{"video_id":"9-Ce7_jbMjo","title":"I replaced my $13K Home Theatre with a SOUNDBAR","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2025-05-04T14:53:29Z","duration_s":700,"segments":[{"start_s":0.16,"end_s":9.36,"text":"this right here is one of my favorite movie moments the rumbling gutful Roar","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.96,"end_s":12.799,"text":"of the ball run it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":9.36,"end_s":15.679,"text":"incredible wait on a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":12.799,"end_s":21.8,"text":"soundbar oh movie Magic exposed Nakamichi sales pitch here is absolutely","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":18.88,"end_s":27.119,"text":"wild I mean One does not simply position a soundbar against a multi-channel audio","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":24.64,"end_s":33.079,"text":"system that costs tens of thousands of dollars and yet they did so okay now","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":30.08,"end_s":38.0,"text":"kamichi if that is your real name I'll bite I'm going to rip my SVS home","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":35.92,"end_s":41.84,"text":"theater apart I'm going to replace it with your Soundbar and I'm going to see","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":40.0,"end_s":46.52,"text":"if maybe I could have saved myself thousands of dollars and a heck of a lot","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.399,"end_s":51.48,"text":"of hassle I'm also going to see if I can tell you about our sponsor ug green","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.039,"end_s":56.239,"text":"their 145 wat power bank is equipped with power delivery and Quick Charge 3.0","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":53.76,"end_s":61.28,"text":"fast charging along with 65 wat input and a massive 25,000 mAh battery to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":59.16,"end_s":64.359,"text":"fulfill your onl go needs check it out at the link in the video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":71.36,"end_s":78.68,"text":"description I like tinkering so I went the discreet route for my home theater I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":76.0,"end_s":84.0,"text":"got some SVS Ultra towers and surrounds in ceilings courtesy of clips and a pair","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":81.0,"end_s":87.28,"text":"of SVS Subs all wired through my walls","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":84.0,"end_s":90.6,"text":"to a den AV receiver these components","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":87.28,"end_s":93.32,"text":"together cost an eyeing 13,6","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":90.6,"end_s":97.56,"text":"$600 not including the price of install which Probably sounds completely Bonkers","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":96.2,"end_s":102.119,"text":"to the average consumer who's buying $200 Bose soundbar like that one that we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":100.119,"end_s":106.439,"text":"covered last year but if you spent any time on the home theater subreddit","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":103.799,"end_s":111.439,"text":"you'll know that somehow we're still in bang for the buck territory which is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":109.28,"end_s":116.64,"text":"what makes Nakamichi claims so unbelievable I mean who do they think","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":113.6,"end_s":118.24,"text":"they are no really though old school","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":116.64,"end_s":123.6,"text":"audio nerds are going to remember Nakamichi history making cassette and CD","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":121.32,"end_s":128.879,"text":"players with the dragon name indicating their top-of-the-line products but that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":126.68,"end_s":133.44,"text":"company failed to transition from analog to digital and in 1998 they were","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":131.28,"end_s":139.599,"text":"purchased by a Chinese holding company Grand Holdings 4 years later they filed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":136.72,"end_s":144.56,"text":"for bankruptcy in the 2000s their shambling corpse was reanimated to sell","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":141.959,"end_s":149.0,"text":"iPod docs and portable DVD players with only modest success and more recently","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":146.959,"end_s":154.44,"text":"the company has returned to the high-end audio scene to FOC us","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":151.04,"end_s":156.519,"text":"on Sound Bars let's see if they should","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.44,"end_s":161.04,"text":"have stayed buried the first thing you're going to notice about the dragon","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.08,"end_s":165.68,"text":"when you get it is that it is huge and really heavy to get a sense of the scale","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":163.84,"end_s":173.64,"text":"here's that bestselling Bose sound bar off of Amazon and here is the Sonos Arc it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":170.8,"end_s":177.4,"text":"completely dwarfs them both now obviously these comparisons aren't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":175.44,"end_s":183.2,"text":"entirely Fair because the dragon justifies its massive size by packing in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":179.44,"end_s":184.76,"text":"a spping 17 distinct drivers including","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":183.2,"end_s":189.04,"text":"four that reflect off the ceiling to give you a sense of height and these","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":186.68,"end_s":193.56,"text":"Nifty air motion Transformer tweeters that work like an accordion squeezing in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":191.599,"end_s":198.0,"text":"and out to produce mid to high-end frequencies with extra Clarity","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.28,"end_s":201.72,"text":"supposedly but I think we've gotten ahead of ourselves a little bit let's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":199.36,"end_s":207.36,"text":"look at the rest of the package quad subwoofers you say I mean there are dual","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":204.599,"end_s":212.519,"text":"8in drivers in each of these two subwoofers but my speakers have multiple","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.48,"end_s":217.72,"text":"drivers in them and I don't call them three speakers this won't be the last","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.08,"end_s":221.84,"text":"time we see Nakamichi stretching the truth we'll come back to that but first","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.239,"end_s":226.439,"text":"there's the surround speakers which each feature four board drivers on the sides","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":224.28,"end_s":230.599,"text":"and an angled upward firing driver that can be rotated toward your listening","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":228.4,"end_s":235.439,"text":"position to improve overhead audio effects these bring the total number of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":232.56,"end_s":240.879,"text":"drivers to a whopping 31 with a circuit blowing Peak power of 3,000 wats","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":239.04,"end_s":246.64,"text":"thankfully you'll never actually need that much power at once because at even","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":243.4,"end_s":249.4,"text":"50% of maximum volume we are well into","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":246.64,"end_s":252.599,"text":"uncomfortably loud territory which means we should be able to get theater-like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":251.0,"end_s":256.319,"text":"performance out of this package then right well what are we waiting for let's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":254.04,"end_s":265.809,"text":"give it a shot good","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":266.28,"end_s":274.0,"text":"Clarity the mids feel a little empty to me it's pretty big sound from a soundbar","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":271.84,"end_s":276.8,"text":"though yeah and I think having the nice big surrounds is great sometimes you'll","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":275.52,"end_s":280.24,"text":"get systems where you have these small surrounds and they sound ply whenever","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":278.8,"end_s":283.96,"text":"you have surrounding but these are big enough that you still get a similar","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":281.8,"end_s":287.24,"text":"sound all the way around you good volume of sound","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":301.16,"end_s":310.0,"text":"surround is okay yeah it's not as good as the HTA","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.28,"end_s":312.24,"text":"9's it's not as good as a like dedicated","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.0,"end_s":317.72,"text":"5.1 yeah that's beside me that ain't behind me the subs sound pretty good I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":315.52,"end_s":322.88,"text":"will say that the subs are great I think that the bass is like Punchy and um it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":321.0,"end_s":329.0,"text":"quite musical but the issue is that it just doesn't get that low let's pull up","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":326.56,"end_s":333.36,"text":"baby driver and you will see exactly what we're talking about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":331.08,"end_s":337.919,"text":"like did you hear that just now on the Baseline that walking downwards it gets","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":336.08,"end_s":341.199,"text":"a little boomy at the top because it's trying to compensate for the dip where","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":339.639,"end_s":346.28,"text":"the crossover lies every criticism I have of it though","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":344.24,"end_s":350.08,"text":"has to be tempered by the fact that realistically in my mind what I'm","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":347.8,"end_s":354.16,"text":"comparing it to is a system that costs several times as much if I was comparing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":352.24,"end_s":359.8,"text":"to something else I wouldn't be sitting here going yes but the dip quite for me","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.56,"end_s":363.44,"text":"I remember when we when when I was testing this earlier I had listened to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":361.8,"end_s":369.319,"text":"your home theater first and then I listened to the dragon and then I went","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":366.08,"end_s":371.24,"text":"oh but then I came back 3 days later","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":369.319,"end_s":375.319,"text":"after the weekend listened to the dragon first and I was like this is awesome","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":373.36,"end_s":380.599,"text":"switching over to my quote unquote spoiled","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":380.599,"end_s":387.24,"text":"speakers you just hear there's like when when when there is that base punch is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":384.12,"end_s":388.72,"text":"just like like you actually feel it Y","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":387.24,"end_s":393.8,"text":"which you don't get from the Nakamichi which is really disappoint considering","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":390.44,"end_s":395.44,"text":"they are big subwoofers still I mean at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":393.8,"end_s":402.36,"text":"half the volume of the ones that are here though and you know what yeah it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":399.039,"end_s":403.96,"text":"sounds more natural it's a better","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":402.36,"end_s":409.36,"text":"balanced experience but at what cost yeah and I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":407.4,"end_s":413.599,"text":"was going to say in terms of the treble performance the Nichi is kind of awesome","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":412.52,"end_s":418.0,"text":"yeah I don't really miss it like listening to just the music I was like it still sounds really really good","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":416.72,"end_s":421.919,"text":"coming back to the bass though part of the reason that it doesn't punch the way","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":419.8,"end_s":428.16,"text":"that the SVS Subs do is that while Nakamichi advertises performance down to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":424.599,"end_s":431.319,"text":"20 HZ what we found was uh actually","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":428.16,"end_s":434.199,"text":"closer to what 30 to 45 before it just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":431.319,"end_s":438.16,"text":"rolls off completely yeah it's um it's really disappointing and I think it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":435.96,"end_s":443.479,"text":"fine to have base that only goes that low but be honest be honest about it if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":442.12,"end_s":447.639,"text":"you guys want to experience these two systems side by side by the way we're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":445.919,"end_s":451.199,"text":"going to have a Boral recording that we created in collaboration with bla from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":449.72,"end_s":456.96,"text":"headphones.com and we're going to have those in unlisted links in the video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.16,"end_s":458.84,"text":"description it's pretty darn good in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":456.96,"end_s":462.16,"text":"terms of spatial performance but I've definitely encountered better we've","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":460.56,"end_s":465.68,"text":"spent a lot of time comparing the Nakamichi Dragon to a full-fledged","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":464.28,"end_s":470.28,"text":"system I mean they invite that comparison but let's try doing something","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":468.319,"end_s":475.319,"text":"that's a competitor of the same form factor like the Sonos Arc yeah I like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":472.68,"end_s":480.28,"text":"the arc so I'll be interested to see how it holds up but I just want to take this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":477.12,"end_s":483.08,"text":"moment to acknowledge how good the IO is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":480.28,"end_s":490.4,"text":"on the Nakamichi The sonus Arc gives you one HDMI so you better have EC Nakamichi","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":487.36,"end_s":492.24,"text":"doesn't have any Wi-Fi but it does have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":490.4,"end_s":496.72,"text":"a bajillion inputs and outputs and it does still support Bluetooth and what's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":494.44,"end_s":500.84,"text":"nice is that having no microphone while it does mean that the calibration is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":498.24,"end_s":504.159,"text":"more manual and tedious means that there's no support for voice assistance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":502.56,"end_s":508.199,"text":"which some people might see as a downer but some people might actually consider","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":506.0,"end_s":511.44,"text":"to be a plus yeah now let's listen to what the arc can do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":512.44,"end_s":519.76,"text":"Sonos is unironically a good little soundar it's a it's a good little","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":516.599,"end_s":521.68,"text":"soundar the nakami dragon does sound","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":519.76,"end_s":527.2,"text":"better better it's worth noting I don't have a pair of Sono speakers to throw in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":523.36,"end_s":531.56,"text":"the back but even the sound signature is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":527.2,"end_s":534.2,"text":"smaller I will say that the Sonos sub is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":531.56,"end_s":537.76,"text":"admirable it's surprisingly good for its size is it it's uh they knocked it out","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":536.68,"end_s":543.04,"text":"of the park with that and something we've got to consider in all of this is any sound bar is only going to be as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":541.16,"end_s":547.16,"text":"good as the limited options that you have available to expand it sure you can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":545.2,"end_s":551.36,"text":"add surrounds to your Sonos as long as you're willing to overpay for them and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":549.2,"end_s":554.76,"text":"find a way to mount them on your own speaking of flexibility where are you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":553.12,"end_s":558.079,"text":"going to put the Nakamichi Dragon stuff it doesn't come with mounting hardware","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":556.2,"end_s":563.839,"text":"these stands that we got while nice are 300 bucks that's kind of a bummer yeah","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":561.48,"end_s":568.079,"text":"so like any solution then it has its advantages and disadvantages but I think","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":566.04,"end_s":573.6,"text":"it boils down to this the dragon provides I'd say about 80% of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":570.72,"end_s":580.399,"text":"experience that my AV setup provides at a quarter of the price that is a massive","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":577.12,"end_s":581.48,"text":"value but and you probably know this if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":580.399,"end_s":585.56,"text":"you've ever bought something like a graphics card the issue is that it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":583.68,"end_s":588.76,"text":"easy to look good when you compare against something much more expensive","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":587.16,"end_s":593.64,"text":"because the farther up the product stack you go the worse value you tend to get","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":591.6,"end_s":597.839,"text":"so if we were to compare the dragon then against something that costs a little","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":595.56,"end_s":602.68,"text":"less than half the price like a Samsung q990 C that has many of the same","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":600.48,"end_s":606.68,"text":"features but is more modest in size and has just a single subwoofer well you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":604.839,"end_s":609.56,"text":"could make a pretty similar argument there that you're getting a lot of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":608.279,"end_s":613.839,"text":"performance of the Nakamichi and regardless of your budget","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":612.12,"end_s":618.36,"text":"there are strong arguments to be made still for going the DIY route personally","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":617.16,"end_s":622.68,"text":"and I'm sure I'm going to ruffle some feathers here I don't find that the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":620.36,"end_s":629.48,"text":"height channels really add that much for me so for two grand or even four grand I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":626.48,"end_s":631.68,"text":"might go with a mean 5.1 surround setup","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":629.48,"end_s":637.32,"text":"and an AV receiver that is going to give me better quality sound right out of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":633.959,"end_s":639.0,"text":"gate and that I can sell and buy and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":637.32,"end_s":645.839,"text":"upgrade over time to turn it into something truly exceptional like the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":641.48,"end_s":648.2,"text":"segue toour sponsor origin PC summer is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":645.839,"end_s":652.24,"text":"in full swing and it's getting darn hot so why not stay inside and take","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":649.76,"end_s":658.0,"text":"advantage of origin PC's July promotion they have great discounts going on like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":653.839,"end_s":660.48,"text":"$250 off all custom PCS or 5% off all","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":658.0,"end_s":665.56,"text":"ready to ship desktops and if you have to leave your house hey they're taking","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":662.04,"end_s":667.88,"text":"20% off of laptops as well the best part","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":665.56,"end_s":672.279,"text":"you can get a free Envision black wired controller with select purchases a free","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":669.88,"end_s":676.72,"text":"2-year warranty upgrade and free us ground shipping so stop touching grass","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":674.88,"end_s":680.959,"text":"and stay indoors with the help of origin PC check out their July promotion at the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":679.12,"end_s":686.12,"text":"link in the video description if you guys enjoyed this video hey I did too I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":683.92,"end_s":691.16,"text":"love checking out stuff like this bold bombastic claims are so much fun to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":688.68,"end_s":695.0,"text":"investigate whether they fall well short or fall even just a little bit short","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":693.56,"end_s":698.68,"text":"like today if you guys enjoyed this video maybe go check out the ones about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":696.92,"end_s":701.839,"text":"my home theater set up we've apparently got a playlist of them","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"this right here is one of my favorite movie moments the rumbling gutful Roar of the ball run it's incredible wait on a soundbar oh movie Magic exposed Nakamichi sales pitch here is absolutely wild I mean One does not simply position a soundbar against a multi-channel audio system that costs tens of thousands of dollars and yet they did so okay now kamichi if that is your real name I'll bite I'm going to rip my SVS home theater apart I'm going to replace it with your Soundbar and I'm going to see if maybe I could have saved myself thousands of dollars and a heck of a lot of hassle I'm also going to see if I can tell you about our sponsor ug green their 145 wat power bank is equipped with power delivery and Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging along with 65 wat input and a massive 25,000 mAh battery to fulfill your onl go needs check it out at the link in the video description I like tinkering so I went the discreet route for my home theater I got some SVS Ultra towers and surrounds in ceilings courtesy of clips and a pair of SVS Subs all wired through my walls to a den AV receiver these components together cost an eyeing 13,6 $600 not including the price of install which Probably sounds completely Bonkers to the average consumer who's buying $200 Bose soundbar like that one that we covered last year but if you spent any time on the home theater subreddit you'll know that somehow we're still in bang for the buck territory which is what makes Nakamichi claims so unbelievable I mean who do they think they are no really though old school audio nerds are going to remember Nakamichi history making cassette and CD players with the dragon name indicating their top-of-the-line products but that company failed to transition from analog to digital and in 1998 they were purchased by a Chinese holding company Grand Holdings 4 years later they filed for bankruptcy in the 2000s their shambling corpse was reanimated to sell iPod docs and portable DVD players with only modest success and more recently the company has returned to the high-end audio scene to FOC us on Sound Bars let's see if they should have stayed buried the first thing you're going to notice about the dragon when you get it is that it is huge and really heavy to get a sense of the scale here's that bestselling Bose sound bar off of Amazon and here is the Sonos Arc it completely dwarfs them both now obviously these comparisons aren't entirely Fair because the dragon justifies its massive size by packing in a spping 17 distinct drivers including four that reflect off the ceiling to give you a sense of height and these Nifty air motion Transformer tweeters that work like an accordion squeezing in and out to produce mid to high-end frequencies with extra Clarity supposedly but I think we've gotten ahead of ourselves a little bit let's look at the rest of the package quad subwoofers you say I mean there are dual 8in drivers in each of these two subwoofers but my speakers have multiple drivers in them and I don't call them three speakers this won't be the last time we see Nakamichi stretching the truth we'll come back to that but first there's the surround speakers which each feature four board drivers on the sides and an angled upward firing driver that can be rotated toward your listening position to improve overhead audio effects these bring the total number of drivers to a whopping 31 with a circuit blowing Peak power of 3,000 wats thankfully you'll never actually need that much power at once because at even 50% of maximum volume we are well into uncomfortably loud territory which means we should be able to get theater-like performance out of this package then right well what are we waiting for let's give it a shot good Clarity the mids feel a little empty to me it's pretty big sound from a soundbar though yeah and I think having the nice big surrounds is great sometimes you'll get systems where you have these small surrounds and they sound ply whenever you have surrounding but these are big enough that you still get a similar sound all the way around you good volume of sound surround is okay yeah it's not as good as the HTA 9's it's not as good as a like dedicated 5.1 yeah that's beside me that ain't behind me the subs sound pretty good I will say that the subs are great I think that the bass is like Punchy and um it's quite musical but the issue is that it just doesn't get that low let's pull up baby driver and you will see exactly what we're talking about like did you hear that just now on the Baseline that walking downwards it gets a little boomy at the top because it's trying to compensate for the dip where the crossover lies every criticism I have of it though has to be tempered by the fact that realistically in my mind what I'm comparing it to is a system that costs several times as much if I was comparing to something else I wouldn't be sitting here going yes but the dip quite for me I remember when we when when I was testing this earlier I had listened to your home theater first and then I listened to the dragon and then I went oh but then I came back 3 days later after the weekend listened to the dragon first and I was like this is awesome switching over to my quote unquote spoiled speakers you just hear there's like when when when there is that base punch is just like like you actually feel it Y which you don't get from the Nakamichi which is really disappoint considering they are big subwoofers still I mean at half the volume of the ones that are here though and you know what yeah it sounds more natural it's a better balanced experience but at what cost yeah and I was going to say in terms of the treble performance the Nichi is kind of awesome yeah I don't really miss it like listening to just the music I was like it still sounds really really good coming back to the bass though part of the reason that it doesn't punch the way that the SVS Subs do is that while Nakamichi advertises performance down to 20 HZ what we found was uh actually closer to what 30 to 45 before it just rolls off completely yeah it's um it's really disappointing and I think it's fine to have base that only goes that low but be honest be honest about it if you guys want to experience these two systems side by side by the way we're going to have a Boral recording that we created in collaboration with bla from headphones.com and we're going to have those in unlisted links in the video description it's pretty darn good in terms of spatial performance but I've definitely encountered better we've spent a lot of time comparing the Nakamichi Dragon to a full-fledged system I mean they invite that comparison but let's try doing something that's a competitor of the same form factor like the Sonos Arc yeah I like the arc so I'll be interested to see how it holds up but I just want to take this moment to acknowledge how good the IO is on the Nakamichi The sonus Arc gives you one HDMI so you better have EC Nakamichi doesn't have any Wi-Fi but it does have a bajillion inputs and outputs and it does still support Bluetooth and what's nice is that having no microphone while it does mean that the calibration is more manual and tedious means that there's no support for voice assistance which some people might see as a downer but some people might actually consider to be a plus yeah now let's listen to what the arc can do Sonos is unironically a good little soundar it's a it's a good little soundar the nakami dragon does sound better better it's worth noting I don't have a pair of Sono speakers to throw in the back but even the sound signature is smaller I will say that the Sonos sub is admirable it's surprisingly good for its size is it it's uh they knocked it out of the park with that and something we've got to consider in all of this is any sound bar is only going to be as good as the limited options that you have available to expand it sure you can add surrounds to your Sonos as long as you're willing to overpay for them and find a way to mount them on your own speaking of flexibility where are you going to put the Nakamichi Dragon stuff it doesn't come with mounting hardware these stands that we got while nice are 300 bucks that's kind of a bummer yeah so like any solution then it has its advantages and disadvantages but I think it boils down to this the dragon provides I'd say about 80% of the experience that my AV setup provides at a quarter of the price that is a massive value but and you probably know this if you've ever bought something like a graphics card the issue is that it's easy to look good when you compare against something much more expensive because the farther up the product stack you go the worse value you tend to get so if we were to compare the dragon then against something that costs a little less than half the price like a Samsung q990 C that has many of the same features but is more modest in size and has just a single subwoofer well you could make a pretty similar argument there that you're getting a lot of the performance of the Nakamichi and regardless of your budget there are strong arguments to be made still for going the DIY route personally and I'm sure I'm going to ruffle some feathers here I don't find that the height channels really add that much for me so for two grand or even four grand I might go with a mean 5.1 surround setup and an AV receiver that is going to give me better quality sound right out of the gate and that I can sell and buy and upgrade over time to turn it into something truly exceptional like the segue toour sponsor origin PC summer is in full swing and it's getting darn hot so why not stay inside and take advantage of origin PC's July promotion they have great discounts going on like $250 off all custom PCS or 5% off all ready to ship desktops and if you have to leave your house hey they're taking 20% off of laptops as well the best part you can get a free Envision black wired controller with select purchases a free 2-year warranty upgrade and free us ground shipping so stop touching grass and stay indoors with the help of origin PC check out their July promotion at the link in the video description if you guys enjoyed this video hey I did too I love checking out stuff like this bold bombastic claims are so much fun to investigate whether they fall well short or fall even just a little bit short like today if you guys enjoyed this video maybe go check out the ones about my home theater set up we've apparently got a playlist of them"}