FALSE HEIGHT - Samsung HW-Q600C

This bar-and-sub combo delivers big and bassy sound, but it's not the best when delivering height for Dolby Atmos

Soundbars like the Samsung HW-Q600C, which uses physical speaker drivers to create sonic 'height' rather than sound processing algorithms, should be high on the list when choosing a spatial audio system. But does the HWQ600C have what it takes to deliver convincing spatial audio goodness?

There's not much room for manoeuvre where the design of a soundbar is concerned - or, at least, there isn't if you want to keep costs to a realistic level.

The HW- Q600C's soundbar, you won't be staggered to learn, is built almost entirely from plastic. This being Samsung, though, it's robust and distinctly superior plastic, and the perforated top and front panels combined with the angled ends mean it's actually not bad-looking. The subwoofer is equally prosaic in its materials-vinyl-wrapped MDF, mostly and equally accomplished in its standard of build and finish.

The HW-Q600C features a total of nine drivers: there are three at either end of the front panel, handling the left and right channels of audio information; there's another in the centre, dealing with the centrechannel stuff; and there are a couple more facing upwards and using Samsung's 'Acoustic Beam' technology to try and create the 'height' sensation of a DTS:X or Dolby Atmos soundtrack.