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Model: Philips B8905 Soundbar 3.1.2 with Wireless Subwoofer, Dolby Atmos, Compatible with DTS Play-Fi, Connects with Amazon Echo Devices and Voice Assistants, AirPlay 2 and BT Support, TAB8905
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That's an apples to oranges comparison. One would expect the Samsung with 2 extra speakers to out perform the Philips. Plus the Samsung can easily integrate rear channel speakers that Best Buy sometimes has as open box sales for $80. It just seems like you're comparing vastly different class products. The Samsung is a good option for a living room or family room and the Philips is more for bedroom or small office.
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I really wanted to like this because it had everything I wanted for such a great price (WiFi streaming was the main thing I wanted). But unfortunately it sounds hollow to me. I am no audiophile but the sound was so unbalanced. It was all treble and bass and nothing in between. Listening to music was ok but watching a movie was distracting. The bass and treble notes were clear but everything else got lost. I adjusted the EQ and surround settings but I ended up returning it.
Could someone explain to me what the advantage of connecting a soundbar via HDMI as opposed to Toslink (optical) is. Thanks.
If you are getting this soundbar because of Dolby Atmos, you cannot get Dolby Atmos through optical. Optical digital connections (also called Toslink) do not support Dolby Atmos or Dolby TrueHD signals. To get Dolby Atmos sound, you need to use an HDMI eARC connection from your TV or device that can output Dolby Atmos audio.
Could someone explain to me what the advantage of connecting a soundbar via HDMI as opposed to Toslink (optical) is. Thanks.
The biggest is two way communication that allows the devices to talk to each other (as long as the HDMI is eArc). Also depending on the HDMI version you can get much better bandwidth which means better resolutions and frame rates. Not immediately relevant with soundbars unless you're using it as a passthrough.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank MasterMike569
I got mine and have been enjoying it now for a few days. Enjoying would probably not be giving the soundbar justice, I'm pretty much in love with it.
Where do i start.
Sub: The subwoofer out of the box at +2/5 had tons of volume and quite thunderous. There is also a physicality to the bass that you can feel. The bass quality sounded more (at first) like what I would expect to hear out of a obnoxious car subwoofer some essay has bouncing out of the trunk of his low rider. I was able to turn this down to 0/5 (you can also go lower into the negatives) and I got a MUCH more coherent sound with the sound bar and everything was just right. Maybe it's just where I had it placed. I also stuffed it under my bed with the sub at +5/5 and no complaints. I did this to give the walking path around my bed some room as my small room is fairly cramped where my TV is. I usually lay down in bed to play games and watch TV. Just have my bed recline up and I'm in comfy heaven.
Lower mid:. Without the woofer, the sound bar itself almost has no meat on the bones which another commenter found it to sound 'hallow', which sounds true. It's important to get the sound bar to properly sync and pair with the bar. Once done and my sub volume adjusted, I found the lower midrange to be sufficient and I had no problems with what I was hearing.
Mids/treble: Voices and Instruments sound absolutely fan*ucking tastic on this sound bar, they absolutely pop and extremely detailed and clear. Maybe not the most natural sounding but I'm a-okay here. Nothing is overly bright and piercing, grainy or distorted, just overall very excellent performances.
Atmos: I am pretty impressed with the Atmos effects from this sound bar. I am in a smaller bedroom and I don't know if it's because of the number of speakers and length of the sound bar or the upfiring speakers actually doing their job but I get a good sense of sounds surrounding me that I just wasn't getting before with my previous sound bars. It's not going directly behind me but what I'm hearing is a honest improvement over anything I had going on previously. I might look into upgrading to something with rear surrounds in the future, but at the moment I'm 100% sated with what I'm hearing.
Gaming on this sound bar is absolutely insane, have a PS5 Pro i'm rocking. Playing Monster Hunter Wilds and I'm finding myself way more immersed in it than I am usually. It's crazy how much good speakers really enhance everything. It's not as if I haven't tasted good audio before with my collection of high end headphones and dacs/amps but there is just something more visceral and deeply immersive with a home theater setup.
Music I didn't really get into too much with the soundbar, it was just movies and gaming but from what songs I did sample, was better that what I've previously had going on in the bedroom.
Installation:
There was nothing to my setup. I just hooked my 65'' Philips Roku OLED TV up from the arc HDMI port to the arc hdmi port on the sound bar, turned everything on, pressed pair on the bar and the woofer, they synced and soon as I fired up my TV, Roku detected it was a Philips sound bar connected, automatically did some configuration on its own and then played some Roku sound demo to get me pumped. I don't think it could have been simpler to setup. I have other devices hooked up to the sound bar like my Nvidia Shield and Nintendo Switch. The Soundbar is smart enough to figure out what you have turned on and Switches to it automatically without having to dick around with a remote.
About what I'm used to:
Before the Philips B8905 model, I was rocking the Sony XT-1 sound base and Yamaha YAS-109 soundbar. A few other bedrooms with some older Vizio and JVC soundbars. My living room is all Kllpsch 12'' sub and Polk full size towers, satellites and center.
Look guys, I might be easy to please or something but this system has put everything in my house to shame (at least sound bars). The Philips did me dirty and spoiled the snot out of me and now I'm looking at replacing the Razer Leviathan sound bar to get a similar experience with my Desktop PC.
Price is going for $97.70 now? Absolute steal....
Last edited by MasterMike569 March 30, 2025 at 04:16 PM.
Planning to use this without the subwoofer as a center channel due to the low profile and my narrow gap between TV and fireplace mantle. I hope this will work as it has the 3.5mm input. Wish I can use the subwoofer by itself plugged into my receiver. I guess I will not use it
The subwoofer does not integrate well with soundbar. It sounds like the subwoofer crossover is set to high and you can hear sounds coming from the subwoofer that should only be coming from the soundbar. The remote is irritating to use. The soundbar itself is average sounding. I guess there is only so much you can do with 2 inch speakers. The plus side is, it seems well constructed.
I would agree with Harry2006...I decided to pull the trigger on this for a tv in a guestroom. I've never had good luck with Phillips products sounding good but thought I'd give it a shot. Needless to say I'm returning it. The sound was very poor and the subwoofer was barely audible and didn't add any punch. Spend a little more on something you'll really enjoy.
Ah thanks for the heads up on the lower price! Pretty ridiculous Walmart still refuses to price match itself. They would rather encourage me to return my current unit and rebuy at the lower rate and they pay shipping for both options.
The subwoofer does not integrate well with soundbar. It sounds like the subwoofer crossover is set to high and you can hear sounds coming from the subwoofer that should only be coming from the soundbar. The remote is irritating to use. The soundbar itself is average sounding. I guess there is only so much you can do with 2 inch speakers. The plus side is, it seems well constructed.
A friend of mine own PHILIPS Soundbar TAB8967 7.1 CH (5.1.2)
Factory default settings sound garbage
To experience desired/perfect sound change EQ settings for these:
Atmos height speakers
Centre speaker
Left speaker
Right speaker
Sub (go way down to -10 for sweet soft punchy smooth bass)
Bass
Treble
Always keep in Upmix mode
Last edited by FastDealHunter April 1, 2025 at 07:24 PM.
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I got mine and have been enjoying it now for a few days. Enjoying would probably not be giving the soundbar justice, I'm pretty much in love with it.
Where do i start.
Sub: The subwoofer out of the box at +2/5 had tons of volume and quite thunderous. There is also a physicality to the bass that you can feel. The bass quality sounded more (at first) like what I would expect to hear out of a obnoxious car subwoofer some essay has bouncing out of the trunk of his low rider. I was able to turn this down to 0/5 (you can also go lower into the negatives) and I got a MUCH more coherent sound with the sound bar and everything was just right. Maybe it's just where I had it placed. I also stuffed it under my bed with the sub at +5/5 and no complaints. I did this to give the walking path around my bed some room as my small room is fairly cramped where my TV is. I usually lay down in bed to play games and watch TV. Just have my bed recline up and I'm in comfy heaven.
Lower mid:. Without the woofer, the sound bar itself almost has no meat on the bones which another commenter found it to sound 'hallow', which sounds true. It's important to get the sound bar to properly sync and pair with the bar. Once done and my sub volume adjusted, I found the lower midrange to be sufficient and I had no problems with what I was hearing.
Mids/treble: Voices and Instruments sound absolutely fan*ucking tastic on this sound bar, they absolutely pop and extremely detailed and clear. Maybe not the most natural sounding but I'm a-okay here. Nothing is overly bright and piercing, grainy or distorted, just overall very excellent performances.
Atmos: I am pretty impressed with the Atmos effects from this sound bar. I am in a smaller bedroom and I don't know if it's because of the number of speakers and length of the sound bar or the upfiring speakers actually doing their job but I get a good sense of sounds surrounding me that I just wasn't getting before with my previous sound bars. It's not going directly behind me but what I'm hearing is a honest improvement over anything I had going on previously. I might look into upgrading to something with rear surrounds in the future, but at the moment I'm 100% sated with what I'm hearing.
Gaming on this sound bar is absolutely insane, have a PS5 Pro i'm rocking. Playing Monster Hunter Wilds and I'm finding myself way more immersed in it than I am usually. It's crazy how much good speakers really enhance everything. It's not as if I haven't tasted good audio before with my collection of high end headphones and dacs/amps but there is just something more visceral and deeply immersive with a home theater setup.
Music I didn't really get into too much with the soundbar, it was just movies and gaming but from what songs I did sample, was better that what I've previously had going on in the bedroom.
Installation:
There was nothing to my setup. I just hooked my 65'' Philips Roku OLED TV up from the arc HDMI port to the arc hdmi port on the sound bar, turned everything on, pressed pair on the bar and the woofer, they synced and soon as I fired up my TV, Roku detected it was a Philips sound bar connected, automatically did some configuration on its own and then played some Roku sound demo to get me pumped. I don't think it could have been simpler to setup. I have other devices hooked up to the sound bar like my Nvidia Shield and Nintendo Switch. The Soundbar is smart enough to figure out what you have turned on and Switches to it automatically without having to dick around with a remote.
About what I'm used to:
Before the Philips B8905 model, I was rocking the Sony XT-1 sound base and Yamaha YAS-109 soundbar. A few other bedrooms with some older Vizio and JVC soundbars. My living room is all Kllpsch 12'' sub and Polk full size towers, satellites and center.
Look guys, I might be easy to please or something but this system has put everything in my house to shame (at least sound bars). The Philips did me dirty and spoiled the snot out of me and now I'm looking at replacing the Razer Leviathan sound bar to get a similar experience with my Desktop PC.
Price is going for $97.70 now? Absolute steal....
Great write-up, thanks for sharing. Are you using the Philips 65" OLED 974 series from Sam's? If so, how are you liking it?
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63 Comments
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QD-OLED just because it doesn't have a dedicated headphone jack.. 😂
The 2 added HDMI 2.1 passthroughs are really helpful as well.
The LG only has 1 HDMI so I can hook this into it and still get both Roku & PS4 (in the bedroom all I need) to connect in.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank MasterMike569
Where do i start.
Sub: The subwoofer out of the box at +2/5 had tons of volume and quite thunderous. There is also a physicality to the bass that you can feel. The bass quality sounded more (at first) like what I would expect to hear out of a obnoxious car subwoofer some essay has bouncing out of the trunk of his low rider. I was able to turn this down to 0/5 (you can also go lower into the negatives) and I got a MUCH more coherent sound with the sound bar and everything was just right. Maybe it's just where I had it placed. I also stuffed it under my bed with the sub at +5/5 and no complaints. I did this to give the walking path around my bed some room as my small room is fairly cramped where my TV is. I usually lay down in bed to play games and watch TV. Just have my bed recline up and I'm in comfy heaven.
Lower mid:. Without the woofer, the sound bar itself almost has no meat on the bones which another commenter found it to sound 'hallow', which sounds true. It's important to get the sound bar to properly sync and pair with the bar. Once done and my sub volume adjusted, I found the lower midrange to be sufficient and I had no problems with what I was hearing.
Mids/treble: Voices and Instruments sound absolutely fan*ucking tastic on this sound bar, they absolutely pop and extremely detailed and clear. Maybe not the most natural sounding but I'm a-okay here. Nothing is overly bright and piercing, grainy or distorted, just overall very excellent performances.
Atmos: I am pretty impressed with the Atmos effects from this sound bar. I am in a smaller bedroom and I don't know if it's because of the number of speakers and length of the sound bar or the upfiring speakers actually doing their job but I get a good sense of sounds surrounding me that I just wasn't getting before with my previous sound bars. It's not going directly behind me but what I'm hearing is a honest improvement over anything I had going on previously. I might look into upgrading to something with rear surrounds in the future, but at the moment I'm 100% sated with what I'm hearing.
Gaming on this sound bar is absolutely insane, have a PS5 Pro i'm rocking. Playing Monster Hunter Wilds and I'm finding myself way more immersed in it than I am usually. It's crazy how much good speakers really enhance everything. It's not as if I haven't tasted good audio before with my collection of high end headphones and dacs/amps but there is just something more visceral and deeply immersive with a home theater setup.
Music I didn't really get into too much with the soundbar, it was just movies and gaming but from what songs I did sample, was better that what I've previously had going on in the bedroom.
Installation:
There was nothing to my setup. I just hooked my 65'' Philips Roku OLED TV up from the arc HDMI port to the arc hdmi port on the sound bar, turned everything on, pressed pair on the bar and the woofer, they synced and soon as I fired up my TV, Roku detected it was a Philips sound bar connected, automatically did some configuration on its own and then played some Roku sound demo to get me pumped. I don't think it could have been simpler to setup. I have other devices hooked up to the sound bar like my Nvidia Shield and Nintendo Switch. The Soundbar is smart enough to figure out what you have turned on and Switches to it automatically without having to dick around with a remote.
About what I'm used to:
Before the Philips B8905 model, I was rocking the Sony XT-1 sound base and Yamaha YAS-109 soundbar. A few other bedrooms with some older Vizio and JVC soundbars. My living room is all Kllpsch 12'' sub and Polk full size towers, satellites and center.
Look guys, I might be easy to please or something but this system has put everything in my house to shame (at least sound bars). The Philips did me dirty and spoiled the snot out of me and now I'm looking at replacing the Razer Leviathan sound bar to get a similar experience with my Desktop PC.
Price is going for $97.70 now? Absolute steal....
The subwoofer does not integrate well with soundbar. It sounds like the subwoofer crossover is set to high and you can hear sounds coming from the subwoofer that should only be coming from the soundbar. The remote is irritating to use. The soundbar itself is average sounding. I guess there is only so much you can do with 2 inch speakers. The plus side is, it seems well constructed.
Factory default settings sound garbage
To experience desired/perfect sound change EQ settings for these:
Atmos height speakers
Centre speaker
Left speaker
Right speaker
Sub (go way down to -10 for sweet soft punchy smooth bass)
Bass
Treble
Always keep in Upmix mode
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Where do i start.
Sub: The subwoofer out of the box at +2/5 had tons of volume and quite thunderous. There is also a physicality to the bass that you can feel. The bass quality sounded more (at first) like what I would expect to hear out of a obnoxious car subwoofer some essay has bouncing out of the trunk of his low rider. I was able to turn this down to 0/5 (you can also go lower into the negatives) and I got a MUCH more coherent sound with the sound bar and everything was just right. Maybe it's just where I had it placed. I also stuffed it under my bed with the sub at +5/5 and no complaints. I did this to give the walking path around my bed some room as my small room is fairly cramped where my TV is. I usually lay down in bed to play games and watch TV. Just have my bed recline up and I'm in comfy heaven.
Lower mid:. Without the woofer, the sound bar itself almost has no meat on the bones which another commenter found it to sound 'hallow', which sounds true. It's important to get the sound bar to properly sync and pair with the bar. Once done and my sub volume adjusted, I found the lower midrange to be sufficient and I had no problems with what I was hearing.
Mids/treble: Voices and Instruments sound absolutely fan*ucking tastic on this sound bar, they absolutely pop and extremely detailed and clear. Maybe not the most natural sounding but I'm a-okay here. Nothing is overly bright and piercing, grainy or distorted, just overall very excellent performances.
Atmos: I am pretty impressed with the Atmos effects from this sound bar. I am in a smaller bedroom and I don't know if it's because of the number of speakers and length of the sound bar or the upfiring speakers actually doing their job but I get a good sense of sounds surrounding me that I just wasn't getting before with my previous sound bars. It's not going directly behind me but what I'm hearing is a honest improvement over anything I had going on previously. I might look into upgrading to something with rear surrounds in the future, but at the moment I'm 100% sated with what I'm hearing.
Gaming on this sound bar is absolutely insane, have a PS5 Pro i'm rocking. Playing Monster Hunter Wilds and I'm finding myself way more immersed in it than I am usually. It's crazy how much good speakers really enhance everything. It's not as if I haven't tasted good audio before with my collection of high end headphones and dacs/amps but there is just something more visceral and deeply immersive with a home theater setup.
Music I didn't really get into too much with the soundbar, it was just movies and gaming but from what songs I did sample, was better that what I've previously had going on in the bedroom.
Installation:
There was nothing to my setup. I just hooked my 65'' Philips Roku OLED TV up from the arc HDMI port to the arc hdmi port on the sound bar, turned everything on, pressed pair on the bar and the woofer, they synced and soon as I fired up my TV, Roku detected it was a Philips sound bar connected, automatically did some configuration on its own and then played some Roku sound demo to get me pumped. I don't think it could have been simpler to setup. I have other devices hooked up to the sound bar like my Nvidia Shield and Nintendo Switch. The Soundbar is smart enough to figure out what you have turned on and Switches to it automatically without having to dick around with a remote.
About what I'm used to:
Before the Philips B8905 model, I was rocking the Sony XT-1 sound base and Yamaha YAS-109 soundbar. A few other bedrooms with some older Vizio and JVC soundbars. My living room is all Kllpsch 12'' sub and Polk full size towers, satellites and center.
Look guys, I might be easy to please or something but this system has put everything in my house to shame (at least sound bars). The Philips did me dirty and spoiled the snot out of me and now I'm looking at replacing the Razer Leviathan sound bar to get a similar experience with my Desktop PC.
Price is going for $97.70 now? Absolute steal....
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