Cinema 600 Soundbar

Overview

The Cinema 600 is a 2020 soundbar from Klipsch's Cinema series. The bar is 1143 mm wide, 73 mm high and 86 mm deep, comes in black and can be wall-mounted with the brackets and template in the box. A 10-inch wireless subwoofer is included and pairs with the bar automatically.

Klipsch describes it as a true 3.1 system with a dedicated centre channel. The spec sheet lists three 1-inch soft dome tweeters mated to Tractrix horns and four 3-inch oval midrange woofers in a wood enclosure, and 600 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 wired subwoofer output, which lets you add a second subwoofer or replace the included one. The manual notes that TV audio over HDMI ARC needs HDMI-CEC turned on.

The included backlit remote controls volume, input, subwoofer level, surround level and sound mode, and the bar has touch controls. Klipsch lists three levels of dialogue mode. The box also contains AAA batteries, the power cords and the manuals.

What the specs mean

• 3.1 speaker setup: three main channels (left, centre and right) plus the wireless subwoofer. There are no surround or height channels in the box.
• Wireless surrounds: a pair of Klipsch Surround 3 speakers adds rear channels wirelessly and turns the system into 5.1.
• 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 600 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.