Spatial awareness
The SB16 doesn’t have a full surround sound decoder built-in, but instead uses Harman Kardon’s own 3D processing, which can be enabled or disabled from a button on the top of the soundbar. When active, it significantly expands the width of the stereo image adding a lot of extra space and depth to movie soundtracks or even TV dramas.
There’s no remote, but the system can be programmed to respond to your TV’s zapper
Given the size of the sub, it’s a surprise to find that it provides such tight, controlled bass and it doesn’t over power the main soundbar. Dialogue in movies remains tightly centred and even music played through the system exhibits excellent punch and clarity. The only real downer is that it’s not capable of producing really believable rear channel effects like Yamaha’s YSP-2200. To be fair, though, that system does costs over £200 more.
Verdict
Considering the high price of the system, the lack of HDMI connectivity is rather baffling. Also, the remote control configuration won’t suit every TV, but the SB 16’s ability to delivery a wide soundstage with beautifully balanced audio goes a long way towards making up for these shortcomings. ®
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Harman Kardon SB 16 soundbar
COMMENTS
Interesting model name...
Especially considering most of us are probably familiar with a very different SB16 dating back to June 1992... :)
So.....
I can splash five hundred queen's heads on a huge honking bar thing with half an amp built in. Or, alternatively, I can buy a real surround amp and speaker rig that sounds better and costs less.
Am I missing something here? Or am I just paying for the 'Karman/Hardon' sticker on the front?
HDMI control is useful
I have a yamaha sound bar, it is not bad. It connects to a sony TV, and the HDMI interface is used to control the volume. That way the Sony remote sends signals over HDMI to directly control the sound bar.
