Sound quality: LG's SH3K delivers sound quality that falls in the good range - it reproduces music and dialog reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. In the Standard sound mode the bass has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is boomy and somewhat prominent. The midrange is somewhat hazy and a bit nasal and constricted. The treble is fairly extended, but is a bit sizzly, and depending on the program material, a bit prominent or subdued. Does a so-so job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the music was recorded). The Cinema sound mode makes the sound field wider and taller than the Standard sound mode, but is louder and echoey; the Voice sound mode sounds more nasal than the Standard sound mode. There was no significant difference in sound quality between the optical, analog, and Bluetooth inputs. The sound bar can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV setup and ease of use: Good overall. Setup: The soundbar can be controlled by TV remotes from LG and other major brands; activation and deactivation of this feature is quick and easy, but not intuitive so easy to follow instructions in on-line manual have to be referred to. Comes with optical cable for TV connection; a stereo analog cable must be purchased separately if you want or need it to connect your TV. Ease of Use: The soundbar's volume and mute functions can be controlled by many LG or other major TV brand remote controls. The remote is somewhat cluttered - the source selection button label uses non-standard notation so it may be hard to identify and the volume mute button is not separated from the and DSP function buttons. The soundbar console power and volume controls are adequately marked but the source control uses a non-standard label. The console lacks a mute control but it can be unmuted by pressing one of the volume buttons. All controls are on the top of the soundbar and are easy to see and access. The console displays power status and has mute indicator that's visible form a typical listening position. The source display is visible from arms length; it is momentary and can be recalled without changing the source. The console indicates if the volume is being changed, but does not show the volume level. It also indicates when a DSP mode has been selected, but does not indication what the selection is.
Features setup and ease of use: Good overall. Setup: Bluetooth pairing is very easy - if no Bluetooth device has previously been paired or the paired device does not have Bluetooth activated the unit is automatically in pairing mode once it has been switched on. Ease of Use: The soundbar's remote is somewhat cluttered - the source selection button label uses non-standard notation so it may be hard to identify and the volume mute button is not separated from the and DSP function buttons. The soundbar console power and volume controls are adequately marked but the source control uses a non-standard label. The console lacks a mute control but it can be unmuted by pressing one of the volume buttons. All controls are on the top of the soundbar and are easy to see and access. The console displays power status and has mute indicator that's visible form a typical listening position. The source display is visible from arms length; it is momentary and can be recalled without changing the source. The console indicates if the volume is being changed, but does not show the volume level. It also indicates when a DSP mode has been selected, but does not indication what the selection is.
