Come have a drink at the Sound Bar
Disclaimer
As a disclaimer, I must mention the Edifier B3 sound bar was sent to me for this review free of charge from Edifier. A massive thank you to Kathryn who has been endlessly supportive during my time with the B3 an apology as well for the delay it has taken to write this.
Background
I am an avid user of most things audio which begs to ask the question why I haven’t dabbled too much into a great Hi Fi system. There is an answer to this, you see long ago when I was but a young lad I had an obsession for loud bass heavy systems. This resulted in me spending more on my car audio system than I did on my first car and some very unhappy neighbors.
Suffice it to say not everyone was happy, apart from me and my friends, so I had to look for a quieter solution here entered the world of earphones and personal audio. I was hooked and didn’t spend much time looking back. I am sure I have lost the point of why I am writing this but anyway since that time I haven’t seen many sound bars or stereos I have been particularly interested in.
Now with that era behind me I have come to rediscover my love for a good quality sound system and I will say this the B3 is one of the best sound bars I’ve heard to date.
Build Quality, Installation, Specs
Specifications
• POWER OUTPUT ：RMS 16W×2(Treble) +19W×2(Mid-range and bass)
• SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO ：≥ 85dBA
• FREQUENCY RESPONSE ：60Hz~20KHz (±6dB)
• INPUT SENSITIVITY ：PC: 700 ± 50mV | AUX: 550 ± 50mV
OPT, COX: 400 mFFs ± 50 mFFs
• INPUT TYPE ：PC/Auxiliary/Optical/Coaxial/Bluetooth
• MID-RANGE AND BASS DRIVER ：70mm
• TREBLE DRIVER ：19mm
• SPEAKER DIMENSIONS: 1000x79x80mm
• PACKAGING BOX DIMENSIONS: 1066x170x143mm
Oh, if I could just jump into the sound I would but this needs some attention too unfortunately. So, let us kick things off with the looks. As you can see from the pictures below there isn’t much to it a very sleek looking, black Toblerone design believe me it might not be chocolate but it sounds just as sweet.
Installation is a piece of cake I am sure a trained monkey could fit this thing plug and play and the rest is paint by numbers. Should you have any issues though there is always the instruction manual for those less manly/prideful. There is also the addition of a wall mount in case you wish to have the B3 levitating in your set up.
Overall the build quality is nothing short of great and ticks all my boxes I think it would survive a drop or two, that is not a challenge however! Aesthetically speaking there isn’t anything to complain about and I have included some glamour shots below.
Under the hood, we have a generous amount of tech to keep you satisfied the B3 sound bar is loaded with four 70mm speaker units for lows and mids, as well as two 19mm tweeters for clear highs. At maximum setting, B3 can output 100 dB of room-filling sound. It also features DSP not sure exactly how it works but I am not complaining.
Features and Accessories
This isn’t a big section so instead of wasting too much time I have copied a quote from Edifiers official web page.
“Multiple Connections
B3's optical input delivers lossless audio. Coaxial, RCA Line In and auxiliary inputs are also available, so the sound bar can be connected to your TV, game systems, Blu-ray players and other sources at the same time. That means all your favourite entertainment are ready to go, whenever you want, without the hassle of switching wires.”
As always, I recommend the optical option a wire is also included in the package which is a nice addition. However, the B3 is very versatile allowing several other inputs in case you can’t go this route. The B3 also features improved Bluetooth technology, which provides up to 10 meters of connection. It's faster and more reliable. So, you can stream a world of music from your smart-phone, tablets and any other Bluetooth-enabled devices, seamlessly. (I got lazy and copied that last bit but I can testify for its accuracy in connection and distance quotation.)
Inside the box, you will get a handy dandy remote which you’ll be able to use to turn off/on the sound bar, select inputs, adjust volume and mute it in a hurry if you need to. The remote itself is quite small measuring about 8 cm X 3 cm. My only concern is given enough time in a family household this tiny thing will go missing. Thankfully even if you couldn’t get a replacement the B3 offers functional controls on the side of the sound bar itself. You also get a wall mount for easy installation, a RCA to 3.5mm cable and an optical cable for your T.V.
Sound Quality
I never thought I would make it this far but we have and if you’ve stayed along for the journey come join me and let’s have a drink at the sound bar.
First things first I would like to state all impression made in each section will be my overall impression not based on any one setting unless specified. As this needs to be as informative as possible below I have broken down the characteristics of how each sound setting effects the performance of the sound spectrum.
News: This setting is certainly not for the bass lover and will happily cut out any unnecessary mid bass, this however doesn’t mean it hasn’t got a function. I find this setting more useful for listening to regular T.V you get a distinction of voices and the added treble and detail make for a good listening experience.
Movie: Okay we are barking up my tree now or starting to at least. The movie setting as suggested was designed for all your movie lovers out there and I say it does do a bang up job. This is certainly the more bassier of two settings mention so far but hints and keeps elements attributed to the News settings. Overall you get a darker sound plenty of detail and bass to boot it really is the middle setting and perfect for games and movies.
3D: This is my personal favourite but not for casual T.V watching or movies. This setting is and was designed, in my opinion, for the music lover. All in all, it holds a lot of the detail whilst adding a rich depth to the sound, panning out spatial cues from left to right and adding a blood pumping amount of bass to the mix. You would however get the impression that this would-be idea for movies or maybe even T.V but I would challenge that assumption. The reason being is the 3D almost adds too much bass for easy listening and this comes at the expense of the detail you need to hear during your viewing time, I have no idea why but the effects just aren’t the same when playing music through it, no loss of detail and an addition of fun. I am stumped but for now I will stick to that as my music setting.
I was in two minds about splitting this down into sections as I would typically do with my headphone reviews but in this case I would like to discuss the B3 as an all in one package.
There is much to love about the B3 especially when coming from the poor speakers packed into most of today s T. V’s. The first thing you will be greeted by is the pleasant volume increase everything from voices to hidden nuances are now much more pronounced. Of course, being able to hear what you are listening to is a bonus but the fun doesn’t stop there.
When you think of tiny sound it must make you cringe and believe me even though I haven’t a vast experience with sound bars some sound just as bad if not worst then your standard T.V speakers. Thankfully the B3 doesn’t sing that song instead you get a rich, detailed and enveloping sound that is great for everything from movies to music.
In all honesty when you have your desired setting you can’t really go wrong with what the B3 offers but there are obviously, some cravats to this otherwise stunning piece of equipment. Funnily enough what I am about to mention doesn’t seem anywhere near as prominent when playing music through the B3.
So, what’s the issue then? Well guys and girls, the simple answer is distortion. Please do not hear me wrong the B3 is great but when watching less that spotless quality recordings, T.V shows or Movies when pushed to its limits the B3 starts to become a little messy. There is a shake of detail and sharpness, the bass losses its visceral emotion and things just kind of just become unflattering. This isn’t the case however when playing music through it, I can only chalk this down to my T.V or poor audio sources as with music the B3 just shines as well as any good book shelve speaker.
Final thoughts
I have liked this sound bar a lot but as mentioned in sound section it isn’t quite perfect, it still has outshone a ton of its competitors or at least anything else I could try in that price range. I would like still like to see this get some attention because it is a great sound bar it might not fit the bill if you are looking for earth shattering bass or a complete surround sound system but hell for the price it’s a steal.
I’m sure I have missed some bits out and if you find anything you feel didn’t give you full coverage please leave a comment below and I will do my best to get back to you.
