SB-500

Overview

The SB-500 (Monoprice product 42011) is a 2021 soundbar system. The bar is 998 mm wide, 56 mm high and 115 mm deep, and can stand on its feet or be mounted on the wall with the included brackets.

It is a 5.1 system: a 3-channel bar, a wireless subwoofer with an 8-inch down-firing driver, and two surround speakers. Monoprice lists four midrange drivers and four tweeters in the bar, two 2.5-inch drivers in the surround speakers, and 60 W for the bar, 2 x 20 W for the surrounds and 100 W for the subwoofer. The two surround speakers are joined by a cable, and one of them links wirelessly to the bar.

The TV connects over HDMI ARC or optical (an optical cable is in the box). The bar also has two HDMI inputs, a coaxial input, a 3.5 mm audio input, a USB port for streaming from a PC and Bluetooth 5. There is no Wi-Fi. The remote control switches between 5.1 and 2.1 playback, selects the Music and Movie modes and adjusts bass, treble and surround volume; it needs two AAA batteries, which are not included.

What the specs mean

• 5.1 speaker setup: five main channels plus a subwoofer channel. The ".1" is the wireless subwoofer; the rear channels play from the included surround speakers. There are no height channels.
• HDMI ARC: the Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound, for example from its built-in apps or antenna, to the soundbar over the HDMI cable.
• HDMI passthrough (4K): a console or streaming box connects to one of the two HDMI inputs, and the soundbar passes the picture on to the TV. Monoprice lists 4K HDR passthrough.
• Audio formats: Dolby Digital. There is no Dolby Atmos or DTS decoding.