LG SP9YA Soundbar Review #Detailed

Audio/Sound

The LG SP9YA soundbar comes with a separate subwoofer and 5.1.2 (5 prime speakers, 1 inbuilt subwoofer, 2 up/side-firing speakers) built-in channel system. This combination produces a total of 520W audio output.

This soundbar also supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, Meridian tuning, an AI Sound Pro mode with clear high-resolution audio support.

Overall Performance

The LG SP9YA is a true 5.1 soundbar. Its ability to reproduce dynamic, full-bodied sound is undeniable. Its clarity makes it a great choice for watching movies or listening to music. It’s got plenty of features, too, such as eARC, built-in Airplay 2 and Chromecast, and support for Alexa speaker groups.

It also has up and side-firing speakers which responsible for surround sound

A lossless codec handles audio very well. It doesn’t matter how you send the audio signal from the source device (e.g., Blu-Ray Player) to the receiver (SP9YA). Audio quality remains high regardless of the method used.

There are several sound modes available, such as AI Sound Pro, Standard Mode, Music Mode, Cinema Mode, Sports Mode, Game Mode, Clear Voice Mode, and Bass Blast Mode. These modes work well with general TV viewing. Cinema mode gives TV dramas and movies a better sense of envelopment. Game mode sounds great when playing games.

Design

The SP9YA sound bar is a big, 48-inch wide soundbar that looks great sitting in front of any large television. It’s height is likely to be looked small by any television.

LG has kept the brushed aluminum feel of the top surface on the soundbar and subwoofer, a great choice in that it minimzes the appearance of what is pretty big speakers. The only thing interrupting the otherwise seamless design are those circular up-firing drivers. I prefer Dolby sound bars that hide those height drivers, like the Sony AVR XB950BT or the Sonos Playbase 2. But that’s really just a matter of personal preference.

The bar is likely noticable when turned off. When you turn it on, there are lights on the front and back of the bar. There are also buttons on the top of the unit. These buttons control the volume, power, source select, play/pause, bluetooth, and wifi.

Connectivity

The SP9YA has four ports: an HDMI input, an HDMI output that supports HDMI ARC/eARC, an Optical input, and a USB A port that can access the audio files.

The soundbar’s 2 x HDMI connections give you a couple of choices in terms of connecting to TVs. You can connect a video source directly to the SP9YA‘s HDMI input and then use the soundbar’s HDMI output (4k HDR pass-through is supported, including Dolbys Vision) to connect to a TV’s HDMI input. There’s only 1 HDMI input, but you can connect only one video source to the SP8Ya. We wish there were more HDMI inputs.

There is also a built-in Wi-fi wireless connectivity. It supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The device doesn’t have an ethernet port. The wireless connectivity consists of built-in Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth v5.0 and also has streaming services support from Google Chromecast or Apple Airplay 2.

Controls

This speaker system has seven capacitive touch controls on top of the main unit. Power, volume control, play/pause, and WiFi are located on the front panel.

The soundbar has an array of microphones directly in front of the volume controls. A five-digit display that blinks after a short period of time is located on the front panel.

LG’s new soundbars have an improved remote design. However, the buttons are laid in such a way that requires stretching your thumb out to reach them. The four-way nav pad is within easy reach. Volume controls sit too high up on the remote.

And it’s new soundbar app is better than the old one. You can use it to change inputs, adjust volume, cycle through the sound modes, trim the speaker levels, and calibrate your speakers. It will also prompt you to do the AI-powered room-calibration process at setup, and tinker with the AV sync if you’re having problems.

As for the voice control, this LG soundbar doesn’t work with Google Assistant or Alexa. You can use voice commands to control the soundbar, such as “Turn the volume up”, “Skip the next song” and “Play the next song”. But you can’t talk to Google Assistant or Alexa directly.