Shockwafe Pro 7.1 SSE

Overview

The Shockwafe Pro 7.1 SSE is the 2019 version of Nakamichi's Shockwafe Pro 7.1. It uses the hardware of the 2018 Shockwafe Pro 7.1 DTS:X: Nakamichi's spec page covers both models, and its November 2018 announcement offered DTS:X owners the new features (Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and SSE processing) as a free firmware upgrade.

It is a complete surround system: a soundbar 1155.7 mm wide, 76.2 mm high and 88.9 mm deep (about 3.3 kg), one wireless subwoofer and two rear surround speakers. The soundbar and the surround speakers can be wall-mounted with the brackets, screws and wall-mount guide in the box.

Nakamichi lists 13 drivers in total. The soundbar has six 2.5-inch full-range drivers and two 1-inch tweeters. The subwoofer has an 8-inch down-firing driver, and each rear surround speaker has a 3-inch full-range driver and a 1-inch tweeter. Total power is 600 W: 330 W for the soundbar, 90 W for the rear surrounds and 180 W for the subwoofer. The rated loudness is 105 dB SPL.

The soundbar has three HDMI inputs, an HDMI ARC output to the TV, optical, coaxial and 3.5 mm analog inputs, a USB port (MP3 and WAV playback and firmware updates) and Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX. The box contains the subwoofer, the surround speakers with their RCA cables, the backlit 52-key remote with batteries, the soundbar power adapter and subwoofer power cord, HDMI, optical and 3.5 mm audio cables, and the wall-mounting kit. The system is controlled with the remote, the buttons on the soundbar or the TV remote over HDMI-CEC. Sound modes are Movie, Music, Game, Sports, News, Clear Voice, Night and DSP Off, plus three SSE modes and three room-size presets (small, medium and large).

What the specs mean

• 7.1.4 speaker setup: seven main channels, one subwoofer channel and four height channels. The spec page lists "Up to 7.1.4"; the user manual's spec table lists "7.1". The soundbar has no up-firing drivers: Nakamichi's Spatial Surround Elevation (SSE) processing mixes a height layer into the speakers around the room, and the rear speakers can also be laid on their side to fire upwards (Nakamichi shows two placement options).
• Wireless subwoofer, wired surrounds: the subwoofer connects to the soundbar wirelessly (5.8 GHz), but Nakamichi notes it is wireless in communication only and needs mains power. The rear surround speakers plug into the subwoofer with the included RCA cables, so no cable has to run from the TV to the back of the room.
• HDMI ARC, not eARC: the Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound to the soundbar over the HDMI cable. Nakamichi states the SSE models can receive Dolby Atmos through a TV's eARC port when it comes from the TV's built-in streaming apps. For Dolby Atmos from other devices (streaming boxes, Blu-ray players, consoles), Nakamichi recommends connecting them to the soundbar's HDMI inputs rather than to the TV.
• Audio formats: Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby MAT, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, DTS:X, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, DTS Digital Surround and multichannel PCM. Dolby Surround and DTS Neural:X upmix content with fewer channels.
• HDMI passthrough: the three HDMI 2.0a inputs pass video through to the TV at up to 4K60 with HDR and Dolby Vision, with HDCP 2.2 copy protection.
• No expansion: every speaker the system supports is in the box, so there are no optional add-on speakers.