LG 2020 Soundbar range has Meridian tuning

LG 2020 soundbar range

The nine new models in the LG 2020 Soundbar range covers ever niche from 2.1 to 7.1.4. On its 3.0 or higher it has Meridian audio enhancements that deliver high-performance, high-fidelity audio, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and psychoacoustics.

Also new is AI Room Calibration using a smartphone app/microphone to calibrate the room for the best sound.

LG 2020 Soundbar overview

Website here

Model
SN prefix
Key FeaturesRRPIn-store date
11RGWireless rear up-firing speakers Meridian Audio Dolby Atmos & DTS:X Google Assistant Built-in 770W & 7.1.4 Channels$1899May
10YGMeridian Audio Dolby Atmos & DTS:X Google Assistant Built-in AI Room Calibration 570W & 5.1.2 Channels$1599June
9YGMeridian Audio Dolby Atmos & DTS:X Google Assistant Built-in AI Room Calibration 520W & 5.1.2 Channels$1399May
8YGMeridian Audio Dolby Atmos & DTS:X Google Assistant Built-in AI Room Calibration 440W & 3.1.2 Channels$1049May
7YMeridian Audio Dolby Atmos & DTS:X High-Resolution Audio 4K Pass-Through 380W & 3.1.2 Channels$899May
7CYMeridian Audio Dolby Atmos & DTS:X High-Resolution Audio 4K Pass-Through 160W & 3.0.2 Channels$749June
6YDTS Virtual:X High-Resolution Audio AI Sound Pro Rear Speaker Compatible 420W & 3.1 Channels$649May
5YDTS Virtual:X High-Resolution Audio AI Sound Pro Rear Speaker Compatible 400W & 2.1 Channels$549April
4DTS Virtual:X AI Sound Pro HDMI In/Out, Optical &USB 300W & 2.1 Channels$399April

Let’s explain a few terms for the LG 2020 soundbar series.

  • 2.1 = front left/right and a wireless subwoofer
  • 3.1 = front left/centre/right and a wireless subwoofer. Centre adds clear dialogue
  • 3.0.2 = front left/centre/right and front up firing left/right – minimum for Dolby Atmos
  • 3.1.2 = adds a wireless subwoofer
  • 5.1.2 = front left/centre/right, front up firing left/right, rear left/right and a wireless subwoofer. This is what most Dolby Atmos streaming content uses
  • 7.1.4 = front left/centre/right, front up firing left/right, rear left/right, rear up firing left/right and a wireless subwoofer
7.1.4

Dolby Atmos

7.1.4 is as good as Dolby Atmos currently gets from a 4K Blu-ray. The content needs to have Dolby metadata encoding and passthrough to the soundbar for processing. Recommend for all OLED and NanoCell 2020 TVs.

DTS:X

A virtual sound similar to Dolby Atmos but less sophisticated in sound object placement.

DTS Virtual:X

Gets three dimensional sound without extra speakers – Our AV expert Thomas Bartlett calls this psychoacoustic trickery as it hacks your ears to make it seem to have sounds outside the stereo sound stage.

Meridian Audio

Simply put this UK company tunes some models for Bass and Space and Image Elevation.

B&S boosts low-frequency reproduction and widens the soundstage. Image Elevation raises the sound to the perceived height of lead instruments and vocals.

AI Room Calibration

The LG Wi-Fi Speaker app enables the smartphone microphone to listen to specialised test tones. The app then adjusts the equaliser according to the room acoustics (such as reducing undesirable standing waves generated by room corners.

HDMI version

We can only assume that the Dolby Atmos versions use HDMI 2.1 and eARC. You will need the proper HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed rated cables for 8K TV and Premium High-Speed HDMI 2.0 for 4K. Read more here.

Check if you have at least one HDMI input (to connect an external content source).

Wi-Fi and BT

We can only assume that it has Wi-Fi 5 AC dual-band and BT 5.0. It does not have an Ethernet port.

Google Home

The unit supports Google Home and is used to connect your soundbar to the home Wi-Fi network. You can stream audio content.

GadgetGuy’s take – the LG 2020 soundbar range is impressive and covers all bases.

Having used LG soundbars over the years, they are an excellent companion to its TVs – in fact, any brand TV.

The 9, 10 and 11 series are a perfect match for the 2020 OLED and NanoCell range.