LG HLB54S Soundbar with integrated Blu-ray review.

The LG HLB54S is one of the first soundbars to integrate a Blu-ray drive, a natural progression from the popular DVD endowed soundbars. This particular one from Korean manufacturer LG makes it's debut in the more high-end price bracket that's not normally attributed to this particular brand. So, we're expecting a lot of snazzy features and a top specification to justify the higher than expected price.

Luckily, the HLB54S doesn't disappoint in this respect. First off, being as the primary function of the soundbar is to deliver audio, the soundbar has been specially 'tuned' by LG audio supremo Mark Levinson to deliver a substantial 430w of audio oomph. It's also a pretty piece of kit with the body covered by a glossy black giving way to silver surrounded disk opening, a row of touch sensitive buttons and a larger than expected visual display screen.

Looks are one thing, size is another. Or, more specifically, the dimensions. It's not a lumping great object and is in fact incredibly slim but the depth rocks up at a slightly awkward 189mm meaning that you might have to do some rejigging with the rest of your AV kit and also pretty much rules out mounting it on the wall, unless you're a builder who fancies a bit of demolition or building-in stud work!

Connection wise, the HLB54S has it all pretty much covered. The soundbar has two HDMI inputs, perfect for a couple of games consoles or set-top box, an optical digital input (perfect for Sky+), a minijack audio input, Ethernet connection (for BD live content) and for the Apple fans, an iPod dock. The only thing we'd like to have seen would have been a coax digital in and maybe some standard phono inputs for hooking up an extra sound source.

The HLB54S also has integrated Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n flavours) which pretty much render the Ethernet port redundant unless you have a hankering for improved streaming speed as the box also supports DNLA meaning you can stream videos and other MKV, DivX HD, MP3, WMA, XviD and JPEG content straight from your PC. There is also a USB socket giving you the option to do the same from a locally attached stick or hard drive. Still on the subject of wireless, the accompanying subwoofer that you get as part of this soundbar package is also wireless, giving you the freedom to plonk it somewhere less obtrusive in your lounge - within reason of course.

The inner workings of the HLB54S comprise of a 4.1 format speaker configuration, comprising of two front speakers and two surround speakers. All of these speaker channels are rated at 70w leaving the remaining 150w for the subwoofer. The digital surround formats catered for are the newer Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio plus the older Dolby Digital DTS. A variety of sound 'modes' can be selected to suit your personal tastes or the source material type. Video wise, the DTS HD Master Audio is capable of upscaling standard DVDs to 1080p.

Like most BD Live equipped players, for some reason no built in memory is included meaning that if you want to access BD Live information, you'll need to plug in a USB memory stick in order to get this to work. Once you do this, BD Live veritably lurches in to action and content can take a considerable time to download to the device. However, this can be said for most Blu-ray players and using the Ethernet connection rather than the wireless should speed things up a tad.

The LG HLB54S is certainly easy to use. Anyone that's used LG branded eqipment will be familiar with the style of the menu system, being largely icon based with large text when needed. Wizards are also employed for the more difficult and lengthy task such as hooking up the player to your wireless network and streaming content from your PC. The remote control is pretty intuitive though a bit on the 'busy' side and if you're using it with the lights dimmed, you may struggle to see what button does what as there is no backlight facility.

On to the player in action, you are sure to be very impressed. Picture quality is excellent with the LG HLB54S producing very good black levels. Sound quality is also very good indeed and this soundbar has a very good stab at the all important surround sound element. While still not on a par with a proper 5.1 wired set up, the LG HLB54S produces sound that does truly come at you from all angles giving a very good impression of a more traditional system. As always, if you can try one of these out then that's the best way, especially if you can in your own living room as with the sound beaming off the walls and furniture, no one room will produce the same sounds and effects.

Overall though, this has to be one of the best stabs yet at soundbar surround sound, with the bonus of an integrated Blu-ray player. It's certainly not on par with the excellent Yamaha YSP-4100 but it does blow a lot of it's similarly priced rivals away. This one should be on your audition list.