our gadgets
he loves hi s acti on movie s, does simon middleweek. can thi s soundbar gi ve the m a boost?
We get hands-on with the stylish, well-built Orbitsound A70 soundbar, improve our swing with the Optishot 2 golf simulator, and look closely at the Black Berry Priv
PRICE £499.95 url orbitsound. com dimensions (H x wx d) Soundbar: 74 x 750 x 65mm. Subwoofer: 340 x 140 x 340mm
WEIGHT Soundbar: 1.95kg. Subwoofer: 6kg POW ER Soundbar: 130W (80 front, 50 side). Subwoofer: 170W REMO TE
CONTROL Yes BLU ETOO TH Yes constr ucti on Engineered wood
When I bought my Panasonic 3D TV a couple of years back, I naively thought that all my homecinema dreams would be realised. Imagine my despair, then, when I got home to discover that the sound was poor. Not only was it tinny, but if I wanted to even come close to immersing myself in the movie I was watching, I had to crank up the volume to full blast.
So reluctantly, I considered a dedicated home-cinema audio set-up. I wasn’t interested in placing speakers all around the room (I prefer the minimalist approach to interior design), so a soundbar seemed like the sensible choice.
I’d heard of Orbitsound and its airSOUND technology – it’s virtually impossible to venture into John Lewis’s audio-visual department without being cornered by an Orbitsound salesman. According to the PR hype, airSOUND provides room-filling stereo sound no matter where you’re sitting in a room, meaning you and your family will no longer have to fight over that ‘sweet spot’ when watching films. Well, seeing as Orbitsound’s A70 was cheaper than some of the other options in the store (despite being the manufacturer’s flagship soundbar), I decided to take the plunge.
Taking it out of the box, I was immediately struck by how sleek this thing is. How on earth