Monoprice SB-600 – Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 Soundbar w/ Wireless Sound System

If you’re someone who enjoys watching TV shows, as well as TV series and/or movies at home, then it’s definitely worth that you consider getting a Dolby Atmos soundbar so that you can ultimately have a more immersive sound experience when watching your favorite content. While the speakers in most TVs nowadays are designed to produce a decent sound, they’re overall audio quality is not even remotely close to the all of the crisp sound details that a Dolby Atmos soundbar can offer you. In fact, some higher-end soundbars nowadays even come together with dedicated hybrid sound systems that combine multiple speaker units together with a subwoofer to deliver a truly immersive sound experience. That’s exactly the case with the Monoprice SB-600 Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 Soundbar, which is the company’s latest soundbar to be released during early 2021.

The Monoprice SB-600 is a powerful 5.1.2 soundbar that delivers a premium sound quality, featuring a 5.1.2 sound system that’s composed by its built-in Atmos Height Speakers powered by Dolby Atmos, plus a set of wireless surround speakers and a wireless 8-inch subwoofer, while also boasting support to Virtual Dolby Atmos to create an expanded sound stage for a truly immersive home theater experience, and integrating multiple connectivity options for connecting audio and video devices, including 2 HDMI inputs, an HDMI eARC output, both Optical Digital and Coaxial inputs, a 3.5mm Analog Audio input, and 4K HDR/DV Passthrough, and boasting Bluetooth and USB connectivity for streaming audio from your smartphone or PC, along with an included IR Remote Control for configuring and controlling its sound settings.

By combining its 5.1.2 surround sound system together with Virtual Dolby Atmos, this 5.1.2 soundbar can create a rich and crystal clear 360º sound field, delivering an enveloping soundstage and a cinematic surround sound with outstanding sound detail, bringing you incredibly realistic sounds for a truly immersive home theater sound experience for all your music and movies.

Now, let’s have a more detailed look at this recently released Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 Soundbar and check out everything that it has to offer you.

DESIGN & SPECS

Starting with the soundbar’s size, the Monoprice SB-600 packs a very slim profile, measuring exactly 40.6 inches long by just 4.3 inches wide and 3 inches tall (1032 x 110 x 75 mm). Despite the soundbar’s sleek dimensions, the unit is still fairly stable, as the soundbar weighs 8.8 lbs. (4 kg).

Regarding the soundbar’s design,it’s worth noting that the SB-600 portrays a sleek and ultra-modern design, which is accompanied by a fairly durable construction. The soundbar features a minimalist metal grille that covers both its top and front. In addition, the rest of the soundbar’s body (meaning its sides and bottom) are both made of solid plastic, and the device also comes equipped with Anti-Slip Rubberized Feet for extra support.

Then, we also have its Wireless 8″ Subwoofer, which also features a slim design, measuring just 9.4 inches long by 9.4 inches wide by 16.5 inches tall (240 x 240 x 420 mm) and weighing 13.2 lbs. (6 kg).

This subwoofer unit features a durable construciton throughout its high-quality plastic body, which comes neatly covered by a medium-density fiberboard. Similar to the soundbar, the subwoofer also integrates a set of plastic pegs for stability.

Finally, we have its Dual Wireless Surround Speakers, which also come at a very compact size, with each speaker measuring just 2.8 inches long by 5.9 inches wide by 4.3 inches tall (71 x 150 x 108 mm) and weighing just a measly 1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg).

These two wireless surround speakers portray a similar minimalist design that perfectly matches the SB-600’s modern look. At the front-side of each speaker unit there’s a metal grille that matches the one found on the soundbar, while the rest of each speaker’s body is made of the same type of high-quality plastic (just like the subwoofer). Each speaker also integrates a set of Rubberized Feet for support.

All in all, the whole system features an excellent build quality overall.

Moreover, just like most of Monoprice’s soundbars, the SB-600 also supports Wall-Mounting, which can be done by using the included wall-mounting brackets in its package to ultimately have the soundbar neatly mounted on a wall beneath your Smart TV.

AUDIO SPECS & AUDIO QUALITY

Moving on to soundbar’s audio specifications. For producing its sound, the Monoprice SB-300 utilizes two (x2) 20mm Tweeters that work together with a total of six (x6) internal subwoofer drivers.

The soundbar’s 6 internal subwoofer drivers consist of two (x2) 2″ Cone Speakers (integrated right at the center of the soundbar), two (x2) 2.5″ Midrange Speakers (one integrated at the left-side and one at the right-side of the soundbar), and two (x2) Vertically Up‑Firing Speakers that support Dolby Atmos (i.e. the soundbar’s built‑in Atmos Height Speakers, which represent the “.2” in the soundbar’s 5.1.2 designation).

Note that the soundbar’s Dual 2″ Cone Speakers are capable of producing 50W of Output Power, while its 2.5″ Midrange Speakers boast 25W of Output Power, its Vertically Up‑Firing Dolby Atmos Speakers also boast 25W of Output Power, and the same also goes for its Dual 20mm Tweeters, which also boast 25W of Output Power. In total, the soundbar can boast an amazing 200W of Output Power.

In addition, know that the soundbar features a Frequency Response of 120Hz to 20kHz.

Moving on to the soundbar’s Dual Wireless Surround Speakers. Each of these wireless speaker units also comes equipped with a set of two (x2) 2″ Midrange Sound Drivers, with each speaker boasting 15W of Output Power, and both speakers also feature a Frequency Response of 120Hz to 20kHz.

Lastly, there’s also the soundbar’s Wireless 8″ Subwoofer, which is fairly powerful when it comes to delivering a punchy bass. This wireless subwoofer unit comes equipped with a 8″ Down-Firing Cone Sound Driver (integrated underneath the device) that is capable of delivering a whopping 180W of Output Power. The system’s wireless subwoofer features a Frequency Response of 40 Hz to 120Hz.

All in all, the entire system – meaning the soundbar combined with its Dual Wireless Surround Speakers and its Wireless 8″ Subwoofer – proved capable of delivering a super rich sound quality.

The treble (high-range sound frequencies) was crisp, the mids (mid-range sound frequencies) such as voices were always played with a crystal-clear audio, and the bass / lows (low-frequency sounds) were quite punchy. In sum, the soundbar’s sound capabilities is fairly enjoyable.

The whole system features a Frequency Response that ranges between 40Hz to 20kHz.

NOTABLE SOUND FEATURES

Support to Virtual Dolby Atmos

As said before, the Monoprice SB-600 also features support to Virtual Dolby Atmos, which is achieved by having the soundbar utilizing a sophisticated digital signal processing technology that works in combination with psycho acoustics.

By recurring to its Virtual Dolby Atmos capabilities, users can further widen and expand the sound field of the SB-600 Soundbar to have the audio from their content (music, or the soundtracks and sound effects on TV Shows and movies) almost floating around them.

To be a little more specific, this is achieved by having the soundbar’s multiple sound drivers producing sound in different directions in order to create a 360-degree Sound Field that ultimately gives you the impression of height and space. This will basically offer you a cinematic surround-sound experience with great realism and crystal-clear sound details for any content that’s encoded with Dolby Atmos sound technology.

Now, while you’ll obviously need to be streaming a Dolby Atmos source to achieve this sort of “more immersive” sound effect, you shouldn’t really have to worry about whether or not the audio of the content that you’re looking to stream actually features Dolby Atmos for its sound-encoding, as nowadays, most streaming services have content with Dolby Atmos encoding.

All things considered, the soundbar’s Virtual Dolby Atmos functionality is awesome, especially when having the soundbar working together with its external Dual Wireless Surround Speakers and Wireless 8″ Subwoofer.

DSP Sound Modes

Other than supporting Virtual Dolby Atmos, this soundbar also boasts a few different DSP Sound Modes / Pre-Sets that can be used for listening to sound from Movies (Movie Mode), Music (Music Mode), or simply to listen to the News (News Mode).

The Music Mode can be used to enhance the sound field for music playback, while the Movie Mode attempts to focus on the dialog and sound effects for a more dramatic movie experience. Lastly, the News Mode focuses solely on dialog clarity and is the best choice for most spoken word programming.

In sum, these DSP Sound Modes can be used to further enhance the listening experience provided by this sound bar.

INTERFACE / CONTROL PANEL

We’ll now take a quick, yet still detailed look at the soundbar’s entire interface.

Starting at the front-side of the unit and sitting integrated right at the middle of its top-side, we have a simple Control Panel, which makes it easy and intuitive for users to control the soundbar’s different settings and functionalities.

Going from left to right we have a Power Button, an Input Source Button, a Volume Decrease Button, and a Volume Increase Button.

In addition, sitting just below the soundbar’s Control Panel, there’s also a bright Non-Dimmable LED Display integrated at the center of the soundbar’s front-side that shows you the audio source that you currently have selected (and some other essential info).

Finally, at the back side of the unit, we also have a super-versatile Connection Panel for the soundbar’s different connectivity methods.

Starting at the left-side of this Connection Panel, we have a Digital Coaxial Input, followed by a an Optical Digital Audio Input (meaning a Toslink Input), for which both Digital Audio ports boast an Audio Input Sensitivity of 500mV.

Then, there’s also a USB 2.0 Input port (for streaming audio-content such as music or podcasts via USB), which is then followed by a 3.5mm Analog Audio Input that allows you to connect several audio and video devices to the soundbar.

Furthermore, right at the center, we have the soundbar’s AC Power Input port (for its Power Cable), and at the right side of that, we have an HDMI eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) Output, and two (x2) standard HDMI Inputs

In addition to all of these different connectivity methods, the soundbar also features support to 4K HDR/DV Passthrough.

Last of all, we also have the Power Input ports for the system’s Dual Wireless Surround Speakers and its Wireless 8″ Subwoofer, which can be found at the back-side of those devices.

After you connect the soundbar and its Wireless 8″ Subwoofer to their respective power cords and turn their power On, the devices should pair with each other automatically.

Note that when connecting the soundbar’s Dual Wireless Surround Speakers to power, you’ll first have to connect the right surround speaker unit to a dedicated AC Power Adapter, and after that’s done, you’ll then connect the left surround speaker unit to the right one via a 12 ft. Audio Cable that has 2.5mm Audio Jacks on both ends.

Just like the soundbar and its wireless subwoofer, once you’re finished connecting both of its wireless speaker units to power as well as to each other, the speakers should also pair automatically with the soundbar.

CONNECTIVITY

For the soundbar’s connectivity, it’s worth noting that the Monoprice SB-300 supports both Bluetooth 4.2 Connectivity, with support to both A2DP and AVRCP Bluetooth Profiles as stereo streaming protocols.

Moreover, the soundbar also boasts USB Connectivity (via its USB 2.0 port), which supports USB Drives with a storage capacity of up to 32GB with files saved solely in MP3 – either in FAT16 and/or FAT32 formats), which can both be used to stream your content’s audio either from your smartphone or from your PC.

THE REMOTE CONTROL

Finally, this powerful and feature-packed soundbar also comes together with an included IR Remote Control that can be used for easily controlling all of its functionalities.

These functionalities include changing the soundbar’s audio source, swapping between its three different DSP Modes, skipping between soundtracks while streaming music, as well as adjusting the soundbar’s left/right balance.

Note that the soundbar’s IR Remote Control features a maximum Connection Range (via Infra-Red) of 19.7 ft.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

Inside the package, users will find: their Monoprice SB-600 Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 Soundbar, as well as the soundbar’s dedicated Dual Wireless Surround Speakers and its Wireless 8″ Subwoofer.

Moreover, the package also includes the soundbar’s Dedicated IR Remote Control (together with 2x AAA Batteries for powering it), the soundbar’s AC Power Cord, as well as a Power Cord for its wireless subwoofer, a Power Cable and Power Adapter for its wireless speaker units (along with an Audio Cable for those), one (x1) Premium High-Speed HDMI Cable, one (x1) 3.5mm Audio Cable (for connecting the soundbar to external devices), and you also get two (x2) Wall Mount Brackets, four (x4) Wall Mount Screws, four (x4) Wall Mount Anchors and two (x2) Mounting Screws; and also the soundbar’s User Manual.

FINAL THOUGHTS

When considering all of the awesome sound functionalities and different quality-of-life features offered by the Monoprice SB-600, it’s safe to say that this is one of the best soundbars that you can currently find available on the market, especially when accounting for its affordable price tag.

If you’re interested in buying it, each unit is currently discounted from its normal price of $449.99, and is now going for just $239.99 (saves you $210), and each purchase also comes accompanied by a 1-Year Warranty, a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee, and also free shipping within the U.S. You can order yours online right now, directly from Monoprice’s official shopping page.