Nowadays, most soundbar manufactures are trying to add as many features as possible to their new models, but the Boston Acoustics P400 Three-Channel Soundbar is one of those barebones audio systems that might impress you with its simplicity. This unit doesn’t have any notable features and it doesn’t even contain its own amplifier. This means that you have to plug into your TV set and what you see is what you get: a great audio system.
Design
Table Of Content
You can get the P400 in two colors: sliver or a glossy black. The unit doesn’t come with an external subwoofer and it only weighs 14 pounds. If you want to place it right below your TV set you should know that it measures 40 inches in length and only 4.75 inches in depth. This means that you won’t have any problems placing it under large TV sets as well as regular ones. The P400 is not one of those curvy soundbars which appear to have come from the future, but if you place it under a nice flat screen TV you will surely like the result.
Sound QualitySetting up the P400
Before your start drilling holes into your wall, keep in mind that this soundbar comes with both a wall mounting bracket and a table stand, so it is all up to you. After you make the necessary adjustments, you should know what you’re dealing with. Under the black or sliver grille, the P400 houses six drivers and three tweeters. The main unit has three chambers and each one of them contains a one inch tweeter, a 4.5 inch bass and midrange driver and a 4.5 inch bass driver. All of these speakers add up to a sensitivity of 90 dB, just enough to fill an entire room with powerful sounds.
Because the P400 doesn’t have to deal with encoding or any other task except offering high quality sound, it is quite clear that the people from Boston Acoustic did a terrific job. They obviously focused on getting the job done in the best way possible and you will notice that they gave it all when they created the drivers which are used by this system. You can plug in any source, which means that your soundbar can play Dolby TrueHD and anything else that you can decode through a third party device. Each note will hit home and you won’t notice discrepancies no matter what you throw at this system. Dynamic sounds will flood your living room in an instant and you will never get bored of listening to music or watching a good movie through this soundbar.
However, if you are used to listening to movies or music as loud as possible, you will feel the need of an external subwoofer. This is the only downside that might affect some people. Another problem that the P400 and any other soundbar have is playing surround sound. If you are looking for a 5.1 channel experience, you will have to get a complete sound system instead of a simple soundbar. Those who don’t have external sources such as a Blu-Ray player might want to turn their heads towards a soundbar that comes with an embedded playback device and perhaps its own amplifier.
Pros and Cons
The Boston Acoustics P400 comes with a clean, elegant look and the materials used by the manufacturer seem to be of the highest quality. When you turn it on, you can’t help but feel that the system is touching every note in the right spot and even if you turn up the volume you won’t have to deal with inconsistencies. A total of 9 drivers are more than enough to deal with the acoustic needs of a small, medium or even a large room.
Conclusion
Many people are searching for a simple soundbar that can offer clear and powerful sound without any special features and innovations. The Boston Acoustics P400 is exactly that: a simple, yet powerful soundbar that can improve your movie viewing experience drastically. You won’t receive anything else, but after a few days of playing around with this system you will realize that it is exactly what you need.
