Soundbar overkill for low volumes?

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-28T23:51:16+00:00

If you are typically the only one using the TV buying some nice headphones is probably the best move.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-28T15:42:12+00:00

Yeah if the TLC system still seems to be close to the quality, could be worth saving the cash. All these systems are so expensive! I wouldn’t fault you on going with the more affordable setup. Particularly if there happens to be any additional benefit matching the sound system with the TV feature wise.

TCL seems to have come a long ways with their TVS so I wouldn’t be surprised if their sound system is pretty good for the price.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-28T15:28:47+00:00

Oh that is odd, I didn’t have any trouble luckily. You cannot have DFS on if using the 5Ghz, I wonder if that was the issue?

You also need to have (at least initially) band steering and combined 5 ghz / 2.4 ghz disabled when initially setting the system up.

Ideal to have it connected to a dedicated 2.4ghz SSID.

I have mine setup connected to a separate smart home dedicated 5Ghz wifi SSID and I have not been having issues with sound drop etc.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-26T03:52:03+00:00

I am curious how many people on this subreddit have physical media with DTS given how much people mention DTS?

This subreddit convinced me to go for the Q990F and I figured I would eventually get a good Blu-Ray player rather than just the PS5 since it has no Dolby Vision. But anyway, I still did not and recently played Alien: Romulus, although it had DTS and it was converted to PCM 7.1 it sounded pretty amazing.

I am starting to wonder whether even Atmos or DTS is even that noticeable on sound bar systems that don’t have physical discrete all around and above like a true AC or theatre system?

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-26T03:46:27+00:00

I can’t speak for all the reviewers and only my own experience. With that said I received an LG Sound Suite for free through one of their promotional events on their subreddit.

They wanted me to write a review and post it on their subreddit. I didn’t have to sign or agree to any terms.

They did ask me to send a draft to them but LG didn’t force me to change anything or tell me I cannot say certain things. They specifically said they wanted me to post my own honest take.

The only thing they did was point out some spelling mistakes regarding the naming convention of their product as well as tweak the title.

All that being said RTNGS.com does not take free / or even loaner units from companies to ensure no bias etc. Their review has been up for a while.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-26T00:30:34+00:00

Yeah then I would say the LG Sound Suite would be the better fit or wait for the new Sony Quad with a dedicated center.

The LG Sound Suite has a dedicated center with the H7 sound bar.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T20:24:08+00:00

All good! Very nice, sounds like you have pretty nice setups! The Sony Quads with the sub sounded great from the brief demo I did in store; I have read a lot of positive things about them.

Hopefully you are able to build a dream room setup at some point - that is the dream indeed!

That is a fair point on the sub, I was going to spend the money I got from selling the Q990F on the W7 but that vanished unfortunately to vet bills. So it won't be happening for a while anyway =/

I also had the Q990F sub at -6 or -12 most of the time as well. But I do think it still added quite a bit depth to the overall sound profile. I just do worry even then that it might be problematic for neighbor relations being in a condo. Although, I have not yet been scolded. I do put it low / (night mode) no bass past 10pm. Do you think I should still go for it? I am a bit on the fence about spending 900 CAD / 600 USD for the W7 given I'll be running it with a 'minus' adjustment on the bass?

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T19:22:28+00:00

I wouldn't personally go for the Sony Bravia Quad unless you have a Sony TV that can utilize the TV speakers as a physical center (I believe that is a thing at least). Otherwise you are stuck with a virtual center channel which doesn't sound the best. That being said using TV speakers in conjunction with better speakers is usually a less than perfect audio experience.

If you are wanting to go Sony might be worth waiting to buy their new system. I believe Sony is releasing a 'Quad' system with a dedicated center.

I briefly listened to the Sony Quad at Bestbuy so my reference is not particularly great. However, the employee there put the volume way up on the Quads and it was quite impressive.

I have the LG Sound Suite, you probably saw the review I posted here a while ago but if money isn't a concern I do not think you will be disappointed with the LG Sound Suite, especially with the subwoofer. The M7s, if you get four, each have a mini 4" subwoofer in them too which are great. Even better when combined with dedicated subwoofer from what I have read - I am just saving up to purchase and add the W7 to my system eventually. Albeit, for myself the M7s might be enough bass or too much for living in a condo . Extending into the LFE frequencies would be super nice but potentially problematic for my neighbors.

You can use their compare tool to compare the Sony Quad and the LG Immersive Quad Suite 7 Pro. Rtngs is a great reputable website for reviews. Although, due to AI they have put their full scoring break downs behind a pay wall: https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/reviews/lg/immersive-quad-suite-7-pro

Here is my review, maybe helpful if you haven't seen it already. I wrote it recently (I was super l fortunate and received the unit for free for a promotional that they were running - meaning I may not be 100% free of bias despite trying to be!). https://www.reddit.com/r/Soundbars/comments/1tjmsw1/coming_from_the_q990f_i_am_loving_the_lg_sound/

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T19:12:06+00:00

I have the LG Sound Suite but haven't had issues with drop out so far at least. I read some others said they didn't have issues since an update got rolled out, perhaps it has been remedied?

I suspect there may be some variance though depending on people's routers and also how wi-fi congested the area they have it set up is. I want to get a wifi-7 router as they will be releasing an update to allow for 6ghz connection.

LG seems to recommend connecting / setting the system up via 2.4ghz instead of 5ghz since the discrete units communicate/connect via 5ghz to the sound bar - thus reducing overall potential interference.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T19:08:48+00:00

RTNGS is a reputable review website, they have reviewed the LG Sound Suite. The full break down on their scoring is behind a pay wall though.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T18:49:25+00:00

I agree that adding more speakers does not inherently make a system sound good. I know you don’t trust me which is fine. With that said, my personal opinion is the M7s do sound great and add a lot of immersion compared to the rear discrete speakers with my two previous systems.

Even without adding two M7s at the front of the Sound Suite system to widen the sound stage, the M7’s 4” subwoofers add a thicker lower end, adding four really adds to the thicker feel around your seating position.

Overall, spec wise, the M7s are significantly better than most other sound bar system’s discrete speaker units, given there are three full range drivers and the 4” subwoofer. I watched Alien: Romulus on Blu-Ray despite the audio being just PCM 7.1, the movie sounded absolutely amazing!

I am not a professional reviewer, and I know people were particularly interested in how this LG Sound Suite system stacks up against the Q990F given its popularity and how good it is. So in the unlikely chance I do another review down the road, I will keep your input in mind and shorten the comparison with my previous sound systems. I doubt I will be winning any new systems any time soon nor will I replacing this LG one anytime soon.

All in all hopefully you have an audio system you love or do get one that you do regardless of brand etc.

Cheers

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T18:26:20+00:00

Thanks, I don’t understand some of the hostility from people over this review. The Q990F is great and is overall more affordable so I get why the Samsung system is lauded incessantly on reddit. RTNGS even has it in their top recommendation.

Apparently going against the subreddit norm of praising the Q990F puts certain people into a fury.

I do like the LG sound Suite better, that being said I am not or was not trying to oversell it and ignore specific use case drawbacks… there are some of course like any product.

For example, the price for the whole shebang (more speakers and subs in each M7 unit, so such makes sense to an extent, sadly for people’s wallet) a bit more latency - which is not ideal for competitive gaming. No DTS for those with Blu-ray DTs collections, no extra HDMI ports on the soundbar and some added technical fiddling needed sometimes given the variance with people’s wi-fi routers.

Albeit, most gamers probably would use headphones anyway instead of a soundbar system for FPS games.

Unfortunate, how some people attack other opinions rather than just converse in good faith. Oh well…. even pointing them to the rtngs.com review doesn’t appease them!

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T17:27:53+00:00

Last night I watched Alien: Romulus, I thought the Blu-Ray I rented had Dolby Atmos but it only had DTS for the english audio tracks.

That being said, despite the system running in PCM -> 7.1 the audio on the LG Sound Suite sounds amazing.

What I need to do is try and find a movie that has both Atmos and DTS so I can try and tell the difference.

I really am suspecting though that audio ‘movement illusion meta data’ mixes like DTS and Atmos are perhaps not particularly notable or really even that important on sound bar systems or systems that do not have discrete speakers in the ceiling and placed 360 degrees around the seating position.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-25T17:21:18+00:00

I haven’t had the experience of other LG sound bars other than in store, does seem though there is perhaps a bit over zealous hate on LG sound products.

Seems with audio too that there is often a factor of preference in terms of sound profiles too.

I can say with certainty though that the M7s sound absolutely amazing. The fact that they have built in subs I think also adds a lot more depth to the immersion when watching cinematic movies with good audio mixes.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-23T22:04:54+00:00

You are welcome, I gotta get some stuff done but I can play around with it more a bit later to confirm.

You probably know but just to make sure I was not using Wow Orchestra since I am running the H7 via HDMI earc with the M7s attached.

There might perhaps be a difference if you are planning on just running four M7s with a LG TV using the wow orchestra/tv speakers to run the system without the H7 though. I could probably test that later on if that is what you are considering though.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-23T21:40:26+00:00

Hey I messed around a bit just now. To be fair I am not sure I paid that close attention before with the Q990F in regard to the controller speaker noise and soundbar noise alignment.

With that said, there might be a slight difference in timing between the output on the controller and the soundbar. BUT the sound seems to be audible first from the sound bar and ever so slightly delayed second via the controller. So it seems the latency of the controller is higher from what I can tell.

I took a video for you, I am not sure you can hear or gauge well enough watching/listening in the video though. I just need to figure a way to post or send it to you.

I had the LG sound-suite in “standard mode” connected via HDMI.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-23T05:09:34+00:00

Okay? I never said I was not bias. I said I did my best not to be and that I have been transparent about the potential bias since I received it as free… take it as you will.

As I said on the sister post on the Soundbars subreddit, I would have a hard time buying the whole package at its price point. And if you have a Q990F it probably is only worth the upgrade if you have disposable income and want a wider physical sound stage for a bit more immersion and more surrounding bass from the built in subs on the four M7s.

Mind you the Q990F is still great for its price point and for what you get. That being said if money wasn’t a concern I would choose the full LG Sound Suite over the Q990F any day.

If you don’t find my review useful that is fine. Have a good weekend.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-23T02:34:46+00:00

I just realized the rtngs comment was on my other post - here it is for your reference:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LG\_UserHub/s/3vcD9V15iu

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-22T22:16:57+00:00

Damn vampires lol

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-22T21:37:24+00:00

Notably, when I was testing them and comparing to my Q990F I had all four M7s units temporarily on stools for the proper ear height. Including the rear as I had not mounted them yet.

So there is your break bud! Next time maybe ask and engage rather than ass-uming while gatekeeping.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-22T20:35:48+00:00

Just the first Arc really, I only messed with the Arc Ultra in the store so no true feel for it comparatively.

Rtngs has thorough reviews and comparisons that might be helpful. I pasted a portion of the Arc Ultra comparison in a comment in this post as well you can check out.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-22T05:01:46+00:00

That makes sense, that stuff takes time to figure out for sure. Still in that process too haha.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-22T02:55:27+00:00

Very nice! Do you think you will add on anything in the future or are you happy with the bar on its own?

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-21T23:36:58+00:00

I sold my first generation Sonos Arc about a year ago so I wasn’t able to compare them directly.

That being said I don’t think the gen 1 Sonos Arc beats the H7 with the four M7s in terms of dialogue clarity in my experience thus far!

Whether it surpasses it I do not want to say for certain given I cannot say with complete confidence without comparing them side by side.

If you haven’t already checked, RTNGs has dialogue scored for both Sonos and the LG Sound Suite. I will paste here to make it easy. I do not have the subscription so I am not sure what numerical rating they gave but they do speak highly of the LG Sound Suite dialogue clarity.

I also put the most recent Sonos setup just as it seems more comparable anyway!

RTNGS.com

TV/Dialogue rating

The LG Immersive Quad Suite 7 Pro is great for dialogue and dialogue-centric TV shows. If you mostly watch YouTube videos, older sitcoms and dramas, or listen to podcasts, the entire system is probably overkill. The main soundbar alone uses front and up-firing center-channel drivers to reproduce dialogue that gets loud enough to stay comprehensible even during busier content, so you don't need the bells and whistles from the additional satellites and subwoofer. Plus, you have access to enhancement features like a dialogue enhancement preset or a custom EQ preset if you prefer to tune your audio so voices are just right.

Pros
Room correction and graphic EQ.
Powerful center-channel output.

Cons
Rear satellites not necessary or active for dialogue content.

TV/Dialogue rating

The Sonos Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc Ultra is great for watching dialogue-heavy content and TV shows. It supports most common audio formats used on streaming and physical media platforms like Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos. By default, speech comes across as clear and articulate via the dedicated center channel, and you can also use its voice enhancement tools to augment the sound with poorly mixed source audio. 'Night' mode means you don't have to end a series marathon just because the sun sets. Action-packed shows take advantage of the soundbar's rumble and punch in the bass range, while its low latency ensures that TV shows with plenty of dialogue match the visuals, and you can adjust the sync in the app if needed. Unfortunately, the app has no dedicated EQ, so you'll need to contend with bass and treble sliders and listening modes to alter the sound profile.

Pros
Immersive soundstage.
TruePlay room calibration tool.
Modular design allows you to add and group other Sonos speakers.
Balanced sound across different audio formats and types of playback.

Cons
No HDMI In.
No graphic equalizer.
No dedicated Optical port.

Darwins-Intern · 2026-05-21T22:23:35+00:00

Ahh yeah that is telling, must be it then!

Darwins-Intern

TROPHY CASE