I've had my PLAYBASE for a couple days now and I like it, but I really expected more on the low end with this new S-curved sub design in the unit. Everything is crisp and clear and the stereo separation is impressive but the bass is totally lacking. I would compare it to my PLAY:1s (I don't own a 5) and the 1s might even outshine it in the bass category.
I was really hoping for more after hearing all the work they did in making sure it was good for both movies and for listening to music, which left me expecting a bigger sound.
I'm not in the financial position to add a SUB, so I'm curious to hear what others think. Is there an off-chance I got a faulty unit?
PLAYBASE Bass Response Underwhelming
Userlevel 4
+5
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+1
I was initially somewhat underwhelmed when first hooking up the Playbase. I did an initial Trueplay and all sounded just okay. Imaging was better and voices were more distinct, but the bass did seemed somewhat lacking.
I then did another Trueplay session, this time being more careful and also setting my seating position further back than usual. That seemed to have an impacts as the bass seems much more pronounced. I also think I was sonically prejudiced by my previous soundbar which had a small wireless sub - it was not a very good system and the sub probably provided a muddy deepness that may have clouded my hearing. The bass on the PB sounds more tight and not just a rumble with anything under 60hz.
I then did another Trueplay session, this time being more careful and also setting my seating position further back than usual. That seemed to have an impacts as the bass seems much more pronounced. I also think I was sonically prejudiced by my previous soundbar which had a small wireless sub - it was not a very good system and the sub probably provided a muddy deepness that may have clouded my hearing. The bass on the PB sounds more tight and not just a rumble with anything under 60hz.
You can't expect too much in either stereo separation or bass in a unit like this or any sound bar without a separate sub.
If the Sonos multi-room isn't important to you then you are better off with a soundbar that has a subwoofer with it. Personally I can't stand sounbars of any type because they have poor stereo separation. The laws of physics still apply.
If the Sonos multi-room isn't important to you then you are better off with a soundbar that has a subwoofer with it. Personally I can't stand sounbars of any type because they have poor stereo separation. The laws of physics still apply.
I then did another Trueplay session, this time being more careful and also setting my seating position further back than usual. That seemed to have an impacts as the bass seems much more pronounced..
This sounds similar to my experience. The first Trueplay tuning I did was just OK, but something seemed off. I realized that for one thing the HVAC fan was running for part of it, and for another, I had a case on my phone (iPhone 😵 that may have influenced the sound from certain angles. So I took the case off the phone, made sure the fans were off, and re-tuned, as you said being more careful this time about covering the main seating position but also on the second pass covering the whole room better. One question I have as you're doing the walking around part is how well it deals with when your body is in-between the phone and the Sonos. I tried to minimize that.
Bottom line is I did notice a significant improvement in the sound on the second try. I did bring the bass EQ up slightly above center (I really wish they provided an optional full-band EQ instead of 2 sliders but of course how that would interact with Trueplay tuning is a question), and I keep Loudness on. Sounds pretty good for both TV and music. As noted, the Playbase by itself is never going to challenge the sound of a quality monster system with multiple, dedicated speakers, but I'm very impressed. It's really perfect for an apartment where you are constrained on space and you can't realistically use earth-shaking bass anyway (the built-in Playbase bass is pretty impressive though).
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