Samsung HW-Q930D Review | Trusted Reviews

Verdict

It may lack certain refinements, like a decent onscreen display and 4k 120Hz support, but this upmarket soundbar, sub and rear speaker system certainly delivers when it comes to exciting, immersive cinema sound.

Introduction

The HW-Q930D soundbar is the understudy to Samsung’s HW-Q990D flagship. Shipped with wireless subwoofer and a pair of wireless rear speakers, it looks much the same as its stablemate, but offers 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos sound, compared to the step-up model’s 11.1.4 channel deployment. Connectivity also differs.

That said, overall power and sonic performance are much the same, making this a tempting proposition for those that seek genuine sonic immersion without the complexity and cost of an AV receiver and speaker package….

Availability

In stores now, the HW-930D is priced at £1,149 in the UK, and $1499 in the US. This places it at the upper end of the soundbar market, a position it justifies with the inclusion of those wireless rears as well as some novel smart functionality.

Design

• Wireless subwoofer 
• Wireless rear speakers
• Single HDMI input plus HDMI eARC TV connection

Measuring 1110 x 604 x 120 mm, the main bar is substantial, making it a good match for screens 55-inches and larger. If you plan on placing it in front of your screen, you’re going to need suitably wide AV furniture. There’s a wall-mount supplied if required.

The look is somewhat industrial, with its perforated grille and sharply angled corners. While the main speaker array fires forward, there are drivers pointing sideways, edgeways and upwards. This design serves a purpose, but I’d hesitate to call it pretty.

The wireless subwoofer looks to be an MDF enclosure. Finished in black, it sports an 8-inch cloth-covered driver and is rear ported.

The wireless rears are a cosmetic match for the main bar, and house both forward and up-firing drivers. All the components pair automatically. While the rears are wireless, you’ll still need to supply them with a wall socket (there’s no built-in battery). In total, I’m told there are 17 drivers employed across the system, in service of its 9.1.4 channel configuration.

Features

• Q-Symphony compatible
• SmartThings enabled
• Voice Assistant options

If the HW-Q930D doesn’t quite sate your need for enormous sound straight out of the box, Q-Symphony lets you add a compatible Samsung TV’s own speaker complement to the mix – soundbar and TV speakers working simultaneously. This is, of course, overkill, but the option is there.

Also dependent on a compatible Samsung TV is wireless Dolby Atmos transmission. This function will likely only be of interest only if you need to avoid an eARC connection to your screen, perhaps because of wall mounting complications. 

Auto calibration is available via SpaceFit Sound Pro, a dynamic monitoring and EQ system fed by a built-in microphone.  

Smart credentials are good. The HW-Q930D has Alexa built-in, works with Google Home and is compatible with AirPlay 2. It’s also SmartThings enabled, which means you can integrate it as part of a larger SmartThings home system, and control it via the SmartThings app. 

In addition to a standard compact remote control, there are basic on-body controls for volume and Bluetooth pairing.

Additional niceties include AVA (Active Voice Amplifier) technology. This monitors ambient noise in your listening room, be it intermittent background hubbub or just noisy roommates, boosting dialogue so that it’s more easily followed.

There’s also a manual audio sync slider available on the app, which is variable between 0ms and +300ms, should a stream go adrift for some reason.

While the HW-Q930D offers a number of clever Samsung-centric features, it lacks an onscreen display, to improve the user experience. The truncated dot matrix display which scrolls on the fascia is meagre compensation.

Connectivity comprises one HDMI input, plus an HDMI eARC for TV connection. This HDMI input does not support 4K/20Hz, so you might not want to connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S if you value High Frame Rate gaming. There’s no Dolby Vision passthrough either. 

There’s also an optical digital audio input. Wireless support covers Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Sound Quality

• Dolby Atmos compatible
• Effective subwoofer

This big Samsung bar gets core surround sonics right. The system sounds expansive, and is more capable of filling the average listening room.

The brand may be tight-lipped about the power on tap, but I found there’s plenty of dynamic snap to its performance, although things do tend to get a bit raggedy at high volume.

Netflix Sci-fi action movie Atlas may not go down as one of the year’s more cherished streaming originals, but it does have an extremely well-engineered Atmos soundtrack, which during the space battle scenes gets a thorough workout. The timbre matching between the forward facing speaker array and the wireless rears is excellent, allowing sound objects to seamlessly travel to and fro.

There’s a definite sense of cinematic immersion, something that’s all but impossible to realise on soundbars which don’t come with dedicated rear speakers. 

The side angle front drivers also go a long way to enlarging the soundstage; all too often a bar is constrained by its physical width. Here audio is spread out.

There’s also a tangible sense of overhead presence. I found that the height channel effect was improved by manually raising the channel level a tad, so experimentation is recommended.

The wireless subwoofer proves to be an energetic performer, and is actually crucial to the quality of the front soundstage. I measured sub activity from 31.5Hz, which can be considered good for this calibre of bass box. The subwoofer finds full voice at around 50Hz. 

The soundbar crossover is set high at 100Hz, so the sub is required to do a lot of heavy lifting. Without the sub in play, the mechs in Atlas lose a lot of their weight. Reinstate it, and they stomp with a good deal more conviction.  

Because the crossover is high, you should keep the subwoofer close to the soundbar, to keep the soundstage coherent.

The system is also fine at subtle ambiance, able to place crowd noise from sports in the round, without the rear speakers drawing undue attention to themselves.

While the soundbar is principally a home theatre device, it’s perfectly fine for audio-only listening. I wouldn’t class it as particularly musical, but it’ll have you tapping your toes, is Roon Tested and works well with Dolby Atmos Music streams.

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