SAMSUNG HW Q990C

i’ve been using a 2.1 lg sound bar for the past few years which definitely left a lot to be desired. after months of researching i decided to go big and get the q990b after seeing it available open box for $850 (great deal.) my partner often complained about the old 2.1 soundbar because it would get so loud it would assault her senses so she said NO to a surround sound dolby atmos system. i knew the only way to get her on board would be to buy it and set it up. low and behold she loves it. the sound is incredible and it’s actually 100% less abrasive than the 2.1 system. works very nice in our apartment. bought an insolation pad to get the subwoofer from rattling the neighbors. it’s quieter from the hallway than the 2.1. we’ve been rewatching a ton of movies because the atmos is so amazing it’s a totally new experience. the smarthings app leaves alot to be desired and isn’t very intuitive but it’s nice to easily have so much control over the system. the remote kinda sucks tbh and it’s hard to navigate the UI with the tiny LED screen on the soundbar. you pretty much need to use the app. got the whole thing up and running in a couple minutes. this unit was manufactured in november 2022 so it does not suffer from the rear speaker disconnecting issue. everything works flawlessly. i highly recommend the q990b if you’re looking to create a cinematic experience in your home/apartment.

What a difference in sound. There are better soundbars but this is just the best value available to go with my samsung tv

This has surpassed all my expectations, hooked up to qled TV and with a Sony 4k player. Set up in my bedroom and it’s like a crystal clear bubble of sound. blown away! smart things works great for customization

After much research, we got this soundbar/subwoofer system because of the sale price of around $500 (I don’t know that I would have paid $900 for it). Most of the reviews I read said that for the money, this is one of the best Bluetooth soundbar system one can get and I am now confident they are right. I listened to other bars around that price and none of them compared for sound quality. Setup was very easy and using HDMI-ARC, I control the soundbar volume with the TV remote with no issues. Paired my smartphone to it and can now listen to Amazon Prime Music through the soundbar. Our space is about 180 square feet and the sound fills the room just fine.

As a preface, this soundbar is a replacement for a Samsung Q80R w/ the SWA-9000S surround speakers. To be honest, I was perfectly happy with the Q80R, in fact, it’s an absolute beast for a stand alone soundbar – but the lack of any real meaningful volume from the SWA-9000S surrounds was like fumbling on the 5 yard line. Enter the Q910B, which checks every box I was looking for and thensome.

The room: The Q910B is approximately 8.5 feet from my ears, while the subwoofer is beside the TV stand, approximately 20″ from the wall, and the surround speakers are mounted on the wall about one foot behind and one foot above the listening position, approximately 8 feet apart, angled slightly downward. The ceiling, for bouncing the upward firing speakers, is approximately 6.5 feet above the top of the soundbar.

Putting the Q910B through it’s paces for movies, I found that Adaptive Sound works the best, with Space Fit on, Active Voice Amplifier off, Bass Enhancement on and Voice Enhancement off. Dolby Atmos content is quite immersive – Top Gun Maverick, Avengers Endgame and Devotion all created a wonderful envelope of sound. Switching to DTS X films – Jurassic World Dominion, Backdraft and Independence Day were all very impressive, moreso than even Atmos content. Running through a myriad of Dolby and DTS Blu-ray discs was no less impressive, albeit with no overhead sound. In all cases, the surround channels were strong and lower bass was abundant. The soundstage was wide across the board, with excellent pinpointing of where the sound should be coming from given the context of the scene no matter the type of surround mastering that was being used.

Moving onto music content, the Q910B more than competent. The soundstage in Adaptive Sound mode was very good, while bass was solid and well controlled. Even when streaming Amazon Music using the built-in Alexa, there was better definition and more treble than was available with the Q80R. Using Bluetooth from my phone was a breeze and provided even higher fidelity.

Overall, I’d give the Q910B a 9 out 10, with the caveat that it fits my environment perfectly. Given the lack of space behind my listening position, the surround speakers found with both the Q930B and Q990B would have been overkill. That said, I think those bars would work better in larger rooms and where the surround speakers can be placed farther from the listening position.