The LG S95TR is a seriously ambitious soundbar setup. It’s a continuation of the nine channels of forward, side, and up-firing noise, big subwoofer, and two chunky rear speakers that LG claims will make your living room sound like the front row of an IMAX screening.
Unboxing the thing is a bit of an event. The main bar is a hefty unit, long enough to double as a gymnastics beam (for a cat at least), and the sub looks like it could comfortably act as an ugly end table. Setup, however, is nice and simple, a big tick if you’re not into wired home cinema kits. Plug everything in, press a couple of buttons, and most of it just works. The rear speakers connect wirelessly, and you don’t need to rewire your house to get them going. That alone is worth a sigh of relief – but do try to speak to your local store about placement and your room size, as wireless/Bluetooth rear speakers require some forethought.
The star of the show here is height – literally. This is a 9.1.5 system, and while that number might look unfamiliar if you’ve only heard about 5.1 in passing, it actually means this thing throws sound not just around the room but above your head. The S95TR’s centre speaker even fires upward, which is supposed to lift dialogue out of the speaker and make voices sound like they’re coming from the screen. In practice? It works far better than I expected. Dialogue has real clarity and presence, even during the usual Hollywood mix of gunfire, orchestras, and collapsing buildings – and the new trend of mumbling a good wedge of your lines apparently.
There’s a real sense of space to it all. Watch any half-decent Atmos mix and you’ll get swoops and swirls across the room, with effects pinging between rear channels and the ceiling in a way that’s genuinely impressive. It’s not subtle, but it is fun, the kind of sound that turns a film into an event. And if you’ve got an LG TV, things get even more locked in. Features like WOW Orchestra let the TV’s speakers join the party rather than sit awkwardly muted.
The sub gives an impressive amount of whack considering its size, but you can’t help but think that a wired system for the same cost would give you a more controlled and accurate subwoofer in its place – you’d just have to cope with the wiring.
Sit at the centre of the sound, just like at the cinema, with the LG US95TR.
Musically, this setup actually handles tunes with a surprising amount of detail. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi streaming are smooth enough, and stereo separation is handled well. Vocals are clear, instrumentation doesn’t mush together, and it can throw a decent party. That said, if you’re an audiophile chasing sonic perfection, the lack of deep EQ customisation might leave you grumbling. It’s very much a “plug in and enjoy” experience rather than one for endless tweaking – and if music really IS a concern and you MUST get a soundbar, take a look at our Sonos range, even if you build it over several purchases.
Build quality is solid throughout. It’s not flashy, but it feels premium. Matte plastics, fabric grills, and enough physical heft to justify the price. You’ll probably end up using the app instead of the supplied remotw, or just making it work with your TV remote via HDMI CEC.
The only real drawback to the bar is how closely it wants to be married to an LG TV. That’s where you’ll squeeze out every last drop of its feature set, and if you’re pairing it with another brand, you’ll lose a few bells and whistles. If you want something that’s more adaptable with other brands, Yamaha’s SRX50 bar is worth considering if you don’t mind losing some heft..
This is a soundbar system that genuinely delivers on its promises. Big, immersive, and just the right amount of overkill. It doesn’t do everything perfectly, but it does most things with confidence, and that makes it easy to recommend for anyone who wants their living room to sound like a multiplex without looking like a server room.
Author: Tom, Cardiff Store
