TCL Alto 9+ 3.1 Channel Virtualized Atmos Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer, WiFi, Bluetooth – TS9030, 41.3-inch, Black - Black

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 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.

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?

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.

Really clear sound. The dialog is not muddled at all. I find the best sound when it is in movie mode. The bass is quite impressive. As this is my first atmos enabled soundbar I am unable to compare the atmos to anything else, but so far its pretty sweet. So far my only gripe is that connecting to the WiFi has been a bit of an issue.

In my day, I have had plenty of sophisticated home theater setups. But I wanted something simple for the family room where we watch TV, movies and Game. Thought it might make sense to get a TCL soundbar since we have a TCL TV. This did just the trick! Hookup was super easy, and it came with the HDMI cable I needed. I was thinking about just setting it on a stand beneath the TV, but after seeing the included wall mount hardware, I decided to give that a shot. It went up super easy and, again, connected with once cable! I like movie mode as it seems the most full sounding, and having a dedicated center channel speaker really pays off with nicely clear voices. Not sure what that whole “Ray Danz” thing does, but it fills the room nicely with sound. It’s not as good as dedicated rear speakers, but, hey…it’s not! It’s one bar, one wireless sub (which really punches!) and about 30 seconds to hook it up! One cool thing that I didn’t expect is that all of the options to adjust the sound on the sound bar somehow automatically became part of y on-screen adjustments on the TV Options screen…I can never touch the sound bar remote again! Highly recommended!

Got this soundbar for my Birthday. Love the sound, but set up took some work. In order to hook the WiFi to you network you have to go to TCL’s support page and hunt it down. Not in the paperwork you get with the soundbar. Once you get it hooked to your WiFi, it updates and runs. The voice delay with my Samsung. TV took some work too. Good value for the price.

I bought this the first day it was available needed to update my old one was over 10 yrs old if you are needing a great sound for watching your movies in your living room you won't be disappointed with the dolby atmos great base from the sub woofer hooking your 4k player to the sound is the best way to receive the best sound from the sound bar if you have a newer samsung 4k tv it will recognize it but you want to go into settings on the TV check sound output then go to source menu and edit the name of the source thats in the settings mine is Receiver (HDMI) then when you're ready to watch a movie go into source click it on