Orbitsound BAR A70 Sound Bar With Air sound (aptX Bluetooth)

Product Information

It would have been nice to have a display on the front to show the input/mode currently in use. There are telltale lights on the top of the unit, but you need to be very close to see which one is lit. As for airSOUND, its effect is subtle most of the time but as promised it does widen the listening area considerably – you can walk around the room with very little drop in treble clarity. But the technology works best during scenes with lots of surround information. As the dwarves make their way through the woods in a downpour, for example, the hissing rain feels like it’s falling around you, spreading far and wide into the room. It’s no match for true surround sound but does provide a more immersive listening experience than most soundbars. The A70 eschews the rectangular shape of previous Orbitsound bars with a curvier design that emphasises the presence of airSOUND technology. The rounded aluminium grilles at the ends of the cabinet draw attention to the side-firing drivers, while the front speakers are hidden behind a pill-shaped grille.

Setting up the A70 couldn’t be easier, one of the benefits of a single-cable optical connection. The bar nestles nicely in front of our 55in set, although the size difference did look a little odd – aesthetically, it’s better suited to TVs between 32 and 42in. The four speaker drivers at the front handle the bulk of the sound – speech, effects, music etc – while two spatial drivers located in the end panels ‘bounce’ sound around the room, theoretically resulting in a spacious, enveloping soundstage no matter where you sit. Inside the wireless subwoofer is a 6.5in bass driver and total power output is quoted as 300W. Spin some music over Bluetooth or through the auxiliary input and the speakers display a fine sense of rhythm and timing. Rihanna’s Don’t Stop the Music flows with pace and a decent sense of panache. The M10 does a decent job with music, offering a nice balance across the frequency range, incisive high frequencies, natural-sounding voices and nimble bass work. The included Orbitsound remote is stylish and easy to use, but for even more convenient control of volume, the BAR A70 has the ability to learn the volume control from your TV's remote. This means you can control the soundbar volume without putting down your normal TV remote.We have reservations over using airSOUND with music though, and if you want HDMI ports then you’ll need to look elsewhere. Verdict

There’s a learning remote function, which allows you to control volume using your existing TV remote. Panasonic TVs aren’t currently supported but it works with Sony, LG and Samsung sets. Orbitsound A70 airSOUND Bar – Performance An auxiliary input means you can connect an additional source. There's also a remote control that gives full control over iPod menus.Touch-sensitive controls on the left side of the unit light up when tapped, showing controls for power, volume, inputs, Bluetooth and NFC. All these controls are easy to adjust using the slim remote control, which is thankfully more substantial than credit card-style variants. The ‘S3’ wireless subwoofer communicates with the soundbar via Bluetooth, using an optimised digital bandwidth that guarantees low latency and low interference without affecting normal Bluetooth performance. It uses a side-firing 6.25-inch woofer and dives down to 45Hz.

In practice there’s a decent sense of width and openess to the sound – you can hear it trying to fling sound effects far and wide. But, as with many processing technologies, don’t be fooled into thinking the M9 is any kind of substitute for proper surround sound.The main soundbar unit features five drivers: three fire outwards, including one 20mm tweeter, while two 5cm units fire sideways. These side speakers combine with sound processing, to produce Orbitsound’s SST (Spacial Sound Technology) which claims to help radiate sound all around your room. There’s a satisfyingly cohesive union between soundbar and subwoofer that puts some rivals to shame, and the presence of airSOUND makes it sound great regardless of placement or seating position. The M10’s lively sound is a cut above many similarly-priced rivals. Much of the credit for this should go to airSOUND, which delivers on its promise with an enveloping soundstage. We’re also impressed by the soundbar’s full-bodied, natural sound. Some of the soundbars we’ve tested recently offer a thin, hard tone with practically no bass extension whatsoever, which makes the accompanying subwoofer sound detached and disjointed.