TEST BENCH

The Panorama's frequency response varied, often fairly radically, at different listening angles - something that the measurement-averaging technique used to generate our graph tends to downplay. For example, +5- and +2-dB peaks just below 2 kHz that appeared when the soundbar was measured directly on-axis (and that also appeared at ±15° off-axis) are offset by a 10-dB dip at ±30°. However, this same kind of acoustical averaging occurs in a typical listening environment, which means that the speaker's ultimate performance can't be portrayed by any single radiatingangle response graph.

When in Stereo Mode, the Panorama's response is down 6 dB at both 100 Hz on the low end and 11.5 kHz on the high end. There are also deep, narrow notches at 2.8 kHz and 8.7 kHz. In Wide operating mode, performance is very similar to Stereo Mode, except that the frequency of the deep, narrow notches changes to 2.8 kHz, 5.3 kHz, and 11.5 kHz. Although small bumps can be seen at lower frequencies, the Panorama has overall limited lowfrequency extension and dynamic capability. - Tom Nousaine