LG S95TR 9.1.5 Channel Soundbar: Immersive Home Theater Audio, Simplified

Imagine you’re settling in for a movie night. You’ve got the popcorn, the dimmed lights, and a massive screen ready to transport you to another world. But something’s missing. The sound. It’s flat, lacks depth, and doesn’t quite pull you into the scene the way you hoped. It’s a common problem. While modern televisions offer stunning visuals, their built-in speakers often fall short, leaving a gap between what you see and what you hear.

Many people turn to traditional surround sound systems for a solution, but those come with their own set of challenges: a tangle of wires, complicated setup procedures, and the constant struggle to find the perfect speaker placement. What if there was a way to achieve truly immersive, cinema-quality sound without all the hassle?

The Journey to Immersive Sound: A Brief History

To understand the magic of the LG S95TR, it helps to take a quick trip down memory lane. The quest for realistic sound reproduction has been a long one. It started with monophonic sound – a single channel, where all audio information is mixed together. Then came stereo, with two channels (left and right), offering a sense of width and directionality.

The next big leap was surround sound, typically 5.1 or 7.1 systems. These added more channels, placing speakers around the listener to create a more enveloping soundstage. But even these systems had limitations. They delivered sound primarily in a horizontal plane, lacking the crucial element of height.

Enter Object-Based Audio: Dolby Atmos and DTS:X

This is where Dolby Atmos and DTS:X come in. These are object-based audio technologies, a revolutionary departure from traditional channel-based systems. Instead of assigning sounds to specific speakers, Atmos and DTS:X treat sounds as individual objects that can be placed anywhere in a three-dimensional space.

Imagine a helicopter flying overhead in a movie. In a traditional surround sound system, the sound would primarily come from the front speakers, perhaps with some contribution from the side or rear speakers. With Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, the sound of the helicopter is treated as a distinct object. The audio processor in your soundbar (or AV receiver) uses sophisticated algorithms to calculate how that sound should be distributed across all available speakers, including those that fire upwards, to create the illusion that the helicopter is actually flying above you.

This is achieved by adding height channels to the traditional surround sound setup. These channels are typically delivered by upward-firing speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling, creating a dome of sound that envelops the listener.

The LG S95TR: A 9.1.5 Powerhouse

The LG S95TR 9.1.5-Channel Soundbar is designed to bring this immersive, object-based audio experience into your home with unprecedented ease and elegance. The “9.1.5” designation might seem intimidating, but it’s simply a way of describing the speaker configuration:

• 9 Horizontal Channels: These include the traditional front left, center, and front right channels, plus two side-firing channels and four rear channels (two rear and two rear-side). This creates a wide and detailed soundstage that wraps around you.
• 1 Subwoofer Channel: The “.1” refers to the subwoofer, a dedicated speaker that handles low-frequency sounds (bass). This adds depth, power, and impact to explosions, music, and other sound effects.
• 5 Upward-Firing Channels: This is where the S95TR truly shines. It features three upward-firing speakers on the main soundbar unit, including an industry-exclusive up-firing center channel. This significantly improves dialogue clarity, ensuring that voices are crisp and clear, even amidst complex soundscapes. The two rear speakers each add an additional up-firing channel.

The Science of Sound Reflection

The upward-firing speakers work by utilizing the principle of sound reflection. Sound waves, like light waves, can bounce off surfaces. The S95TR’s upward-firing drivers project sound towards your ceiling at a specific angle. The sound waves then reflect off the ceiling and travel down towards the listening area, creating the perception of sound coming from above.

The effectiveness of this technique depends, to some extent, on the height and material of your ceiling. Ideally, you’ll want a flat, reflective ceiling (drywall or plaster) that is between 7.5 and 14 feet high. Highly absorbent ceilings (like those with acoustic tiles) will reduce the effectiveness of the height channels.

Wireless Freedom and AI-Powered Precision:

One of the biggest headaches with traditional surround sound systems is the wiring. Running cables to rear speakers can be a messy and time-consuming process. The LG S95TR solves this problem with wireless rear speakers. These speakers connect to the main soundbar unit wirelessly, giving you the freedom to place them anywhere in the room without worrying about unsightly cables. They do, of course, need to be plugged into a power outlet.

But simply placing speakers around the room isn’t enough to guarantee optimal sound. Every room is different, with unique acoustic properties that can affect sound quality. This is where the S95TR’s AI Room Calibration comes in.

Using a built-in microphone, the soundbar analyzes the size, shape, and acoustic characteristics of your room. It then uses sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms to adjust the sound output of each speaker, compensating for any reflections, resonances, or other acoustic anomalies. This ensures that you hear the sound as the creators intended, regardless of your room’s imperfections.

The LG Ecosystem: Synergy in Action

If you own a compatible LG TV (such as the B4, C4, or G4 series OLED models), the S95TR offers even greater benefits through a suite of features collectively known as “WOW.”

• WOW Orchestra: This ingenious feature combines the soundbar’s speakers with your LG TV’s built-in speakers, creating an even more expansive and detailed soundstage. The TV’s speakers are used to reinforce the center channel and add further height effects, resulting in a truly immersive listening experience.
• WOW Interface: This simplifies your entire entertainment setup by allowing you to control both your TV and soundbar with a single remote. You can adjust the volume, change sound modes, and even see the soundbar’s status on your TV screen.
• WOWCAST: This enables a wireless connection between your LG TV and the S95TR, eliminating the need for an HDMI cable. This not only reduces clutter but also ensures a high-quality, low-latency audio connection, supporting wireless Dolby Atmos.

Beyond Sound: Additional Features

While the primary focus of the S95TR is delivering exceptional audio, it also includes several other features that enhance the overall user experience:

• VRR/ALLM (Variable Refresh Rate/Auto Low Latency Mode): These features are primarily for gamers. VRR synchronizes the refresh rate of your TV with the frame rate of your gaming console or PC, reducing screen tearing and stuttering. ALLM automatically switches your TV to a low-latency mode when you start playing a game, minimizing input lag.
• Multi-Platform Support: Beyond being a great fit with an LG TV, the S95TR is also future-ready. Choose your go-to voice assistant like Google Assistant or Alexa, and control your favorite features like Chromecast, AirPlay 2 and more through your LG Soundbar.
• Connectivity: The S95TR offers a variety of connectivity options, including HDMI eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel), Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. This allows you to connect it to a wide range of devices, from Blu-ray players and gaming consoles to smartphones and tablets.
  

A Realistic Perspective

It’s important to acknowledge that even the best soundbar, including the S95TR, cannot fully replicate the experience of a discrete multi-speaker system with dedicated ceiling speakers. However, the S95TR comes remarkably close, and it does so with a level of convenience and elegance that traditional systems simply can’t match.

To maximize the performance of the S95TR, consider the following tips:

• Placement: Place the soundbar directly below your TV, ideally at ear level.
• Rear Speaker Positioning: Experiment with the placement of the rear speakers to find the optimal surround sound effect.
• Ceiling Height: If your ceiling is very high or heavily textured, the effectiveness of the up-firing speakers may be reduced.
• Run the AI Calibration.
  

The Gateway to Immersive Audio

The LG S95TR 9.1.5-Channel Soundbar represents a significant step forward in home theater audio. It combines cutting-edge technology, sophisticated design, and ease of use to deliver a truly immersive and engaging listening experience. It’s more than just a soundbar; it’s a gateway to a new dimension of sound, transforming your living room into a personal cinema. It moves beyond simply making the sound louder, toward making sound better, more realistic, and more involving.