LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit Soundbar Review

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit has a similar design to other bars from LG's 2022 lineup. It's mostly made of plastic, with fabric covering the front and sides of the bar. On top, three round metal grilles cover the up-firing drivers.

The sub has a fairly standard design. The speaker is covered with a round piece of fabric.

The satellites have a similar design to the bar itself. They're also made of plastic with fabric around the sides and the front. They connect to the wireless receiver module, which is also made of plastic.

The bar is fairly wide, so it doesn't fit between the legs of a 55" TV stand. Unless your TV sits flush against your table, the bar won't block the TV screen since it isn't very tall.

The sub has a similar size to an average desktop computer. It connects to the bar wirelessly, but you'll still need to plug it into a power outlet.

These speakers take up about as much space as an average pair of rear satellites. That said, you have to pair them to the wireless receiver module, which can be limiting depending on your space. For reference, the wireless receiver module is 6.9" (17.5 cm) wide, 2.3" (6 cm) tall, and 7.2" (18.3 cm) deep.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit has a great build quality. Both the bar and the satellites are made of solid-feeling plastic, which seems quite durable to the touch. Plus, the fabric around the sides is wrapped tight, so it doesn't seem like it could rip easily. The sub also feels quite sturdy.

• Manuals
• 3x power cables (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
• HDMI cable (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
• Remote with 2x AA batteries
• Mounting brackets with screws
• Mounting template
• 2x satellite speaker wires (16 ft / 4.9m)
• Ferrite core

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit has a good stereo frequency response. With its room correction tool, it automatically adjusts the bar's output based on the unique acoustic characteristics of your listening space. The overall sound is quite even, with clear and accurate reproduction of voices and lead instruments in the mix. Plus, the extra rumble in the bass is ideal for genres like EDM and hip-hop.

Note: There's a slight difference in the slope between the LG S90QY on its own and the same bar with the LG SPQ8-S speaker kit. This is likely due to testing variation, as well as possible differences picked up in the acoustic characteristics of our testing room during the room calibration process. Still, you aren't likely to notice a major difference in stereo sound with or without the speaker kit.

If you want a more balanced frequency response with stereo content, set the bass to -4 and the treble to 5. The resulting sound is more even, and you don't notice as much boom in the high-bass. Also, the added emphasis in the treble makes higher-pitched sounds like cymbals more accurate in the mix.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit has a good stereo soundstage. The soundstage is perceived to be a bit wider than the bar itself. Plus, it has very good focus, so you can pinpoint sound effects to exact locations in the soundstage.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit gets pretty loud, meaning it can fill an average living room with sound. Also, as you reach max volume, there isn't a lot of compression present, so audio reproduction is clean.

At a normal listening volume, distortion falls within good limits. This means that audio reproduction is clear and pure, and you don't notice much distortion. While there's a jump in distortion at max volume, it's still hard to hear with real-life content.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit has a unique design, so you get a traditional front-firing center channel as well as an up-firing center channel. Overall, it does a good job, so dialogue is easy to follow in the mix. Voices are reproduced with accuracy, too. The additional up-firing center channel doesn't make a huge difference when you compare the bar to others with only a front-firing driver.

Adding the SPQ8-S Speaker Kit makes a slight difference in the bar's surround performance compared to the standalone LG S90QY. The discrete surround channels bring a more clear and real feel to surround sound. Sound effects are more accurately placed in the space around you, so you feel like you're dropped into the middle of the action on screen. However, as the uneven frequency response implies, some details are more pronounced, while others are more subtle.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit uses up-firing drivers built into the bar itself to ricochet sound off the ceiling, creating the illusion of height. Naturally, it doesn't sound as clear or as real as discrete down-firing speakers found in home theater setups, but it's decent compared to other soundbars. Sound effects reproduced on these channels are relatively clear, but some details receive more emphasis than others due to the uneven frequency response.

Subjectively, the additional rear speakers don't make a huge difference in the bar's Atmos performance compared to the standalone LG S90QY. These channels are rather quiet, even after setting the surround and rear levels to max. This takes away from the immersive feel and makes it seem like the satellites aren't properly integrated into the sound. While sound effects seem more accurately placed in the space around you, the bar still struggles to replicate effects that are meant to come from overhead, like helicopters flying above you.

With an incredible selection of sound enhancement features, you have a lot of ability to customize the bar's output. Given that it's a more premium offering, it's not a surprise that it comes with a room correction tool, called AI Room Calibration. You can customize its sound using its bass and treble adjustments as well as its EQ presets: 'AI Sound Pro', 'Standard', 'Music', 'Cinema', 'Clear Voice', 'Sports', 'Game', and 'BassBlast'. Plus, LG has a feature that lets you pair the bar with compatible LG TVs for a better sound quality. It's called TV Sound Mode Share. Like most of these features on the market, it doesn't do much to enhance the sound in practice, so if you don't have an LG TV, you can still enjoy content with this bar.

To connect the the LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit with your TV, use either the HDMI or Optical connections. The manufacturer also says you can use the bar with LG's WOWCAST device to wirelessly stream audio from certain LG TVs. Since the bar has a Full HDMI In port, you can also use the bar as a hub between different devices, like a PC and a TV, which is handy for video passthrough.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit supports many audio formats over an HDMI ARC connection, so you can playback content that's often found on both streaming platforms and Blu-rays.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S supports lots of different audio formats over Full HDMI In. It can playback 5.1 surround sound formats like Dolby Digital, as well as lossless and object-based formats like Dolby Atmos.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S also supports common surround sound formats over an Optical connection. You're likely to find Dolby Digital content on streaming platforms, while DTS is more common on Blu-rays.

Thanks to its relatively low latency, the LG S90QY with SPQ8-S is well-suited to watching videos and movies. The audio you hear is in sync with the video you see, and there aren't any noticeable lip-synching issues. Of course, some apps and TVs compensate for latency differently, but if you run into any issues, you can always use the AV Sync feature in the LG Sound Bar app to accommodate.

The LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit can passthrough some of the highest bandwidth signals, including Dolby Vision Passthrough. If the bar is connected between your TV and your PC, for example, text on the screen appears clear and crisp.

You can wirelessly stream audio from your mobile devices to the LG S90QY with SPQ8-S Speaker Kit over lots of different platforms, like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Chromecast built-in, and Apple AirPlay.

The display on the front of the bar shows different settings as you adjust them, so you can keep track of the volume level, the input, or the sound preset, for example.

The top of the bar has several touch-sensitive buttons for more basic controls. You can turn the bar on/off, change the input, adjust the volume, play/pause your audio, or access Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The remote is fairly simple. It provides access to more basic tools like volume adjustment or changing the bar's input. However, if you want to access additional settings like the AI Room Calibration tool, you'll need to use the LG Sound Bar app.

If you own a third-party voice assistant device with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, you can connect it to the bar to control it with your voice. However, there's no built-in voice assistant support.