There’s a new soundbar in town that vows to breathe cinema-like sound into your home entertainment setup. It’s called the TCL TS9030, it was showcased at IFA 2019, and it comes with all the features you could ever need from a soundbar, including Bluetooth, Dolby Atmos, and HDMI ARC.
Let’s start with Ray-Danz. No, that isn’t a sham pair of Ray-Bans you’d find on a stall on Venice Beach, but rather a new audio dispersion method that promises an immersive, ultra-wide sound stage, utilizing a host of reflectors to project sound around the room, and Dolby Atmos to tie it all together.
Using two side-firing speakers and an array of reflectors, Ray-Danz bends sound to fill the room, with a third, front-firing speaker delivering accurate voice positioning. The result is a larger sweet spot (that’s the area you need to sit in to be immersed in the action) that can span multiple people.
The rest is all rather basic. We’re looking at Bluetooth for streaming music from a desktop or mobile device; Dolby Atmos for infusing supported content with added depth on both the horizontal and vertical planes; and HDMI ARC for simplifying cable connections.
There’s also a wireless subwoofer included in the box, which adds floor-shaking bass to the mix. To be clear, wireless doesn’t mean that the unit is completely devoid of cables. That’s a common misconception. You still need to connect it to a power outlet; it just connects to the soundbar remotely.
Measuring in at a colossal 41.3 inches, the TCL TS9030 is far from nimble or compact. TCL says it’s best when paired with at least a 55-inch television and we can see why — any smaller and the sound won’t feel proportional to the size of the picture. You need to strike the perfect balance between the two.
There’s no word on whether the TCL TS9030 will launch in the United States, or how much it will cost if and when it does. All we know for certain is that it’s headed to Europe, but again, there’s no word on pricing. Although, given the firm’s budget stature, we’d expect it to retail for around $350 to $450.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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