LG SN9YG

Well, it’s game on now in soundbar world. We have been reviewing LG soundbars since they started making them and, to be frank, we’ve never much rated them. Some could handle movie sound OK, but music, eek, not so much. Last year we didn’t even call one in, preferring not to subject ourselves to another ordeal.

But things have clearly changed. From the moment the SN9YG and its subwoofer powered up, it was clear the sound had moved a notch above. During its early days in residence, we were casually throwing tunes (via AirPlay from an iPad Pro) to our reference hi-fi system with its $4000 German standmount speakers, greatly enjoying them and thinking ‘see, that’s what our real hi-fi can do with music’. Then we noticed that our chunky Canadian amplifier was turned off, and we’d actually been AirPlaying to the TV, with this enjoyable music emerging from the LG soundbar and subwoofer. Oops and sheesh. This was unexpected.

Equipment

This surprising performance certainly doesn’t come at the expense of facilities. The SN9YG sits three from the top of LG’s 2020 soundbar range, and it comes fully loaded.

It has built-in Google Assistant, so you can talk to it as with any Google Home-type