Hisense - AX700

I can vouch for this. Recently bought the Hisense 5.1+ ax700 from Costco. Hooked everything up with arc but the hdmi connection capped my resolution / refresh rate on the monitor, and added noticeable latency. frankly it sounded horrible. Distorted, weak, flakey audio. Switched to optical and it didn’t sound much different. I’m gonna return them to Costco and replace them with kanto ora4 and sub8. Soundbar was 350 and the new equipment cost over 600. Can’t wait to get them.

I just got mine this week. I love it so far. Really easy to setup and the subwoofer is pretty decent. Overall would buy again for the price.

I got mine today, the surround speakers are a bit soft but all in all the system sounds ok not mind blowing but ok especially for the price. Just some extra info, this is my first sound bar and first time experiencing Dolby Atmos except from what I hear in show rooms like best buy and Walmart. I have 13 feet ceilings that form a triangle at the top. Not sure if this is why I don't really feel the Atmos effect as I thought I would or maybe I am looking at the wrong videos. I checked Disney's what if which said Dolby Atmos on the bar as well the Batman where the batmobile enters and chases penguin didn't feel like the sound was coming from the ceiling. The surround speakers have their dedicated power supply, I think someone mentioned that it's just one power supply and u connect the one surround to the other, not the case for me, both had a power supply and no other cables. The bass is ok as well not earth shattering. First day with the system, still trying it out to see if I like it.

The Costco version doesn’t have Hi Concerto which kinda sucks :/

So I did indeed get the soundbar. So, a few notes: 1. I do have a 75" Hisense TV U7 mini -LED QLED. The TV does recognize sound settings and sends the proper signal to the soundbar via eArc when content is active. 2. I have a ps5 and played death stranding, an atmos supported title, and it was pretty awesome. Again, my ps5 is connected directly to the TV and not through the soundbar. In the ps5 menu, you need to make sure you enable atmos settings (details in the previous link). Hearing voices behind me, rain, and dialog when you turn around was a fun experience. 3. The subwoofer was lacking a bit, in my opinion. My last samsung soundbar seemed to have a bit more low-end rumble and clarity. Still, it's not bad but not great either. But it is plenty loud when cranked to 20 or more. 4. Dialogue is much clearer. But I'm still trying to dial in the settings for certain types of content. I've noticed the volume increases in weird increments. The system ui on the soundbar itself is clunky and, at times, downright irritating. Weird messages may pop up on the bar itselfand when I looked them up, it seem so to be a software issue. But it hasn't affected the sound, so I'm cautiously monitoring it. Hopefully, it won't be a larger issue later. 5. It is a substantial upgrade from my last soundbar. At the fair price point of $250. As an entry-level atmos soundbar, I'm gonna stick with it, as I'm having a lot of fun with it. But it may take a while to really nail down sound profiles for certain types of content.

Just set mine up. Worth the 250

Hisense AX700 from Costco. Only $250 for 5.1.4 system

Quick Review: I like these so far. Initially had some rear speaker sound issues that I troubleshooted to wireless interference from my WIFI (the wireless on these is 5.8ghz, towards the top of the 5ghz spectrum). Once fixed, they've chugged along well. They haven't complained about content thrown at them, plenty of volume. The height channels seem a bit weak, but they're difficult to test since youtube doesn't have height channels.

I'm not entirely sure. I messed with my router settings a few times, but I can't force frequencies on it, so they probably don't hold. That said, it hasn't been an issue since. The connection seems to hold all the time now.

After 3 Weeks, I will be taking this soundbar back. (Paired with my wall mounted 85” TCL QM6K for reference). All soundbars connected via EARC/HDMI directly into the TV. TV sound settings were adjusted and mainly used on the same presets for both bars. I originally had the Samsung B650/ZA as our first soundbar purchase as my wife and I are NOT audiophiles and only watch tv shows and sports. The clarity on the Samsung was insane. No volume adjusting for ads or commercials on streaming apps (you know, the ones that triple in volume and blast your eardrums apart) - sound was crisp and clear across all streaming apps, movies, and sports. The best part was that dialogue in shows and movies (Gran Turismo and Ford v Ferrari were two movies I watched all the way through with this bar) were so clear and easy to understand, while the loud, booming race portions were deep and had nice bass and virtual surround. I don’t care about true surround with rears, and honestly I can’t really tell a difference with upfiring speakers on the bar itself. I think the upfiring noises get lost on the TV screen as the bar sits right in front of the screen with no room on the shelf to pull it out farther, plus our high ceilings don’t help. For the sake of fairness this comparison is based on just the sound bar itself. Overall, the Samsung - for being a 3.1 - seemed like an overall better listening experience all the way around. The audio quality sounded cleaner and just more “firm” across the board. The AX700 I was really excited for as I thought the 5.1 would offer an improvement over the Samsung for a small increase in price, plus being from Costco, I jumped on the offer and returned the Samsung to BestBuy. I was excited for the rear speakers that also had up firing drivers, as I assumed this would create a whole new audio environment for us and our family viewing experiences. Unfortunately, before anyone freaks out, I DO NOT have a way to mount the rears behind or to the sides of my couch - nor do I want to buy stands. I have 3 small children and 2 dogs who are rowdy, so minimalist approach is what we aim for. I ended up installing the rears on my entertainment book-end shelves, which fall 4 feet on each side of the sound bar, angled slightly towards the couch. I was hoping this would suffice to help create a wider sound stage outside of the bar itself that sits center in front of our couch, right under the tv. Immediately knew the upfiring speakers would probably echo and bounce sound, but was still excited to see what it sounded like. I ended up finding the menus to adjust all the settings on this bar, lowered the volume on the RH (Rear High) and increasing the volume on the RF (Rear Front). Adjusted the upfiring speakers on the bar, bass levels, treble levels, etc. Overall, no matter what, it sounds horrible at low levels with surround sound turned on (both Surround Pro and Pure Surround). Sounds are muffled, muddled, and messy. Shows with dialogue have echo and are soft and quiet. Background noises are boomy and loud. Turning surround off helps with 99% of what we watch, but unfortunately no matter what settings we adjust, at lower or normal volume levels, the noise just has that overbearing artificial “echoing” and jumpscare loud “hits” that come from a short and loud scene. Dialogue is impossible on this bar. I’ve set bass and all possible settings to 0 or even into the negatives and adjusted treble along with cycled through all EQ/Mode settings to find one that increases clarity - nothing works. At higher levels watching movies, the AX700 does well. If you enjoy higher than normal volume levels and watching movies, I’m sure this system shines bright. My wife is demanding this bar go back to Costco and she much prefers the Samsung overall. Our family members who actually are Audiophiles agreed as well, there was just something about the Samsung that sounded better. Watching football over thanksgiving with the AX700 was painful as we were constantly having to adjust the volume up and down, all day and night. We don’t have that issue with the Samsung. Can anyone recommend any other bar in the $500-ish range or below that sounds the same as the Samsung B650 as far as clarity and overall clean and level sound? I would like to upgrade the sound stage just a tad for nights when we do want that Theatre experience, but I don’t want a system that’s dedicated to Surround Sound

UPDATE: Purchased the Costco HW-Q60CF and it was by far leaps and bounds better than the AX700. Dialogue clear as day and the upfiring drivers on the top of the bar gave a nice, clean, enveloping sound from above while not being too overwhelming or drowning out the rest of the sounds. I ended up returning it the next day because I was told by someone that Sam’s Club had the HW-Q65C on Black Friday sale for $289. I purchased the HW-Q65C which is a 5.1 system (no upfiring drivers on the bar, but comes with a pair of Rear Speakers). Overall I love it as much as the Q60CF, but I honestly think the sound displacement on the 3.1.2 bar itself takes the win over the 5.1. The upfiring speakers are a nice touch for those who don’t want the full “surround sound” experience. They give a nice height/depth feeling to whatever you’re watching. I will say though, the 5.1 on the Q65C is just as good, and I find the rears on this system to be more “solid” than the Hisense AX700 (IMO they felt and sounded hollow/plastic-y). For fun, I watched the same dialogue scene in the Gran Turismo movie that was beyond frustrating with the AX700 where I couldn’t hear ANYTHING unless I cranked the bar up to 30, which blasted my eardrums out on the following scenes - the Samsung handles it beautifully. The scene is clear as day at the lowest level (and DRC was toggled on/off for both the Hisense and Samsung to test) and everything sounds rich and crisp. The following scenes are deep and fulfilling with nice bass and good treble levels to enrich the sounds of the cars. The surround sound on the rears (which I also have placed in the same spot on the shelves EXACTLY where the AX700 rears sat) are super clean and not distracting. Note- The rears on the Q65C system ARE wired with speaker wire, which I know most will hate, but coming from someone who does telecom for a living, I prefer it as the wires carry throughput, power, and audio with less latency and minimal noise in frequency. Wireless is awesome, but all things wireless have drawbacks - quality in signal strength and latency is one of them. Overall - Samsung bars in general, but specifically mine that I have now (HW-Q65C 5.1) are 8/10 for me and my family. I rate it that only knowing something like the Q990 would be absolutely INSANE and would for sure be a full 10/10 I’d rate the Hisense AX700 a 5/10 as the system itself offers amazing value, but I truly was frustrated with it overall no matter what I was watching. The units feels much cheaper than Samsungs as well, which doesn’t inspire confidence. I hope this helps others. As everyone should remember - this is all my personal opinion. Everyone is different and I’m not an expert (but I have tested quite a few different soundbars at this point from different manufactures).

Have the AX700 and it's way too good for movies

The other ones have no satellite speakers so If you want a more immersive experience, better to go with the hisense. Choosing between them will depend on your space and content that you watch. Pros: value for money. The hisense performs like a $500 soundbar. The raw power is amazing. Cons:The remote isn't good, Atmos on soundbars is just a gimmick, wireless design can cause sound to cut out sometimes which is annoying(less than a second) but you notice it. The source content will matter alot to whether you get a good experience or not

Have you adjusted all the settings? I have an AX700 and it's very good so far

Yeah. For movies and TV shows, it's excellent. Not so good with music but not really tuned for that. I love the sub so much. Had a Vizio V51x-J6 and the sub used to struggle with LFE when watching Blu-ray movies but this one just breezes through effortlessly

So I've used this soundbar for like 5 days and there are settings buried deep in the menu that alleviates what you experienced. There is a DCL (Dialogue control level) setting on the menu that can be adjusted to level 6 along with adjusting the center channel to level 3 that boosts the dialogue considerably tho Dolby Atmos tracks have low dialogue level compared to Dolby digital plus tracks. There is also a DRC (Dynamic range control) setting that balances the loud and quiet sounds that you can cycle between 1 and 2. If you use an LG OLED, make sure you're not pointing the remote at the IR blaster lest you open some apps on your tv. Lastly, Atmos on soundbars is just a gimmick lol

The AX700 is an amazing system after making the adjustments. Soundbars generally are all the same to me because they have the same form factor and what separates them is the processing. For a Q990f budget, I'd rather go with a hi-fi system