![]() ![]() Samsung does a great good job with TV audio, given the thin chassis its engineers must deal with in fact, I’ve found the audio on this TV superior to several low-priced soundbars. To set a more reasonable bar, I cleansed my sonic palette, so to speak, by first watching about half the movie using just the speakers built into the TV. I’m more accustomed to listening to a full 5.1-channel surround system with an Onkyo A/V receiver, Klipsch reference-series towers and satellites, and a vintage Boston Acoustics subwoofer, so I didn’t have the highest expectations for this tiny soundbar. In addition to streaming content from various services, including Netflix and Amazon, I also played the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc of Mad Max: Fury Road on a Cambridge Audio CXUHD Blu-ray player. I connected the Roku Streambar to the ARC input on a Samsung One Connect breakout box that was connected in turn to 55-inch Samsung Q7F QLED TV. Again, you can read Jared’s review of the Roku Ultra for a deeper dive into the Roku remote.Ī FLAC file streaming over Wi-Fi via TwonkyMedia server. ![]() The buttons for volume up, down, and mute are also each to reach, although they are on the right-hand edge of the remote versus its face. In my house, only that last button is wasted (because they can’t be remapped in software). ![]() My review unit had four buttons dedicated to Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Sling respectively. The remote is just the right size for the average-sized hand, and it puts the most commonly used navigation and transport buttons within thumb’s reach. It doesn’t have a headphone jack for private listening, like Roku’s top-of-the-line remote does, but you can stream audio from the speaker to the Roku app on your smartphone and listen with wireless headphones. The remote can also turn your TV on and off and control its volume (including mute). When I spoke to the remote and said “Play ‘Dire Straits’ on Spotify,” this message appeared onscreen: “Sorry, music requests are not yet available on Spotify.” I got the same response when I asked to play music on Tidal. Ask for a specific song or artist, though, and Roku defaults to streaming from Pandora. The speaker comes with Roku’s voice remote, so you can use voice commands to search for content to watch, music to listen to, and to control the speaker in general. But if you have a favorite service for which there is no app-Qobuz, for instance-Bluetooth provides the means. There’s a Bluetooth 5.0 radio onboard, so you can stream music from your smartphone or tablet, but Roku has apps for all the most popular music-streaming services-including Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, and Amazon Music-so I think most people will stream music over Wi-Fi. The Streambar has no analog audio inputs or outputs, which leaves Roku’s wireless sub as your only choice if you want bass reinforcement. The Roku Streambar provides (left to right) Toslink optical digital input, HDMI with ARC, and a USB port for streaming from local storage. Roku doesn’t sell a mount of its own, but you’ll have no problem finding compatible third-party options. Most people will set the Streambar in front of their TV, but the cabinet is outfitted with a pair of M6 x 8mm threaded mounts if you choose to hang the 2.4-pound speaker on the wall beneath your TV. Roku uses an inline power brick-death to wall warts!-and provides enough electrical cable to reach a two-prong outlet up to 7 feet away. (Speaking of Wi-Fi, the Streambar has a relatively quick 802.11ac adapter onboard.) įinally, there’s a barrel-type power connection. Another use for the USB port is to plug in an optional ethernet adapter if you have weak Wi-Fi, but are blessed with ethernet cable in your walls. The 1.9-inch (48mm) paper cone drivers feature neodymium magnets, and each one is powered by a discrete Class D amplifier producing 8 watts RMS each (total output of 32 watts RMS or 64 watts peak power).Īround back you’ll find the typical inputs and outputs, leading with HDMI 2.0 with support for ARC ( audio return channel), HDR10, and HGL high dynamic range information pass-through (but not Dolby Vision) an optical digital audio (Toslink) input and a USB 2.0 port that can be used to access music and video files stored on a USB drive (more on that later). Two of the Streambar’s four full-range drivers are mounted in the face of the enclosure, and the other two are mounted at oblique angles in the left and right end caps, an arrangement that endows this soundbar with a wide soundstage that belies its size. ![]()
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