LG may be the king of the hill when it comes to OLED TVs, but the company has quite a robust offering in the soundbar space as well. Partnering with Meridian, LG’s soundbars offer Meridian Audio tuning and Meridian technology. For 2021, LG has five soundbars to offer customers – SP11RA, SP9YA, SP8YA, SP7Y and SPD7Y.
The 2021 soundbars boast support for all three popular voice assistants – Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Siri. However, it must be noted that only the SP11RA, SP9YA and SP8YA support all three options. The soundbars also support AirPlay 2 letting users stream music from their iOS device to the soundbar.
A new feature this year to LG’s soundbars is Meridian Horizon technology. It is the result of LG’s long-term partnership with Meridian Audio. Meridian Horizon technology up-mixes two-channel stereo content into, multichannel audio. Only models SP11RA, SP9YA, SP8YA, SP7Y, SPD7Y feature Meridian Horizon.
All the five soundbars announced support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. LG’s soundbars also bring with them a host of AI features. According to LG, “AI Room Calibration offers optimal sound in any environment, using spatial awareness technology to measure a room’s dimensions then customizing the soundbar’s audio settings in accordance with the specific characteristics of the space. AI Sound Pro uses adaptive sound control to automatically adjust frequency range and sound field extension, depending on which genre of content the user is watching: news, music or cinema”.
The LG SP11RA soundbar is the top of the line offering from the brand boasting 770W of sound output. It has a 7.1.4 channel configuration and comes with rear and up-firing speakers for a surround sound experience. It supports Dolby Atmos and DTS: Virtual X and also boasts of Meridian Horizon Technology Audio and Meridian Audio (Music Mode).
The soundbar is also capable of playing high-resolution audio. It also features the above-mentioned AI room calibration along with AI Sound Pro. The LG SP11RA soundbar also supports eARC and along with 4K pass-through with Dolby Vision support.
Next in line, we have the LG SP9YA soundbar that comes with 520W of sound output. It has a 5.1.2 channel configuration with optional rear speakers – the SPK8. It supports Dolby Atmos and DTS: Virtual X and also boasts of Meridian Horizon Technology Audio and Meridian Audio (Music Mode).
The soundbar is also capable of playing high-resolution audio. It also features the above-mentioned AI room calibration along with AI Sound Pro. The LG SP9YA soundbar also supports eARC and along with 4K pass-through with Dolby Vision support.
In the middle of the lineup, we have the LG SP8YA soundbar that comes with 440W sound output. It has a 3.1.2 channel configuration with optional rear speakers – the SPK8. It supports Dolby Atmos and DTS: Virtual X and also boasts of Meridian Horizon Technology Audio and Meridian Audio (Music Mode).
The soundbar is also capable of playing high-resolution audio. It also features the above-mentioned AI room calibration along with AI Sound Pro. The LG SP8YA soundbar also supports eARC and along with a 4K pass-through with Dolby Vision support.
Next up is the LG SP7Y soundbar that also comes with 440W of sound output. It has a 5.1 channel configuration with optional rear speakers – the SPK8. It does not support Dolby Atmos. It only supports DTS: Virtual X and also boasts of Meridian Horizon Technology Audio and Meridian Audio (Music Mode).
The soundbar is also capable of playing high-resolution audio. It does not feature AI room calibration but features AI Sound Pro. The LG SP7Y soundbar also supports ARC but does not have a 4K pass-through with Dolby Vision support.
Last but not least, we have the LG SPD7Y soundbar that also comes with 380W of sound output. It has a 3.1.2 channel configuration with optional rear speakers – the SPK8. It supports Dolby Atmos and DTS: Virtual X and also boasts of Meridian Horizon Technology Audio and Meridian Audio (Music Mode).
The soundbar is also capable of playing high-resolution audio. It does not feature AI room calibration but features AI Sound Pro. The LG SPD7Y soundbar also supports eARC and along with a 4K pass-through with Dolby Vision support.
There is no information on when the soundbars will launch in India or the price point.