One of the best things you can do for your TV setup at home is to get a soundbar attached. Sure, the TV has speakers built in, but with modern, thin TVs, the sound is going to be pretty tinny. A soundbar can improve that in a hurry, and they don’t have to be expensive (though they can be). Today, we’re looking at a newer budget option, the iLive 45″ Soundbar.
iLive 45″ Soundbar: what it is
If you’re not familiar, a soundbar is about the simplest way to add external speakers to your TV. Back in the day, it required hooking your equipment into an A/V receiver, which then could send the sound out to the speaker setup. With a soundbar, you can use a single cable (either optical or HDMI) and you’re ready for better sound (once the soundbar is plugged in, of course).
That’s how it starts out with the iLive 45″ Soundbar as well. I opted for the HDMI eARC connection, which allows the TV to control the soundbar quite simply. Then, it was a matter of setting up the additional boom that it came with – the wireless subwoofer.
Even more sound
Without a subwoofer, a soundbar is still going to sound richer than the thin TV speakers. And you can certainly run the iLive 45″ Soundbar without powering the subwoofer on. However, once you flip it on, you really do get a deeper sound. No, it’s not going to be rattling the pictures on the wall, but it does improve the sound.
There are no settings on the subwoofer itself. Once it’s plugged in, it’s just a matter of whether the power switch is on or off. It connects automatically (via bluetooth) to the soundbar, and away you go.
There are also satellite speakers that detach from the main soundbar as well. These can be charged via USB-C, or charged by connecting the soundbar. With them detached (and powered on), you’re then in a 4.1 setup (two front speakers in the main soundbar, the two satellites, and then the subwoofer). In theory, this allows you to get a more immersive sound setup.
Using the iLive 45″ Soundbar
Now, out of the box, the soundbar did improve on the basic sound of the TV, and the subwoofer amped things up even more. I also like how, with the HMDI connection, the soundbar powers on and off with the TV (the subwoofer does not), and the TV remote immediately controlled volume levels. When it was time to test the satellites, that was a little less impressive.
Sure, there was sound coming out of them, so you get the additional directional inputs into your ears. However, I did notice that there was a slight whine coming through on them as well, likely due to the Bluetooth connection (as I did not have them on a power cord at the time). Spread out some, that minimizes it in terms of what you can hear, but it was still there. Then again, we’re in the budget world here, so there will be some tradeoffs.
Wrapping things up
With the included remote, you can put the iLive 45″ Soundbar into some preset equalizer settings, or you can manually boost the bass levels as well. After fiddling with it some, I just basically settled on the Movie mode, and left it set on that. You can also use the iLive 45″ Soundbar as a giant bluetooth speaker if you want, so you can easily stream music from your phone.
I’ve long been interested in seeing how a wireless subwoofer works in the real world, and I was really pleased with the additional low range it added to what we were watching. I had things placed a few different spots in the room, and it was able to get good sound out, no matter where I had it. You can even mount it on the wall if you want (it comes with the brackets for that).
Now we’re just left with one detail – the price. As we’ve mentioned, the iLive 45″ Soundbar is in the budget realm. If you check the iLive site, you’re going to see a price of $219.99. However, if you pop over to Best Buy, you see $159.99, which feels like a pretty solid price for what this is bringing to your setup. If you’re still rocking the stock speakers in your TV, do yourself a favor and consider adding a soundbar into your setup. iliveelectronics.com
iLive 45″ Soundbar Tech Specs
Features:
- 4.1 channel speaker system
- Audio output power: 70W at 10%THD
- Supports Bluetooth 5.0
- HDMI input: supports ARC
- Optical digital audio input
- Wireless subwoofer
- Detachable wireless satellite speakers
- USB-C port for battery recharge
- Dimensions:45 x 3.74 x 2.64
- Subwoofer Dims: 6.7 x 7.9 x 11.8
- Soundbar Dims: 32 x 3.78 x 2.56
- Satellite Dims: 6.7 x 3.78 x 2.56
Includes:
- Remote control
- Optical cable
- USB-C Charging cables x 2
- 2 AC/DC power adapters
