LG Electronics LOUDR LHB645N Home Theatre Speaker System, Black

Bought this as I needed to upgrade from an old DVD all-in-one system. I weighed up going for a full home cinema receiver, but they're generally huge and I'm restricted by space. This sounded like a good option, and so far, it's near perfect for my needs. Set-up was easy. I used most of my existing speaker cables (apart from the LG subwoofer, which is wired and has a bespoke connector). I connected my Sky+ HD box via an optical cable, and bought a new HDMI 2.0 (high speed with Ethernet) cable to connect to the TV from the unit to enable the ARC function. Everything works as I expected - and more! I have a Samsung TV, so I wasn't sure if the SIMPLINK function would work - it does. The LG unit powers on and selects the ARC input automatically when I turn the TV on, and even better - the volume of the unit is then automatically controlled from the TV remote control. Sound is great and well balanced. Bluetooth connectivity is brilliant - connected up my phone and was streaming music from Spotify and Amazon Music in seconds. Also if you download the remote control app, and you've connected the LG to your WiFi network, you can get it to output the sound from the amp to your phone instead so that you can listen on headphones. Blu-ray playback and sound is excellent.The only slight downside that I've found so far is playback of some of my media files from an external USB hard disk - the sound would be fine but the picture playback would sometimes stick a little. Still watchable, but annoying when I noticed it. Note, this was only on some files, so may not affect all. I've gotten around it by connecting the hard disk to a USB port on my TV instead - playback is fine and the full surround sound signals are sent back to the LG unit via the ARC input. Life is good!

Once opened and laid all the kit and wiring out, I had to decide the layout for the speakers locations. There is a leaflet that comes in the box that demonstrates the most ideal setup although due to my room layout I changed it for my liking.The main unit has colour coordinated ports with the cabling matching the colours so it's easy to find out which wire connects to.Note - the cables are interchangeable (which is what I did). I have the tall boy speakers at the front either side of the screen with the smaller speakers and central one behind me (central would ideally be in the middle by the screen as voice audio tends to me be prominent in this one).Once setup and the cables tidied up, I immediately paired my phone via Bluetooth to test the new surround sound but noticed that the sound was only coming out of 3 of the 6 speakers (sub woofer and either the tall boys or small ones) depending on how I had wired them. Although when running the audio test, found that noise was coming from all of them so wasn't sure of the issue. After re-wiring for about an hour (labyrinth of a room) the issue was still the same.After looking on forums and not finding any clear help, I turned on my projector (instead of TV) and loaded the Units main menu. Only upon analysing and playing with the remote did I discover that the default mode of the sound system is to play out of half the speakers... (Why??) After a couple of clicks I changed the mode to cinematic which highlights in an image that all the speakers were selected. Connected my phone again and hey presto!The audio quality is awesome and you can change each speakers balance and volume individually to benefit the layout of your room. I've connected it to my Xbox via Optical Cable and can say that both games and movies are far more immersive with the audio. You don't know what good audio is until you've had it!I used to have a sound bar behind me setup similarly but with noise only coming from behind. Completely different experience with noise coming from all around! Highly recommend and suggest you take a read of this if you have setup difficulties - I was a little imaginative with how I wired and laid my lot out.I've not tested the full LG capabilities of this system nor the Blu-Ray player due to it being connected to my Xbox but imagine it's pretty decent!

I bought this to replace a Panasonic HT system after buying a LG 4k HD TV.Initially I was HORRIFIED as the unit refused to reproduce 5.1 audio from anything but Bluray discs.Then I realised that the problem is not with the product, but with the loons who designed it!It actually defaults to a 2.1 resolution unless you use the "magic" Soun Effect button on the remote and change it to a mode which defaults to 5.1.I had been pulling my own hair out between optical, LG Bluetooth and ARC options, all with 5.1 streams encoded but with NOTHING from the rear pair.Eventually I played with the remote rather than the GUI (which is exceptionally diabolical BTW).When you change the "Sound Effect" mode using the remote, you open up a whole new "world" not offered/presented at all in the "home" or Settings" menus.So, after figuring this all out without ANY reference in the user manual online or the ridiculous paper "quick start" guide that accompanied the product I am VERY impressed and happy.It's a great system with amazing punch and very good quality sound at a price point that's hard to resist.Don't be fooled by sound bars, this 5.1 system is the ONLY way forward IMHO