Philips Soundbar 5.1.2 TAB8967 Review

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to watch tv. Shows, movies, there’s a lot of content to pick from. And while tv’s have come a long way in the quality of sound, the built-in sound still isn’t very good. If you want better sound, the built-in sound still isn’t very good. If you want better sound, you need dedicated speakers for your tv. The easiest option for this is a soundbar. Soundbars have also come a long way. Up for review today is the Philips Soundbar 5.1.2 TAB8967 with wireless subwoofer, with an $599 MSRP.

 

Soundbars themselves have come a long way since their introduction. They were a single short but wide speaker array configured in Left and Right for stereo sound. While they did not provide the really nice 5.1 channel surround sound, they still sounded much better than the tv’s built-in speakers. And they were also really simple to set-up, connecting to the speaker out on your tv. Over time, these soundbars also advanced to include a multiple channel array for 5.1 surround sound. Some even included up firing speakers for Dolby Atmos height channel. This is where the Philips Soundbar TAB8967 comes in.

 

Features and specs:

Loudspeakers

Number of sound channels: 5.1.2

Center speaker drivers: 1 mid-low driver, 1 tweeter

Front speaker drivers: 2 mid-low drivers, 2 tweeters (L+R)

Up-firing speakers: 2 full range drivers (L+R)

Soundbar freq range: 150 - 20k  Hz

Soundbar impedance: 5x 8  ohm

Subwoofer type: Active

Wireless subwoofer

Subwoofer driver: 1 x 8" woofer

Subwoofer freq range: 35 - 150  Hz

Subwoofer impedance: 3  ohm

Surround speaker drivers: full range driver (L+R)

Surround speaker freq range: 150 - 20k  Hz

Surround speaker impedance: 2x 8  ohm

Sound

Sound Enhancement: Treble and Bass Control, Audio sync, Subwoofer volume control

Equalizer settings: Movie, Music, Voice, Stadium, Custom

Speaker system output power: 780W max / 390W RMS (10 % THD)

Video: Video Enhancement, 4K Video Pass-through, Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG

Connectivity

USB playback: Yes

HDMI IN x 1: Yes

HDMI Out (eARC/ARC) x 1: Yes

EasyLink (HDMI-CEC): Yes

HDMI content protection: HDCP 1.4/2.3

Wireless connection: Bluetooth 5.0

Optical input x 1: Yes

Aux in: 3.5mm

WiFi: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz/5GHz

Works with Apple Airplay 2: Yes

Built-in Chromecast: Yes

Works with Ok Google: Yes

Supported Audio Formats:

HDMI IN1: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital plus, Dolby TrueHD, LPCM 2ch, Dolby MAT

HDMI ARC/eARC: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital plus, Dolby TrueHD, LPCM 2ch, Dolby MAT

Optical: Dolby Digital, LPCM 2ch

USB: MP3, WAV, FLAC

Bluetooth

SBC

Design

Wall mountable: Yes

Power

Auto standby: Yes

Main unit power supply: 100-240V AC, 50/60 Hz

Main unit standby power: < 0.5  W

Subwoofer power supply: 100-240V AC, 50/60 Hz

Subwoofer standby power: < 0.5 W

Surround speaker power supply: DC24V/2A

Surround speaker standby power: < 0.5  W

Accessories

Included accessories: Power cord, Remote Control, 2 x AAA Batteries, Wall mount bracket, Quick start guide, Warranty Card

Dimensions

Main Unit (W x H x D): 1120 x 64 x 113  mm

Main Unit Weight: 3.94  kg

Subwoofer (W x H x D): 230 x 407 x 400  mm

Subwoofer Weight: 8.32  kg

Surround speaker (W x H x D): 90 x 134.5 x 108  mm

Surround speaker Weight: Left and Right 1.23  kg

 

The Philips is what all soundbars should be. Well, what they all should be, if you like really good sound, as well as surround sound for movies. The soundbar is an array of speakers, configured for multiple channels, with separate drivers for left, center, and right channels, as well as multiple drivers firing up at an angle for the Dolby Atmos height channels. There’s a pair of wireless speakers for the two surround channels. It even has a separate wireless subwoofer.

 

I love the design of the Philips Soundbar TAB8967. I love movies, and to get the most enjoyment out of movies I need surround sound. There is also a big jump in the experience when you add Dolby Atmos height channels. And of course, no subwoofer for the explosions in action movies, really cripples the experience. So the Philips Soundbar TAB8967 has all of the boxes checked off when it comes to the needed features for sound. They have a soundbar for the front left, center, right, as well as upward firing drivers for the Dolby Atmos height channel. There are the two wireless speakers for the rear surround channels, and the separate wireless subwoofer for its channel. So there you have it, full 5.2.1 surround sound with Dolby Atmos included. Yet not only do you get the great surround sound format, you also get easy set up! No surround sound receiver is required. The main soundbar connects up to your tv, and the soundbar sends out the wireless signal to the two surround speakers and the subwoofer. Simple!

 

Connecting, and setting up the Philips Soundbar TAB8967 as I mentioned above, was very simple. There are only two cables to connect for the soundbar. One is an HDMI cable that connects to the eARC out on your tv, or you can also use the optical cable. The 2^nd is the power cord that plugs into your power outlet on your wall.  The subwoofer just plugs into a wall outlet, as it connects to the soundbar wirelessly.  For the two rear channel speakers, one plugs into a wall outlet for power, receives the wireless signal from the soundbar, and sends a single cable to the second rear speaker.  I really liked this design.  Philips could have also gone wireless for the second rear speaker, but then there would have been a bulkier power cable for it.  So a smaller single RCA cable from the first surround speaker to the second surround speaker makes much more sense.

Setting up the soundbar system was easy. And they even provided the brackets to mount the soundbar and the rear speakers onto the wall. The owner’s manual provided instructions on how to setup and pair the speakers to each other. The soundbar connects directly to the TV, and the two rear speakers and subwoofer pair wirelessly to the soundbar. The soundbar also has an LED display so you can see the settings, and tailor the sound to your liking. I wasn’t overly impressed with how the owner’s manual was written. There was actually very little written instructions. But between the written instructions and the pictures, it was sufficient to get the ideas across. With everything in place, power cords connected, pairing the subwoofer and rear speakers worked as stated in the owner’s manual. Now with it set up and running, let’s see how it sounds.

 

For movies, I wanted something with a lot of surround sound from the rears and height channels. So I turned to Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. I went to one of my favorite scenes, when the heroes went up against Thanos on Titan. Thanos was attacked from all directions. He was punched and kicked with great dynamics. The webs slung at Thanos sounded crisp and clean flying through the air. Bombs exploding on him were deep, with lots of authority, filling my room with more bass than I expected! And with all of the action and debris flying around, the sound from the height channels provided good sound above me, so it seemed. While the height channels did not sound as good as our reference system, which actually has speakers installed in the ceiling, it still sounded good.

 

Multiple other scenes throughout the movie provided the same aural results. Objects whizzing across the scene showed good channel separation from the left to the right. Sound from the surrounds also sounded great, as did the center channel. Vocals from the center channel sounded excellent, with great articulation with all the talking very easy to understand. The highs were crisp and clean, with the mids being warm and smooth with good resolution. And the sub was nice and deep, and played with really good authority, filling my room with bass.

 

While I was pleasantly surprised with the sound performance with movies, I was equally surprised with its performance with music. Phil Collins: In the Air Tonight, the soundbar gave a great sound of spaciousness. What hit me first was its depth of soundstage, which I wasn’t expecting, especially from a soundbar! Vocals were silky smooth with nice texture, and when the drums kicked in, they had very good dynamics and definition of the midbass.

 

Philips has done it with a great soundbar in their TAB8967.  Not only is it a well-made product, that should provide years of enjoyment, it was very easy to set up as well! You can get quality surround sound in your living room without the extra expense of a surround sound receiver.  Or, it works great in a bedroom as well.  Set-up was very easy, and provided great sound in spades.  With an MSRP of $599, Philips provides a big bang for the buck.  If you’re in the market for a soundbar, the Philips Soundbar TAB8967 should be on your short list.  Based on its design, features, quality, and performance, the Philips Soundbar TAB8967 has earned our Editor’s Choice Award.  Kudos to Philips on a great product.  For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.philips.com.