News

Onkyo has today announced a new trio of soundbar products - and taken a few pot-shots at TV manufacturers at the same time.

The new LS-B40 three-way soundbar, LS-B50 two-way 'bar with wireless 40W active subwoofer, and LS-T10 'TV speaker system' are all claimed to deliver a 'panoramic, immersive sound', courtesy of onboard DSP and multi-driver arrays, that will make a modern telly blush.

Says Onkyo: 'It's really not that surprising that the sound quality of today's flatscreen TVs is so atrocious – quite simply, you can't argue with the laws of physics. The slimmer TV screens become the harder it is to squeeze substantial and effective speaker drive units into them.'

Both the LS-B40 and LS-B50 pack eight drivers (two bass woofers, four mid-range drivers, and two tweeters for the former; six full-range and two tweeters for the latter). The LS-T10 (pictured below) sports a pedestal design - your TV is meant to be plonked on top of it. It uses six full-range drivers plus a 21W subwoofer on its underbelly.

All three products feature Bluetooth media streaming and USB ports for file playback. Connectivity is done via optical digital audio - there's no HDMI switching here. Supplied wall-mounting kits and IR flashers (to work in conjunction with your TV's remote) improve placement options.

The LST10 and LS-B50 will launch at the end of September, prices £350 and £450 respectively. The £300 LS-B40 will follow at the end of October.