LG has gone early with a lot of its CES announcements, having briefed us on several of its new products ahead of the big event, which kicks off this weekend.
There’s the brand’s first RGB Mini LED TV and a new ‘Gallery TV’ to take on Samsung’s The Frame range, for starters, but what I’m most intrigued about, and excited to test, is its new Sound Suite range of home cinema speakers.
This is one of the first systems that will use Dolby Atmos FlexConnect – a technology designed to deliver serious Dolby Atmos sound from wireless speakers that are super-flexible about placement.
In that sense, it’s rather like Sony’s Bravia Quad and preceding HT-A9 systems, which each feature four wireless speakers that produce a really impressive bubble of Dolby Atmos sound even when placed in sonically imperfect positions.
But the LG Sound Suite system goes further in terms of flexibility, partly through the use of Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, which is said to be more accommodating than any previous tech, but more through the mix-and-match approach to speakers.
So, while those two Sony systems are packages of four identical speakers, LG Sound Suite is a family of four different products that can be mixed and matched as required.
The core component is the H7 soundbar, which can be bought and used solo or partnered with the W7 soundbar, and/or the M7 and/or M5 surround speakers. In that way, it’s rather like a Sonos home theatre system built around a Sonos Arc Ultra.
But if you have one of LG’s newest premium TVs (the G5, C5 and QNED9M are specifically listed alongside a vague mention of 2026 models), this can act as the hub for the Sound Suite system, giving you the option to skip the soundbar and go for a setup much more akin to the Sony packages I mentioned.
LG claims that there are 27 potential Sound Suite configurations in total, and that it’s possible to build a 13.1.7-channel system if you so wish.
Conceptually, then, LG Sound Suite is the best of all worlds – a system you can build around your specific needs, and expand or adapt as circumstances and budgets change.
That’s very enticing, I’m sure you’ll agree, but I’m hoping LG has put at least as much thought into sound quality as it has into features and flexibility – because the brand’s track record with audio components isn’t terribly impressive.
LG’s TVs of recent years have all sounded pretty poor, even by the low standards set by modern flatscreens, and of all of the LG headphones, soundbars and wireless speakers we’ve tested this decade, none have achieved a hallowed five-star rating. Far from it, in some cases.
There are reasons to be optimistic, though. We know for a fact that LG takes sound seriously and works incredibly hard on audio quality. And the most recent of its soundbars we tested, the LG S70TY, was its best in a long time.
In other words, LG’s sound quality could be peaking at precisely the right time, and if the Sound Suite’s audio can match its ambition and flexibility, it could prove to be an all-things-to-all-people home cinema system.
That should leave the likes of Samsung, Sonos and Sony feeling a little worried.
MORE:
Here are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars you can buy right now
Check out our LG G5 review and LG C5 review
