Sharp HT-SBW55121

Introduction

In what seems like something of a renaissance, Sharp continues to drop new and impressive AV products into the UK market. The 110-year-old company has seen some ownership changes and realignments in recent years. But all that seems to have settled down.

This site was impressed with the 2022 crop which included the HT-SBW202 soundbar. And last year’s HT-SB700 was an interesting take on a mini-footprint 2.0.2 Dolby Atmos speaker for a small TV or desktop.

Leading the charge this year is the flagship Dolby Atmos/DTS:X soundbar (also known as the HT-SBW55121). The hefty soundbar and subwoofer offer up a 5.1.2 channel configuration.

This can either be purchased separately as you can build out to 7.1.4 channels with the help of the 2.0.2 wireless surrounds (HT-SPR52021). The pairing of both products for £549.99 is the package I review here.

Design

• Wireless subwoofer and surround speakers
• Two HDMI inputs
• Attractive cloth-surround build

The combo sports a massive 126-cm long soundbar. Sharp rightly suggests pairing it with TVs of 49-inches or greater. Along with optional wall mounting hardware in the box, it has feet already installed at either end.

These can be removed with a screwdriver, but if you have a TV stand with a protruding base, the bar will clear it. I’m seeing manufacturers do this more often and it’s a benefit. The bar is wrapped in a fine ‘smoke grey’ cotton grille, but it attracts dust and splodges, so be warned.

The entire package is also available in satin silver. With four front drivers making up left, right and centre (for which there are two), and two pairs each of side- and up-firing drivers, there are eight in total.

The same cotton mesh design is applied to both the subwoofer and surrounds. The former is more substantial and robust than I expected. Standing relatively tall at nearly 45 cm, weighing 6.9 kg and supported by a ring-shaped rubber-footed stand, the sub certainly doesn’t look or feel cheap.

The cotton wraps just over the top corner, leaving most of the matte grey vinyl surface exposed on the top and to the sides. A 6.5-inch concealed front driver is augmented by a rear-mounted bass reflex port for further enhancing low frequency performance.

The surrounds each carry a forward facing and up-firing driver. This means the four components of the system employ 13 drivers in total. Although wireless, the speakers do require their own supplied mains power cords. The look of the surrounds also harmonises with the bar and sub, characterised by the identical colour scheme and elevating ring-profile stands.

The remote control is a rudimentary black plastic device with power, track selection, menu, bass, treble and volume controls. The menu is not the most intuitive to navigate and, with no app control, the only interface is the blocky white LED display behind the front soundbar grey gauze.

Features

• Bluetooth 5.3 streaming
• Tuned by Devialet
• 650 watts peak power output

The Sharp package supports full Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio. The soundbar’s in-built audio processor can naturally handle lossless codecs, including the Dolby TrueHD base layer and DTS-HD.

There’s also 3D sound processing in the form of Dolby Surround Virtualiser which will upscale two-channel sources to use the whole array.

With four up-firing 2.5-inch drivers (two in each of the soundbar and surrounds), there is a 7.1.4 channel configuration on hand. I’m told that 650 watts of peak output are distributed between the soundbar and sub, while the surrounds add a further 200 watts to the mix, care of their own onboard Class D amplifiers.

Engineers at French fabricators Devialet have consulted on the speakers’ tuning. If the sound quality on offer here is anything to go by, then the collaboration is a valuable one.

Both the subwoofer and surrounds need to connect over Bluetooth. The sub auto-engaged instantly, but the surrounds took a couple of attempts for blue LEDs to settle from flashing to steady. It was also straightforward identifying the soundbar on my phone for streaming.

The preset EQs of movie, music, voice, sport, game, night and custom execute with varying degrees of success. Voice mode is a little thin sounding but does pump up vocals as promised, while movie was our preferred choice for both AV sources and music.

Connectivity

While Bluetooth 5.3 (AAC+) is the engine for streaming, keep in mind that there is no Wi-Fi included or app control. While the latter is less common in this price band, it would be nice to see at least Wi-Fi or a wireless streaming platform on a £500+ combo.

Luckily the connections suite is reasonably loaded. You get HDMI eARC for pulling down lossless audio from your display or an optical input for legacy tellies or other devices. There’s also a 3.5-mm line-in for analogue stereo components.

It’s good to see two HDMI 4K inputs if you wish to connect, say, a Blu-ray deck or gaming console. Plus, a USB input will receive plenty of file formats, from compressed MP3 to high-resolution flavours like FLAC and ALAC.

Sound Quality

• Spacious and detailed
• Lucid vocals
• Excellent subwoofer

The Sharp system presents an impressively balanced soundstage from streamed music sources. Bass is in good and confident supply from the subwoofer, jutting just a few inches out from the right sidewall as it was.

Deciding to blast out a few tunes over TIDAL at the outset, Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer articulates high frequencies well and offers a clean vocal presentation. The mids aren’t left wanting either, as there’s welly behind the plodding bass guitar and cracking snare drum. The simulated brass notes are further both wide-cast and detailed.

But it’s in The Cult’s She Sells Sanctuary that the subwoofer comes to the fore, proving it can add some ferocious and speedy punch. Even toggling between the surround on off modes, the song retains equilibrium.

However, not entirely unsurprising for soundbars – with their racetrack drivers and economically sourced amplifiers – the sonic character can steer towards shrillness. I’ll take the rough with the smooth, though, because this is a pleasant listen.  

Turning to Rez by Underworld, once again, the bass is neither boomy nor sloppy, but rather musical and felt. And the complex mix is complemented by clear instrument separation with its cornucopia clanking bells, swishing cymbals and a slaloming bass motif.

Now, my TCL TV is no slouch when it comes to promoting clean broadcast dialogue. But flitting between TV shows and episodic dramas, voices take on a noticeable uptick over the display’s sound. That quality extends to movie watching.

During the stagecoach interchange in The Hateful Eight (2015, Prime), the 5.1 soundtrack conveys nuanced, centre-locked dialogue from Kurt Russell and Samuel L Jackson. Adding to the focused effects of the horse’s hooves, howling wind and offstage coachman’s voice, the aura is vast and atmospheric.

But it’s when tested with immersive Dolby Atmos audio that the Sharp package comes into its own. The speakers create a scaled and weighted sound for the helicopter aerial chase. There are tremendous height and surround effects as the choppers charge overhead or dive to the sides. The trombones and timpani of the orchestra are also rich and wholesome.

There was a sense that the front soundstage was a little laid back compared to the surrounds, even with the recommended listening distances. This was only part resolved by moving the surrounds further away and adjusting basic calibration speaker volumes in the menu, but it should be kept in mind.

Should you buy it?

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