Samsung HW-Q950A soundbar system It goes up to 11

Samsung has done it again with the Q950A soundbar — it’s a soundbar that doesn’t sound like a soundbar. It sounds rather more like an amp and speakers. Of course it’s $2099, so perhaps it should. But this isn’t a bar which pretends to present immersive audio; it actually does so. You want surround? There are actual wireless surround speakers in the box. You want bass? There a sizeable subwoofer. You want height? The bar and the rears all have upfiring drivers, delivering Atmos-enabled height information you can enjoy without actually pinning the speakers to your ceiling.

So while some soundbars make outrageous claims for their channel count — we’ve seen bars claiming to deliver 5.1.2 when they’re basically just fizzed-up stereo — here Samsung claims an extraordinary 11.1.4 channels with the Q950A soundbar, but with every one of those numerals given a dedicated driver. While there is some sonic ‘upscaling’ employed in various of its sound modes, there’s no ear-fooling phase trickery here in that regard, and your ears will be thankful for its absence.

Equipment

Such genuine channel delivery doesn’t, of course, fit into one of the small compact soundbars which have emerged in the last few years. Here there are four separate speakers in Samsung’s nicely eco-friendly box, and the main soundbar is a biggie — 123cm long, 7cm high, just tucking neatly below the bottom edge of the Q950TS television with which we tested the soundbar package. The bar is cloth-covered on the top and front, good for preventing screen reflections, though also making it harder for us to spot the drivers and work out exactly where the channels are coming from. We initially guessed there would be three