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 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.
So... don't listen to anyone else. I've had BOTH of these soundbars, and had/heard many IRL. You can find these AX700's open box on Offerup/Facebook for like $150. They're EXCELLENT for the price. In a small/medium room, they are more than sufficient. You get REAL, REAR channels and rear atmos, which the Beam does NOT offer. The subwoofer is also stronger since it's a discreet subwoofer. The atmos effects/quality is good. Not going to compete with a Q990D (my living room), but amazing for the price. The sub won't compete with a $500 sonos sub, but its very sufficient for most people, especially in a small/medium room. Downsides: sub can never get bigger (not that I want it to), no app support - only remote control. But you're not going to mess with your settings that much.
The beam gen 2 is a great speaker. It has surprising bass for its size, and the dialogue is crisp. Atmos effects are good, but simulated. It costs more, and has fewer inputs. The advantages for the Beam are: One piece/smaller for space saving if needed, expandable with more speakers (but the AX700 already comes with those speakers). Downsides: expensive. Requires calibration. Sonos ecosystem is both a plus and minus.
I went with the AX in my bedroom, sold the sonos, saved some money, and got rear speakers and real atmos speakers. Getting another AX for my gym.
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.
Top Soundbars on Reddit
1
Samsung
Q990F
77% positive of 600 users
Value for movies and easy setup, but music falls flat.
1LE_McQueen
