By now I’m sure everyone is aware what soundbars are or probably even own a set. Typical sound bars usually came with one long sound bar unit together with a wi-fi subwoofer. However, LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray soundbar looks to change the way people look at surround bars by providing a lot more than just plain audio enhancements. The LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray soundbar actually comes to the foray as a complete home cinema system. Not only does it give you some loud sounds it also comes with a built in Blu-ray player – which plays 3D Blu-ray content – , net portal, digital amplifier as well as Smart TV and an iPod dock. If that got you excited about the soundbar’s potential, read on to find out how it fared.

Design
If you take a look at this baby in pictures, you would think it is one slim product to have come from LG’s stables. However, you would realize how wrong you were when you see the unit in flesh as it does go quite deep at 20.7cm. It also goes 100cm wide and sports a height of 9.5cm just so you get the picture. Now that we have the dimensions covered, how did we find the LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray soundbar’s exterior design? It was simply astounding. The unit has a luxurious looking silver finish making it look very futuristic. You will also find the four driver cones to have a similar design but in the middle of each pair you will see a darker looking tweeter. On the front you see a curved platform jutting out; this is where your Blu-ray CDs will go. On the front is also a USB port which is hidden underneath a flap.

To add more class to the already stylish soundbar unit, LG has fitted a glossy black section on the top. This black section doesn’t stop at just making the soundbar look better but it also serves as the spot where all the touch-sensitive controls are located. These buttons give out a nice chime when pressed. We loved everything about the sound bar’s design except for the fact that it doesn’t give you the option of wall mounting. Of course, just like every other surround bar these days, the LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray player also comes with a wireless subwoofer. The subwoofer is a big black box in itself. However, it is one stylish black box with a solid build.

Features
The LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray surrounbar has an obvious feature, its 3D Blu-ray playback capability. This is definitely a great thing to have on a soundbar as it gives you more than just audio. However, believe it or not, that’s is not the feature that took the plaudits as it comes with Wi-fi onboard together with LG’s Smart TV. Smart TV takes over from NetCast which only offered a few sites like Picasa and Youtube. Now with LG’s Smart TV you get much more like Acetrax for your movie needs, MLB, BBC iPlayer and also Facebook and Twitter. You will find these features in the ‘Premium’ menu while if you go to ‘LG Apps’ you will find an array of apps to keep you busy. They are quite fun actually like the color blindness test, fitness trainer app and the horoscopes app among others.

There is even more good news on the way as this soundbar is DLNA certified meaning you can stream all the stuff you want from your computer straight to the unit. It supports a variety of formats, so there shouldn’t be many problems on that front. You can also play these formats from your USB Flash Drive or from your external hard disks. Now we move on to the connectivity options found on the back of the LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray surround bar. The unit provides two HDMI inputs meaning you get to listen to external sources on this soundbar. This would be useful especially to those tech geeks out there who could now get better audio for his games. Of course you also get a HDMI v1.4 output which tackles all the 3D pictures output. Another cool feature would be the Audio Return Channel which makes it possible to listen to your TV without having to get another separate cable. As mentioned earlier you also get to connect your iPod through the iPod cradle which comes out of the box. Other than that, you also find a 3.5mm minijack input as well as a FM radio antenna port.

Setting up the LG LSB316 soundbar with wireless subwoofer
The depth of the sounbar rules it out from being wall mounted, so you would have to find another spot for it. However, once you get that sorted out, things are pretty easy with this surroundbar. You can just use sit back on the couch and use the remote control which is very user-friendly that has big buttons made of rubber. They are also clearly labeled and glow in the dark as well, so you wouldn’t have to look for them in the dark. With that remote you can just sift through the menus that have been given a new look. With this new layout, you will be able to breeze through the various settings this surround bar has to offer as it is very easy and straightforward.

Sound Quality
Although CDs take a while to load, but the results you get after that wait is simply impressive for a soundbar. The LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray soundbar gives a very sharp and dynamic sound thanks to its four drivers that work well in sync and with great speed too. You will also be able to appreciate high-frequencies and fine sonic detail as this surroundbar is capable of rendering them. The subwoofer also gives great bass that can shake the whole living room. However there were some downers too like the lack of midrange solidity as well as too much emphasis on treble at times. Video quality was also top notch. We had no complains with both 2D and 3D images as they turned out great as they had rich colors and had a decent amount of detail as well.

Pros and Cons
The LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray soundbar will win over many with its super stylish design. It also offers various features that work well too.

Audio sometimes concentrated too much on treble. The design was good but its shape prevents it from being wall mounted.

Conclusion
If you don’t like having too much stuff under your TV to do all the things you want, then the LG HLX 56S 3D Blu-ray soundbar can be your best friend as it’s a one stop shop. With the long list of features and good audio and video quality, this surroundbar is worth getting if you have the cash for it.

Sound bars have revolutionized the audio industry by coming into the scene as a more economical replacement to a full 5.1 surround sound system. As every other soundbar out there, the LG LSB316 soundbar also aims at replacing your HDTV’s speakers. LG’s latest surround bar also comes with a wireless subwoofer, however that’s not the highlight because the Bluetooth feature onboard steals the spotlight. This feature reminds you of the AirPlay-like music streaming which you see on iOS devices and would definitely win over a huge fan base as it will be able to support more smartphones. Read on to find out if there’s more to the LG LSB316 surroundbar than meets the eye. 

Design
The LG LSB316 soundbar comes in a design very similar to many of the other soundbars out there. This means you get another long sound bar that comes together with a wireless subwoofer. However, there definitely was one thing that caught the eye, and that is its dimensions. Measuring in at 39.4 x 3.2 x 2.0 inches means that this sound bar is super thin at only 2 inches deep. So if you have a HDTV that takes up most of the space on your TV cabinet, you wouldn’t have to worry on where to place this surroundbar as it will definitely fit while leaving some room to spare too. Unlike most other soundbars, the LG LSB316 does not come with a speaker grille on the front which means you will be able to see the drivers on both the ends. This sound bar tips the scales at 20.3 pounds which is about the average weight, so no complains there.

On the front however, there is a display which we quite liked as you can make out what’s written on the screen from even 10 feet away. You get some amount of control from the buttons found under the display. On the right of the display is where the USB port sits for your digital music files. Moving on to the wireless subwoofer unit, its dimensions are 7.7 x 15.4 x 12.5 inches, again somewhat the average size for a subwoofer. The LG LSB316 surround bar also ships with a remote control and we found it to be good although the buttons were a bit cluttered. There is an input button which is easy to pick out and other buttons as well for volume and also buttons to change between your music folders. Meanwhile, in the middle, the buttons that look like directional pad are actually playback controls for music coming from your USB.

Features
Having AirPlay on AV receivers has definitely been something to look forward to these days and we are glad that the Bluetooth feature on this surroundbar actually performs just as well as the AirPlay does with iOS devices. All you got to do make it work is activate the Bluetooth feature then cue whatever music you want. Next choose the “LG Audio” from the AirPlay icon and from then on all your music will stream straight to the soundbar. We are impressed with the feature for two reasons, one because it works just as smooth as other devices that come with AirPlay like the Denon AVR-1912 and the Pioneer VSX-1021-K. Second, this feature found on the LG LSB316 soundbar isn’t limited to just iOS devices, but can be used with any smartphone too. This is something new and of course, we loved that.

The LG LSB316 has got a virtual surround mode to cover a wider area as well give you the surround sound experience. It may not be the best of the class but it’s something nice to have on your soundbar. The connectivity features on the LG LSB316 is not bad as you do get quite a few options. For starters, there are two optical inputs for your Blu-ray player and anything else like a PS3 for example. You also get a minijack input which is actually labeled as a portable audio input. This can actually work with your home theater device if you have an adapter cable in hand. Another connectivity option is the USB port which sits on the front, and it should get you to play music from your pendrive easily.  LG LSB316 is also capable of handling your standard Dolby and DTS decoding. It can also decode Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential.

Setting up the LG LSB316 soundbar with wireless subwoofer
First things first, getting a place to fit your soundbar. As we were saying earlier, it’s so thin you won’t need much space in front your TV at all to place this baby. If you would rather wall mount the LG LSB316 soundbar, then you can make use of the bracket that’s included with purchase. As for the wireless subwoofer, of course you can place it anywhere within a radius of 32 feet away from the surround bar. All you got to do to get the subwoofer up and running is turning on the main soundbar unit as they sync automatically. There are two optical inputs already but if you have more devices than there are optical inputs, then you can always use your TV for switching purposes. However, you will have that extra remote to deal with.

Sound Quality
The LG LSB316 surround bar offers a few Sound Effect surround modes and one of them is the virtual surround Sound Effect setting which essentially just widens the stereo image to a certain extent but with some loss in terms of sound quality. So we tried the other effects like Natural, Bypass and Loudness Sound Effect mode settings for the movies and music as these modes actually spread the stereo image and also provide good soundstage depth. The soundbar was able to provide some decent clarity although the subwoofer did show its darker side when having to deal with deep bass. We faced some problems with dialogues though as we found the voices to be boxy, and even after making some tweaks, we couldn’t get a better result.

Pros and Cons
The LG LSB316 surroundbar comes with the Bluetooth functionality that works with many devices and not just iOS ones. The connectivity options were also quite decent.

Sound quality on this soundbar wasn’t the best especially with bass. While the remote was decent, it was a bit cluttered to our liking.

Conclusion
This sound bar definitely is not up to the high standards that have been set by the likes of the Vizio VHT501 or the Sony HT-CT150. Nevertheless, it does provide sufficient sound for those who are not looking for something extraordinary and if you are on a budget, the LG LSB316 surroundbar which comes with a wireless soundbar would be a good buy.

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