Customer Ratings & Reviews

I purchased this 3 days ago because it was time for a change. I’m leaving a Samsung HW-K550, that I enjoyed for the past 4 years, behind. A complete 5.1 surround sound system, I had finally grew tired of tripping over the rear surround speaker wires. I was going to wait to post my review but, after watching The Greatest Showman, this TCL Alto 9+ takes the cake. Only $299.00 plus tax for just one sound bar and subwoofer. But, this isn’t just any old sound bar. With the Ray-Danz design, it produces a sound bubble that just envelops me and leaves me speechless. It sounded like I was right in the middle of the circus! Thanks to You Tube, I’ve watched at least 20 Dolby Atmos clips and each one had me looking to my left or right, looking for my former rear surround speakers. I know the sound is virtual but, one of the best parts about this Alto 9+ is that you can’t even tell you’re missing something. I’ve wanted Dolby Atmos since first hearing about it but, I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get it. With the TCL Alto 9+, I got the full bubble of sound I wanted and also saved a lot of coin in the process! Oh, and also, my music sounds like it got an upgrade, too. With Bluetooth connection, my iPhone 7+ never sounded better. If you are looking for an excellent sound addition to your home theater that doesn’t break your bank, I highly recommend you check this out! You won’t regret it.

I purchased this sound bar for multiple reasons. I was looking for something sleek and slim with good sound at a fair price. I was pleased with the packaging as well as the overall design of the unit. First impressions where nice but wasn’t blown away. However, since I use a PlayStation 4 for my media and entertainment hub, I forgot that there are settings in the PS4 menu to change sound to Dolby configurations. Once changed to Dolby 5.1 (lowest channel output on PS) this sound bar really shined. It’s very clear and crisp and can get very loud without distorting. My only complaint would be the subwoofers lack of clarity at higher volumes. Overall though, I am happy with this purchase. I’m giving 5 stars for good sound quality based on its price.

I'm very impressed with the quality of sound and loudness of such a small speaker and the sub has good bass. The price was good and it was a piece of cake to pair with the TCL smart TV.

I have done my fair share of review reading, comparing, Youtube videos, and I figured that if I have a problem with the Alto 9 it would be in the first few days so I could return it. I spent the first 3 days in my room on the tv with it on. Well let me tell you this, I LOVE IT! Tv setting is clear and you can hear the talking perfect. Movie mode is sweet and boost mode is awsome. Lets just say the bass from the sub shakes the house just right for me. (Not everyone else agrees) Overall it pairs excellent with my TCL 65S435 Class 4-Series TV. I would definitely recommend this soundbar. Oh yeah I have it connected via hdmi arc

This is not a heavy weight in the Atmos department. But I knew that going in. I bought this because my HomePods won’t match up with the new tcl tv we got. That being said. It’s a great little system for what it is. I have it attached just below the tv and it will fill the room. The wireless bass is great.

What a amazing sound slow setup programming it and making it work right with airplay and HomeKit but afterwards what a amazing sounding immersive sound with a boom with that subwoofer and Dolby atmos and with my new TCL 55 roku tv what a setup

Decent for a budget Dolby atmos surround system but it’s filled with bugs.

A surprisingly efficient reproducer of natural sound including low frequencies.

Could spend so much more, and still not get the clarity and easy of operation this sound bar package offers.

Amazing sound and Set up a breeze and great looking with my 55 inch TCL roku tv in my bedroom

It was not worth the money at all. Volumes are way to low and the sub is sub-par at best. Waste of money

I wanted a soundbar that could process Atmos sound, as that seems to be becoming more popular. I have a TCL 55R615 4K TV, and I figured a TCL brand soundbar would be a good choice for compatibility. Unfortunately, while it does sound great, the TV and the soundbar don't always communicate properly, which is hugely disappointing, and why I only gave this 4 stars. First, setup was very easy. The soundbar has inputs for HDMI, TOSLINK Optical, and AUX. The HDMI supports ARC and has an HDMI(ARC) out port. So when you connect the HDMI cable from the soundbar to the TV's HDMI(ARC) in port, it will both send audio and video, and recieve audio from the TV. Once installed, the TV immediately recognized the Alto 9+ and set it up automatically. The Alto 9+ comes with a remote, but you can also control the sound through the TV's audio options. The sound, especially with Dolby Surround and Dolby Atmos, is great. The subwoofer has deep, rich bass, the soundbar's 3 speakers are crystal clear, with the center channel mostly reserved for speech. It's nice, because during movies I can clearly understand dialog, whereas before voices would be drowned out by other sound effects and music in movies. The virtualized Atmos sound is pretty convincing, too. Although it can't replicate the experience of having actual speakers set up all around you, behind and above, it does a pretty good job of making the sound feel wide and gives it a sense of height. Watching movies at home now feels much closer to the theater experience. The Alto 9+ uses TCL's Ray-Danz technology, that spreads the soundwaves out by bouncing them around your room. As this is my first soundbar, I can't compare it to other soundbars in the $300 price range, but I have to say I am very happy with the sound. The interface is easy enough to use with the included remote, however the soundbar can also be controlled through the TV. But that doesn't always work properly. For starters, the TV will have a sound mode listed that doesn't always correspond to the current sound mode on the Alto 9+. Often, the soundbar will be in TV mode, but the TV will say it's in MOVIE mode, and I'll have to set the TV to TV mode, then back to MOVIE mode just to get the soundbar to properly change modes. Second, I turned on the CEC functions, like turning the soundbar off when the TV is shut off. This caused a glitch in the soundbar that resulted in no sound coming on when the TV was turned on. I even manually turned the soundbar on, and no sound. The TV didn't recognize the soundbar as being plugged in. I had to unplug it and replug it back in for the TV to recognize it, and this happend several times. So I turned off the CEC option, and I've had no issue with the soundbar since. The other problem I've had is that my PlayStation 4 supports 7.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, but the TV's audio passthrough doesn't recognize it. It downmixes all audio to Stereo. The only workaround is to plug the PS4's HDMI cable directly into the soundbar, and then it will support 7.1 surround audio. I don't know if that's an issue with the TV or the soundbar, but it is frustrating. Fortunately, all the Roku apps built into the TV will output the proper Dolby sound. Disney+ has Dolby Atmos audio for most of their modern movies, and the Alto 9+ will output Atmos audio properly. I also tried connecting the Optical cable from the PS4 into the soundbar, and changing the settings on my PS4 to output through Optical audio, but it didn't work for some reason. I don't know why, though. When all else fails, I use the included remote to change input, audio modes, and bass and treble settings. This is the easiest and fastest way to operate the soundbar. So, the positives are that this soundbar can decode all Dolby Digital+ formats, including 5.1, 7.1, and Atmos. It sounds great, and gives a full, booming sound in a small package that is great for small rooms where a set of satellite speakers would be impossible. I cannot overstate how much I love the sound of this soundbar. The negatives are that control through the TV is wonky, CEC caused the TV to stop recognizing the soundbar, and surround sound didn't work on the PS4 through the TV, forcing me to plug the PS4 directly into the soundbar. Overall, I do recommend the Alto 9+, but just know that having a TCL soundbar with a TCL TV doesn't mean they're going to play nice 100% of the time.

I bought this sound bar because i wanted a bar that matched my tv. However I've ran into multiple connection problems where the tv and sound bar would randomly disconnect. The sound is good when it works but i wish i would have gone with a simpler set up.

First off for $299 this speaker sounds amazing (once setup correctly). I replaced my TCL Alto 7+ with this one and there is a major difference (to me anyway). I hope this review helps shed some light on the setup process for those that received a "store sample". Note that I set this up using an iPhone 11 so the process could differ with Android. The process took me about 20-30 minutes. So, a store sample will not allow you to setup as an Airplay speaker initially, and the process for setting up wifi is different than what is shown in the manual. With the sound bar in standby/sleep mode (a small white LED will be flashing) hold the pause play/button down until it says "WIFI SETTING" on the front LED display. Go to your iPhone/iPad and open settings/wifi. You should see a wifi signal that says "Alto9+...." (NOT Ray-Danz like is mentioned in the manual). Choose the Alto9+ connection, it may say failed to connect so try again if so. Once connected open safari and type in 10.0.0.1. On that page you should see all wifi connections available, choose yours. (***Note that the sound bar will not connect to a network that has a space in the name***). Mine does so I ended up creating a guest network that was just a one word name just for the sound bar. Once the sound bar is connected to the network, (may take a minute) the front LED display should read "NEW SW OK/NOT". This means that it has found updated firmware, press ok/play on your remote to install. Mine hung up at 95% for a few minutes so do not worry if that happens, eventually the sound bar will restart. From here your sound bar should now be connected to wifi and updated to the latest firmware. Go back into settings/wifi on your iphone/ipad and you will now see the option to setup an Airplay speaker. Should look something like "TS9030 ATMOS SB-xxxx TCL RAY-DANZ". Now you should see the sound bar as an available streaming option via Airplay. I also would like to note that if you are hooking up to a TCL TV you may not initially see adjustable sound options (adjust bass, treble, EQ) in the menu. Reset your TV by unplugging from the wall or going into power settings and choosing reset (do not just power off and back on). When your TCL TV boots back up it will recognize the TCL sound bar and automatically setup and go though a DOLBY ATMOS promo video. Then you will notice in your sound settings you have full control of the sound bar there. (you will not need to use the sound bar remote at this point, just make sure you are using the HDMI/ARC connection to your TV). I would give this a 5 star rating if I did not have to go through this process to setup. Hopefully you get a non-store sample if you choose to buy one.

Easy set up with TCL Roku TV. Sounds good, not sure I've had any sources to hear Dolby Atmos yet. Some minor issues where the TV couldn't discover the sound bar, but that was a settings issue on the TV. Seems to default to the TV mode, have to scroll thru modes to get to one of the 4 modes that you want. Overall, good sound bar for the price.

It auto powers off but does not auto power on with the TV. I chatted online with a TCL rep that called that a "feature" of the product. Even worse id that every time you turn off the TV and the soundbar goes to sleep you not only have to manually power the soundbar back on with the TV... it reverts to stock settings so you have to make adjustments every time you turn it on. Don't get me wrong, when the settings are right the sound is amazing. High highs, immersive sound, and clean deep and ranging bass. The power on/off and settings issues could possibly be fixed via software update, but do you really want to spen $300 on a soundbar that turns beautiful audio into a chore every time you turn it on?

I bought this sound bar and subwoofer for my bedroom a couple of days ago. I might be spoiled because I have Bose systems throughout my house except for my bedroom. Buying a Bose system for my bedroom was not really cost-effective and since I had a TCL television, I figured I would buy a TCL sound bar. The good news is the sound bar sounds pretty good and is worth the 250 bucks I spent on it. However, one of the main reasons I bought the sound bar was for the ARC compatibility. I was very disappointed to find out that the ARC option does not work on my sound bar so I had to settle for an optical cable. I’m back to using two remote controls for my bedroom TV which may not seem like a big deal unless you’re my wife. I’ve tried everything to resolve the problem but to no avail. If anyone out there has the same problem and found a solution, please let me know. This sound bar is a good option for a bedroom but not having the ARC option is quite frustrating.

I bought this sound bar to replace a Sony HT-CT290 Soundbar System when the subwoofer went out. I was about to buy another Sony system until I saw this TCL Alto 9+ system in an article online yesterday and saw it was only $50 more than the Sony I was contemplating. I must also include I own a TCL Roku Ready 4k TV so this soundbar works flawlessly with it if you connect using the HDMI ARC port. When powering up the tv, it automatically turned the soundbar on and instantly recognized the system. I immediately was greeted by a video that had sound effects included (probably in order to impress you). This video is apparently included with the Roku software in the television but I thought it was a nice touch. The video starts too early because I watched a good few seconds before the soundbar kicked in but when it did it was like oh wow. I'm sure it was installing some firmware to the bar which delayed it. Since setup, the bar turns on every time when I power the tv on. I can actually use the Roku styled tv remote to change volume and all options are embedded in the Roku settings menu under Sound Settings so I don't plan to even use the soundbar remote, which would be necessary if I didnt have a Roku TV. The sound is pretty impressive when compared to the Sony soundbar. The RAY-DANZ design seems to funnel sound around the room really well. I immediately can hear more detail than my previous system. When characters in a movie are in an atmosphere that includes sound effects, it does fill my living room with those sounds, so I thought that was a nice touch. We place the subwoofer on the side of our room and it works well there. I can't tell where the bass is coming from unless I think about it. I played a little Star Wars Rise of Skywalker just to see how the bar does and I was pleasantly surprised by the row rumblings of the spacecrafts, even when I turned the bass down a bit to -2. Voices sound pretty clear as well. So overall, I really love this sound bar. It has good clarity, a full sound, decent bass that enhances movie scenes, and includes flawless integration with Roku TVs.

I purchased this after seeing it supported Dolby Atmos and wanted to use it with my Xbox One X (and the series x as well as the PS5 soon). The soundbar will pass through HDMI 2.0 but will not pass through VRR or ALLM, so you if you want to be able to do that you will have to hook up your PlayStation or Xbox straight to the TV, which defeats the purpose of the soundbar unless your TV also supports eARC so that it can pass Atmos to the soundbar. Now that we got that out of the way the virtual surround that this soundbar passes through is done through acoustics as opposed to DSP. This works better if you are alone and can put yourself in the sweet spot, which is about 2.5-3.5 meters away. The actual speakers themselves only take about a third of the soundbar, the fins to the left and right are what "send" the sound around you. This is why you need to be in the sweet spot. If you can't put yourself in the sweet spot then perhaps you should consider purchasing a soundbar that uses DSP for it's virtualization of surround sound. Unlike other ATMOS soundbars, this has no upwards firing speakers, it's all done through acoustics. But for $300, the price simply can't be beat. The sound is good, is it as good as a $1200 system? No, but then again it's 900 less.

Somehow, TCL has done the impossible. Never would I have imagined that I would come across a Dolby Atmos-capable sound bar, or at least one that worked as advertised, for under $500. Finding this sound bar for $300 was a surprise, and the sound quality even more so. Make no mistake, this is not the same as a true Atmos sound system (with speakers in the ceiling), but it is amazing how close it comes being a sound bar. Setup was fairly easy, especially with a TCL Roku TV. The subwoofer was either already paired, or paired automatically. My only gripe was connecting it to my network. As others, the one I received had "retail sample" on the box, which may have included an old version of the firmware. To connect it to the network, I had to manually connect to the soundbar's wifi, go to 10.0.0.1 on my browser, select my home network (and needed to take out a space in the network name, doesn't work with spaces), and then it updated the firmware. Once that was done, the instructions as found in the manual, were accurate. Was it somewhat of a pain, sure, but TCL responded very quickly to my e-mail, and once I got it connected, everything worked as advertised. This could be a major problem for some, but personally I caulked it up to the cost of being an early adopter. It happens. One item of note - if anyone is trying to take advantage of Dolby Atmos on your Xbox, you may have to connect directly to the soundbar. I currently have a TCL 6-series (2018) which did not pass through Atmos, so in order for it to work, I just plugged in the Xbox to the HDMI input and all was good. The sound bar allows HDR/Dolby Vision to pass through (once HDMI 2.0 was manually set on the TV) and the lag is not at all noticeable. We'll see how it handles the Series X in a month, but for the time being, it works great with a One X. Conclusion, I'm so glad I bought this. 100% worth it.