ULTIMEA 5.1.2ch Sound Bar

I’ve upgraded from a standard 5.1 soundbar. The Nova S80 is a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar. The first from Ultimea to feature 2 upfiring speakers.It was easy to setup - with a good, clear instruction/ installation manual. The sub-woofer is much bigger than my 5.1 Ultimea, and it packs a real punch. I am finding 14 on the volume control is powerful enough for day to day tv watching. Pushing the volume up results in a powerful delivery, with no noticeable distortion.Dolby Atmos is a revelation, especially with music. I have got a few Dolby Atmos music Blurays (ABC / Tears for Fears) and the Dolby Atmos mix is wonderful - with real separation of vocals and individual instruments.The rear speakers are slim (as is the quite long soundbar) so they fit quite well into my setup.I have also had a quick play of Dolby Atmos music from Apple Music, from my iPhone to the speakers via Bluetooth. The TV can be switched off when playing via Bluetooth and the quality is excellent.This is a good quality entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar that I can definitely recommend for both music and tv film / sport use.

With the popularity of the D50/D60, I waited a couple months for this to release seeing as it was their flagship.I have seen a few complaints about bass, rear speakers, up firing speakers, but my only issue is with the center speakers. They sound incredibly poor and the Atoms setup makes it a jarring experience where you can hear wind and background noise alongside echoey center speakers. I have tried several inputs. I replaced an old basic LG SN4 2.1 system which even that was better.I do have some hope for firmware updates improving it, I will remove this review if so. But until then I will return it & would recommend don't buy. Not sure how it got through quality control.Also beware of the reviews on this, they seem to have manipulated it with the lower models.

I'm going to be as fair as I can with this review.There is one thing above all others you need to know. This 5.1.2 soundbar setup is an entry level system. Your expectations for anything greater should be tempered.I was very impressed with the ease of the setup. It took me longer to unpack everything than it did to actually get it operational. Great plus point.Sadly, from then on, the only thing I felt was disappointment.I connected to my TV and set all of my equipment to pass through, putting the entire audio decoding efforts in the hands of the system. The results were far less impressive than I hoped.I want to make this clear. I wasn't expecting the earth. Considering the price of other systems on the market, I knew this one wasn't going to be the best. Nevertheless, I was expecting more than I got.With a 5.1 soundtrack from a high quality source, the dialogue is very tinny and disproportionate. In some ways, it sounds much like I would expect from a laptop speaker.Additionally, the tone seems to change as I move around the room, getting more or less tinny.The manufacturer does recommend that the bar is at ear height. When I am positioned at that height, there is improvement but the tinniness remains strong.The sub does add a little to the dialogue. But, if you look at the audio spectrum as a whole, this system seems incapable of reproducing a noticeable portion of it accurately. Thus, voices do not sound right no matter what.I thought things couldn't get worse, but my disappointment was not over.Next, I Bluetoothed my phone and played Atmos quality music. The bass was punchy but limited. There was little treble and the midranges were cold. The overall tone of it was harsh.There are several equaliser modes, all of which sound quite similar except the Dialogue option with dampens pretty much everything except vocal frequencies.Just to be certain, I listened to a number of different sources over a few days. I was forced to conclude this system is not for me.I should say, however, I am used to rich and high quality audio filled with fidelity. A lack of space forced me to choose a soundbar over a system with a separate amp and speakers.Other points...It's a good looking system. Well designed in it's asthetics. However, if you have a TV with a central stand, you won't be able to tuck it under your Tele because of the 6-pin loop cable that connects the two halves of the bar.The connectivity options are good. HDMI ARC, Bluetooth, Optical, and a headphone-style input, there won't be much you cannot connect to it and switching between those sources is very easy with the remote.Conclusion:With this being an entry level system, others in this price range will doubtless be similar. Going by the other reviews here, this one may possibly even a stronger candidate than some others.But the fact is, if you're like me and require a rich and full range to your listening experience, I'm sorry to say, you'll have to spend quite a bit more than this.It's not a terrible system and for the price and what you get with it, it may even be one of the better ones. But for me, it is not so.Edit: Having left this review, I was contacted by Ultimea customer services. Their agent made valiant efforts to try and resolve my issues.One star added for excellent customer service.Edit 2: I connected my PC to the soundbar directly for 5.1 audio while gaming. While playing the video feed to my TV cut out seven times in around an hour. This could be because this particular unit is faulty, or because it cannot truly handle 4k 60hz HDR content out of the box.Either way, I'm forced to remove a star.