Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

While my own home theater is based on HD projection and a screen, plus a home theater sound system, I was recently asked to set up a small home theater for an older couple who both have hearing problems, and she also suffers from poor vision. But their 'theater' room was only a 9' x 9' bedroom with a small sofa in it, so we ended up with a good sized flat screen LED 'smart' TV by Samsung. They were only going to use it to watch DVDs, nothing online or streaming. So they ended up with a new TV that has a remote control and also their DVD player which has a remote control. They HATE remote controls. Then they realized that the built-in speakers on the TV were not loud enough for them to hear, and the sound clarity was not that great either. They could not understand what anyone in the videos was saying. Because the TV sits on its stand on top of a credenza which takes up the entire wall of the room next to its doorway, there was no room to add speakers on the credenza or the floor next to it. The bottom of the TV screen is only about 3" above the top of the credenza, so I investigated 'strip speakers' or 'sound bars' that could be placed on top of the credenza, in front of the TV screen, and still not have the speaker blocking the screen (or the receiver for the remote control). There was no room, or desire, to have a subwoofer, so I looked for sound bar speakers that did not come with a subwoofer. This narrowed the options down a lot. Then I decided to stay with the same manufacturer as the TV, in order to maximize integration between them, so I looked only at Samsung. The options were now only a couple of models, and this HW-J250 was the better rated of the two, and had mostly very good reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. This speaker can accept its audio from a number of sources, including via a fiber-optic cable from the TV, via a stereo audio cable similar to those used on computer speakers (i.e. from an MP3 player or a computer sound card), wirelessly via Bluetooth (i.e. from a smart phone or computer), and wirelessly from the TV over a Samsung proprietary connection ("TV SoundConnect") that is reportedly based on Bluetooth but which has improved integration between TV and speaker. This sounds bar also apparently can play from a USB connected drive or flash memory stick (thumb drive), but I did not investigate this feature in any detail. I called Samsung pre-sales support to ask about options for connecting this speaker to the TV in question. I learned that not all current Samsung smart TVs support the proprietary wireless "TV SoundConnect" connection, and that included the TV in question. Samsung recommended that we use the fiber-optic cable connection, saying that with this connection, the speaker would turn on of off automatically with the TV, and the speaker volume would be controlled using the TV's remote control.......no need to use a THIRD remote control for the speaker (although it does come with its own remote control). When the speaker was received, we plugged its included fiber-optic cable between it and the TV, and connected the wall-wart style speaker power supply. Immediately the speaker recognized that there was a digital input, and it switched automatically over to its "D-IN' (digital input) mode, and sound came out of the speaker when a program was playing on the TV. Great! The Samsung TV's on-screen menu had previously been grayed out in the area where options related to the TV speaker could be selected. But the TV also seemed to automatically recognize that it was connected digitally to the new speaker, and those menu options became selectable. We were able to turn off the TV's built-in speaker, and also turn on the feature for 'clear voice' which enhances speech for better clarity. However, we were disappointed to learn that Samsung's agent had given us bad information, and we called back and confirmed with another agent that this speaker does NOT automatically turn itself on and off with the TV, and worse, it does NOT get its volume control from the TV's remote control. Apparently it DOES do those things if connected via the proprietary wireless "TV SoundConnect" method, but not over the fiber-optic connection. So, the old folks now need to use three remote controls. The TV remote control is required to turn the TV on and off, the speaker remote control is required to turn the speaker on and off, and to adjust the volume, and off course the DVD player's remote control is required for its functions. I might investigate setting up a universal remote control for them. Overall, the speaker looks and sounds very good, and has in fact improved the ability of its older owners to adequately hear and understand the audio programming of their DVD movies. It just would have been nice if the speaker's integration with the TV of the same brand and vintage was more complete. Some specifications: -This sound bar is supposedly "2.2" channels. Samsung does not explain what this means, but from other sources I understand that the number on the left of the decimal point means the number of primary speakers, 2 in this instance, or plain old stereo. I also believe that the number to the right of the decimal point refers to the subwoofer. I have seen lots of home theater audio setups that have x.1 channels, meaning however many primary channels plus one subwoofer. But how about when there is a 2 in that position? Does that mean this sound bar has 2 subwoofers? Maybe it does. It certainly does not come with a separate subwoofer. - Built in 80W amplifier. - Dimensions are 28.35" x 2.64" x 2.95". - Weight is 4 pounds. - Color is matte black with a black cloth grille.