to hit the road on tour, a fabric mesh that would look at home on stage with Slash, and the all-important brass logo to top things off. The bronze colored control knobs on top wrap up the design, and I think it looks great. It's not going to fit into every single living room style because of its unique style, but it nails its audio credentials to the mast like little else. Going back to the size of the soundbar. You're going to need a big TV, and a large TV stand to boot. It's shorter than the Samsung soundbar options or the Sonos Arc Ultra by a fraction of an inch, but it makes up for it in depth. Make sure you do some measurements before buying to make sure that it fits — things were tight on my unit between my Samsung S90D, and even with an older TV on a larger stand. You can wall mount the soundbar with brackets sold separately if you have your TV hanging, although make sure you use beefy enough screws if you do. The soundbar is one of the heaviest I've tested, coming in at 15.5 lbs — 2 pounds more than the Arc Ultra. Build quality is excellent, with premium fabric making up the grille and excellent material choices all around. Even better is the potential for repair. Break something, and I'm told you'll be able to find parts like the end plates, grilles, and even internal components like drivers available to buy on the Marshall website, should you want to replace them yourself. You can even send the broken parts to Marshall to be recycled as well, which is a nice bonus. First off, while the Heston 120 is a WiFi-connected soundbar, it's not really a smart soundbar. There's no voice control support, so you'll be left changing the volume with your TV remote, on-device volume knob, or the new Marshall app. Beyond a lack of voice support, the only other connectivity option you're missing is an optical port — and given that it's 2025 and optical ports are ancient history to all but the most dedicated fans of data transmitted over laser, it's no great loss. Because, other than that? The Heston's inputs and outputs are better than just about everything else you can buy today. There are so many ports on the back of the Heston 120. There's a pair of HDMI ports, one for eARC and the other for passthrough, an Ethernet port for a more stable internet connection, a USB-C port that can be used to charge devices, and then an analog RCA connector so that you can connect legacy hardware like a turntable. There's no built-in phono pre-amp so you'll need one of the best turntables with one built in, but it's a lovely addition to really round out the inputs. Unlike the aforementioned Samsung or Sonos soundbars, there's also a generic mono-RCA output. While Marshall is working on a wireless subwoofer for the soundbar that will work like Sonos' Sub 4, there's a physical output for a separate subwoofer. That means you can choose your own sub to go with the soundbar. Wireless connectivity comes in the form of WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, with all the lovely extras you'd expect. The Bluetooth connection enables Auracast, as well as the potential for more devices to connect to the soundbar. Marshall has been tight-lipped about what kind of devices to expect and how they're going to work when I asked about the potential for separate surround speakers, but I suspect we might see something in the future. Control-wise, you've got the aforementioned knobs across the top. There are three — volume, EQ, and source. They're all smooth and satisfying, and the latter two click down to switch between bass and treble, play and pause music, and select the source. Finally, there's the Marshall app. It's a completely new experience this time around, retaining the visual flair of the old Marshall Bluetooth app, but sprinkling in new WiFi features for internet connectivity. Once logged in, you can play music from various streaming services so that you don't have to dip into the Spotify or Tidal Connect menus separately, although both are supported. Every aspect of the soundbar can be controlled from the app, including EQ, sound mode, volume, source, and more. It's well laid out and simple to use — good app. Technically, you don't even need to connect the Heston 120 to the internet or the app if you just want to play sound from your TV. Plug it in, connect the HDMI eARC port to the correct slot on your TV, and… watch your stuff. Easy! You can, of course, go more in-depth if you want to use every setting and feature that the soundbar has to offer. Once you're all plugged in, you'll need to open up the app. From there, you'll connect to the soundbar and get the internet connection all set up. There are then sound options to dial in, and you'll want to start with the Room calibration. From there, you'll hear a series of different guitar plucking noises, and the app will load a sound profile. I had absolutely no connection issues during the setup process — it all just kind of worked. To further dial in the sound, you can use the bass/treble knob on the top of the soundbar, or within the app. You can also choose the different sound modes, including Movie, Music, Night and Voice. Music is automatically selected when you play music through the bar, and Movie when it's connected to your TV. Movie mode seems to boost bass, while Music seems to put more emphasis on mid-range frequencies. The latter two sound modes are necessary for Dolby certification, and I don't like them on anything you find them on. Night mode reduces the bass so that you don't wake anyone up when watching late at night, and voice mode raises dialog volume. They work, and for some users, they might be more useful than they were for me. If the Sonos Arc Ultra is the ultimate soundbar for watching movies, the Marshall Heston 120 is one of the best for listening to music. While most soundbars are a TV speaker first and music speaker second, the Heston 120 wants to be excellent at both. As a result, there really isn't a similarly priced soundbar that comes close musically. There's some great sonic control on display from the Heston 120. The audio is very well spaced out on account of the size of the bar, and instrument separation is very good. I gave Vola's I Don't Know How We Got Here a spin, and discovered an impactful, dynamic, and engaging listen waiting for me. Vocals were a particular strength, and there was surprising bass reproduction thanks to the pair of sub drivers inside the bar. Bass was more impressive in the Heston 120 than the Sonos Arc Ultra on its own, so there's less need to add in a sub should you want the floors to rumble during playback. There's support for Dolby Atmos music as well through Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, and it sounds really good. There's all the extra space that you'd want from a spatial mix, with the likes of The Weeknd's Blinding Lights easily filling my living room. Elements showed good separation, and the spatial effect was up there with the likes of the Sonos Arc Ultra and a pair of Sonos Era 300s. There's still some of the thinning out I tend to find with any spatial audio arrangement, but that's a quirk of the format rather than the soundbar. It's movies you'll want Dolby Atmos for, and the Heston 120 is more than happy to provide. There is one caveat to movie sound though — the surround channels. The Heston 120 features a 5.1.2 setup, or 5 surround drivers, a subwoofer, and then two upfirers for Atmos. That's not as strong as the Sonos Arc Ultra's 9.1.4 surround, and it does show when you're watching your movies. The surround bubble is ever so slightly looser on the Heston, and the atmospheric effects from above are slightly more subdued. With that out of the way, the Heston 120 is still excellent for movies. The Atmos effect meant that the opening scene of Star Wars: Episode III sounded and felt massive, as Obi-Wan and Anakin darted through space, droids hot on their heels. Starships cruise from every direction, loud and lumbering. The sub driver gives greater low end than you'll find in the Sonos Arc Ultra as well, despite the slight downgrade in spatial effects. Standard surround mixes are excellent. The Nostromo cruises to your side in the opening to Alien, loud and intimidating. The Star Destroyer at the opening of A New Hope dominates the space, filling the room with the sound of its engines. This is a soundbar that's supposed to be good at both movies and music, and to excel at the latter, it seems some compromises have had to be made in the former — but this is still a great, cinematic experience. A word, finally, about the bass. The pair of sub drivers make for a bassier time than the solus Sonos Arc Ultra, although for larger rooms, you'll still want a separate subwoofer. Marshall will be offering its own wireless sub later this year, but thanks to the standard sub-out on the back of the soundbar, you can use your own. I hooked it up to the KEF KC62 and a Q Acoustics Sub80, and found setup easy, and an increase in the bass beyond that of even the Arc Ultra and Sub 4 combo. Why is this great? Because not only does it add more audio flexibility, it could save you money, with many budget-friendly bass makers to add more rumble to your movies. If you want the absolute best surround sound movie experience in a soundbar, then you're still best off with the 9.1.4-channel Sonos Arc Ultra. But the Heston 120 does throw a wrench into Sonos' well-oiled machine. The movie performance and surround sound of the Heston 120 are still excellent, and the bar provides plenty of Dolby Atmos fun when you want to watch the latest blockbusters. It also manages something that so many other soundbars don't seem to nail down; it remembers that a soundbar is the perfect audio center for a living room. Thanks to its excellent music playback and connectivity, the Heston 120 is actually, in my eyes at least, a better all-round product than the Sonos Arc Ultra. It's not for everyone with its styling, but its feature set means it stands out in a very busy space. For Marshall's first soundbar, it's an absolute triumph, and potentially a better buy for more users than the Sonos option and its continuously disappointing app. After all, it's nice when something just works.
Tom's Guide
3 days ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Samsung HW-S801D Ultra Slim soundbar review: One for the Samsung TV owners
The Samsung HW-S801D Ultra Slim soundbar could be one of the best soundbars if you already have a Samsung TV and are looking to expand your Samsung ecosystem. But for everyone else? I don't think the S801D is worth it. Let me explain — it's just a 3.1.2 channel setup for $900, whereas you can get the 9.1.4 channel Sonos Arc Ultra for just $100 extra. One of the best-value soundbars is the Polk Signa S4, which has a 3.1.2 setup for just $399. When you put it into perspective, I find it a little strange that the Samsung S801D is priced so highly. But if you have a Samsung TV, I still think it's worth it. I'll explain everything in this Samsung HW-S801D Ultra Slim Soundbar review. Price $899 / £549 Connectivity micro HDMI eARC, Bluetooth, Optical Weight Soundbar: 3.1 pounds / Subwoofer: 14.1 pounds Dimensions Soundbar: 1.4 x 1.5 x 45.6 inches / Subwoofer: 9.3 x 9.4 x 9.3 inches Colors Black, white Subwoofer Yes Dolby Atmos Yes Channel 3.1.2 The S801D Ultra Slim soundbar's MSRP is priced at $899 on the Samsung U.S. website, but it's often sold for around $750 on Amazon U.S.. In the U.K., it's a much more palatable £549 on Samsung U.K.. I'm unsure why there's such a price discrepancy between the U.S. and U.K., but in the U.K. you're getting a much better deal. The S801D was released in 2024 in both countries, replacing the previous 2022 S800D model. I think $899 is an extremely high price for this soundbar: for just an extra $100, you can get one of Samsung's best soundbars, Q800D. Alternatively, you can get the Sonos Arc Ultra for an extra $100 (yes, it doesn't come with a subwoofer, but its standalone bass is very good). Where the S801 sets itself apart is its super slim design: I'd only recommend this if you're low on space. One of the best aspects of the S801D is the design. As it's an Ultra Slim soundbar, it's kind of a given that it's just 1.4 inches high and 1.5 inches deep. This would be a perfect soundbar for compact spaces, or if you'd like to mount the soundbar flush to the wall. Given the 45-inch length, this soundbar would pair best with a 65-inch TV. Any smaller than that and I think the soundbar would look a little ridiculous. The S801D looked seamless with my Panasonic MZ1500 4K OLED. Other than being slim, the S801D looks like any other soundbar. It comes in white or black (I tested white), with grated speakers. There are buttons on top (mic, volume) and the remote feels well-made, much better than the Bose Smart Soundbar remote. The subwoofer is pretty heavy at 14.1 pounds, but it's easy to set up thanks to the wireless connection. I was able to control the volume via the Smart Things app and the remote control. Smart Things is actually very handy — not only can you control volume, but you can control treble, bass, and listening modes. I'll chat about it more in the 'App' section below. As you'd expect with Samsung smart home products, the S801D uses the Smart Things app. I already have this app as I have a Samsung washing machine, and I'm currently testing a Samsung vacuum. It's actually surprisingly rewarding to see my ecosystem grow. I love that you can name all of your products — Samsung recommends names like 'Living Room Soundbar' but of course you can enter anything, regardless of how silly. Here you can see the listening mode selection, toggles for SpaceFit Sound Pro and Active Voice Amplifier (which I couldn't take advantage of as I didn't have a Samsung TV), and Samsung's explanation page for all of its features. Connecting to Bluetooth is also super straightforward in the app — simply click 'Pair' in the top left corner and connect in your phone's settings. This is one of the most straightforward smart home apps I've ever used. One of the most impressive upgrades from the S800D is Q-Symphony, which is improved sound room calibration. Unfortunately, this requires a Samsung TV, so I was unable to test this. The S801D also has 'SpaceFit Sound Pro', which is supposed to calibrate audio based on your surroundings. Again, this is only compatible with Samsung TVs, so I couldn't test this either. If you're not sensing a theme, you will be now. The S801D has wireless Dolby Atmos — but only if you have a Samsung TV, and compatible separate surrounds. I still got decent Dolby Atmos surround sound with just the soundbar and subwoofer, though, so I'd say this isn't a major loss. Even without access to these features, the sound quality was still great. It's just a major shame that I couldn't actually test any of these features. I assume they're good, but I can't say for certain. It's very disappointing that Samsung restricted these flagship features to its TVs, but I can understand why, of course. If you don't have a Samsung TV, I'd recommend skipping this soundbar for now, and getting something a little less restricted like the Sonos Arc Ultra. One of my main problems with the S801D is that the HDMI output is a micro-HDMI port. When I saw this, I was utterly perplexed. Why? Just why? It's not because the soundbar is so slim, because there's a big enough space for a proper HDMI port. This means that if you lose the original cable (or want to upgrade to an 8K cable), you have to buy another one from Samsung. There will also be quality loss. As with all soundbars I test, I watched a series of movies and TV shows, and listened to music. I watched 'Top Gun: Maverick', 'The Wild Robot', 'A Complete Unknown' on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, 'Stranger Things' on Netflix, and various music genres on Qobuz. It was like the center channels and the surround channels (inside the soundbar itself) were out of sync. First, I watched 'Top Gun: Maverick'. It brings me great sadness to report that this movie sounded utterly terrible on the S801D. It sounded so bad that I had to make sure the soundbar wasn't broken. I switched out the 'Top Gun: Maverick' DVD for 'The Wild Robot', and the sound was fine. Confused, for good measure I connected it up to another TV, and again, the sound was fine. I played 'Top Gun: Maverick' again, and the issue persisted. It was like the center channels and the surround channels (inside the soundbar itself) were out of sync. When I turned the center channel down to volume 0, the audio sounded normal, if tinny. Then, when I returned to the original volume, the sound was again out of sync. The soundbar was playing on the 'Surround' audio setting. I tried it again with the DTS Virtual X and it sounded fine. I assume there's something in 'Top Gun: Maverick''s mix that the 'Surround' setting didn't like — I'd recommend switching between modes to iron out sound issues. The splashing sound effects sounded as if they were coming from beside me rather than in front of me. After the 'Top Gun' disaster, I played 'The Wild Robot'. I experienced no out-of-sync audio with this movie. I cycled through the audio settings (aforementioned surround, game, standard, adaptive, DTS Virtual X). After selecting surround, the audio was immersive and rich, and I could hear all of the rustling of fur and feathers. When the goose character was swimming, the splashing sound effects sounded as if they were coming from beside me rather than in front of me. I could hear bubbles and low-frequency water sounds perfectly in this scene. Lastly, I watched 'A Complete Unknown'. As this is a musical movie, I was excited to see how the S801D would be able to handle music-heavy scenes. There's a scene where a janitor kicks a bucket, and the sound of the bucket scraping across the floor was so loud that I jumped. It was a little incongruous in the previously relaxed soundscape, so I kept my ear out for similar moments. In the scene where two characters converse in a diner, the cash register rings, cutlery clinks, and telephone rings were clear and immersive without overpowering the main sound. To test the TV sound, I watched 'Stranger Things' on Netflix. The version of Netflix I have doesn't have Dolby Atmos, so it was a good way to evaluate the S801D's ability to play standard, basic TV shows. 'Stranger Things' sounded great, with balanced, even volume across the synth-heavy soundtrack and dialogue. I could hear low-frequency sounds like leaves rustling, bike wheels whirring, and breathing. Generally, soundbars aren't really expected to have audiophile-level sound quality. Even so, I wanted to give the S801D a fair shot. I connected to my phone via Bluetooth (one of the easiest Bluetooth pairings I've ever done using the Smart Things app) and played 'Boom Baby Bloom' by Wolf Alice. In the DTS Virtual X sound mode, the song sounded awful — extremely tinny and small, like a deluge of tin cans raining down from the sky. I switched to 'standard' sound mode, and it improved, but only just. When I listened to 'Let It Happen' by Tame Impala I found much of the same — incredibly tinny and weak sound. This was majorly disappointing as the soundbar had performed (mostly) well in the movie and TV tests. I switched to 'Surround' and the music expanded a little, but still poor. 'Game' and 'Adaptive' sound modes didn't do much, either. My working theory is that the Bluetooth music connection mustn't use the subwoofer, so the music is left incredibly treble-heavy, which makes it sound tinny. I could still increase or decrease the sub volume in the Smart Things app, but this only affected the sound minutely. There are many things to like about the S801D, but that doesn't mean it's free of problems. For most of the flagship features, you need a Samsung TV. It's very expensive for what it is — 3.1.2 channel with an MSRP of $899. Seeing as you can get the Polk Signa S4 (3.1.2 channel, and my favorite soundbar + subwoofer for value) for just $399, or spend an extra $100 for the Sonos Arc Ultra (9.1.4 channel), I just think the S801D is too expensive. On a half-price sale? Sure, it's worth it. It sounds great and is super compact. But full price? You're better off with something else.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Can you hear that? Sonos' new soundbar feature just made it easier to actually listen to what people say in movies
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The rewind button on my TV remote is worn to the point of exhaustion. It feels like every time I want to watch a movie at home, the soundtrack is so loud it could wake up the neighbors a block away, but the dialogue is like a whisper. I pause, rewind 10 seconds, double the volume and scrunch my face in concentration as I try to work out what the characters actually said to move the plot along. It's a frustrating and time wasting dance, but I always wonder how much more difficult it must be for people with hearing loss. Though, I think I might have found the one AI feature that is actually useful in real life. Sonos (yes, that Sonos, the company that decided to annoy every single one of its customers with a badly thought out app update last year), just announced a new AI-powered Speech Enhancement feature. According to a Sonos Newsroom post, the company has managed to use machine learning to separate dialogue from other audio in real time. This means no more temporary volume adjustments as you try to navigate blasting soundtrack and mumbling dialogue. It'll roll out as a free update to the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar from May 13, 2025. Whether it comes to other Sonos devices in the future remains to be seen, but let's hope this software update is less dramatically catastrophic than the app debacle from last year. The feature, developed in collaboration with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), will be available as a tiered setting in the Sonos app, allowing you to toggle between low, medium, high, and max enhancement levels. Low through high are designed for people like me who just can't pick out the dialogue in otherwise noisy films, but the max setting specifically caters to people with hearing loss. In this mode, the software enhances the speech but also adjusts 'non-speech' elements to elevate the dialogue. I've owned Sonos speakers for about a decade, but I lost a lot of trust in the company after the terrible mess they made of the app last year. Even all this time later, I still have to wait up to 30 seconds just to change a track. But it's rare that tech companies actually prioritize accessibility. Making sure that everyone can access and enjoy the things they like should be a core part of any product. And if Sonos spends time on this, and can encourage other brands making some of the best soundbars, then maybe I'll be able to forgive its past mistakes. Google Maps can help you find accessible locations — here's how IKEA just dropped its new line of accessible home products — and it's surprisingly stylish My friend with hearing loss just tried the hearing aid feature on AirPods Pro 2
Tom's Guide
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Can you hear that? Sonos just made it easier to actually listen to what people say in movies
The rewind button on my TV remote is worn to the point of exhaustion. It feels like every time I want to watch a movie at home, the soundtrack is so loud it could wake up the neighbors a block away, but the dialogue is like a whisper. I pause, rewind 10 seconds, double the volume and scrunch my face in concentration as I try to work out what the characters actually said to move the plot along. It's a frustrating and time wasting dance, but I always wonder how much more difficult it must be for people with hearing loss. Though, I think I might have found the one AI feature that is actually useful in real life. Sonos (yes, that Sonos, the company that decided to annoy every single one of its customers with a badly thought out app update last year), just announced a new AI-powered Speech Enhancement feature. According to a Sonos Newsroom post, the company has managed to use machine learning to separate dialogue from other audio in real time. This means no more temporary volume adjustments as you try to navigate blasting soundtrack and mumbling dialogue. It'll roll out as a free update to the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar from May 13, 2025. Whether it comes to other Sonos devices in the future remains to be seen, but let's hope this software update is less dramatically catastrophic than the app debacle from last year. The feature, developed in collaboration with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), will be available as a tiered setting in the Sonos app, allowing you to toggle between low, medium, high, and max enhancement levels. Low through high are designed for people like me who just can't pick out the dialogue in otherwise noisy films, but the max setting specifically caters to people with hearing loss. In this mode, the software enhances the speech but also adjusts 'non-speech' elements to elevate the dialogue. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. I've owned Sonos speakers for about a decade, but I lost a lot of trust in the company after the terrible mess they made of the app last year. Even all this time later, I still have to wait up to 30 seconds just to change a track. But it's rare that tech companies actually prioritize accessibility. Making sure that everyone can access and enjoy the things they like should be a core part of any product. And if Sonos spends time on this, and can encourage other brands making some of the best soundbars, then maybe I'll be able to forgive its past mistakes.
Tom's Guide
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
I just tested these stunning speakers — and they blow my soundbar out of the water
Orange. Release anything in orange and you've already got my vote. Pack your new product with top-shelf audio hardware and make it orange? You're onto a winner like the Kanto Ren — some of the best powered speakers I've seen take center stage on my speaker stands. Price $599/£599/AU$1,499Connectivity Bluetooth, HDMI ARC, RCA, Optical, 3.5mm AUX, USBWeight 9.9 lb (Active speaker) 8.6 lb (Passive speaker)Colors Black, White, Blue, Gray, OrangeCompatibility iOS, Android, macOS, WindowsFrequency response 50 Hz - 22 kHz Beyond their bright colorways, there's a lot to like about Kanto's TV speakers. They've got an excellent range of inputs — from RCA to HDMI ARC — along with a subwoofer out for the really low stuff. The Kanto Ren speakers are built like tanks, and I think they look rather handsome whether you display them with or without their fairly sleek speaker grilles. They're a bit fussy in placement and their bass can sometimes get boomy, but neither are issues that aren't simple to fix. Based on my testing, the Kanto Ren is a great addition to the living room for music, or to make your TV sound excellent. I'd argue they're an even better bet than a soundbar that costs twice the price. Let's find out why. Our best soundbar, the Sonos Arc Ultra, will set you back $999. For the price you admittedly get excellent sound and surround sound options — but it can't hold a sonic candle next to the sheer audio might of the Kanto Ren. The best part? The Kanto Ren cost $599, a whole $400 less than the Sonos Arc Ultra. You will need to budget for some speaker stands if you're planning on placing them either side of your TV stand, however. As I'll talk about later, they're slightly choosy about their location, and while they'll sit on a TV stand you'll get the very best out of them if you invest $50 and a little extra space. Their price brings them alongside mid-range sound bars, which are completely outmatched by the Kanto Ren. While they might not have the same kind of surround options as the likes of the Sony HT-S2000, they make up for it with bigger sound that's physically better separated due to their 'true stereo' nature. I wouldn't call the Kanto Ren cheap. They're more expensive than the similarly specced Fluance Ri71, offering more inputs and improved sound and looks. They're a more affordable option than the premium soundbars they sonically compete with, and mid-range in price. You can buy the Kanto Ren from Amazon, or head over to your audio retailer of choice to pick them up in one of five colors; Black, White, Blue, Gray, or Orange. If you choose any color other than the latter, you're mad. Or boring. Slap the grilles on the front, and there's a simplistic elegance to the Kanto Ren. They're a smooth pair of colored rectangles with a curved black front, and they don't shout too loudly about their ability to blow your socks off sonically. Unless, of course, you buy yourself the orange ones. The orange ones I've got here — and aren't they fun. For more minimal interior decor, the black or white colors will fit in nicely, and the blue option is darker than you might expect. Under the speaker grilles you'll find the tweeter and main driver unit. It's a smooth affair, so they won't look all that complicated if you display them with their drivers out. It's a simple set of speakers that don't use odd shapes or multi-driver arrays to tell everyone you care about excellent sound. The cabinets themselves are smooth and mostly angle-less, with curved corners to soften their visual load. Add it all together, and I think the Kanto Ren could make a great addition to any living room that's looking for something extra. The build quality is good, too. They're made out of MDF and then coated in their color. The color finish is smooth and blemish-free, and most importantly, consistent over the body of the speaker unit. They're not the weightiest speakers, lighter than the cheaper Fluance Ri71, but there's still some reassuring heft in both the powered and passive units. Overall, they're a handsome pair of speakers that are built to a very premium standard without costing a fortune. The most obvious way to interact with the Kanto Ren is the black volume nob on the powered speaker. Click it to turn them on, click it again to cycle the inputs, and then click and hold to turn the speaker off. Turn it to adjust the volume — and that's it. It does everything a nob could hope to do, but it would have been nice to have some more versatile controls on the unit itself should you, heaven forbid, lose the remote control. Not that you'll easily lose the remote control. It's a weighty thing, and it's fairly chunky in the hands. There are buttons galore across its black plastic fascia. Here, you can adjust the EQ on the fly with the bass and treble controls, giving more granular control over how the speaker sounds. There's the requisite volume control, along with a power switch and source selection options. Playback controls are also included, should you be listening over Bluetooth. The buttons themselves are good and clicky, and their rubber surfaces make them pleasant to press. It's got just about everything you might want out of a remote control, including controls to initiate the Bluetooth connection pairing process — useful, because it's the only way to get the BT connection working. Helpfully, you can also swap the powered speaker from left to right here, depending on which side it sits next to your TV. By default, the powered speaker is on the left — to swap, you click and hold the next track button for 5 seconds. Need to switch back? Hold the previous track button for 5 seconds. Simple, and you'll know it's all initiated properly thanks to a flash of the power LED. The most useful control for many though is going to the HDMI ARC port and it's automatic volume and power options. That means your TV remote will control the most important parts of the speaker without the need for a remote. It would be nice to have a Bluetooth key on the speaker itself, but the control methods are otherwise solid enough. What would be even better would be a Kanto App, something missing from the whole Kanto range. That would allow for even a greater level of control without extra buttons or switches on the speakers. If you're coming from soundbar land, where you're lucky to get more than an HDMI port or an optical socket, the array of plugs on the back of the powered REN unit might seem dizzying. There are loads of ways for devices to interface with the speakers, from your TV to a streaming separate and everything in between. There's the aforementioned HDMI ARC port, so that you can plug them into a TV and get your movies and TV sounding epic. I did have to go into the settings menu of my TV and change the audio setting for PCM before they worked seamlessly, but it wasn't any great hassle. Once you've finished gawking at the HDMI port, there's a whole host of extra connectors to use with the Kanto Ren. First and foremost are the RCA connectors, so that you can plug in a record player, or a different audio device. There's no Phono pre-amp, so you'll need a turntable with one built in, but if you just want to hook up a streamer like the Wiim Ultra, you'll be good to go. Then there's an optical connector for older TVs and other digital devices, like CD players. It's a useful legacy connector, and I found it worked well with an old laser disc player. There's also a USB-A socket, which can deliver power to connected devices, and then a USB-C for better connection with laptops and other devices. Finally, there's the 3.5mm connector for auxiliary connections like phones, laptops, or MP3 players. Bluetooth 5.3 rounds out the connections and lends the speakers their only wireless connection method. You connect with the Bluetooth button on the remote control, and then you can initiate pairing with multiple devices. It works very well with no dropouts. No support for hi-res Bluetooth codecs is a shame though. You're not really wanting for any kind of physical connections, apart from perhaps some form of pre-amp for turntables. But that's really nitpicking — there really aren't any extra inputs you could want on the back of the speakers. What you might miss is a Wi-Fi connection. That would allow for much higher quality music streaming without a wire, and make the Kanto Ren more flexible as a result. It's omission is likely to make sure that the costs are kept down and adding a simple streamer is very easy, but it would be nice for Wi-Fi be baked into what is already a near-perfect input selection. Perhaps it's something we'll see in a later, potentially more expensive option from Kanto. A sound bar is fairly easy to place in a room — just place it on your TV stand, and enjoy the sound as the manufacturer intended. Things are a little different with a pair of stereo speakers, and the Kanto Ren are particularly tricksy in their need for good placement. You'll want to place them away from a wall. I found that 8 inches was the sweet spot between space saving and good sound. Too close to the wall and you'll find the bass gets very overbearing, as its reflected too much back at you. Then they'll need to be placed far enough apart for the stereo effect to make a difference to the soundstage. I found six feet to be the minimum, so you'll need to ensure you've got the space. Finally, to really make the Kanto Ren sound their best, you'll want them on stands. That's an extra spend, but it's well worth the cost. Once they're all set up you won't need to worry about moving the Kanto Ren around again — and you'll get that soundbar crushing sound. It's all thanks to the actual stereo separation you can achieve with a pair of speakers, physically creating a much wider, more immersive experience. Add in the larger drivers of the Kanto Ren, and you'll get more rounded, larger sound with greater presence. The only way a soundbar can get Dolby Atmos that makes more sense than a pair of stereo speakers is to add extra surround units. That can cost thousands of dollars and take up more space. The benefit of the soundbar is the space saving — you don't need room on either side of your TV. Listening to music is what these speakers are best at — and, as you might imagine, you're in for a sonic treat. I took to one of the best music streaming services, Qobuz, and tested them out with some of my favorite testing tracks. Ghost's latest Guiding Lights has barely left the play queue since its recent release, so I had to see how it was handled by the Ren. In a word — well. Forge's love letter to the 80s ballad brings some top-notch acoustic guitar that needs plenty of presence to cut through an otherwise very busy mix. The vocal line slices through like a knife, devilishly tempting the entire run time. The kick drum thumps like little else, bringing some immense size to the mix, and if you've got the speakers placed right, you'll find an enormous sound stage. It's a wonderful, corny presentation, and climaxes with a suitably soaring guitar solo that manages to overlay without disturbing the rest of the frequency range. ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man pulls you straight back to the early eighties, dripping with rumbling Harley-Davidsons and leather jackets. The rhythmic blues crunch is driven well with some very powerful low-end grunt, while the cymbals up top still manage to keep things in line. There's perhaps a little boom in the bass guitars, but it's nothing to ruin the otherwise stellar musical experience on offer from the REN. There are tradeoffs — if you want the all-out surround options like Dolby Atmos and DTS X, then you're out of luck. These are stereo speakers and they deal only it two-channel audio. Given that most soundbars at this price aren't very good at Dolby Atmos though, I'd wager you'll like the sound of the Kanto Ren more. You don't really need a sub for the really low stuff in your action movies with the Ren, although you can add one should you want thanks to the sub output on the back. I added one — it's plenty of fun. The opening scene of Star Wars Episode III showed me everything I needed to know, and you'd be surprised how good a stereo set up is at making an immersive sound bubble. The ships scream through space, the battle outside never becoming too busy to overlay the sounds you need to hear. Voices and dialogue are placed well too without a center channel, coming through strong in the middle of the picture. While music is the RENs greatest strength, you're still going to have an incredible time watching movies and TV. For $599, there a whole bunch of different soundbar options that you could buy. The Sonos Beam Gen 2, the first generation Sonos Arc, and even cheaper options like the Polk Signa 4. If you absolutely need to have some form of surround or Dolby Atmos for your movies, then you'll want one of those. If, however, you want something that sounds better than any soundbar for every other use case and still excels in movies, then pick up the Kanto Ren. They're a handsome set of speakers, with plenty of low-end to enjoy when things get moving. This stereo system will outperform soundbars more than twice the price in almost any listening metric. If you don't quite have the money to stretch for the Kanto Ren, then the Fluance Ri71 speaker system is also worth considering. It's a bit cheaper, but manages it's own excellent performance for the price. For $599, though? There's not much that gets close to the Kanto REN's excellent sound, solid styling and dizzying array of inputs.
