TCL - S-Class S60K 3.1 Channel Dolby Atmos Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer (2026) - Charcoal

After our previous soundbar started having issues, I decided to look for a new one and was really interested in this TCL, especially knowing that they make good quality televisions these days. The setup process was very easy, and I was able to place it directly underneath my TV as it is slim and a low profile. Connecting it via HDMI eARC was super simple, though I did run into a minor issue at first where I wasn't getting any sound. Once I realized I needed to go into the settings and turn the TV’s internal speakers completely off, the audio came through really clear and crisp. Overall, I'm happy with how it performs. The dedicated center speaker keeps dialogue focused when watching television shows, and the 6.5-inch wireless subwoofer delivers a deep, satisfying bass at all volumes without taking up much room. I ended up placing it behind and to the left of my television, I know that it is not ideal location as of now. The remote is very simple and has fast response time when trying to adjust volumes. It isn't quite the best compared with the higher-end sound bars, but you get what you pay for and the TCL S60K isn't trying to be that. My main qualm is that the sound can occasionally feel a bit hollow, The other issue that I ran into is that the front display can also be a little hard to read if you aren't sitting directly in front of it because the display reads from right to left, and the display is not to large. So long words take time to move and has been a challenge to read it. Despite these concerns, I found that this soundbar offers really good sound for our smaller living room size. If you are on a budget, and want a solid decent sound, this is the one to get.

TL;DR: A wide‑sounding, immersive TCL S60K 3.1 Dolby Atmos sound bar with a punchy wireless subwoofer. Easy to set up, great for movies and gaming, and surprisingly cinematic thanks to TCL’s Ray‑Danz acoustic design. I personally love Atmos — it reminds me of a modern, updated THX experience — and this bar delivers that vibe well. SETUP: Setup is quick and easy. HDMI ARC handles most of the work, and the wireless subwoofer pairs automatically. Bluetooth pairing is simple, and AI Sonic Auto Room Calibration adjusts the sound to your room without any effort. The whole process is plug‑and‑play, and it’s noticeably easier than many premium bars that require long calibration setup steps. USE: The S60K shines with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content. The sound feels wide, open, and cinematic, which is very reminiscent of that classic THX theater immersion, but updated and more precise. I’m a big Atmos fan, and this bar hits that same “bubble of sound” feeling I love, similar to how Atmos sounds in a well‑tuned car system, like in today’s Cadillacs. Dialogue is clear, effects have great separation, and the wireless subwoofer adds deep, punchy bass without muddying the mids. USABILITY: The remote is simple, HDMI ARC makes volume control seamless, and switching inputs is fast. Bluetooth streaming works reliably, and the wireless subwoofer gives you flexibility in placement. Ray‑Danz isn’t a person…it is TCL’s acoustic reflector technology…and it genuinely helps widen the soundstage in a way that feels more premium than the price suggests. The soundbar is slim enough to fit under most TVs, and once calibrated, it is set it and forget it. OVERALL: A fantastic value for a mid‑range Atmos sound bar. Wide sound, strong bass, easy setup, and a cinematic feel that punches above its price. If you love immersive audio, like Dolby Atmos presents, this soundbar delivers a modern, THX‑like experience without needing a full receiver setup. REVIEW: The TCL S Class S60K 3.1‑Channel Dolby Atmos Sound Bar surprised me with how immersive it sounds. Setup was simple: HDMI ARC connected instantly, the wireless subwoofer paired on its own, and AI Sonic calibration handled the tuning. Once everything was running, the soundbar immediately delivered a wide, cinematic soundstage…I am very impressed! Dolby Atmos and DTS:X give movies and games a spacious, 3D feel. I’m a huge Atmos fan. I love how it sounds on my AirPods and in my car, and I’ve always appreciated that “updated THX” sound style immersion…the S60K captures that nostalgic vibe extremely well. TCL’s Ray‑Danz acoustic reflectors help spread the sound outward, making the bar feel bigger than it is. Dialogue stays clear, effects have great separation, and the subwoofer adds deepness without overwhelming the mids. Usability is excellent. The remote is simple, Bluetooth streaming works smoothly, and HDMI ARC makes everything feel seamless. The soundbar responds quickly, and once calibrated, you don’t have to do anything else. It’s flexible enough for smaller rooms, larger living rooms, or gaming setups. Overall, the TCL S60K is a strong, immersive Atmos soundbar that delivers a wide soundstage, punchy bass, and a cinematic feel at a great price. If you love Atmos, this soundbar hits the sweet spot.

Unboxing was simple, it’s pretty much the same as any other subwoofer. I was planning on replacing a one year old Insignia 2.1 soundbar with subwoofer with this, assuming this would be a better option. But I had a moment of panic, since I use a toslink cable to connect to my gaming computer, a 2026 Alienware. And when I first picked this, I saw optical input, but later looking at the page the optical was only showing now for the 5.1 version of this, not the 3.1. But the optical connector IS there on the 3.1 version as well. When I first got this hooked up and booted, I played an MP3 just to get a quick feel for the system and the sub before I even looked at settings. And it sounded pretty good, and the sub is definitely a few steps up from the Insignia. So I thought I’d be happy with this. Then I started gaming. Destiny 2 was my first test. And the soundbar was just SUCH a disappointment. EVERYTHING sounds tinny coming out of it. The subwoofer is doing a great job, and I love the bass response. But the soundbar is just TINNY, to the point it’s a complete distraction and the gaming is annoying rather than fun. I spent a lot of time going through all the settings there are trying to compensate, and NOTHING made the soundbar sound anything as good as the Insignia did. No matter what this sounds like it’s just nothing but the highs. Granted, this does a great job of reproducing the mids and highs. But the problem is that seems to be ALL it does, so EVERYTHING sounds like it’s coming out of a little AM radio speaker from the 60’s that isn’t coming out of the subwoofer. There are plenty of options for sound adjustment – bass and treble, from -6 to +6. Subwoofer level adjustment, soundbar level adjustment. Various sound modes, games, movies, music, etc. I was about to swap my Insignia back in, but I figured let’s see if it’s just Destiny or is it everything. Fortunately, it seems at this point of my testing to only be Destiny that sounds so bad with this soundbar. Halo. Assassin’s Creed. Horizon. Ghosts of Tsushima, these all sound normal / good. I don’t watch movies on this PC here, since I have a full atmos setup in my great room, but I thought I’d test some here to see how this does with movies. And I was very leased with it. Again, the sub is a busy little worker, and the low level response for things is quite an improvement over my Insignia sub, which I was very happy with. There are options to try to enhance the dialog, but for me it didn’t seem to make much of a difference if I was trying to use the voice mode as opposed to movie or anything else. The size of the subwoofer is satisfying, seeing it next to the old one. I like the design as well with the open bottom out the front and back. And in the third day of testing somehow I was working on the standard sound mode, which I could’ve sworn I tested initially with Destiny 2 but I must not have – that let the game sound normal and good again. So I was happy to be at the point where I have improved sound all around, much better bass with this subwoofer. I’m curious how things would be with the bigger brother of this, the 5.1 system with the rear channel, but since this is just for gaming, I was content replacing my other soundbar with the same functionality, just better. And it’s definitely that. Very happy now with my gaming system.

I was going into this thinking that the audio from this soundbar and subwoofer would not sound the greatest. I’ve used cheap soundbars before, and while they enhance the sound of what you’re watching/listening to, the audio quality is subpar at best. The TCL S-Class S60K soundbar and subwoofer sound surprisingly great, and with a little bit of configuration, this unit can sound nice. This is my review of the TCL S-Class S60K 3.1 Channel Soundbar with wireless Subwoofer. *TLDR at the bottom ====================== IN THE BOX/SET-UP: Everything that is needed for setup is included in the box. Along with the soundbar and subwoofer, there are 2 power cords, 1 HDMI cable, a remote control, a wall mount bracket, wall anchor, wall mounting screws, wall mount template, and some documentation. Setup is all plug-and-play. The soundbar can be mounted, but I opted out and decided to place it on my entertainment center. There are many options for connectivity (Optical, HDMI eARC, Bluetooth, AUX), but I opted to connect it via HDMI eARC, and my TV instantly recognized the input and switched over to it. Not all TVs will do this, so verify what the sound output is. While optional, the TCL Home app is available for download. I didn’t find the app until I was halfway through the instructions. Kudos to TCL for not forcing the app the second one unboxes the soundbar. ====================== FEATURES: While this is a budget-level soundbar and subwoofer, there are plenty of features that will certainly enhance your experience. First, there is a neat LED display embedded inside the soundbar on the front. The LEDs can be seen through the grill when changing settings. The LED display does an excellent job of displaying the setting being changed. It is descriptive and easy to understand. With the soundbar outside the box and by itself, the audio quality would be average at best. What seriously enhances the audio is the included subwoofer. Most TVs and soundbars lack at delivering strong lows. Pairing the two together significantly enhances the sound and improves overall audio quality. The included remote can be used to configure the soundbar. There are many configurable settings, but a couple of settings that stand out are changing overall sound effects. The remote offers night mode, which is perfect for nighttime watching as it lowers the bass and overall sound to not wake up sleeping people. Surround sound improves the soundstage and does cause the audio to feel more immersive. Now, is it world-class? No, but it is enough to significantly improve audio quality. Voice enhancement is self-explanatory, but it does indeed increase higher frequencies, which causes voices to be clearer. A neat feature that some but not all soundbars support is being able to control the volume of the TV with a single remote. This one allows volume to be controlled from the main TV remote, compared to using two different remotes for volume control. ====================== TCL HOME APP: The TCL Home app is optional, but it does offer slightly more configuration options compared to using the remote. One configuration option is the Equalizer. By default, it is limited to two bands(treble and bass), but it can be thoroughly customized by using the custom EQ option, which offers 7 bands to play around with. One feature that can only be set up with the app is IA Sonic. This is a room calibration tool that optimizes the soundbar and subwoofer for your area. It needs to be set up via Bluetooth. I didn’t have any issues with this. But if audio is not synced with what you’re watching visually, both the remote and the app offer sound sync, which can better sync them together. Overall, the remote does allow one to configure most of the settings offered within the app. But if you like to thoroughly configure your system, the app will allow you to do that. Otherwise, the app isn’t necessarily needed. ====================== MEDIA/MUSIC: Most people will be using this soundbar and subwoofer to watch different types of media. I was able to watch some sports and films with the specific sound mode (Movies, Sports, etc.) turned on. For sports, the highs are more prominent, allowing you to understand commentators and any dialogue better. This was nice during UFC fights, when you want to hear the fighters corners’ strategy. For films and TV shows, the lows are lacking outside the box. With Movie sound mode turned on, they were better but not great. I had to configure a custom EQ to get the lows to pop (increased the lower bands). After the manual configuration, overall sound improved significantly. For example, the jet sounds in Top Gun: Maverick went from sounding subpar to more immersive. It wasn’t groundbreaking by any means, but still significantly better. The soundbar does an excellent job with higher frequencies. I did not have to turn on Voice Sound Mode once. Dialogue was clear and sounded great with all the films I watched. I didn’t do a whole lot of testing with music, but with the little bit of testing I did, it sounded fine. The highs tend to stand out (almost a little too much) more than the lows, but by increasing the bass, the sound did balance out a lot more. ====================== CONCLUSION/TLDR: Overall, the S60K soundbar with the wireless subwoofer is seriously a bang for your buck. If you are in need of a theatre-like experience in your living room or medium-sized room, this system will deliver. The higher frequencies are more prominent with this system than the lows, but with a little bit of manual configuration, this can be balanced out. This soundbar and subwoofer offer a significantly better experience than using your TV speakers, and on top of that, it is affordable. I definitely recommend this system if you are on a budget but yet want something that can deliver great audio.

This is my first soundbar from TCL, and I chose it because it has a wireless subwoofer. Since I use a short throw projector instead of a traditional TV, I positioned the soundbar on the console below the projector and placed the subwoofer off to the side. A wall mounting kit is also included for mounted TVs. Setup was simple; just plug both units in and connect the soundbar to an eARC/ARC port on your input device with the included HDMI cable. Other input options include Bluetooth, optical, 1.8mm AUX, and even USB, but some features may not be available over these connections. Since the soundbar supports HDMI CEC, it powers on and off automatically with my projector and I can also control its volume using the projector’s remote. However, the included remote has other buttons for specific audio features like sound/night modes, AV sync adjustment, surround sound, AI Sonic, Voice enhancement, music playback controls, and treble and bass EQ. You can also control these settings from the TCL Home app by pairing the soundbar with your mobile phone over Bluetooth. The app is the only place where you can configure AI Sonic, which uses your smartphone’s microphone to measure and analyze the soundbar’s audio and automatically adjusts it based on your room configuration and where you are sitting, accounting for speaker distance, sound pressure level, and frequency response. This aims to deliver balanced and immersive sound to your sitting location and throughout the room, and you can create up to 3 individual profiles for different seating positions. For me, I didn’t find that enabling this feature changed my listening experience significantly; however, it may be that my living room is too small to have a noticeable impact as we are seated only 5.5 ft away from the console. When paired to the speaker over Bluetooth 5.3, there was no video to audio lag or sync delay, but if pairing with an older BT protocol, it has AV sync correction up to 300 ms if you need it. I did find that when adjusting the settings via the app while paired with my phone, I wasn’t able to hear the audio input from my TV through the soundbar, despite setting the source to HDMI eARC, until I disconnected from my phone. I was truly impressed with the sound quality from this entry-level sound system. It has three dedicated drivers and one tweeter that produces sound that is full and well-rounded with a wide sound stage when set to ‘standard’ mode, though it can sound a bit flat spatially. With virtual surround sound enabled, the 3.1 channel audio does impart a decent sense of depth and spaciousness, though it’s not as immersive as a true 5.1 channel system nor can it be expanded by adding rear satellite speakers. When listening to Dolby Atmos and DTS content, audio directionality and movement can clearly be identified as left, right, or center, though height and depth felt less accurately placed. The 6.5” driver subwoofer does a good job with low bass support, producing a nice rumble effect for frequencies in the 25-55 Hz range and a sense of fullness between 55-90 Hz, while dropping off thereafter. The volume on this sound bar is also quite powerful with a maximum output of 340 Watts. While its increments range from 0-99, setting it at 22 completely fills our 250 sq ft living room while 35 produces a room shaking club vibe; anything over 50 is probably unsafe for prolonged listening at close range, but might be well suited for projecting audio over a large distance or open space like a dance hall or outdoor space. As the sound was already deafening at 50, I did not attempt to push the speaker to its max volume, however, I did start to notice some muddying and distortion in both the high and low registers at that volume level. The voice enhancement feature works well and increases the volume of voices in both music and videos, however, the overall quality changes, narrowing and bringing forward the sound stage, so expect the audio to sound a bit boxier and enclosed with this feature enabled. Music mode places the audio farther away from the listener and adds reverb reminiscent to a stage performance, while movie mode boosts dialogue and low bass frequencies while widening the sound stage by pushing sound farther to the left and right. It’s able to perform these spatial adjustments thanks to TCL’s proprietary, curved Ray-Danz III acoustic reflectors and angled drivers. Overall, the soundbar greatly enhances the sound quality from my projector versus its built-in speakers. The sound is full, rich, and more expansive with the subwoofer adding in tons of bass support. It uses AI to adapt to a room’s conditions and your seat location, and the virtualized surround sound is dimensionally accurate and immersive. The ability to enhance voices is great, especially during noisy action scenes or low-volume dialogue. This sound system is unexpectedly powerful, with way more volume than we’ll ever use, and delivers a satisfying listening experience, whether you’re having movie night, listening to music, or just watching TV.