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Iceland, ReykjavΓ­k
1 Level
437 Review
0 Karma

Review on πŸ”Š TCL Alto 5+ 2.1 Channel Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer - Ts5010, Black, 32-Inch by Abby Libbett

Revainrating 4 out of 5

I don't know why there is so much criticism for this soundbar, it's great

I got rid of the cable almost ten years ago and was a streaming guy. Bought a 60" TCL Roku TV, wasn't impressed with the sound, it was ok but the somewhat flat EQ and built in enhancements didn't help much. I bought this soundbar after reading some reviews and seeing some unboxings on youtube which were mixed but I went for it. I'm not sure who these people are doing product reviews but for me this thing is very good for the price. I can say that, I won't list all the specs because even if I could, I don't think any of it really matters, it's the sound quality. 1. For me I have a relatively small one bedroom apartment, decent size. I have a Firestick 4K, PS4, that's basically all. A little tweaking was required after installation, but as soon as I did I heard the difference immediately. It's important to note. These days audio and video come from a variety of sources, Youtube, Netflix if you're still using cable TV. It's important to know that it will sound just as good as your source. That said, if you're watching a Youtube video or an old DVD movie, don't expect it to blow your mind with the sound, because it all depends on how the audio source was encoded, in the end some things will sound better than others, it's not necessarily the speakers' fault. When I plugged in the PS4 and tested it in a few games, it was immediately clear how much better the sound was. Explosions, sound effects, and background music were loud, filled with booming lows and bright left-to-right panning of highs and mids. The equalizer only has three presets MOVIE, NEWS and MUSIC, I set it to MOVIE, that sounds best to me, the subwoofer really hums on this setting. The speaker was easy to connect and offers three different options, audio cable, optical and HDMI. If you're wondering which one is better, HDMI is what you need without a doubt, the rest is just in case you don't have HDMI, if you have an HDMI/ARC port on your TV you'll am benefit most. HDMI/ARC allows your soundbar to sync with your TV and it effectively becomes the TV's speaker. When you turn on the TV, the speaker turns on when you turn off the TV. If you operate the volume control of the TV with delete, the soundbar reacts. The subwoofer connects to the soundbar via bluetooth, took a few tries to get it positioned correctly and it connected with no problems. After that there is nothing to do, it just works. The soundbar has multiple inputs to switch between should you have other inputs, including connecting for example your phone to play music from Spotify or something that worked fine. The soundbar goes to sleep very frequently when you play music via Bluetooth while the soundbar is connected to your TV via HDMI/ARC, which is annoying. The workaround is to turn on the TV while I'm gaming via Bluetooth. My TV goes into sleep mode, which makes the soundbar seem to think the TV is on so it doesn't go to sleep. ARC but that's ok, looks a bit plasticky but I'm pretty sure I'll almost never use it. Overall I'm very happy with this soundbar, I like the size, it doesn't take up much space and there's a time when that bad boy actually lets you know he's there. For an apartment it's perfect, can't tell if it will work in a larger and open space, I think yes, it works well for now and is a great addition to my TCL 60" TV. I'm still excited about this brand.

Pros
  • Dope πŸ”₯
Cons
  • Expensive