The LG SL10YG is a decent 5.1.2 soundbar system. It has a very excited sound profile with overemphasized bass and treble ranges. It can also get pretty loud and performs quite well at max volume too. It has plenty of connection options and supports object-based sound formats like Atmos. It can also passthrough high-quality signals when using the bar as a hub for your devices. However, the SL10YG has poor surrounds performance and its sound profile changes drastically with Atmos content.
Decent for mixed usage. This bar has an excited sound profile, which makes the bass and treble ranges more emphasized. This results in a decent performance for voices and dialogue in movies, but gives an exciting sound for music and movies. It also supports Atmos for a more immersive experience. Unfortunately, its soundstage is fairly narrow.
Decent for dialog. The LG SL10YG can be used for audio content like audiobooks and podcasts but might not be the best option due to the very excited sound profile. On the upside, the bar can get pretty loud and you can easily stream content wirelessly via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. However, there’s no dialogue enhancement feature, which is disappointing.
Good for music. This soundbar has an excited sound profile that not everybody will like, but is well suited for bass-heavy genres and party music. Unfortunately, its soundstage is fairly narrow and doesn’t sound wide. On the upside, it can get pretty loud and performs well at max volume. You can also EQ it slightly to your preference and stream content wirelessly from your smart device.
Decent for movies. Some people will love the excited, V-shaped sound profile of the SL10YG for movies. However, it doesn’t have a very wide soundstage, but, on the upside, it supports Atmos for a more immersive experience. The bar can get pretty loud and performs fairly well too.
The LG SL10YG is the highest-end model of the 2019 soundbar line up from LG. Similar to the 2018 SK10Y, the SL10Y is a 5.1.2 channel bar with up-firing speakers and a sub although this model also supports DTS:X. The SL line up is slightly different from the 2018 SK line up since all three are high-end models; the SL10Y, SL9Y (4.1.2 channels) and the SL8Y (3.1.2 channels) come with the Meridian Technology feature built-in, unlike the 2018 models. The SL10Y's main competitors are the Bose Soundbar 700 and the Samsung HW-Q90R.
We tested our setup without satellites. You can buy compatible satellites like these if you wish.
The LG SL10YG is one of the widest bars we've tested. Not only will it not fit between the legs of a 55" TV, but most likely you'll need a larger table to place it on unless you choose to wall-mount it. On the upside, if you place it in front of your TV, it won't block the view of your screen as it isn't very tall.
There are no satellites in our setup.
The LG SL10YG has a good stereo frequency response score, which is largely due to its great low-frequency extension and high-frequency extension. This results in most sounds being played by the bar, including the deep punch and rumble of bass, which is great for movies. However, the sound isn’t necessarily neutral, as it has quite a lot of error compared to our flat target. As the graph shows, the bass and treble are overemphasized by quite a bit. This will give an excited, or V-shaped, sound profile, which some may prefer.
When listening to the LG SL10YG, the soundstage is just okay, which is slightly disappointing. Although the bar is very large, the stereo speakers are positioned way in from the sides of the bar, which makes the soundstage narrower than the bar itself. Additionally, the focus of the soundstage is slightly diffused since the sound profile of the soundbar is muddy, making it a bit harder to pinpoint objects in the soundstage.
This soundbar can get pretty loud and so is suitable for a large room or crowded environments. However, due to the very large size of the bar, its max volume level is slightly disappointing. On the upside, it also performs quite well at max volume as you don’t get much compression.
The SL10YG’s THD performance at a normal listening volume is within good limits and it will reproduce a clean and pure sound. However, when pushing the bar to its max volume, there's a big jump in THD, especially in the treble range. This might not be as audible with real-life content.
The LG SL10YG soundbar setup has a great center channel performance on surround content. Due to its 5.1.2 configuration, it has a dedicated center speaker, which results in a clearer and more accurate audio reproduction of the dialogue in movies. However, the general sound profile is still a bit bass-heavy, but there isn't much bass on center channels to begin with, so this shouldn't matter too much.
The surround performance is sub-par. The bar has side-firing speakers, which reflect sound off the walls to give you the impression of a wider surround sound. However, this also means this setup won't provide the most accurate and clear representation of surround objects in the soundstage, and it won't feel as real as a discrete surround like with home theatre speakers. It also results in a very dark sound profile and the error compared to our neutral target curve is quite significant. If you're looking for a 5.1.2 soundbar with a better surround performance, check out the LG SN9YG.
The LG SL10YG supports Atmos, but its performance is poor. The bar has up-firing speakers that bounce the sounds off the ceiling, giving you the impression of height. However, the localization of objects is diffused and doesn't sound as real as a discrete localization provided by down-firing speakers. Also, the sound profile changes drastically and becomes fairly bright with a lower amount of bass, but practically no detail in the treble too.
The LG SL10YG lacks some of the most important sound enhancement features such as dialogue enhancement and room correction. Unlike the LG SN10YG, this soundbar lacks room correction, which means this bar may sound a bit differently depending on your room. On the upside, it does offer a lot of control and customization options to manually make it sound the way you like.
The LG SL10YG can serve as a hub between your device and your TV. Unfortunately, it lacks an Analog Audio In to connect to older devices that lack modern connectivity features, but on the upside, you can play music stored on a USB key.
The LG SL10YG supports the common Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound formats found on streaming platforms and Blu-ray discs. It can also deliver a more immersive experience through the support of object-based surround sound format like Dolby Atmos. Unfortunately, the lack of eARC support doesn't allow the bar to playback uncompressed sound like 5.1 PCM, over this port.
Excellent support for surround sound and object-based sound formats on the LG SL10YG, provided you send the signal through the Full HDMI In port. The soundbar offers immersive experience when watching content, like from Netflix or Blu-rays, encoded in these superior sound formats.
The Optical Audio connection can decode Dolby Digital surround sound content that is available on streaming platforms like Netflix and Blu-rays. The supported DTS content is usually not available on its own but serves as a fallback to the very common DTS-HD MA that is often found on Blu-ray discs.
This soundbar offers the common Bluetooth connection, making it easy to connect to mobile devices. You can also use Wi-Fi or cast using Chromecast built-in to play your content, but unfortunately, Apple AirPlay is not supported.
When used as a hub, the SL10YG can pass through the highest quality signals. If you connect it between your PC and your TV, the text on the screen will be clear.
The touch-sensitive buttons on the top of the bar are pretty straightforward. You can select the input, control the volume, turn the system on or off, and control the play pause functionality. Since this bar supports the Google Assistant, you have a button to activate it and a button to mute the microphone if you wish.
LG Wi-Fi Speaker is a versatile app that can do a few things that can't be done by the remote, like making playlists. On the other hand, there are things that the app can't do but the remote can, like set auto volume.
The LG SL10YG is a decent soundbar for mixed usage that sets itself apart by its excited, or V-shaped, sound profile with a lot of bass and sharp treble. It's also one of the largest bars we've reviewed so far. See our recommendations for the best soundbars, the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, and the best soundbars 5.1.
The LG SL10YG 2019 is very similar to the LG SK10Y 2018. The SL10YG gets slightly louder, but their overall performances are very similar. They both have a V-shaped sound profile. However, we measured better Atmos and surround performances on the 2018 model.
The Samsung HW-Q90R is a noticeably better soundbar system than the LG SL10YG. It gets louder, has a better overall sound and soundstage, and performs better at max volume. The 7.1.4 configuration is also more immersive thanks to the additional side-firing speakers and up-firing speakers on the satellites, resulting in better performance with both surround and Atmos content.
The LG SN9YG is a better performing 5.1.2 soundbar than the LG SL10YG. While both soundbars feel well-built, the SN9YG has a slightly better-balanced sound profile and a better soundstage. Its center, surrounds, and height performance are also better too, it has more sound enhancement features including room correction, and supports eARC. However, the SL10YG has a better THD performance and it can get louder, although it has more compression artifacts at max volume.
The LG SN10YG is overall a better 5.1.2 setup than the LG SL10YG. While both soundbars are similarly well-built, the SN10YG offers a significantly better center, surround, and height performance. It also has a room correction as well as dialogue enhancement feature, and it supports eARC. However, the SL10YG can get louder with less pumping and compression artifacts.
The LG SL10YG is a better soundbar setup than the Sonos Playbar by itself, but note you can easily upgrade the Sonos with a sub and satellites. The LG has two up-firing speakers for Atmos. On the other hand, the stereo soundstage of the Playbar is noticeably larger and more immersive. The Sonos also has room correction, which is great, but lacks HDMI ARC and Full HDMI In ports as it's an older product. Sonos also believes in better audio quality over Wi-Fi, so it doesn't support Bluetooth like the SL10YG does.
The Sony HT-Z9F is a slightly better performing soundbar than the LG SL10YG. While both support Atmos content, the Sony is more versatile and supports more audio formats. It really shines when it comes to vocal-centric content like TV shows and podcasts. However, the LG has a more well balanced but slightly more bass-heavy sound.
The Samsung HW-Q70R is better than the LG SL10YG. The Samsung has a much better overall sound, its center channel performs significantly better, and it has better performance in Dolby Atmos content. The LG, however, has Chromecast built-in and a larger selection of inputs.
The Samsung HW-Q80R is a better soundbar than the LG SL10YG. Its audio reproduction follows our target curve more accurately and it has a noticeably larger soundstage. The SL10YG has a more V-shaped or exciting sound profile. The Atmos performance of the Q80R is also considerably better.
The Vizio SB46514-F6 is a better soundbar system than the LG SL10YG. Its stereo soundstage sounds wider, and it has dedicated surround speakers, which helps make a more immersive surround experience. Its Atmos performance is also noticeably more accurate, which might be helped by the extra up-firing speaker on the surround speakers, which the LG lacks entirely.
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