CES 2016

I speculated a few months back that what the world needs is an Atmos soundbar. The industry must have been listening, because we now have at least two such products, one from Samsung and the other from Yamaha. I haven’t heard the Yamaha, but the Samsung HW-K950 was being demonstrated at this year’s CES.

It consists of front LCR speakers firing from the front of the bar, L&R upward firing drivers also inside the bar, wireless surrounds with both front and upward firing drivers (front for the conventional surrounds, upward for the Atmos effects), and a wireless subwoofer.

The Samsung was in modest fettle in a small, semi-closed off both on the CES show floor. If it wasn’t entirely convincing in either immersion or timbre, an entire sidewall of glass, and no obvious acoustic room treatment, certainly didn’t help.