- I've told you before
that the sound your TV generally produces sucks.
I mean, it may sound good to you
because you haven't had the opportunity to compare it
to something better,
but that's where the TCL Alto 8+ 3.1.2
comes into play.
For a relatively small investment,
you can significantly level up the sound
from your favorite movies and TV shows.
Let's get into it.
(electronic music)
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Let's begin with the hard math.
What in Abraham Lincoln's beard do all those numbers mean?
Well, that's the hardware, darling.
3.1.2 means this.
The "3" says that you're getting a left, center
and right front-firing channel, in this case
comprised of left and right forward-firing drivers
that are 90 x 48 millimeters, a center forward-firing driver
at 80 x 48 millimeters,
and two roughly one-inch forward-firing tweeters.
That "1" in the middle stands for
the one 5.25-inch down-firing subwoofer.
And the "2" is for the two up-firing,
nearly three-inch speakers.
The Alto 8+ 3.1.2 is the premium model
in the Alto 8 series,
which starts at $150 for the entry-level model.
Under the 3.1.2 is an Alto 8+ 2.1.2
and the base model, Alto 8I 2.1,
which has dual internal subwoofers
instead of an external wireless like the other two models.
All three models are Dolby Atmos-ready,
and the 8+ models support Dolby Vision passthrough as well.
This model, though, is the most feature-rich,
and for $300 you're actually getting
quite a bit.
Let's talk features and setup first,
then we'll get into the sound experience.
The sound bar is a good look
in your living room or wherever you're gonna use it.
It has a woven fabric cover
over the front and top, covering a plastic frame.
And it does wrap around the back as well.
In the center you'll find a white LED display,
so you know what mode you're in
and what audio it's decoding.
Next to that is a white LED indicator light,
which displays your Wi-Fi connection status
by blinking twice rapidly for No Connection,
and then it also pulses to indicate Connected.
On top of the sound bar
you have physical buttons for Power and Sleep
and Standby modes, a Source Select button,
Bluetooth button which selects Bluetooth mode
and is used to enter Pairing mode,
then Volume buttons.
Around back you'll find four wired inputs,
HDMI In, HDMI eARC Out,
Optical and USB.
Remember, eARC is the standard that is high bandwidth
and supports data-heavy standards
like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.
You can also connect via Bluetooth 5.0 or Wi-Fi,
which means you can connect your smartphone
to the speaker to play music
or access the speaker with Apple AirPlay 2,
Google Assistant, Chromecast and Alexa.
And since it is Wi-Fi,
you can get that lossless action going with Spotify Connect.
The subwoofer has an LED status indicator on the back,
along with a Pairing button to pair it
with the sound bar and the AC power-input connector.
The unit comes with all the cables you need
right in the box.
The sound bar is also Roku TV-ready,
which means it is a pain-free setup with your Roku TV,
and it allows you to access sound settings
and is compatible with the Roku TV remote.
And speaking of remotes, the one that comes
with the Alto 8+ 3.1.2 is pretty robust,
but that's because this unit doesn't have an app.
The remote has 15 functions,
among them the ability to change
your subwoofer's bass output
for those late-night action movie binges
if you're on the upper floor in an apartment.
You can also select inputs, change listening modes,
and setting up the Alto 8+ 3.1.2
is easy-peasy.
Unbox everything, connect the power cables
to the sound bar and subwoofer,
connect whatever audio cable you're using
or HDMI cable, and you're done.
Power on the TV and it should recognize the input.
There are, of course, other steps you'll need to take
for Bluetooth, for Alexa
and for Google Home setup and connections.
For playing audio directly from your phone
you simply press and hold the Bluetooth button on the remote
or the sound bar until the sound bar emits a pairing tone.
You're now in Pairing mode.
Hit your phone's Bluetooth scan
and look for TCL 8132 Sound Bar.
Tap on that.
You'll hear another tone from the sound bar,
letting you know that you're connected.
The Quick Start Guide runs you through the steps
to set up for AirPlay 2
if you're on iOS,
or add the sound bar
to your Alexa or Google Home ecosystems.
I played with all three and found an interesting button.
I was having problems getting everything set up initially
until I got the subwoofer connected to my Wi-Fi network.
Once that happened successfully,
as a part of connecting to Alexa, the sound bar let me know
via the front display that it needed to download and update.
Once the download was installed and the unit reset itself
I was able to connect hassle-free with AirPlay 2
and Google Home.
The bug came in when I tried to connect to Alexa.
It seems that the process
of connecting to Alexa knocked out my AirPlay
and Google Home connections,
requiring me to reset the sound bar
to restore those connections.
So let's talk about the Alto 8+ 3.1.2
and how it sounds.
First thing you should know
is that it will be light-years better
than most TV sets' built-in speakers.
You're going to get clearer dialogue
from those center channels,
and the bass that subwoofer provides is mwah!
For the price you're getting a lot of boom,
and I think this is a sound system
suitable for most viewers.
There are a couple of things you should know, though.
One is that though this supports Dolby Atmos,
for those looking for
ultra-realistic wraparound sound fields from a sound bar,
that type of gear usually requires side-firing speakers
in the sound bar,
which the Alto 8+ does not have.
And it also requires a whole lot more
out of your bank account.
So though the sound bar sounds wonderful,
it has great bass and especially sub-bass response,
that virtual surround-filled immersion
is a bit on the skimpy side.
That said, the immersion from stereo-sound films,
like the opening beach sequence in Saving Private Ryan,
was top-notch.
The bullets, explosions, muffled speech of soldiers
on the beach were all beautifully reproduced
in the sonic image,
and the sound separation was very good.
Hopping over to Disney+ and listening to "Thor: Ragnarok",
which is presented with Dolby Atmos sound,
despite the lack of side-firing speakers
the overall listening experience was solid,
with clear dialogue, wonderful music,
and plenty of thuds and thumps from the sub.
In terms of the music component of the system,
you know, that AirPlay 2, and Google or Alexa connections,
it sounds okay for casual listening.
There's a virtualization added to the mix
no matter which listening mode you use through the remote.
And it adds a large virtual-room reverb
or echo to your music.
On the other hand,
this system will definitely give you a larger sound
than your Echo or Google Home speakers
when you use those voice assistants
to play your favorite playlist
while you clean up the house or cook,
or whatever other task you perform while listening to music.
Final note, I have my system set up
so that my Apple TV down here utilizes the eARC Input.
And then I pass that signal
through the HDMI Output to my TV.
This display right here that I have is pretty old.
It's not a 4K display.
So for me, this was more about connecting directly
to the sound bar for the Dolby Atmos support
rather than the Dolby Vision passthrough.
Now, who do I think this sound bar is for?
This is definitely for those on a budget,
looking to level up their home sound
without a bunch of fuss
and for whom surround virtualization isn't a must.
Definitely give the Alto 8+ a look.
Looks great.
Sounds great.
Will definitely make your binge sessions
much more compelling and your dialogue much more enjoyable,
and much more audible,
which translates to much more enjoyable.
Hey, I'm Tshaka Armstrong for Reviews.org.
If you have any questions about TCL's Alto 8+ 3.1.2
that I didn't answer in the video,
go ahead and leave those in the comments below.
I'll get to them.
Love chatting with you all.
You are an enjoyable bunch.
I will catch you on the next video.