sales primer soundbar the need

Harman International

Sales Primer

Soundbar – ‘The Need’

Ravi Lakkundi

Product Manager, India

Harman International India (Pvt) Ltd

Published on: 12 Sep 2012


Introduction

“Soundbar is a special loudspeaker enclosure that creates a reasonable stereo or surround effect from a

single cabinet” – Source wikipedia. Soundbar is a fairly new technology and as with any new technology

there arises a risk of technology acceptance. New technologies have the potential to accelerate new

business opportunities but the customer’s voice should not be forgotten in this hush-hush of technology

introduction. Often it’s seen that customer’s and consumers need to be educated on the possible use

case scenarios of such a new technology and more importantly they should be educated on the

technology itself – for a much wider acceptance of such products.

This paper provides an overview of Soundbar and its use cases. It also covers some of the key features a

customer should look for while shopping for Soundbar.

The Mindset !

New technology evolution often starts with engineers who are often in a quest to create something new

and innovative. Soundbar technology dates back to nearly 2 decades, it’s probable that when soundbar

technology was first conceived technologists did not ever imagine such diverse use case scenarios.

Simply put, a Soundbar is a hassle free home speaker system. A typical Home Theatre system (be it a

Box system or a component system) has multiple wires, connecting head unit (DVD/BD players etc) and

speakers. A Soundbar on the contrary is a single enclosure unit that gives you an amazing audio

experience, stereo as well as surround*.

It will be interesting to drill down further on how this product fits in one’s life and how best one can get

maximum performance from a Soundbar.


Is Soundbar a Need?

Need expresses necessity, and necessity is very dynamic. With changing lifestyle, it’s difficult to justify

one specific product catering to different needs of customers. Music/Entertainment being the focus of

this paper, one particular product may or may not justify all the requirements of customers.

Below are some real life stories expressing the voice of customers turned consumers

The Consumer stories

• Soundbar with Television

Mr. Khan bought a new flat panel

television. Soon he realized that the

sound from his brand new television

was not upto his expectations. As with

every flat panel TV buyer, now he

wanted a better sound system coupled

with his TV. His living space was not

that big and he was strictly against

wires cluttering his home (The fact

that his wife hated wires added to his

misery of not having a 5.1 system in his

home).

His requirements were simple, he had

a TV, which was very slim and physics

says - for better audio one needs good enclosures and that means acoustic volume. Flat panel

televisions lack this acoustic volume and thus the audio suffers in such TVs. He also had a simple Blu-ray

disc system which he wanted to connect to his television.

Ideal solution to his problem was a Soundbar. He bought one and connected it to his TV, he now has a

Soundbar enhancing the TV sound, and he also has connected his BD player using an Optical cable to the

Soundbar to enjoy his media discs. He now enjoys a perfect solution for his small yet elegant living space

with zero wiring problems.


• Soundbar as a Room B Solution

Mr. and Mrs. Shah recently moved into

their new apartment. They setup their

living room with a 46” inch television

and a 7.1 home theater system. Mrs.

Shah who was a casual listener of music

wanted to have a simple music system,

preferrably wireless in the bedroom

too. Having a complete multichannel

audio setup in bedroom was out of

question.

She considered a simple music system

with stereo speakers but was unhappy

with the very thought of placing it in

her bedroom (A two box solution!). The

bedroom also had a TV and she was primarily looking for a multi use case system which can double up as

TV sound enhancer and also as a stylish looking speaker for her bedroom.

Mrs. Shah was advised to buy a Soundbar, with wireless functionality for her bedroom. The Soundbar

had features like Surround Sound, multiple HDMI inputs and Bluetooth.

Note: Although physics is physics and only 5.1 or 7.1 or any multichannels speaker systems have

capability to give true surround sound, the need was for having a resonably good system which can

mimic surround technology well. Soundbars do an excellent job using Digital Signal Processors and give

listeners an illusion of being in the middle of the action.

Mrs. Shah is now a happy consumer, she now enjoys her personal favorite music tracks in the bedroom

while Mr. Shah enjoys his Sony PS3 in the living room! Also she enjoys the music wirelessly on the

Soundbar, streaming media residing in her smartphone on to the Soundbar via bluetooth.


Soundbar - The variants

Soundbar come in different variants from entry to premium. Key decisive features to buy one, need to

be:

• Target dimension (Ex: For a 32” television)

• Power output and configuration (Ex: 2 x 15W)

• Input Connection (HDMI, Optical)

• Surround Sound Technology

• Wireless Subwoofer

• Wireless streaming capability (Bluetooth, Wifi, Airplay etc)

All of these features are user specific. Ex. For a small living room having a 32” TV customer may look for

a 32” 2.0 soundbar, with single optical/HDMI connection, with a surround technology.

Conclusion

Soundbar is a perfect product for small to average size living rooms or for Room B solutions, or for

people who are not looking for a multichannel system and are just casual listeners of music. If one is

looking for a compelling, cost effective solution for enhancing TV sound, Soundbar will surely be a

perfect fit.

References

For those who wish to read more here are some reference World Wide Web links:

[1]http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/07/reviews_soundbars/

[2] reviews.cnet.com/

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundbar

[4] www.jbl.com

[5] www.harman.com

sales primer soundbar the need

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