Cinema 400 Soundbar

Overview

The Cinema 400 is a 2021 soundbar from Klipsch's Cinema series. The bar is 1014 mm wide, 73 mm high and 86 mm deep, comes in black and can be wall-mounted with the keyhole clips and template in the box. An 8-inch wireless subwoofer is included and connects to the bar over 2.4 GHz wireless.

Klipsch lists two 1-inch soft dome tweeters mated to Tractrix horns and two 3-inch oval midrange woofers in a sealed wood enclosure, and 400 W system power.

The TV connects over HDMI ARC (an HDMI cable is in the box) or optical. There are also a 3.5 mm analog input, Bluetooth and a subwoofer output, which lets you add a second subwoofer or replace the included one.

The included remote controls volume and input and adjusts the subwoofer level separately, and the bar has touch controls. Klipsch lists a virtual surround mode, a dialog mode that raises dialogue volume and a night mode that reduces the dynamic range. The box also contains AAA batteries, the power cords and the manuals.

What the specs mean

• 2.1 speaker setup: two main channels plus the wireless subwoofer. There are no centre, surround or height channels, and the system cannot be expanded with surround speakers.
• HDMI ARC: the Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound to the soundbar over an HDMI cable. The newer eARC is needed for high-bitrate formats such as Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos, which the Cinema 400 does not support.
• Audio formats: Dolby Digital.
• No HDMI passthrough: the bar has no HDMI input, so a console or streaming box connects to the TV, and the TV sends the sound back over HDMI ARC.
• No room correction: the system has no automatic room calibration.