Powered Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer
Review Summary
Product Name: Klipsch Bar 40 Soundbar
Product Description: The soundbar features an MDF wood design, wrap-around grill cloth | Tractrix horn-loaded tweeters | MDF subwoofer enclosure | Wireless subwoofer | HDMI ARC connection | Dolby Digital support | Bluetooth support
Brand: Klipsch
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Klipsch Bar 40 Soundbar w/ Wireless Subwoofer
See full review below
Model year: 2019
Bottom Line: The Klipsch Bar 40 Soundbar with wireless subwoofer delivers very good sound at an affordable price. Its key performance features are great clarity and detail, in addition to solid deep bass output. It lacks certain features such as EQ controls and support for DTS decoding. However, it does support Dolby Digital decoding and Bluetooth capability for streaming music from smartphones and tablets.
Dimensions:
- Soundbar: 40-1/8″W x 3″H x 3-7/16″D
- Subwoofer: 9-1/2″W x 13-3/16″H x 10-7/16″D
Warranty: 3 years for drivers and cabinets, 1 year for electronics
Pros
- Great clarity and detail in midrange and high frequencies
- Deep bass output for a compact sub design
- Stylish soundbar design
- Support for Dolby Digital decoding
- HDMI ARC support
- Bluetooth support
- Easy setup
Cons
- No support for DTS decoding
- No eARC support
Intro
Klipsch is well known for its high-quality audio products that consist primarily of home theater and soundbar speaker systems. I’m a fan of the company’s home theater speakers as well as their soundbars.
In this article, I will take a look at the Klipsch Bar 40 Soundbar system. This model has been available since 2019 and has some very good customer reviews which you can check out here.
Design & Features
The Bar 40 is an attractive soundbar and features a sleek low-profile design that is constructed of MDF wood for better sound acoustics. Most of the soundbar enclosure contains wrap-around grill cloth, while the ends caps of the unit contain the Tractrix horn-loaded tweeters which Klipsch is famous for and adds an elegant high-end touch to the Bar 40’s overall appearance. The enclosure also contains two 3” fiber composite woofers.
The top right-hand side of the soundbar contains control buttons which include power on/off, source selection and volume, etc.
The ported subwoofer enclosure is made of MDF wood and contains a 6.5” down-firing driver (speaker). The sub does not contain any volume or level controls. The output level of the sub is controlled by the remote control.
The remote control contains buttons for sub-volume, Bluetooth, volume, Surround mode, Dialog, and more.
Feature Highlights
Soundbar:
- 2.1-channel sound bar and subwoofer system with premium wooden enclosures
- two-channel sound bar with 4 built-in speakers
- two 3/4″ textile dome tweeters mated to Tractrix Horns for wide dispersion
- two 3″ oval fiber-composite midrange drivers
- Wood acoustic suspension (sealed) enclosure
- Built-in Bluetooth for wireless music streaming from compatible smartphones, tablets, and computers
- Dolby Digital decoding
- Virtual surround sound mode for an immersive listening experience for movies and music
- Dialogue mode for enhanced vocal clarity
Subwoofer:
- 6-1/2″ fiber-composite cone woofer in wood enclosure
- syncs wirelessly with the soundbar
Connectivity:
- HDMI ARC connection
- Optical digital audio input
- 1 minijack analog audio input
- 1 subwoofer output for adding a second sub or replacing included wireless sub with a wired sub
- 58” HDMI cable included
Rear View
Performance
The Bar 40 Soundbar system produced very good sound that I thoroughly enjoyed. Movie sound from the Bar 40 easily surpasses the sound quality of flat-panel TVs available today. Movie sound was delivered with aggressive punch and authority from scenes requiring this performance level. Clarity and detail were two of the standout audio characteristics produced by the Bar 40 which was due in part to the Tractrix horn-loaded speaker design. Dialog was delivered with pristine clarity and depending on the content, dialog remained discernible throughout movie watching.
The subwoofer provided the necessary punch and impact to enrich movie scenes including audio with explosive content. Yet of course the small size of the Bar 40’s subwoofer did not allow for the deepest octaves of bass to be felt and heard. That being said, the overall audio presentation of the Bar 40 was impressive, especially for a system in its price class.
Music listening on the Klipsch Bar 40 was a sheer pleasure. I streamed music from Spotify via a Bluetooth connection from my smartphone. While listening to quality audio tracks, I enjoyed great sound with plenty of detail and clarity that was spacious and full-bodied. When I engaged the Surround mode the sound became even more enveloping. This characteristic allowed acoustic music to take on even more presence in the soundfield.
The Bass output was solid and deep and added the necessary low-end punch that I desired from the R&B tracks I listened to. And the bass level control on the remote made adjusting bass output quick and easy when needed.
Conclusion
The Klipsch Bar 40 Soundbar system delivers where it counts most, and that’s great sound quality that will improve your audio presentation when compared to the sound produced from your flat panel TV. The Bar 40 delivers audio that is filled with great clarity and detail with an expansive soundfield that greatly enhances your movie and music experience. The wireless subwoofer adds the necessary punch and impact while watching movies or listening to music.
The Klipsch Bar 40’s price vs. performance ratio is very good and gives you great bang for your buck. It’s not the most feature-packed system available today, so if your primary focus is good performance and less on features, then check out Klipsch Bar 40.
Check out HDTVs and More’ YouTube review for the Klipsch Bar 40 Soundbar here.