AmazonFire TV Soundbar Plus with subwoofer and surround sound speakers (newest model), 5.1 channel, Dolby Atmos, clear dialogue

I'm very impressed with the Alexa Soundbar Plus. I elected to try this system out instead of the way my old place was setup with a combination of 8 Sono system speakers and playbar and then Alexa speakers all over the house. I wanted just one way to listen to tunes. This was an easy setup especially when paired with the Fire TV Cube. It sounds great, bass and sats are good quality with bulk and heaviness to them. One instruction that could be clearer is that FireTV Cube is a must-have to use the soundbar for more than just TV speakers, a FireTV Stick doesn't provide this feature. I know there are some short-comings like that Dolby Atom works only with Amazon content but regardless very good product and highly recommend if you are trying to simplify your sound system.

Yes, it took way longer to unpack than it did to set up. The soundbar connected/paired instantly with my Sony tv as soon as I plugged it in. And so did the wireless subwoofer and rear speakers. Also worked immediately with the remote from the tv (using HDMI-Arc port). And sounded great when we started streaming a movie a few minutes after plugging it in. Side note - extremely well packed.My old unit was a Vizio SB3651 surround sound system, but I was looking for a something with better voice clarity and also just general surround sound for movies. I have tinnitus pretty bad and dialog gets overpowered by everything else in way too many shows for me to hear people talking. I had read that technology had improved dialog delivery over the past few years but I didn't want to spend $1,500 or more for a new system.I can honestly say this system is a huge improvement - I can hear the voices so much better with this system. My wife has great hearing and even she was surprised at the difference it made for her! The remote has a button just for the dialog with five levels. But the dialog was so clear on the first level, that I haven't really needed to change for the shows we've watched so far.And it wasn't just the voices that were better. The surround sound effects streaming movies are way better than the Vizio. Both systems played DTS, but this system is just clearer and sounds better/sharper/crisper watching streaming shows or for over the air channels. Very impressed.One other note: the only knock I could really find on the system before I bought it was that it doesn't have upfiring speakers. But the room I have it in has a vaulted ceiling, and from reading up on how the upfire systems work, they are simply a complete waste of money if you have vaulted/slanted ceilings. The sound has to bounce off the ceiling and back down to where you are sitting, and it takes a lot of playing with the speaker angles to get the effect right even with flat ceilings - but it's realistically impossible with vaulted/slanted ceilings. Especially if the upfiring speakers are in a soundbar you can't tilt because it would aim all the other speakers in the bar to the ground or over your head. Just doesn't work.I could never bring myself to pay a thousand dollars plus for a sound system just because of the name. So at least for my purposes, this system is just exactly what I wanted - half to quarter as much money, crystal clear voices and sound, and couldn't have been easier to setup and use. Win, win, win!

Foreward:The market for home entertainment (specifically set-top boxes), whilst cutthroat, is also annoyingly lame. I use Plex to stream the majority of my entertainment, not whatever streaming service of the week is more interesting - and as a result, I care more about quality, but also codec support. To that end, the market shrinks to 3 real competitors, Amazon's Fire TV, Nvidia's Shield, and Apple's... Apple TV. (Roku and Google have poor audio codec support.)Of the 3, Apple requires me to buy into the walled garden, and Nvidia is doable, but it seems like support might be waning in the long-term. Amazon's Fire TV devices therefore is the obvious choice to me, which put me in a weird predicament - what to use for sound? I actually bought 2 Echo Studios and an Echo sub, and used them as my sound system, which worked but didn't support Dolby TrueHD audio, a codec I frequently encounter with content on my Plex server (which trips up family members who are using plex), and I was disappointed by it's (admittedly infrequent, but not zero) disconnects - where they would just stop playing audio, or worse, play audio with a delay. When Amazon announced this, and it's (rather low) introductory price, I was surprised but interested enough to buy the full kit.Sound:Listing this first, as it's the single most-important feature. Sound quality is good, it's able to get loud without distortion, and the dialogue boost is rather helpful. Being a soundbar, stereo separation isn't very good (i.e. left- or right-channel sound seems to come more from the center than their respective direction), so I strongly recommend getting the kit with the surround speakers, they're crucial to providing a proper left and right effect, but otherwise the sound is surprisingly good for the price.The bass response is surprisingly crisp, and I find it adding a lot of richness to even standard stereo audio, and definitely making itself present with properly mixed soundtracks.Setup:It's very simple, plug it into your TV's HDMI-ARC port and call it a day. It uses a protocol called "HDMI-CEC" to receive volume commands from your TV or streaming device, which means that you don't have to program any fancy remotes. Some people have tried connecting Amazon's previous soundbar via bluetooth, which does not end well - you will only get high quality audio if you use the HDMI cable, bluetooth is for when you want to stream audio from your cellphone.I almost forgot to mention the wireless speakers and subwoofer. They came pre-paired, and required no additional setup, beyond plugging them in (to power) and setting them up where I wanted them.Observations:Based on codecs that I send it, and on what audio actually plays, it seems to support every audio codec under the sun, even the rather difficult Dolby TrueHD. DTS is also supported, but DTS-HD:MA is a mixed bag - DTS (the company) encodes a regular DTS stream (the codec) into their DTS-HD:MA streams, so if I send a HD:MA stream to the device, I'll still hear audio (even if HD:MA support isn't there, thus I cannot confirm HD:MA support). Personally, I think the difference between regular AC3 and TrueHD, alongside DTS and DTS-HD:MA is indistinguishable for the average listener - the primary reason I bought this is so my folks don't hear nothing, or trigger a transcode no matter what audio settings they instruct plex to use.The subwoofer is about twice or thrice the volume of my old Echo Sub, but the actual speaker driver seems to only be an inch or inch and a half larger in diameter. The weight is roughly the same, which indicates to me that Amazon has built the subwoofer with some tuned resonance chamber, which seems to be the real reason why it sounds so much better. My only gripe with the system as a whole, is that the subwoofer's placement instructions recommend it be kept more than 12 inches from a wall, and away from corners - It seems this is due to their choice of having the speaker for it face downwards between the feet, rather than to the side, but I would prefer a more directional subwoofer if it meant I could stick it in a corner and keep my living room more tidy.Conclusion:I know a lot of people are disappointed by the soundbar not having FireTV built into it, or by missing some special features that might make it magical - but I am pleased as punch for that. In a world where everyone is trying to corral you into their walled garden, Amazon made a soundbar that will let you cancel your prime subscription, or ditch the Fire TV Stick, and it'll still work just as fine. It supports a wide range of codecs, uses industry-standard connectivity (HDMI-ARC & CEC), and doesn't punish you if you prefer to use a Roku, google TV, or an Nvidia Shield.

Ordered this new issuance Amazon branded Sound system during Black Friday period. Found it very easy to hook up and surprised how easily it synced with my LG smart TV. Very pleased with unit and price point.The very irritating issue was that Amazon shipped the 54" long, 50 LB unit by USPS. I got notice that it could not be delivered 2 days after the announced delivery date because it wouldn't fit in my mail box!I had to drive 5 miles to the local postal station and pick it up after a rather long wait in line.Unbelievable that Amazon would ship such a unit via USPS when their delivery trucks drive by daily.So, great product but VERY poor delivery!!!