Sound quality: Klipsch's Bar 48 delivers sound quality that falls in the Fair range, meaning that it has sonic shortcomings that leave a lot to be desired when listening to music but don't rule it out for dialog and movie effects. The bass has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is somewhat prominent and boomy. The midrange is somewhat hazy, grainy, and slightly telephone-like. The treble is extended, but is slightly smeared. This model sounds somewhat congested overall and only does a so-so job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the music was recorded). When stereo program material is played back the sound field extends a bit above the top, but not much beyond the sides of the speaker array, and lacks depth. The various sound modes have a noticeable effect - the Dialog mode makes the volume louder overall, and makes midrange sound somewhat harsh and thin. The Surround mode makes the sound field noticeably wider and taller, but the sound becomes diffuse, somewhat echoey, and a bit metallic. The Night mode removes the bass. When Dolby Digital or DTS multi-channel program material is reproduced with the various sound modes turned off the sound field is somewhat taller and much wider than with stereo program material, but there still isn't any depth. The Dialog and Night modes have the same effects as with stereo program material, the Surround mode can make the sound field taller. There was no significant difference in sound quality between the HDMI, optical, analog, and Bluetooth inputs, but at the same volume settings the volume of the analog input was noticeably higher, and the volume of the Bluetooth input was much lower. Regardless of the input used the system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV setup and ease of use: Very good overall Setup: Programming the soundbar to respond to a TV remote was quick, easy, and straight forward, but you'll need to refer to the supplied instructions. The instructions indicate that the soundbar requires HDMI CEC to be active for HDMI ARC operation, but no setup information is provided. Although a TV remote can control the soundbar's volume and mute functions via an HDMI CEC connection, this feature is not mentioned in the instructions. The system comes with an HDMI digital video/audio cable for TV connection; optical digital audio or stereo analog cables must be purchased separately if you want or need either of those to connect your TV. Ease of Use: This model has two options that allow it to work seamlessly with your TV - it can be programmed to respond to most TV remote control volume and mute commands, and it can respond to the volume and mute commands from the remotes of HDMI CEC compatible TVs without programming when connected via the HDMI ARC ports with an HDMI cable. Its own remote has buttons that are well labeled, but the layout is a bit jumbled. The console's power, source, and volume controls are adequately identified and are located on the top of the soundbar where they are easy to see and access. Although the console lacks a mute button it can be unmuted by pressing one of the volume controls. Its display shows power status and has a persistent source indicator that consists of an unlabeled color coded light that requires the instructions to decode. The muting status and graphical volume indicators are persistent and highly visible. Although the DSP effects mode indicator is understandable, persistent and visible from arms length, can be hard to see from farther away due to its position on top of the soundbar.
Features setup and ease of use: Very good overall. Setup: Pairing of a Bluetooth device required a long push of a well marked button - easy and straight forward. Ease of Use: The remote control's buttons are well labeled, but the layout is a bit jumbled. The console's power, source, and volume controls are adequately identified and are located on the top of the soundbar where they are easy to see and access. Although the console lacks a mute button it can be unmuted by pressing one of the volume controls. Its display shows power status and has a persistent source indicator that consists of an unlabeled color coded light that requires the instructions to decode. The muting status and graphical volume indicators are persistent and highly visible. Although the DSP effects mode indicator is understandable, persistent and visible from arms length, it can be hard to see from farther away due to its position on top of the soundbar.
