Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2Ch Soundbar Review

The Shockwafe Ultra 9.2Ch is the highest-end soundbar from Nakamichi. This model is unique thanks to its dual sub setup with four surround speakers. It provides a more realistic listening experience than the Shockwafe Elite 7.2, which only has two surround speakers. The Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 doesn't have similar competing setups due to the unique configuration, but it's often compared to a full Bose Soundbar 700 setup, a full Sonos Beam setup, or even the Samsung HW-Q90R.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2 soundbar has a pretty unique style. It's entirely black, with very small silver accents and comes in an unusual shape for a soundbar. There's a metal grille covering the front and the side speakers, while the rest of the bar is covered in plastic.

The two subwoofers are mostly made out of wood, and the speaker is hidden on the underside. They have a very minimalistic but sleek design.

The four rear speakers have a grille covering the speakers with a plastic body frame. You can either position them sideways like pictured, or standing up.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 bar is pretty large, which means you probably won't be able to fit it between the legs of a TV stand. Also, its body is quite high, meaning it might cover the bottom part of your TV, especially if it sits flush to the table.

The two wireless subwoofers are quite bigger when compared to typical soundbar subs. Be sure to have enough room for both of them.

The satellite speakers aren't too big when compared to other models, but consider the fact that you have four of them to place around. Also, you can interchange the height and width data depending on whether you position them sideways or standing up.

The back of the bar is pretty standard. It has a matte finish and a few holes for your different inputs and power supply.

The sub's port is on the back side, and you have the two connectors for the satellite speakers.

The satellite speakers' back is pretty plain. You have universal mounting holes and the wires to connect to the wireless subwoofers.

The Nakamichi Schockwafe Ultra 9.2's build quality is great. It's quite similar to the Samsung HW-Q90R, as there's a solid metal grille covering the bar's front and side speakers. The subwoofers are also made out of wood and the speakers are hidden on their underside, which is less prone to damage like some subs that have a side fabric panel covering the speaker. Even the satellites are well-built and feel high-end.

• Remote
• Batteries
• Rear speaker cables
• HDMI cable
• AUX cable
• Optical cable
• Wall-mounting accessories
• Manuals

The Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2's stereo frequency response is just okay. Its low-frequency extension is quite higher than some other soundbars, which is disappointing. On the upside, the bass seems evened out throughout the room thanks to the two subs. It also lacks a bit of detail in the treble, resulting in a darker sound profile with stereo content.

Note: The Nakamichi speakers were tested with the Hybrid Elevation 1 configuration . All stereo/center channel content was tested without any effects enabled or levels adjusted.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2's stereo soundstage is good. Just like the Samsung HW-Q90R, it's about the size of the bar, but sounds very focused. Objects in the soundstage seem to be coming from an accurate pinpoint location rather than a general area, which is great.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2's stereo dynamics performance is good. It's one of the loudest soundbars we've tested so far, but unfortunately, there's some noticeable distortion at max volume, especially in the bass range. However, there shouldn't be any issues at a normal listening volume.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2's THD performance is good. At a normal listening volume, the audio reproduction is clean and pure. The THD does get a bit elevated at max volume, which might make frequencies a bit harsh and impure, but most people won't notice it with daily content.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2.4's center channel is great. Thanks to its speaker configuration, this soundbar has a dedicated center channel, which results in a clearer and more accurate dialogue reproduction.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2's surrounds performance is excellent. Thanks to its 9.2.4 setup configuration, you have dedicated surround speakers, which provide very accurate localization of objects in the soundstage around you. However, the sound profile of these speakers is quite excited, with more bass and treble, which can be entertaining for movies, but not everyone will prefer this.

Note: To be able to play surround and Atmos content, we needed to use Dolby Surround On, with no DSP mode, and set the Spatial Surround Elevation setting to level 3. This was the only way to get all four speakers to work properly. All surround content was tested in Native mode.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2's Atmos performance is decent. Its quite immersive when watching movies, although since the up-firing speakers are on the bar and rear speakers, it won't be as focused as down-firing speakers with a dedicated home theater setup. The sound profile is also quite excited, with overemphasized bass and treble.

Note: To be able to play surround and Atmos content, we needed to use Dolby Surround On, with no DSP mode, and set the Spatial Surround Elevation setting to level 3. This was the only way to get all four speakers to work properly.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2's sound enhancement features are decent. It has a 'Room' button that changes the sound depending on your room size, which isn't quite like a room correction as there's no microphone being used to analyze your room. The 'Bass' button on the remote controls the sub volume rather than the amount of bass being produced by the whole setup. This soundbar system offers a lot of sound customization options and special features to help you make it sound the way you prefer.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 has plenty of physical inputs. It has three HDMI In ports, making it easier for you to use your soundbar as a hub for all your devices. You can also plug in an AUX cord, which is great at parties where people want to play their music without going through the Bluetooth pairing process.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 supports Dolby Digital Plus, which serves as a carrier for Dolby Atmos, on top of supporting the more common Dolby Digital and DTS. If you have DD+ content, the bar will be able to decode it and deliver a more immersive listening experience via the ARC port. Unfortunately, it doesn't support eARC.

This soundbar has outstanding support via the HDMI In ports. You can easily get surround or object-based sound formats to play, which results in an immersive and great experience when watching content on Blu-rays, streaming platforms, or even when gaming.

Like most soundbars, the Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 supports Dolby Digital and DTS over optical, which can usually be found on Blu-ray discs and streaming platforms like Netflix

Update 03/18/2021: There was a mistake in our methodology where we measured the latency using every second frame (eg. 120fps). We now re-evaluated the footage using every frame at 240fps for more accurate results.

Unfortunately, this premium setup only supports wireless playback via Bluetooth, which some may find disappointing. It doesn't support Wi-Fi playback, unlike some similar high-end models like the Samsung HW-Q90R.

When connecting your devices to the soundbar, the Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 has no issues passing through the highest quality signals. It also supports 4:4:4, meaning that when using your PC, the text will be clear and easy to read on a TV.

The wireless subwoofers only need power and don't need to be wired to the soundbar. However, you need to wire the rear speakers to the subs.

While the rear satellite speakers aren't connected to the soundbar, you need to wire them to the wireless subwoofers, which might be constraining for some.

The Nakamichi Shockwafe 9.2 soundbar's interface is pretty standard. You have a screen hidden behind the grille that shows the different inputs, settings, and menus.

The bar controls are pretty straightforward. You have a volume up and down, a button to switch inputs, and the power button. The 'Demo' button plays the Nakamichi test tones for every channel.

The Nakamichi Ultra 9.2's remote is pretty big. It offers a lot of control over the soundbar system but unfortunately doesn't act as a universal remote.

There's no dedicated app for this soundbar.

When put in 'Eco Mode', the soundbar goes into standby after 20 minutes of inactivity. It also supports HDMI CEC, meaning you'll be able to power on/off or adjust the soundbar's volume with your TV remote.