Samsung HW-Q600F 3.1.2ch Soundbar
Product Information, Not A Review
Quick Specs
What Stands Out
What To Check
What This Is
A 3.1.2 channel Atmos soundbar with a wireless subwoofer: three front channels, one subwoofer, two up-firing height drivers.
Read The Channel Numbers
The three figures are front channels, subwoofers, and height channels. 3.1.2 means left, center and right across the front, one sub, and two drivers firing at the ceiling. There is nothing behind you. A 5.1 system adds rear channels; this one does not have them unless you buy the optional rear kit. Knowing how to read that notation saves more money than any review.
Q-Symphony Is The Reason To Choose It
Normally a soundbar silences the television speakers. Q-Symphony keeps them running as additional height and width channels, timed to the bar. The result is a noticeably taller soundstage, and it genuinely works. It also only works with a compatible Samsung television. On an LG or a Sony this bar loses the one thing that distinguishes it, and you should shop the others instead.
Up-Firing Drivers Beat Pure Virtual
Some bars claim Atmos purely through processing. This one has physical drivers aimed at your ceiling, which bounce overhead effects back down. It needs a reasonably flat, hard ceiling of ordinary height to work; a vaulted or heavily textured ceiling scatters the reflection and most of the effect with it.
Run The Calibration
SpaceFit measures the room with the bar's own microphones and adjusts. Run it after the bar and sub are in their final positions, and run it again if you move the sub. It takes two minutes and corrects problems no amount of manual tone adjustment will.
The Short Version
The bar to buy if the room already has a Samsung TV, because Q-Symphony is a real feature. On any other television most of the reason to pick it disappears.
MIKE MANNING
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