The LG SK1 soundbar is a cheap sound bar for upgrading the audio on your TVs. There are better-sounding music systems, but the LG SK1 is Best quality, easy to use and incredibly affordable, making it a good fit for smaller TVs.
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The LG SK1 is about as basic as a sound bar can get. It is a bar and it pumps out sound — there’s no more subwoofer, no smart voice control, no multi-room functionality and surely no 3D audio trickery like Dolby Atmos.
The closest body it has to a bonus is Bluetooth connectivity, and with just 40W of power on tap it’s unlikely to blast your sofa through a wall.
Why, then, should you even consider it? For one thing, it’s cheap. And as the best cheap sound bars show, it’s hard to pack extra features into affordable AV hardware, so the basic approach is far less forgivable.
It’s user-friendly and, despite some sonic weaknesses, can still be an upgrade to certain TV speakers. Read on for our full LG SK1 Soundbar reviews.
Key Features
- Speakers: 2 x Full Range Drivers
- Ports: 3.5mm aux in, optical in
- Oi-fee: No
- Size: 3 x 25.5 x 7.5 inches
- Weight: 4.4 lbs
Review the LG SK1 Soundbar with full features
LG SK1 Soundbar Price
At $89, the LG Sk1 soundbar’s price chump changed by the quality of most. LG Sk1 itself is sold out at the time of writing, but you can pick one up from Best Buy or Micro Center now.
B&H also lists the LG Sk1 at a kind of cheap $86, however it is sold out as well. There are no additional speaker bundles to consider with the LG Sk1 Soundbar; no sold-separately subwoofers or satellite speakers.
Body and Design
The LG Sk1 Soundbar looks tall in photos; in actuality that’s just a matter of proportions, as at 25.6 inches wide this is a comparatively best sound bar.
It is light, too, which makes it not difficult to wall-mount. You’ll need to supply your own screws to do this, but that’s normal for cheap sound bars.
I said, this is a very basic sound bar in all views. It’s all black with no united controls, you do get a remote, and even the display is easy—it’s just a pair of single LEDs.
These flash other colors according to what sort of source connection is used, though it’s not as helpful as a screen for conveying volume and playback mode details.
The same, there’s only the bare lowest level of ports— just 1 optical and 3.5mm input each, with a USB port for service motive.
Again, there’s Bluetooth connectivity as well, however the LG Sk1 Soundbar is a thousand miles from the likes HDMI eARC.
Malignancy the simplicity, for all that, build quality is better. The up and bottom panels are difficult—feels plastic, and the metal grille stole around both front corners for a modern look.
There is an upside to those basic LEDs, too they are not as distracting as an LCD screen when you’re watching TV.
Easily to SetUp
Setting up the LG Sk1 Soundbar for an optical connection is only plug-and-play, and Bluetooth setup is originally identical to that of the best Bluetooth speakers.
It is just a case of pressing the Bluetooth button on the remote to put the LG SK1 sound bar into pairing mode, then discover it on your phone or tablet’s Bluetooth menu. It’s all pleasantly simple.
The remote also includes devoted buttons for switching between Bluetooth, optical and 3.5mm devices. This isn’t a particularly rare quality but it’s definitely preferable to only having a single Source button that at a slow pace cycles between them.
The remote’s ultimate tech includes bass blast and dynamic range control switches, which respectively boost the low-end and narrow the dynamic range on Dolby Digital-enabled content.
The latter reduces the range between loud and quiet scenes, which proved useful for action films where segments of dialogue were interrupted by sudden explosions and car crashes.
Performance
With just a pair of 20W drivers, the LG Sk1 Soundbar needs the room-shaking volume of not just the best soundbar but a lot more middling fare too. Bass presence is especially lacking — the SK1 doesn’t sound tinny, like the lower-end TV speakers it aims to replace, but there’s very little rumble in large action scenes.
Still, enabling Bass Blast helps fill out the sound in both video and music playback. And even with limited power, the LG SK1 Soundbar can sound surprisingly dramatic.
There’s good separation between the various sound effects and music instruments, so it never sounds too muddy or out of control, and the soundstage is wider than the narrow dimensions suggest.
If the GL SK1 Soundbar has a more serious weakness, it’s dialog, which sounds a little hollow next to the result and music. Again, Bass Blast can assist, though here it also seems to rob speech of some of its usual perspicuity.
Very interestingly, when playing music over Bluetooth, Bass Blast had less of a result on vocals than it did on movie dialog over optical. As such I was happy to leave it on, so it could supply that more low-end punch to songs.
Advantages
Pros
- Very cheap
- Easy setup and usage
- Decent sound quality
Cons
- Limited connectivity
- Mild bass
- Only 40W
Conclusion
For similar money, I’d highly recommend the Creative Stage V2 for most home cinema setups; It sounds bigger and bossier than the SK1 and produces clearer dialogue. It has a wide range of connections and even has its own bundled subwoofer.
Even, the SK1 has a certain simple charm that extends beyond the convenience of its rock-bottom price. At under 30 inches wide, it’s a perfect addition to the kind of small TV you might have in your bedroom or kitchen.
They tend to have poorer sound quality than 50-inch-plus behemoths more likely to take over a living room, so even with its limitations, the LG SK1 could still be a viable improvement.
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