PRISM+ Symphony Review – Easy Upgrade With One Important Note

Unboxing the PRISM+ Symphony

PRISM+ Symphony Review – Box

The PRISM+ Symphony soundbar comes in quite a big package, though the box itself has a very unique shape. They were likely trying to minimize as much space as possible to minimize space and save cost for shipping since this would cut down on its volumetric weight quite noticeably compared to a traditional rectangular box. Inside the box, you can find the following items:

PRISM+ Symphony Review – Box content

• Remote control
• AAA batteries
• Power cable
• AUX cable (1 meter)
• HDMI cable (1.5 meters)
• Wall mount kit
• User manual
• The PRISM+ Symphony itself (soundbar and subwoofer)

Specifications

The Good

PRISM+ Symphony Review – Ports

There are a number of good reasons to consider the PRISM+ Symphony soundbar. For starters, setting it up is very easy. For the soundbar itself, all you need is to connect it to a power source and a media source (PC, media box, game console, etc.) and it’s good to go. As for the subwoofer, you just need to plug it into a power source and it will automatically connect to the soundbar wirelessly. This gives you versatility in where you’d like to place the subwoofer as it’s not tethered to the soundbar itself, which will be at the front more often than not. If it doesn’t connect, simply unplug and reconnect the subwoofer’s power source again.

Next up, you have a wide variety of ways to connect to the soundbar; optical, coaxial, ARC/eARC (HDMI), USB, AUX (3.5mm), and Bluetooth 5.1. For the best sound quality, you would want to stick to optical, coaxial, and ARC/eARC, with the latter being the best option as you would gain the ability to adjust the soundbar directly from the TV itself, and there’s typically more bandwidth with this type of connection as well. You don’t need a PRISM+ TV for ARC/eARC to work, as long as your TV supports the port, you’re good to go. It sounds good across all options, but you can tell that some of them are clearly superior.

PRISM+ Symphony Review – Remote control

It’s also great that you have everything you need included inside the box of the PRISM+ Symphony soundbar. You have all the cables you need, a remote control complete with AAA batteries, and the wall mount kit. While most people would ignore the latter, it’s good to know that the company is giving consumers the option to use it as they see fit without the hassle of hunting for additional accessories.

As for sound quality, I’d say it’s pleasing given the price. Volume can be very loud but there’s an emphasis on the highs which makes audio sound very clear. Bass is on the weaker side but that’s why you have the wireless subwoofer, which can pump out quite a punchy bass. In a smaller room, it can be quite an immersive experience, especially since you can feel the differentiation in the audio’s direction and height, but this will ultimately boil down to subwoofer placement. If you put the subwoofer far behind or far forward from the soundbar itself, it can be a rather odd experience so you should experiment a bit in the room you’re setting it up for the most optimum listening experience.

PRISM+ Symphony Review – Wireless subwoofer, only requires a power source

Lastly, it’s a very space-saving setup. It feels like it is optimized for those who stay in apartments / condos, where rooms are typically not so big, and it takes up so little space. Furthermore, there is less hassle with wires to worry about as it’s just one for the subwoofer and two for the soundbar (more if you’re connecting it to multiple devices). There’s a reason why I keep emphasizing on room space thus far, and I will explain it in the next section.

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The Bad

As good as the PRISM+ Symphony soundbar is, there are some drawbacks you need to worry about. For starters, it will never beat the immersion that true surround sound setups can give. It is the inherent nature of a soundbar to bounce the audio off the walls to give you that surround sound experience. This also means that if you place it in a larger living room for example, it will feel like a standard 2.1 speaker setup. You also should not have the soundbar too close to you as the audio will come off sounding unnatural since the center part has the strongest sound.

Earlier, I mentioned about a pleasing sound quality but it’s worth noting that it’s geared more towards movies / TV shows more, with gaming being a close second. I would not recommend this is if you listen to music often as the soundstage isn’t optimized for this. The boomy bass would give it a decent experience for EDMs but it’s nothing spectacular for other genres as the instruments would sounds like they’re being drowned out. Think of this soundbar as something ideal for vocals, explosions, and similar sounds. In case you might be thinking of using this for competitive FPS games, it doesn’t give you precise location for audio cues like footsteps and gunfire. If you’re just playing a game for fun, then it’s perfectly fine.

PRISM+ Symphony Review – ARC source

Lastly, while it is great that it has Dolby Atmos support, it’s not easy to find media that supports it. As such, you would be limited to Netflix, Disney+, or even game consoles like the PS5 for it. With that being said, it does have support for other surround sound-capable codecs as well like Dolby TrueHD which gives a good surround sound experience as well, and is typically easier to find media for. It’s a matter of whether you’re particularly anal about having Dolby Atmos or not, and I’m sure more and more new media will pop up supporting the codec moving forward.

PRISM+ Symphony Verdict

PRISM+ Symphony Review

The PRISM+ Symphony soundbar is a great addition to your home theater setup, but it ultimately depends on the room you’re placing it in and what sort of media you would like to consume with it. The price can vary, currently at RM1,809 at the time of this writing and it can go all the way to RM2,599. If you can get it below RM2,000, then it’s definitely worth considering.

At the end of our PRISM+ Symphony review, I award this soundbar with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to PRISM+ for sending us this soundbar for the purpose of this review.