LATEST ADDITIONS

JBL today announced its most ambitious product launch in recent memory with lifestyle-focused AV receivers and mix-and-match speakers for music and movies that draw on its rich history in audio with support from a parent company that also happens to be the top TV brand in the world — Samsung.

PRICE $1,050 (as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Exceptional value in build and sound quality
Optional wireless sub and surrounds
Thoughtful and extensive adjustments
Easy-to-use remote and app interface
Minus
Needs the add-on sub for best dynamics
No DTS decoding
No rear-height surrounds...yet

THE VERDICT
Klipsch has partnered with Onkyo to deliver an audiophile-quality soundbar that is one of the best values for the money you'll find.

Dolby Atmos, once a costly premium, is enjoying a surge of popularity across a range of new audio gear. In particular, very good Atmos soundbars from capable audio brands are becoming common and less costly. These are made even more attractive today thanks to Dolby’s support in developing an immense catalog of evergreen music for spatial audio.

“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” George Orwell, 1984

In the summer of 1984, two ascending musical forces vaulted themselves into the megastar stratosphere on a parallel tract that would be virtually impossible to duplicate today. Bruce Springsteen upped his own iconography by touring stadiums in support of Born in the U.S.A., a perpetually catchy album whose underlying message actually served to tear down the tenets of the American mythos. At the same time, Prince and The Revolution dominated the charts with Purple Rain, the ostensible soundtrack to the low-budget box-office phenomenon of the same name that chronicled the rise of “The Kid” and his killer Minneapolis-bred band, despite their respective struggles with a myriad of mental and physical obstacles alike.