Pioneer SP-SB23W 2.1ch Soundbar System

Very Good Sound. Open, rich, natural, can be played loud, and NOT a little boxed in and lacking in the vocals in like my older Yamaha Sound Bar or even the newer ZVOX SB500 that I had at the same time and did an A-B With. The ZVOX sounded a little thin and tin like and slightly boxy to me compared to the richer more open sound of the Pioneer SP-SB23W. This Pioneer sound bar offers Optional bluetooth for your music, another setting for movies, and another setting for voice. The voice pretty much cuts the subwoofer, the music ads modest bass and subwoofer, and the movie seems to had more to the treble and the bass. The subwoofer is adjustable on all settings. I had a little trouble getting the subwoofer to sync at first. However, even though they originally ask you to push the button on the main soundbar and sub for them to sync originally, if you ever loose the sync with the subwoofer, you can unplug the subwoofer and just push the sync button on it without dealing with the main soundbar button again or maybe even wait and the sub syncs on its own later. By the way, I have a high end stereo system that I assembled over the years which will challenge most stereo systems around, and know good sound when I hear it. Bear in mind, no soundbar with its physical and design limitations will compare to a larger stereo system in quality. The design of the Pioneer is a little mousy and boring looking, but at a distance under the TV it looks fine and more importantly, for a soundbar, what you hear is one of the best soundbars out there. PERIOD. Why not. It has numerous larger drivers instead of tiny ones. The subwoofer is wireless and a little small, but for that reason, integrates better with the sound than some others easily produces rich deep bass (adjustable) for music and videos and being wireless lets you move it to an ideal location. I suspect that bigger is better and the physics of the larger speaker drivers in this sound bar and isolated amplifiers is what delivers the rich sound heard in comparison to other soundbars I have hear. I hear clear yet rich quality dialog and good dynamic response with movies and music. The Pioneer SB-SB23W allows you to use the Bluetooth function to control it with your iPad, phone, computer, etc. So if you have a library of digitized music on your computer or phone or want to use music and radio services to play through it, for its size, it will not disappoint and can fill your livingroom or even most of your house with sound. This soundbar will learn the buttons on your TV remote also. You just hold down the learn button until it flashes or turns solid blue, use the Pioneer remote and touch the key you want to program, then touch your corresponding remote key, they touch the pioneer one last time to program that key and continue through everything on your remote that you want to program, then hold down the learn key again until it stops flashing or turns solid blue which finalizes programming. I mention this because a u tube video by pioneer says to hold down the learn key until it turns a solid blue, and from my experience, a flashing blue is what you really get with my unit to trigger the learning mode. This subwoofer is being clearanced, so I assume a newer more modern one is coming out. However, don't assume it will sound as good or better, especially for the price. The trend is toward slimmer smaller soundbards with smaller speakers that can't match larger drivers in quality and volume of sound. My older Yamaha soundbar did not sound as good, and could not be played loud like this Pioneer sound bar. Bear in mind that CNET in its 2018 review, even with the new soundbars in place, still put this soundbar above most of the slightly more attractive newer more expensive and slimmer units sound wise. If you can get past some of the reliability complaints, this is one of the best sounding soundbars under $1,000 out there. There have been some complaints historically about reliability. Perhaps Pioneer has corrected these problems over time. I have had mine for about a month, and I have no problems. Perhaps buying this Pioneer SB23W at the discounted clearance price brand new and spending the extra $20 for the extended warranty is a very good idea. Another good idea, is to do as I have done and simply to leave it on even if muted at night for about two or three weeks straight. If there are any defects or if anything is going to go out , it will probably do it by then. Either way, know that although it is not the prettiest (nor is it ugly) or quit as fully featured as others , you are buying one of the best sounding sound bars out there for both music and movies at any price.