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The Harmon Kardon SB 16 offers high quality surround sound without the need of connecting wires across your room. In fact, you will even enjoy the deep bass offered by a wireless subwoofer, so you can easily find a spot for it without being constrained by the length of the cables. This is a 2.1 channel system, but you shouldn’t be fooled; the unit is powerful and you should expect immersive 3-D like sound out of it. Let’s see exactly what the Harmon Kardon SB 16 can do.
Design
The soundbar itself is neatly designed and it will look great underneath any flat screen TV. The drivers are covered by a slick black grille, but you can see through them under the right lighting conditions. If you look at the unit from its side, you will see that it is oval shaped, so the system will also look nice on a shelf if you don’t want to mount it on the wall. However, there is no reason not to place it on the wall, since it only weights 7 pounds. There are a few basic buttons that you can play with on top of the soundbar, but most people would rather use the remote. If you look behind the grille, you will notice four 3-inch drivers and two tweeters, which are a little over one inch wide. The soundbar also contains two 25-watt amplifiers, so it will be good to go as soon as you plug it in. The subwoofer comes with a similar design, but the black finishing touches are glossy and reflective. A nice logo is engraved on the bottom side of the front of the subwoofer and the four legs will sustain it properly in any flat location. This is a heavy subwoofer, at no less than 33 pounds and it will also take up a lot of space: it is 18.88 inches tall and 13.38 inches deep and wide. You might have to move a few things around in the room until you find the right location for this subwoofer, but it will definitely be worth it once you plug in the system and turn it on. This unit contains a 10 inch magnetically shielded woofer with a 100-watt amplifier, so you can be sure that you will never have to crank up the volume to the max.
Setting up the Harmon Kardon SB 16
After you take the system out of the box and find a spot for the subwoofer, you should turn it on and start the setup process. The only thing you need to do is take out your TV remote and pair the two devices. This way, you won’t have to worry about another remote and you can control everything with the one you already have. The Harmon Kardon SB 16 comes with one coaxial digital input, one coaxial analog input and one optical digital input. This means that you can connect multiple audio sources at the same time and once you finish setting up the system, you will never have to plug in a cable again.
Sound Quality
While most people will love to use their TV remote for controlling the volume of the Harmon Kardon SB 16, others will encounter some problems. This system will recognize any type of remote control you throw at it, but you will have to make sure that the speakers of your TV set can be turned off. You can do this by going into the sound menu and adjusting the appropriate settings. After that, the volume button on your remote control will only change the volume of your soundbar. However, your TV might still display an irritating message, warning you that your speakers are turned off every time you hit the volume button.
If you are not happy with the out of the box sound quality offered by the Harmon Kardon SB 16, you can play around with the settings for a while. You can adjust the trim, crossover, phase switch and the equalizer.
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Pros and Cons
The Harmon Kardon SB 16 is certainly an above average soundbar when it comes to quality of sound. Even in large rooms, the subwoofer won’t have any problems and the soundbar will always offer clear and clean notes without distortion. The connectivity options are decent, and the built quality is excellent.
Some people will have problems with the lack of a remote control, especially if their TV set doesn’t have the TV speakers off function. Other than that, there are no bad things you can say about this audio system.
Conclusion
The Harmon Kardon SB 16 is one of the better audio systems in its price range. No matter what type of music or movie you are playing, the sound will always be impeccable and you will even get a scent of what 3-D sound is like from a 2.1 channel system. This unit is powerful, well designed and it will surprise you in a very positive way. If you can get pass the lack of a dedicated remote, you shouldn’t have any problems with this system.
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