LG S95QR Sound Bar Review: The Mini Home Theater you are looking for?

The LG S95QR is LG's recently released premium soundbar featuring the Meridien sound. Introduced in India in 2023, this flagship sound bar by LG comprises 15 channels which on paper can provide a 9.1.5 Dolby Atmos surround sound output and deliver a theatrical experience without the need for a full-fledged home theater system including those ceiling channels.

The question is whether the LG S95QR can deliver a powerful enough output to immerse you in the experience and justify its 9.1.5 Dolby Atmos surround sound. Let us find out, shall we?

PROS

• Distinctive utilization of all 15 channels to provide surround sound sensation
• Reasonably ergonomic design to aid the sound rebound
• Theatrical experience
• Easy to use Application

CONS

• Comparatively underwhelming music experience
• App at times can be unreliable
• Monotonous color scheme

COMPONENTS, DESIGN AND BUILD

The LG S95QR consists of a sound bar, a subwoofer, and two rear speakers. All wirelessly linked, sleek and tangle-free.

The Sound Bar

The sound bar contains 8 channels which includes 5 ear level speakers(3 front firing and 2 for the sides) all covered in a sheet of fabric and 3 height drivers. It has an interesting design decision in that the sides are splayed out to let sounds bounce off walls more effectively. The sound bar has four ports: one HDMI ARC port, two HDMI ports, and one SV port. The front screen is small yet clear, and dims after a few seconds of inactivity. The sound bar is as broad as my 55" TV and fits well without taking up too much room.

The Subwoofer

The Subwoofer is a little on the taller side but that somewhat slim design makes it compact in terms of placement. It comprises an 8" cloth-covered driver.

The Rear Speakers

The two rear speakers have a total of 6 channels, two ear level channels and one up-firing channel on each unit. The design is compact, with the sockets for the two ear level channels carved out at an angle to improve sound rebound.

The LG S95QR's overall aesthetics may be a bit vanilla in terms of color, since it's basically the same old gray as every other sound system out there, but they have a reasonably ergonomic design for generating sound and are compact enough to fit in a room. Which brings me to their placement.

Placement

Interestingly, the room in which the sound bar is to be placed is just as significant as how it should be placed. To best enjoy the LG S95QR sound bar, a rectangular room is required. Place the soundbar in the center of its breadth, just in front of, or, underneath the television, the subwoofer next to it, with a little space between the two and the rear speaker directly behind your seating location.

A placement like this in a closed rectangular room will allow the sound to rebound appropriately, creating that Dolby Atmos surround sound sensation(more on that in the next section).

Sound Quality

The LG S95QR does not disappoint for its exorbitant pricing. It is a sound bar, but the other components and its up-firing speakers that create the Dolby Atmos effect, turn it into a tiny theater for your house. But what exactly is Dolby Atmos, and why is it necessary?

To summarize, the concept of Dolby Atmos is to give volume to your sound by creating a 3D sound field that is object based, which requires ceiling channels, but here the 5 up-firing speakers are doing the lord's work of rebounding the sound off the ceiling to make it sound like it is coming from the ceiling, obviously it is not as effective as proper ceiling channels but good enough to do the job.

So the biggest test for any sound system claiming to be Dolby Atmo is, is it able to fool you to trace the origin of the sound with its rebound effect? In simple words, the sound's origin should feel dislocated from where it is actually being produced. So let's see if the 9.1.5 Dolby Atmos designation on the LG S95QR actually feels like a 15 channel output. Let us begin with films.

Movies

To put the LG S95QR to the test, I watched some Atmos-designed flicks (which also are some of my personal favorites). I revisited 'Gravity' (2013) and 'Blade Runner 2049' (2017) to test the ambient sounds, speakers' ability to reproduce deep bass tones with subtle details, and handle intricate soundscapes, and films like 'Dunkirk' (2017) and 'Mad Max Fury Road' (2015) to test the dynamic and explosive sounds.

'Dunkirk' (2017) and 'Mad Max: Fury Road' (2015) allowed the S95QR to truly exercise its drivers when it came to handling dynamic noises. Both the films had plenty of movement on the screen with sound coming from all directions along with it being mixed with a complex background score. In a normal system, this could sound like a jumble, and you won't get the full cinematic experience that the filmmaker intended, but the S95QR allowed me to immerse in the experience, it put me right in the middle of the action with the sensation of sound coming from all directions, the up-firing speakers absolutely dazzled here by reflecting sounds from the ceiling to provide that feeling, making each rifle fire and explosion sound unique.

While lacking a bit in rumble, the sub woofer allowed the thumping background soundtrack to stand on its own without merging with the other noises. The motor vehicle chases in Mad Max: Fury Road, in particular, made me feel like I was a part of the chase.

Now, when watching "Gravity" (2013), the LG S95QR handled the shift in soundscapes so beautifully that I was able to sense it just as the film intended. I could feel the smoothness in the sound transition when the camera slowly dollied in from outer space into the astronaut's helmet, and on the other hand, the quick change in soundscape when the protagonist rushed out of water to catch some air made me experience the abrupt shift in air pressure too.

I'd prefer to use two scenes from 'Blade Runner 2049' (2017) to talk about spatial imaging and frequency response. The first was a scene in the film involving echo in dialogue as the characters were talking in a large empty hall; that echo effect was beautifully recreated by the LG S95QR, to its details; and second, the rainy sequences in open settings genuinely felt real as they were separated really well from the dialogues via the LG S95QR. So much so that I thought it was pouring outside my window.

This was due to the up-firing speakers on the bar separating the ambient noises by blasting them upwards, whilst the front-firing channels directed the dialogue audio directly at me. This not only contributed to the immersive experience but also made the dialogue sound clear.

Music

While films on the LG S95QR sounded phenomenal I had a mixed experience while listening to music on the sound bar. To test the music on the LG S95QR I chose 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin, 'Seven Nation Army' by The White Stripes and 'Money' by Pink Floyd.

Once I tuned into 'Whole Lotta Love' which is known for its processed distorted vocals sung on a guitar riff during the chorus, it sounded pretty bad. It was a disorganized listening experience that sounded too messy. To get the sound right, I had to experiment with the speaker settings, tuning down the Overhead Speaker level by -5db and increasing the rear speaker and rear overhead speaker volume by 3db. It sounded decent then. Nothing spectacular by a premium sound bar standards, but good enough.

Even the chorus riff on 'Seven Nation Army' sounded far more distorted than it actually was until I fiddled with the settings. Although, after adjusting the settings and selecting Bass Blast+ mode, Seven Nation Army sounded great. The subwoofer was clearly reproducing the song's heavy bassline well.

However, after achieving the previously mentioned speaker settings, 'Money' by Pink Floyed proved to be a unique experience. The LG S95QR really got to flex its muscles, or shall I say 'driver' in bringing the surround sound experience for this song. It really made me feel like I was listening to sounds from all across the room. However, listening to this song at max volume can be a little unpleasant experience.

Personally for music, I prefer lowering the Overhead Speaker level while increasing the Rear Speaker volume, as described above, and combining it with Bass Blast+ or Music with Meridian mode. Both modes will serve you well, however I think the Bass Blast+ option works better for some tracks.

Sports

The device's 'Sports' preset comes in useful if you're paying close attention to the commentary during a game because it amplifies the vocals. However, for a sport like F1 or MotoGP, I'd recommend using the Bass Blast+ option to truly feel the engine revving.

LG Sound Bar Application

The LG Sound Bar application is easy to use. It is simple to connect to the sound bar and is filled with useful and important features. As previously said, you can easily alter the level of the sound bar's channels using the app. Aside from that, the app also allows you to switch between modes such as 'cinema', 'music', and so on more easily than the remote. There is also an option to control the treble and bass, although it is not as precise as I had hoped, with a touch of mids in the middle as well.

You also get access to various sound settings such as IMAX Enhanced audio, Multi-channel Experience. DRC, Auto Volume, and other options are available to you according to your needs. However, I'd recommend that you leave IMAX Enhanced audio on and turn off Auto Volume to achieve a basic surround sound experience.

The app also offers AI room calibration, which optimizes the sound on the sound bar based on the acoustics of your room, which is quite useful. The application also lets you connect to Alexa and Google through a third-party device.

However, I did face minor difficulties with the applications. There were two occasions where the app was working well one moment and then, when I attempted to change the settings, I was disconnected to the point where I had to unplug the device from the main power and then put it back in to reconnect.

Verdict

The LG S95QR's cinematic experience is its main selling point. Simply said, films are the main course here, while the others are appetizers. It seemed like a match made in heaven watching flicks with the LG S95QR providing the audio output in 'Cinema' mode. The films with excellent sound design will feel especially cinematic if you get the placement right thanks to the S95QR's ability to immerse you from all angles.

Now don't get me wrong, the LG S95QR is excellent for music as well, but you may need to fiddle with the settings quite a bit when going from movies to music and vice versa. Which makes it quite a task.

Overall, I believe that if you want to have anything similar to a full-fledged home theater setup for the price of ₹109990 and occasionally enjoy watching sports, particularly racing, then simply close your eyes and choose the LG S95QR. It checks all the necessary boxes and gives an excellent theatrical experience at this price.