Adrian Justins auditions a soundbar and subwoofer duo from Arcam. Is the UK brand's first foray into the market a big hit?
Arcam has been synonymous with quality home cinema for two decades, so it's no surprise that its debut soundbar product – the Solo Bar – is a premium model sporting an £800 price tag. Add in the Solo Sub and the ticket rises to £1,300. Bargain-basement AV, this isn't.
Now, probably no one other than me is going to be troubled by the notion of two products named 'Solo' that work best together, and they are so called because they are additions to Arcam's Solo range of hardware, which also includes the Muso loudspeaker and – soon – the new Solo Movie amp/disc player unit.
Rugged and ready
The Solo Bar and Sub take on the high-end likes of B&W’s Panorama 2, Monitor Audio's ASB-2 and Bose’s Cinemate 1SR, amongst others, and off er the build quality that prospective buyers will expect. Boasting a rigid construction and toting premium components including Wolfson anti-jitter circuitry featured in Arcam’s AVR range, the Solo Bar weighs in at over 6kg and is more than a metre wide. It looks like a serious slab of AV gear, and ticks the enthusiast-level boxes thanks to features such as 4K HDMI passthrough and built-in Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding.
The bar uses six drive units, arranged linearly in two sets of three (two 4in midbass and a tweeter), either side of the central display. The tweeters are angled slightly outwards to aid a wide dispersion.
Power output is a claimed 100W (of 'real power' says Arcam) with an additional 300W at the disposal of the Solo Sub, which has a downward-firing 10in woofer.
Connectivity is almost impeccable, comprising an impressive four CEC-enabled 4K passthrough HDMIs (capable of shunting 60Hz material), plus an HDMI output with ARC, and coaxial, optical and 3.5mm line inputs. I say almost impeccable because there is no provision for music via USB, although you can stream to the Bar using apt-X Bluetooth and in the opposite direction to a pair of Bluetooth headphones. The latter – a feature also found on LG's range of soundbars – is extremely useful for late-night movie sessions.
Like the soundbar, the subwoofer is an impressively built beast (fashioned from braced MDF) and off ers versatile connectivity with stereo phonos, LFE and wireless options. It can be tweaked in terms of crossover, volume, phase and crossover Q, which alters the slope of the trace beyond the cutoff frequency, in dB/octave. Here, Arcam recommends trying a setting of 1.1.
The Bar's remote control doesn’t have the premium quality feel that I expected but it’s decently laid out and easy enough to use. You can download a Solo app (iOS/Android) that transmits over Bluetooth and replicates the layout of the physical handset. Good for use in low light rather than the non-backlit remote.
Operation is aided by a good-sized display window in the centre of the Bar but there’s no display routed to your TV. The menu offers useful options to clip the subwoofer output by up to 12dB, allow IR signals to be throughput (vital considering the height of the Bar may obscure your TV's receiver) and turn on/off HDMI CEC. I found using CEC the best option for minimising remote control use.
There are three playback modes: stereo, concert and movie, with the latter two implementing some 'mild' DSP to alter the EQ and imaging ('the coefficients are set to avoid the usual headache-inducing sound many bars deliver...' says the brand). Arcam has got this spot on: certainly the movie mode is more effective at delivering individual effects and separating frequencies. Stereo is the default mode, and I found it best used for music as well as daytime TV viewing.
Setting up is straightforward and overall the Bar is simple to get to grips with – up to a point. You can use the supplied mic to measure your room’s acoustics and set a filter, stored in the EQ memory. But Arcam vaguely recommends only using this with certain material and experimenting would be a lot easier if the EQ on/off control were a button on the remote. The Bar also offers an Auto Loudness Control (ALC) function, which is actually given its own handset button.
Setting the scene
I found that for TV material, getting the best sound out of this Solo duo became a process of trying combinations of EQ on/off and ALC on/off , because the latter in particular did have quite an impact on sound.
With cricket on Sky HD, with ALC on and EQ off , the background murmur of the crowd was too much, but commentators' voices were richer and more agreeable than with ALC off. I switched EQ on, and got a better balance between vocals and background ambience, but the voices were robbed of some of their weight. Drama Penny Dreadful on Sky Atlantic threw up some niggles, too. With both room EQ and ALC in play, background noises were domineering, but with ALC off dialogue was thin and harsh. Often I found myself fiddling rather than watching the TV. Prepare for some experimentation.
Where it matters most
Happily, things are a lot less complex and a lot more convincing with the Solo partnership when it comes to watching Blu-rays. It became clear that in my room both EQ and ALC were best avoided, and the Arcam's pure handling of the DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack of Avatar was simply terrific, with a dynamic delivery that was utterly engaging.
During the attack on the humongous tree, the sounds of blades of grass being blown by helicopter downdraft were wonderfully distinct through the Bar's driver six-pack, as was a quiet tap on a computer screen. And when the mortar shells whooshed and bounced, and as the horse hooves scattered, I got a real sense of the directionality inherent in the mix, with the Solo Bar working well at conveying both width and scale. The impactful sounds of raging fires and larger missiles coming in and exploding were delivered with muscle and control. This system got the most out of the multifaceted soundtrack thanks to its skilful, even-handed approach.
The subwoofer blends seamlessly with the soundbar, and is worth investing in. For example, when the tube train crashes through the tunnel in Skyfall, the explosion hits hard and low – and as the debris thunders down around Mr Bond the Solo double act deftly delivers it all with aplomb. Against this background of effects the dialogue channel remains strong and distinct. You could buy the Bar on its own and ignore the woofer, but you'll miss out on its low-end charms.
Musically the Solo is also a highly accomplished performer (EQ off). Streamed via Bluetooth from my MacBook Air, a whole slew of hi-res and standard-res downloads sounded dynamic, lustrous and beautifully balanced. The punch of the drums during Michael Jackson's Billie Jean was more devastating than a series of jabs from Carl Froch, while the trumpets during the Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack have body and verve. I did experience the odd Bluetooth drop-out, however.
Overall, this Solo duo is a fussy bunny with low-quality (albeit Dolby Digital) broadcast sources but totally excels with Blu-ray soundtracks and music, and has impressive build quality and connectivity.
Specifications
DRIVE UNITS: 4 x 4in cone woofers; 2 x 1in cone tweeters
AMPLIFICATION: 100W
CONNECTIONS: 4 x HDMI inputs; 1 x HDMI output (ARC); 3.5mm audio input; USB (service); microphone; subwoofer output; coaxial digital audio; optical digital audio
DOLBY TRUEHD/DTS-HD MA: Yes
SEPARATE SUB: Yes. 300W, 10in driver
REMOTE CONTROL: Yes
DIMENSIONS: 1,100(w) x 130(h) x 110(d)mm
WEIGHT: 9kg
FEATURES: Stereo, Movie, Concert modes; wallmounting; wireless sub; assisted setup using microphone; apt-X Bluetooth; iOS/Android app control; HDMI CEC on/off ; HDMI ARC; IR repeater; Automatic Loudness Control; EQ on/off; adjustable display brightness