Over the festive period a few interesting flash sales were going on, and while we don't get sent much in the way of audio to review here, I thought I'd "invest" into a sound bar for my Samsung TV (which has the worst audio of any TV I have used). Luckily for me up popped the LG 2530A on Amazon, and I lumped on.
As normal with Amazon the delivery was super fast.
I really love audio and HiFi, and I'm very fussy about what gets to abuse my ears for hours on end, so with that in mind lets move on.
The system is as wide as the 42" TV I have and sits just underneath without obscuring the panel, I can even squeeze in a PS4 camera on top too, so the height is just about right.
Connecting the 2530A up is real easy, however no HDMI present so its just optical or nothing. There is Bluetooth and a 3.5mm input too come to think of it, something we may use with +ROCKI when it arrives. There is also an active sync feature if you have an LG TV. The TV needs to be told where to shove the audio too, as the PS4 did as well. You can flick between the optical audio channel by using the button on the remote. Talking of which can also double up as a TV remote, though limited in function.
You can adjust the built in "Woofer" via the remove, which you will need to do alot, I could never really settle on the best audio profile for the TV output, since the Samsung voice output was dire I seemed to use the "Clearvoice" profile 90% of the time with the Woofer turned up to 6, which is the maximum, not sure why LG settled on 6 - but there you go.
Without the Woofer the LG Sound Bar would be flat, I mean its not got a bad sound but without the bass ramped up it would be just better than the TV speakers, but it saves an otherwise poor performance.3D Sound Profile does give a more spacious surround than the TV did and the top facing sub woofer certainly helps to push the bass round the room (yes I know bass is non-directional) however it works best on gaming with the PS4. Hearing the roar of a Ferrari or an Alfa Romeo re-verb around the room does bring out a smile when playing Need for Speed.
Night mode is very good for late night movie watching, the sound is pretty clear and precise with the DRC enabled without waking up the kids.
What LG have made is half decent low/mid sound bar just over entry level I guess, but remember this bar is a little long in the tooth now and some replacements are due. So what holds it back from being a great sound bar ?
A few niggles I guess, but remember this bar is less than £140 / $200 at most retailers now.
Firstly the plastics, jeez they scratch so easy, then to make matters worse LG have stuck stickers on with superglue, which means you WILL mark it up removing them. My advice is purchase some plain black stickers from https://www.stickeryou.com/ if you decide to remove the LG ones. This will give the plastic some protection and hide the marks left behind. You will need 2" x 4.24" dimensions or bigger.
Second, I just wish the bass was a bit louder, its not missing, its just lacking a bit of depth. By that I mean its not tin like, just lacks a little. Music does play much better than TV output for sure, which was the opposite of the small amount of reviews I have read about the bar online, but who buys a TV sound bar to listen to music on anyway.
Third and last, the digital display behind the grill cant be "dimmed" - It doesn't bother me so much as I'm a good 12-14ft away from my TV but it does have the potential to be distracting. Shame +LG Electronics didn't include an auto dim or display off feature. If you look at a certain angle you can see the glare it kicks out.So yes its better than the TV speakers, its no HiFi replacement that's for sure, I miss my old Sony STR DB890 given whats coming out of the LG. Its by no means offensive either if you don't mind have a fiddle with the profiles to get the best for what your watching. Its certainly great for gaming, and quite pleasing for music too.
Its hard not to recommend this sound bar for the price, but as I have said, without the built in sub the sound would be flatter than Keira Knightley's chest. Just don't expect the earth to shake.