Cambridge Audio TV5 Soundbase - For TVs Up To 30kg And 725mm Base, Bluetooth, HDMI ARC, Optical Input, 3.5mm Aux Input, EQ Settings

The sound quality is stupendous. I think it is good enough to be the main Hi-Fi where space is short and where there's no requirement to blow windows out, or have a loud dance party. I have a 40 Sq. Meter living room and it fills it with sound at about 70% volume... Too loud really at that setting.The sound is warm and full. Deep and rich comes to mind too. The sound is well focussed and clear. A 'ping' sounds like a 'ping as does a 'click'. It has enough base to bring out deep resonant tones from, say, a cello and the subwoofers, two off, are sufficient to bring out loud rumbling in films in a delightful manner. The subwoofers will not shake the room though. There is no facility to add an external subwoofer.I am not surprised this unit has won awards and accolades from the Hi-Fi press.Connectivity wise. I have been unable to find out what version of Blue Tooth it receives (Only) on. Cambridge customer support just said Blue Tooth 4 (there is a superior BT 4.1 and it might have that...). Some top brands are still using Blue Tooth 3. Unbelievable! BT4 is good enough given that 5 has only just come out. (There was a huge leap in quality of sound between BT3 and BT4. It also has the Apt.X 3 codec which is essential to get the near CD quality sound that BT is capable of delivering at its best. It does not have the less common AAC codec by Qualcom, or Sony developed LDAC codec. Both of these are superior to Apt.X. Having said that there are devices at twice this price which aren't even using Apr.X! Music played, by Blue Tooth, from my Android phone is astonishingly crisp and full.The manufacturer recommends a Toslink optic fibre as the preferred connection. Well, their tech, department says HDMI ARC3 is the preferred method for a TV. Makes sense. ARC 3 turns the Soundbase on and off with the TV. It's simpler and the are both digital. In addition the on board equalizer stiings on the handset do not work on Toslink / optical.More connectivity: Phono analogue in, Optic Fibre in; 3mm analogue in as well as the crucial HDMI ARC3 (digital).There is no speaker out by either BT or a jack.There is no USB port to play music from a USB drive or mem, stick.And, crucially there is no means to update the firmwear. So WYSIWYG. So many manufacturers don't allow for software and firmware updates. They can allow a unit to keep up to date and give better sound quality. Like adding better codecs for Blue Tooth.So it's headphone and USB in from the smart TV if so equipped.And, on that subject: Any equaliser settings on the TV or from an Ap. on the moblie device will come directly through to the speakers. So users of PowerAmp... Your all set.It's totally plug and play. That is just as well as the manual is not worth even looking at. It has no tech specs. either and that I do not like. That is why I did some digging to give the data above.There are no switches on the unit everything is done from the remote which seems well made and very simple to use. I am at a bit of a loss when I see journal reviews criticising the handset. It looks good, seems robust and is as good as it gets.Remote buttons:On/Off... Though if using an ARC 3 connection the TV will do the on off stuff. Volume up and another button for Vol. down.Four equaliser buttons for lab. designed sound profiles: Music, TV, Film, Voice. Voice is really important if playing the TV lte at night. It compresses the dynamics so that at lower volumes voice dialogue can be heard clearly. It's also helpful here the dialogue is getting lost in a noisy film.There is a big mute button. Easy to find without looking.Then there are four connectivity buttons: ARC, Optical, Aux, Blue Tooth. Blue Tooth pairing is very easy. Just set your device to pair with the Sound Base and press the Blue Tooth button. Give it a few seconds and 'Job done'.Lastly there are two buttons, Subwoofer increase and Subwoofer decrease.Downsides:The front speaker cover does not sit tight against the main unit on both sides simultaneously, as if it were warped, but it isn't. Yes, I had to try and get the gap even! It is not noticeable in use. But speaker fronts going into grommets has been around for a very long time. Bad engineering. The speaker cover is not that secure either. Give it a knock and it falls off. Again once in situ it is not a problem.More seriously the paint finish to the metal unit is appallingly easy to scratch through to the metal. The paint is cheap and its thin. It's not a decent and tough enamel paint.Finally no Blue Tooth out for headphones is remiss. Though many manufacturers don't have this it is seriously useful when people are sharing a lounge and doing different things. The work around is a Blue Tooth Dongle plugged into either a BT out USB or 3mm jack on the TV.Final comments:There is another British made award winning sound base exactly £100.00 cheaper than this. Again it has very clear sound, but the the extra £100.0 buys resonant room filling sound and a good full base response.Tip: If you plan to use Blue Tooth: Before buying a sound base do check the version of BT and what codecs it uses SDC for example is the basic ones all manufacturers must have and its very lossy. Aim at Apt.X as a minimum. The sound quality difference is substantial.Finally: The TV5 V2 gives really great sound, with a good dynamic range, straight out of the box. The sound quality will improve substantially, as with all speakers, as the speakers get broken in. Breaking speakers in takes about 20 - 30 hours of normal listening and they may likely improve up to a hundred hours.

Using this with a Sony Bravia 55 inch. Good solid construction - takes the weight of the TV easily. Using with 3.5 mm output from TV set to external audio and variable volume on the TV ( not headphone output). After getting used to it for a few days - I leave the EQ setting on Movie and use the TV volume on the TV remote so I leave the TV5 volume setting as is. Mixed viewing of Netflix, Amazon and TV dramas. The TV5 was plenty loud when needed and had plenty of headroom. Voice reproduction was spot on and effects weren't over powering but involving. I prefer this to the QAcoustics m2 because it has two bass drivers underneath and the bass is much tighter. No fatigue after lengthy movie sessions. Remote is big and intuitive to use but once its set up there was no need to adjust anything further.A few months on, I'm still impressed with the performance and I found swapping the 3.5mm cable for a 3.5mm to RCA cable improved the midrange clarity.

I bought this system to replace a set of Bose "PC" speakers connected to my 50" tv and was expecting superb sound quality. It was installed in a shelf below the TV in a corner unit and connected via optical cable. I found the sound quality to be very mediocre, the upper frequencies were no better than the TV's own speakers and the bass was just a mess. The sound wasn't in the same league as my Bose speakers which give a much richer sound with vastly superior bass performance. I have reverted to my original setup and will be returning this unit.

Sound quality is nice and clear, although the bass is perhaps a liitle light. However, I've just switched from a Bose soundbase, and those are pretty heavy on the bass sound. It's possible to add a sub woofer though if you want more bass.It's a pretty big unit, so I recommend measuring up where this is will be put before buying it.There are 4 sound settings (film TV, music and voice) but there are no other ways to adjust the treble, bass etc. However, for me these 4 settings are enough. Inputs are Hdmi, optical, coax, and the standard RCA connectors. Using HDMI Arc is the recommended option. You can also easily assign an existing remote control to handle the volume.A soundbase is never going to be the same as a full surround sound system, so don't expect it to be that. What it gives is a great upgrade to the standard TV sound.I'm happy with it. We use it all the time as our main TV speaker.

Bought this item after some research to replace a failed Samsung soundbase. This item was easy to set up, linked to my Samsung tv with the supplied optical lead with no problems. Also link my Samsung S9 using the bluetooth option to play my music.Very pleased with the sound from this unit and the ability to select tv, music, speech from the remote.The only downside is that the remote unit, whilst working very well, doesnt actually give any visual feedback on the screen so you have to trust that it has done what you selected.It is a good looking unit and sits nicely underneath my tv.Apart from the remote control unit I am very happy with this product, sound output is very good with no distortion at higher volume levels. Doubt if you would actually use it at full volume as it would make the walls shake!

Firstly a word of caution - check you can accommodate the size of the unit. I ordered after having returned a Samsung soundbar which was too wide. This one is less wide, but the width is deeper.The set-up could not be any easier. Attach 2 wires (power and optical) and you are done. Bluetooth set up is equally simple.The sound is great. I wanted it for more clarity when hearing dialogue on tv dramas. It delivers this but is equally good for films, music, etc.For anyone concerned over it not being a 'brand' name I would say give it a try. An example of a great British company competing with the better known global brands and producing a really great product.