Samsung HW-N950 user review

  • Why I returned the Samsung flagship HW-N950

    The Samsung HW-N950 had an excellent form factor, good quality overall sound, but too many issues to keep for the price. I replace an old 5.1 Sony BDV-E570 home theater in a box blu-ray system with wireless rear surround amp. I looked forward to upgrading to 5.1.4, continue to have wireless rear surrounds, and improve sound quality from those small Sony speakers. I was tired of dealing with more than one remote and the extremely long time it took for the Sony to turn on. I tried the Harmony hub/companion remote - but that didn’t always work.

    At first I was impressed with the overall sound quality. But then I realized that the separation of left and right was not nearly as good as the old Sony. I just don’t believe bouncing sound really works - discrete speakers are needed. Base was lacking too. I moved the base module from the right side to the left side near a corner and base improved, but not enough. Placement makes a difference. Changed the base setting to max and still wasn’t as good as the little subwoofer on the Sony. I wasn’t expecting big SVS subwoofer sound, but that was all it could do.

    Then the big reasons led me to return it - Auto 5 min shutoff, almost no support for Atmos over ARC, no auto room EQ, faint rear speakers, could barely hear the heigh channels, and no support on the Samsung TV OneRemote to select HDMI inputs of the HW-N950 ( only power and volume - not so OneRemote ). I tried Samsung support and didn’t get any sense any of these would be fixed anytime soon by means of a firmware. I don’t understand how Atmos from Amazon Prime as DD+ over ARC worked. But no other APP or TV connected HDMI device will work with Atmos. So returned it.

    The 5 minute auto shutoff alone was a deal breaker. No way to turn it off. I had the DirectTV DVR connected via HDMI to my Q6FN with ARC return to the HW-N950. Every time I paused for more than 5 minutes, the HW-N950 would shutoff. Press play and the sound is now coming from the TV rather than turning the sound back on via CEC Had to go back to the Samsung OneRemote menu to select the sound source be the HW-N950 to turn it back on.

    I was able to get the HW-N950 to play Atmos via the Samsung Amazon App - which has 1 title in Atmos and you have to pick the UHD version of Jack Ryan. If you play the normal version of Jack Ryan, its standard def streaming and no atmos. Netflix app on Samsung does not support Atmos. I figured no problem, play on my Xbox One S. But the HW-N950 will only support Atmos from the XBox via one of its two hdmi ports (Samsung support confirmed). So I can’t take advantage of the Q6FN better frame rates for gaming on XBox AND atmos because hdmi on the TV via ARC does not support atmos and HDMI to the HW-N950 that supports atmos does not support the Q6FN frame rate for gamers. I could deal with this if it was the only issue. But the OneRemote would not select the HDMI input causing me to have to get the sound bar remote - dealbreaker.

    The HW-N950 has no auto EQ and very limited +/- 6 settings on the various channels. Even my old Sony had a wired mic and a basic auto eq. I think this is necessary for all sound bars and AV receivers - every room is different. The surround and Atmos height channels could not get loud enough. I even have the right flat ceiling and height. I just think they are underpowered or designed to be very close to the listening position (as you see on all the promo photos). To be fair, my rear surrounds had to be 5 feet behind the couch.

    I decided to return and get an atmos capable receiver with EQ. I choose Denon / Marantz because they are the only receivers with the capability to change inputs via the tv remote (Smart Menu), especially Samsung OneRemote. I like the minimalist design of this remote, that’s why I choose Samsung TV over all else. Due to price, I selected the AVR-S740H. I will only be able to do 5.2.2 but that’s ok at it solves all those issues above. CEC control has worked well. It even auto changes to my Xbox One connected to the Denon. I haven’t tried Atmos through the TV via Arc yet, but don’t expect the Q6FN supports it according to Samsung support. Every once in a while, the TV will turn on but not the receiver - and I still have to select the receiver as the sound source. Nothing is perfect but much happier than with auto shutoff.

    I haven’t decided on new speakers just yet. Connected my old Sansui S-37 speakers in stereo for the time being. The left right sound stage is far better. It’s not surround sound, but its still an improvement over the old Sony. I know I will end up spending more money in the long run. I will also have to find a way to run wires for the rear surrounds and install speakers in the ceiling for atmos.

    I think this could be a great product with true auto EQ, bigger dual wireless subs, tv remote input switching (simply copy the Denon/Marantz Smart Menu), 2 more HDMI IN ports, and allow us to turn off (or at least set to 60 minutes) the auto shutoff (CEC will turn it off). If bigger dual subs causes the price to go too high, just include a LFE subwoofer out port so we can get that SVS subwoofer if we want.
    This item was purchased for $1299 USD from Best Buy in 2019 . The reviewer replaced this with the product Denon AVR-S740H.

    Pros

    • Sound quality clarity and volume
    • Wireless Surrounds
    • Atmos
    • CEC support for on off volume

    Cons

    • Auto 5 min shutoff
    • Limited Atmos support over Arc
    • No HDMI input selection from tv remote via CEC
    • No subwoofer LFE output to supplement weak subwoofer
    • No auto EQ / calibration

    Scores

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Samsung HW-N950

Comments
0
Author
cireo
Review score
5 / 10
Average score
6.4 / 10
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