Blaupunkt's  new soundbar,  separates the  woofer -- literally!
April 15 2019: Sound bars have become a useful adjunct, especially to new -generation  LED smart TVs. In the quest to be  thin-n-light  , these  large flat panels have to compromise on the sound  and the  ultra small speakers  usually belt out from the back. You spend  a fortune on the  flat screen and then  you need to buy a sound bar as an extra, to be placed in front of the screen . Even this involves a compromise as the low height of the bar -- usually about 5 cms --  makes it difficult to incorporate an effective  sub woofer for those low frequency sounds.
Blaupunkt  who are past masters at  delivering good audio,  have decided that this compromise is not for them. In their new soundbar, SBW-100, they have separated the subwoofer into a separate unit standing some 44 cms high but connected to the sound bar. Now you can eat  your audio cake and have it too:  the horizontal bar belting out the mid and high frequencies  and the woofer  providing the bass thumps. They offer  4 preset sounds --  movie, news, sports and music -- and together,  put out a total of 120 watts, divided equally between the two units. Blaupunkt's proprietary  signal processing ensures a  rich and deep sound even if you  turn down the volume. The combo costs Rs 12,990.... which may not  be too much  for decent sound, if your TV costs Rs 50,000 or more.
Anand Parthasarathy