Sound quality: In the Standard sound mode LG's SK10Y 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, but is a bit boomy, and doesn't go deep. The midrange is somewhat muffled and dark, and a bit grainy and echoey. The treble is subdued and somewhat smeared. This model is generally somewhat congested sounding, it only does a so-so job of recovering the actual room ambience of recordings, and that ambience is somewhat obscured by the echoey quality of the midrange. When playing two channel (stereo) program material the sound field doesn't extend much beyond the width of the soundbar, there is not much height, and no sense of depth. Compared to the Standard mode all of the Sound Effect settings have noticeable effects; the Music mode, which adds a synthesized center channel, sounds similar to the standard mode but the treble is not as subdued. The ASC mode, which also adds a synthesized center channel, sounds more even and less muffled and echoey. The Bass Blast mode synthesizes the side and height channels, sounds bassy, harsh, and loud, and the soundstage gets wider and higher. The Movie mode takes the Bass Blast mode and adds a pronounced echoey quality (like what you'd hear in a stadium), and makes the soundstage even wider and taller; it extends further beyond the width of the speaker array and has a noticeable "sound bouncing off the ceiling" effect. When 5.1 channel program material is played back in the Standard mode the width and height of the sound stage expands, and depending on the program material extends somewhat beyond the width of the speakers and is decently high. The Music and ASC sound modes sounded very similar to the Standard mode. The Bass Blast mode made the sound a bit muddy and a bit more bassy. The Movie sound mode synthesized the height channels once again, and made the sound much taller and produced the same "sound bouncing off the ceiling" effect it did with stereo material and also made the sound echoey (but the echo wasn't as extreme as with stereo sound sources). When playing Dolby Atmos material the width and height of the sound stage expands, and depending on the program material can fill the front end of the room; audio imaging can extend up and above from the front of the room to directly overhead depending on the program material, but there was no side and rear surround effect, and sounds that should have been in the rear and at the sides come from the front. The sound can also get a bit harsh. There was no significant difference in sound quality between the HDMI, optical, Aux, Bluetooth, and WiFi inputs when playing two channel program material; Dolby Atmos program material can only be played through the HDMI input. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV setup and ease of use: Very good overall. Setup: HDMI CEC (LG calls it SIMPLINK) activation and deactivation is done on the connected TV and not on the SK10Y. The instructions that come with this unit refer to on-line instructions. When a HDMI CEC connection is not used the soundbar can be still be set to be controlled by TV remotes from LG and other major brands, and LG's Sound Sync function provides TV remote volume and mute control of the soundbar via an optical or a proprietary wireless connection when used with compatible LG TVs. Activation and deactivation of these features is quick and easy, but not intuitive so easy to follow instructions in the on-line manual have to be referred to. The system comes with an optical digital audio cable for TV connection, HDMI digital audio/video 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 many options that allow it to work seamlessly with your TV - It can be set to respond to the volume and mute commands of HDMI CEC compatible TVs when connected via the HDMI ARC ports with and HDMI cable. It can also be set to respond to the volume and mute commands of TV remotes from many major brands including LG, and to be controlled by LG TV remotes by a proprietary optical or wireless connection. Its own physical remote is easy to use. App remotes that operate via WiFi can also be downloaded onto Apple and Android mobile devices; we found these remotes to be easy to use and glitch-free. The soundbar console's power and volume controls are marked with commonly used symbols but the source control uses a non-standard label; the control buttons are on the top front where they are easy to see and access. Although there is no mute control, if the soundbar has been muted from the remote pressing one of the console volume buttons unmutes it. The display is visible from the typical listening position and can be used in conjunction with app remote screens. It shows on/standby status, has text source selection, mute, and DSP effects mode, and numeric volume level indicators, but lacks a surround/stereo status indication for optional surround sound operation.
Features setup and ease of use: Very good overall. Setup: Network streaming setup using WiFi requires an app download to an Apple or Android mobile device and is straight forward. LAN setup does not require use of a mobile device, computer, or app download (but a mobile device and app download is needed for operation after setup); connecting is straight forward, but no LAN cable was provided. 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 SK10Y's physical remote is easy to use. The Apple and Android apps that are downloaded for network setup also act as remotes that operate via WiFi. We found both the general sections (used to control the soundbar like a typical physical remote) and the streaming content player sections (used to play audio streamed from the Internet, the mobile device, or from a computer on your home network) of these app remotes to be easy to navigate, well marked, well organized, and glitch-free. The LG apps can stream audio content from the mobile device it has been downloaded to and from DLNA servers on the same network, otherwise the soundbar relies on Internet service provider Chromecast apps for content streaming. The soundbar console's power and volume controls are marked with commonly used symbols but the source control uses a non-standard label; the control buttons are on the top front where they are easy to see and access. Although there is no mute control, if the soundbar has been muted from the remote pressing one of the console volume buttons unmutes it. The display is visible from the typical listening position and can be used in conjunction with app remote screens. It shows on/standby status, has text source selection, mute, and DSP effects mode, and numeric volume level indicators, but lacks a surround/stereo status indication for optional surround sound operation. Bluetooth connection is not automatic - previously paired Bluetooth source devices have to be manually re-connected when soundbar is turned off and back on again. The console has inputs for HDMI ARC digital video/audio and optical digital audio connections. The optical input is provided as an alternate connection for TVs that lack HDMI ARC, not as a separate connection for another device. These two inputs are covered under one source and the soundbar uses on or the other depending on what's connected; if both are connected the HDMI ARC TV connection takes priority.
