The difference between Atmos and non-Atmos sound systems was starkly apparent over and over again as I compared my current setup, which features the Klipsch Cinema 1200 speakers, to my friend Andrew Robinson's review of the Samsung Q90B Soundbar. The Atmos system, in particular, stood out for its exceptional detail, timbre, accuracy, and presence. The Fidelity of the sound was impressive, with a sense of depth and weight that was lacking in my current setup.

One of the standout features of the Q90B Soundbar is its ability to produce a truly immersive soundstage. I was blown away by the clarity and continuity of the sound, which seemed to transport me into the world of the music or movie being played. The subwoofer, while initially intimidating in its capabilities, proved itself to be agile and musical, adding depth and weight to the overall sound without overpowering it.

In my experience, the Q90B Soundbar was not only capable of producing exceptional sound for movies, but also for music. In fact, I found myself preferring its performance over that of the Klipsch Cinema 1200 for music, which I did not expect given the reputation of those speakers. The Sony HTA 9000 is a formidable opponent in terms of psychoacoustics, but it relies heavily on a phantom center channel or a high-end TV to achieve pinpoint dialogue clarity and localization.

The Q90B Soundbar, on the other hand, stands alone with its exceptional center channel clarity, which I would argue is possibly the best I've heard from any soundbar. Its ability to produce clear and localized dialogue without the need for additional equipment was a revelation. While I could go on and on about the sound of the Q90B Soundbar, I will stop here and simply say that it's truly impressive.

The price point of the Q90B Soundbar is undoubtedly steep, with a price tag that rivals some high-end home theaters. However, based on my experience, I firmly believe that every cent of its asking price is justified. The Q90B Soundbar offers an unparalleled level of sound quality that is unmatched by many of its competitors.

I was fortunate enough to build upon my friend Andrew Robinson's review, which I found to be really solid work, and his channel if you haven't checked it out yet. He also reviews with Christy, but honestly the Atmos on this Soundbar is just the icing on an already super decadent cake folks The sound Exquisite it challenges the very concept of what a sound bar can do.

I was able to set up my Q90B Soundbar and experience its full potential in my own home. I was blown away by its capabilities, which far exceeded my expectations. The subwoofer, while initially intimidating, proved itself to be agile and musical, adding depth and weight to the overall sound without overpowering it.

One of the things that struck me most about the Q90B Soundbar is its ability to produce a truly cinematic sound. It's like having an entire home theater system in my living room, without the need for a separate TV or receiver. The presence, clarity, and continuity of the sound were all exceptional, making it feel like I was right there in the action.

I have to say that I'm shocked by how much I love the Q90B Soundbar. It's truly impressive, with a level of detail and accuracy that's unmatched by many of its competitors. The price point may be steep, but trust me when I say that it's worth every penny.

If you're in the market for a new soundbar, I would highly recommend the Samsung Q90B Soundbar. It's one of the best on the market, and it's certainly one of the most impressive. While I wouldn't say that it's perfect, it's definitely the closest thing to perfection that I've heard from any soundbar.

I did consider building my own home theater system using some lower-cost components like Monoprice's 5.1.4 setup, but in the end, I decided that the Q90B Soundbar was worth every penny of its asking price. The subwoofer may not be as potent as I'd like, and the AV receiver and speaker cable would certainly improve the overall sound, but even with those upgrades, I still wouldn't be able to match the Q90B Soundbar's performance.

In my opinion, the Samsung Q90B Soundbar is about the best there is. It offers an unparalleled level of sound quality that's unmatched by many of its competitors. While it may not be perfect, it's definitely one of the closest things I've heard to true cinematic sound.

I'd like to thank everyone for watching my review, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you liked this video, don't forget to like and subscribe. I'll see you on the next one, and until then, here are two other videos that I think you might enjoy

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enA portion of this video is sponsored by GROWATTIn case there was any doubt this Soundbar system right here is proof positive that  getting truly great cinematic sound doesn't also have to be a great big pain in theWelcome back everyone I'm Caleb Denison and today we're going to talk about the Samsung q990b Dolby  Atmos Soundbar system Samsung calls this an 11.1.4 Channel Wireless Dolby Atmos Soundbar and I'll  explain what that means shortly but let me set the stage for this review a bit first off I do have  some extremely positive things to say about this Soundbar system but I also want a flag that this  review isn't going to be an unadulterated gush Fest I have a few complaints that I think you need  to hear about moreover though I want to take this review as an opportunity to talk about whether a  soundbar system like this can really deliver Dolby Atmos at home and along with that could  you potentially build something better sounding for around the same price which let's not kid  ourselves is a bit on the Steep side considering sound bars at least started out as being a simpler  yes but also more affordable way to improve your TV sound also talk about how this Soundbar fares  against the competition like the Sony HTA 9000 the Vizio Elevate and a couple of others I'm actually  pretty excited about this review and I hope that you are too real quick though the Samsung q990b  here sells for about thirteen hundred dollars what do you think about that can any sound bar system  sound good enough to justify spending over a grand let me know about that down in the comments and  while you're down there if you like what you see and hear today would you let me know by Smashing  that like button perhaps add us to your carefully curated list of subscriptions oh and there's a  bell you can ring to if you want to see more of this face in your feed that's business done let's  dig into this Soundbar so let's start with design both aesthetic and functional now in terms of  appearance the q990b here is not so much a pretty pony as it is a Workhorse the Samsung q950a that  predates this sound bar as well as the Klipsch Cinema 1200 and a number of other sound bars I can  think of they often feature speaker Grill cloth on the exterior which looks nice but can be a pain  as that Grill cloth in my experience at least has been prone to bunching up or stretching out over  time instead we have metallic grills here which lend a more industrial vibe that I am 100 good  with the sound bar itself is a bit of a beast I mean it's not trying to win any massive sound from  a tiny box Awards and again I'm 100 good with that the less you try to cheat physics with digital  signal processing AKA DSP the better in my opinion the trade-off though is that its height could be a  problem for some stand mounting situations I mean I haven't made it to a Samsung s95b TV here and  if I place it on top of the TV's pedestal it just barely flirts with the bottom edge of the screen  though it isn't stopping any remote signals from getting to the TV in this particular case if your  TV uses an IR sensor for its remote that could be an issue for you if you're wall mounting though  none of that matters the surround speakers are also not tiny but they aren't bookshelf speaker  sized either in fact I think their size just right the subwoofer is well it's a bit larger  than the sub that comes with a lot of sound bar systems but it's nowhere near as gargantuan as  the unapologetically massive sub that comes with the eclipse Cinema 1200. now one of the things I  like about the q990b is its Cable Management on the sound bar there is just enough space to fit  up to three HDMI cables for the two inputs and the e-arc connection and I love how cleanly the power  cables on the surround speakers route out of the bottom of the speakers what I do not love though  is the length of the power cords the three foot long quartz provided work okay for the subwoofer  and the sound bar I suppose but and I realize I'm scaling a slippery slope here because too  long could also be considered undesirable but look this three foot cable doesn't cut it for me on the  surround speakers if you're super lucky to have a power outlet on both sides of the room great but  most folks aren't and that means you'll need extension cables especially if your priority  is putting the surround speakers right where they need to be to get the best sound I mean look what  I had to do here not sexy at all and also tenuous at best now functionally speaking this system was  designed for high quality performance in total there are 22 drivers powered by a sum of 656 Watts  there are four drivers in each surround speaker which I'll explain in a moment an 8-inch driver  in the sub and that puts 13 in the sound bar two up firing Atmos drivers two drivers coming off  each side for width and then three shootings straight into the room though it looks like  there may be some passive radiators in there too hard to tell for sure but I'll confirm that with  Samsung later now back to those surround speakers in each one you get an up firing Atmos driver one  pointing straight out and then you get one on either side of the speaker in what it looks like  and sounds like a dipole design which means that it's not only providing some directional surround  sound but also some out of phase non-directional surround and that is a really cool design as for  setup the q990b is about as plug and play as it gets I plugged everything into Power connected  an HDMI cable to the ERC Port of the s95b OLED and not only did the wireless surrounds and subwoofer  auto connect but the Samsung TV detected the sound bar and automatically engaged Q Symphony sound  which uses the TV speakers to enhance the Sound Stage and that's available with I think most if  not all of Samsung's qled TV lineup now you could also connect the soundbar to select Samsung TVs  wirelessly no HDMI cable which is convenient and it's not Bluetooth you get better Fidelity than  with Bluetooth but for the best possible sound I recommend the HDMI connection which also lets  you use the sound bar as a hub for two other HDMI devices if you want now I personally have had no  connection issues at all here no dropouts of the surround speakers which I've heard has been an  issue for some also no Dropout of the sub either though admittedly I don't have a massive room here  I'm going to try and stress test that later and update this review but honestly I've had my hands  full testing a bunch of different performance aspects as for control there are a lot of drivers  in this system and Samsung lets you control every one of them with awesome granularity now this  little display on the right front of the Soundbar will let you know which channel you're adjusting  but I find it pretty difficult to read that's one reason I suggest getting the Samsung SmartThings  app not only does the app make adjusting Channel and Driver levels easier but it also is the only  way to customize tone or EQ controls outside of some of the sound profile presets built into the  bar presets by the way which don't even need to be there as I'm about to explain hey I just  want to take a moment to thank our sponsor the grow watt Infiniti 1500 portable power station  the GROWATT Infiniti 1500 has a long list of features you'll love but I want to hone in on  one thing thing it does better than most something folks often Overlook when considering a portable  power station and that is fast recharging plugged into a wall outlet the GROWATT Infiniti 1500 can  charge from zero to eighty percent in just one hour in two hours one hundred percent charge  now that's impressive on its own but check this out the GROWATT Infinity 1500 supports up to 800  watts of solar power and can fully charge from zero to one hundred percent in under 2.5 hours  that's incredible forget all day trickle charging the Groot Infinity 1500 is ready to deliver faster  and you'll love what it delivers a tremendous 1.5 kilowatt hours of power in a compact package  you can control Monitor and update with GROWATT smart app it Peaks at 2 000 Watts so bring your  water kettle microwave espresso maker it Powers Hydra devices with ease with four AC Outlets  a carport two USBC four usb-a and a wireless charging pad up top connections abound one Hub  charges all your device and recharges lightning fast find a link to the GROWATT Infiniti 1500  down below to get the best price and thanks again to grow watt for sponsoring this videoOkay so let's dive into sound quality but before I start detailing how this system sounds let's  address that question of whether this Soundbar can really deliver Atmos surround effects now if you  aren't familiar with Dolby Atmos here's a full explainer video you can check out but basically  Atmos adds discrete height sound it aims to enhance the sound field by adding top-down sound  for a sort of Dome of sound effect in the theaters this is handled by a bunch of speakers mounted in  the ceiling and firing down at home you can get Dolby Atmos in a similar Way by using in-ceiling  speakers or down firing conventional speakers or you can use up firing speakers that bounce sound  off the ceiling like the ones in this system now the up firing bouncy sound approach really does  require that you have a flat ceiling that isn't super elevated for the best effect and ideally  you don't have acoustic tiles and a drop ceiling like we do in this office since those are meant  to try to absorb a little sound not reflected fortunately even acute tiles reflect some sound  and I've been able to get a decent Atmos effect in this room using much beefier speaker systems like  the clips reference Premiere and even Pioneers Andrew Jones designed Elite speakers so I do have  a reference here now to test the system's Atmos sound potency I did a few things first I dropped  the level of every driver in the system except the up firing drivers to their lowest setting and  I maxed out the level of the up firing driver so they would be the loudest source of sound in the  system I also did a series of a b tests wherein I compared the system with Atmos drivers Juiced  up versus the system where I reduce the levels of the atmos drivers and even covered them up so they  were basically completely out of play with that in mind there are a number of scenes in Marvel's  doctor strange and the Multiverse of Madness that are excellent exhibits of Atmos mixing and then  of course there's the opening sequence of Mad Max Fury Road as well as a few moments in gravity and  Blade Runner 2049 that I like to use now folks let me be absolutely clear the Samsung q990b's  Atmos effect price is the truth the scene in Multiverse of Madness where the organ plays the  bridal processional in the church without the atmos speakers I still got a pretty good sense  of space and Reverb but with the atmos channels engaged I could hear the ceiling of the church the  difference was Stark not Tony Stark he's dead now just really apparent over and over again without  Atmos versus with Atmos the difference was almost palpable like I could reach out and touch it and  I don't even have the best ceiling conditions for Atmos here I can't wait to check this out at home  where I currently have the Klipsch Cinema 1200 set up now just to make sure that I wasn't nuts  or imagining things I went and checked out my friend Andrew Robinson's review on this  Soundbar and was pleased to see he was similarly enthusiastic check out his channel if you haven't  by the way really solid work on everything that he and Christy review but honestly the atmos is just  the icing on an already super decadent cake folks The q990b Sounds Exquisite it challenges the very  concept of what a sound bar can do the Fidelity I mean the detail the timbre the accuracy the  presence The Sound Stage the continuity once I dialed this system in for my setup and this room  it was nothing short of outstanding the subwoofer is far more capable than I was prepared for I mean  it's a little Hefty out of the box I needed to rain it back a little bit but not only does it  have depth and weight but it's pretty agile too and musical even this whole system sounds really  satisfying for music on top of movies in fact musically speaking I prefer the q990b to the  cinema 1200 for music which I totally did not see coming compared to the Sony HTA 9000 I feel like  the q990b is just a bit more impressive the HTA 9000 pulls off some insanely cool psychoacoustics  but it really relies on a phantom Center Channel or a Sony TV to pull off pinpoint dialogue Clarity  and localization and the q990b is just better in fact the center channel Clarity is possibly the  best I've heard from any Soundbar I've tested now I could go on and on about the sound but  I'm running out of time and adjectives I guess I just sum up my experience as shockingly impressive  deeply immersive tons of fun and surprisingly satisfying so you may not be shocked then to  learn that I think the q990b earns every single cent of its asking price no question the clip  Cinema 1200 offers a comparable experience but it costs hundreds more same story with  the Sony HTA 9000 which is also very impressive and capable but hundreds more and when compared  to the P-Series Vizio Elevate there's just no getting around the fact that the q990b sounds  bigger has more Authority and can handle filling up much larger rooms but could you build something  better sounding for about the same price I suppose so yeah I mean Monoprice has a  fairly impressive little 5.1.4 setup though the subwoofer isn't as potent as I'd like so  I'd upgrade that and then I'd want to get a high quality AV receiver like the Onkyo NR 6100 so that  and some quality speaker cable and a subwoofer cable and some time spent on cable management  I suppose you'd get close but like I said at the top of this video I think most folks these  days are looking for truly great cinematic sound that isn't a truly great pain in the  behind and also not outrageously expensive and for that I've got to say that Samsung q990b is  about the best there is I mean yeah wow thanks so much for watching everyone I hope you liked  the review let me know what you think in the comments don't forget to like And subscribe  I'll see you on the next one and until then here's two other videos I think you might like\n"