Harman Kardon SB 16

The Harman Kardon SB 16 is almost a purist's sound bar; it is massive, elegant and delivers richer, wider and louder audio than most of its competitors. However, its features are sparse to the point that it doesn't even have a remote control.

Performance

The audio sings, whispers and booms. Several major reviewers sing the praises of the Harman Kardon SB 16's audio; it's clean and accurate, with a powerful yet balanced low-end and the ability to hit high volumes without distorting or compressing. The sound stage is fairly wide, as well, though it still can't come anywhere near the effect put out by a true 5.1-channel solution. As such, one source says the "room ambiance [is] lacking." There are also reports of interference between the wireless subwoofer and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi home networks.

Design

Big, yet beautiful. The Harman Kardon SB 16 is larger than many sound bars, and that carries over to its wireless subwoofer as well, which has what CNET calls "a giant footprint." The sound bar lacks an LED display, which makes it difficult to keep track of volume levels, but reviewers appreciate its dark aesthetic. Connectivity-wise, there are a set of stereo analog jacks and singular coaxial and optical digital ports. Setup is fairly easy.

Features

None to speak of, save one curious highlight. The Harman Kardon SB 16 has no features to speak of: no front display, no onboard decoders, no wireless support, no HDMI ports with fancy features, nothing. In fact, the sound bar doesn't even ship with a remote and is designed to be synced with your existing TV controller. That leads to an irritating issue for some; since you disable your TV's speakers when using a sound bar, CNET found that half the TVs in its labs flashed a prominent "Internal Speakers Disabled" message onscreen every time reviewers attempted to adjust the sound bar's volume with the HDTV's remote.

Value

For audiophiles only. If you're fine with settling for very good sound rather than the excellent audio the Harman Kardon SB 16 provides, you can find perfectly acceptable sound bars with more features for less money.

The bottom line

Like the Boston Acoustics TVee Model 30 (*Est. $600), the Harman Kardon SB 16 is best suited for discerning listeners who, for whatever reason, don't want a full 5.1 home-theater system. The audio sounds great, but the lack of additional features and that irksome remote control issue could turn off more mainstream users. If you want a sound bar that sounds almost as good -- perhaps with just a bit less bass -- and more bells and whistles, the Best Reviewed Zvox Z-Base 580 (*Est. $500) is an excellent option and costs $100 less, though it's not wall mountable. Or, if you want to stick to simplicity but want even better audio, the MartinLogan Motion Vision (*Est. $1,500) delivers a sound that's so robust that it's hard to believe it's coming from a sound bar -- but you'll need to pay a premium for it.