Samsung Series 9 HW-K950

Total waste of time and money! – I have owned this speaker system for 4.5 years. It stopped working about 2.5 years ago. The main soundbar produces sound but the rear speakers and sub will not connect or produce sound. None of the recommended troubleshooting works. Harvey Norman, where I purchased it for $1600 told me I should be happy with it lasting that amount of time. Then… Read more

when I pushed the point they just said call Samsung.

Samsung "help" was basically non-existent, they asked me if I had plugged it in... then when it clearly was not working Samsung tried to palm me off to a third-party repair company.

I am extremely disappointed in the poor product and poor service I have experienced. I will never buy a Samsung product or shop at Harvey Norman ever again. I will however be pursuing this matter through the ACC.

I would be open to a representative from either company contact me to resolve, however, based on the responses from others I am not holding my breath.

I hate this product and will never buy Samsung again – Like everyone else the product has been useless since the day I bought it. No wireless connection, dropping out, poor sound quality etc etc. I have been in touch with Samsung directly and all they did was send me to a service centre which wanted money up front just to assess it. My advice is to refer the matter to the ACCC and access your rights… Read more

under Australian Consumer Law - respective of what either Samsung or the retailers say, they cannot sell you a product that actually doesn't work. That is my next step if Samsung don't come to the party - here's the ACCC info if anyone else wants to go down that path https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/repair-replace-refund

Flaky, flaky, flaky – Performed brilliantly for a few months...then it is constantly plagued by the rear speakers dropping out, despite the blue light being solid. I have reconnected dozens of times, used every method outlined on the internet...all to no avail. Just junk for $1500. ACOID AT ALL COSTS.  Show details

It’s a good soundbar with one issue. It doesn’t support DTS in anything other than stereo – Well, at the moment less and less movies are coming out in DTS, so it’s a self resolving issue but it’s is an issue none the less. The sound would drop out every 5minutes until I found a largely undocumented fix. Wholeness this unit has an incredibly weak wifi unit, you can improve it by using the MultiRoom App from the Apple/Android App Store. … Read more

It took a couple attempts but since I added the sound bar to my network I haven’t had any dropouts at all.

The sound is amazing, if there is one problem. Sometimes even with the bass set to -12 there’s is still far to much bass. But, the Atmos speakers are amazing.

I loaded up the 4K UHD HDR version of the Matrix and the sound Ian truely immersive coming from all angles.

Overall it’s a great sound bar with some limitations.

Bad product. Has not worked properly since the day I bought it – This Samsung sound system is absolutely shocking. It has not worked properly since the day we bought it. The bass drops in and out multiple times every day, it constantly loses sync with the rear and subwoofer speakers, I turn the tv and speakers on and no sound comes out. We paid $1800 for a piece of garbage. Not impressed. We had a Sony prior to this and never had any issues. Big mistake buying this system. Samsung have been no help at all. Show details

Awful Product and Awful Service – I purchased this soundbar after purchasing a new Samsung TV. I decided to spend the money and get the best soundbar Samsung had to offer. I regret spending every cent on it. The soundbar constantly turns itself off and fails to turn on when the TV is turned on (which it is meant to). Contacted Sumsung and have had it checked... apparently no fault found, yet it continues to disconnect all the time. Show details

N950 Disappointing. Losses sync with rear and bass speakers – My unit is the N950 This unit has an excellent sound when it works BUT it is continually loosing sync with the rear and bass speakers. Frustrating to use, no test function Cycling the power sometimes but not often works Show details

Nothing but problems since day 1 – Since purchasing this sound bar I have had nothing but problems. Takes about 100 attempts to connect to the WIFI network, the multiroom app is absolutely outdated and horrible and always crashes. Constant problems with the Wifi disconnecting when playing music. Subwoofer regularly drops in and out. Have had it previously repaired but it still… Read more

faults intermittently with the exact same issues.

I have been on the phone with samsung for hours trying to resolve this issue but it just goes around in circles, not to mention the multiple travel times to the service centre which is over 2 hours round trip.

It is clear that there is many problems with this soundbar from the review, and I will taking further action if this is not resolved.

I have done the right thing and even paired it with their new Samsung Q9FN QLED TV which was over $5000 and it is STILL having problems.

Most disappointed Samsung product I had purchased!! Not worth it – It was not a good start with the purchase I’d say, I paid the deposit for a new sound bar set to pick up the next day and returning to Harvey Norman the very next day that I was told my unit (the last set in store) was sold to someone else by another sales person. They offered me the display unit with discounted price with 12 month’s manufacturer… Read more

warranty + I paid for product care for another 5 years. (Don’t bother by the way!!) I went home with the display set from the store and connected to my TV & my Blu-Ray Player but it wouldn’t work properly without having to turn it on again manually. I called the customer support and a technician was sent out whom spent 2 hours trying to figure out the issue, then only to find out the unit was set on Demo and when I picked up from the store the sale rep didn’t restore the manufacturer setting for me. Not a good start!! 10 months later, the Dolby Atmos stopped working, contacted the support centre again and this time they only provided the local authorised service centre and was told to call a technician out ourselves!! I went back to Harvey Norman thinking I had paid for the product care with the store and was only told it would only cover from end of 12th month onwards that Harvey Norman would replace a new set for customers!! Despite the fact I told them the output HDMI ports were faulty, the technician still instructed me to do a reboot of the unit and of course it still wouldn’t function properly!! I refused to try any method of restoring it back to life and I demanded for a new set to be replaced but was only told I could only have it “repaired” by Samsung!! Less than a year of owning the unit and I am telling you I definitely is Not a happy user to this Samsung Soundbar HW-K950!! Don’t buy it, trust me, you will become a disappointed unhappy customer like me!!

Don't buy it – Even if you come across this soundbar dirt cheap, it's not worth it. Constant issues like changing input source for no reason, ARC not working, going to sleep even though the function is turned off. Static can be heard through the rear speakers when using WiFi. The inability to select ARC input directly is baffling. Rear speakers are severely… Read more

lacking which was widely reported but never fixed. The sound in general varies drastically from great to terrible but this is ultimately subjective, after listening to a Bose setup though, at the same price point, I realized just how bad this soundbar is. Samsung have partnered with Harmon Kardon for the N 950, totally understandable considering the poorly engineered mess the K 950 is. I stuck with this soundbar hoping Samsung would fix the issues. They didn't. Go with a brand dedicated to audio instead and avoid disappointment.

Do not purchase this product it dose not deliver! – I purchased a New Samsung 65 TV and the HW-K950. Harvey Norman had a demo playing within the store and it sounded incrediable. I asked would this be the sound when I connect it to my TV and was told yes, At no time was I informed I had to buy a ultra HD source to enable me to hear the Dolby Atmos sound. After months and endless calls to the… Read more

store I was fob off with you have product care send it away to be repaired.

I had a staff member call out to sort it out and turn the volume up as it was not working with the Foxtel box then the store installer called out at my cost of $150 dollars to try to sort it out. It is the worst product I have had the misfortune to buy. Its a total misrepresentation of a product.

It would appear the sales person was either ignorant or uneducated on the product also the technician who installed the sound bar as after all these months not one sales person technical or a Samsung customer care has informed me I should have a Ultra HD source to enable Dolby atmos sound.

It even states on page 24 in the instruction manual Conectiong Devices in order to use Dolby Atmos!!!!!!

Wake up Harvey Norman and advise your customers correctly also Samsung this unit has cost me

$1.840 in total plus the $150 install with a sound that is so bad the TV sounds just as good the rear speakers are only working ten percent of the time and even when they do which is never they hiss

NEVER NEVER BUY THIS PRIDUCT

Most disappointing purchase – I will say the few times this works it sounds great with an Atmos track. That is all. TV Arc mode sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Requires cycling through inputs to get sound back. Remote and direct buttons on device will not work, requiring power cycle of device. The soundbar doesn't work with the Logitech remotes, - the… Read more

software does not allow for direct input selection.

According to Samsung, device works fine...... I’ve been as far as Consumer Affairs for a resolution who have also proven to be useless. Samsung know nobody will fight further so just stand by their product being fine. One look at the official Samsung forums will show how terrible this device is.

Need some tweaks – I had Samsung K950 and upgraded to N950. But to be honest i belive the N950 is matured device. When i play stereo source it plays only on the sound bar not on the rear speakers. Whenever the music / sound is starting I hear a slight noise (which is not a major problem, but it wasnt there on K950) on the surround speakers. The sound quality is… Read more

exceptionally good. But they have to fix the issue by firmware update. P.S: I have updated the firmware and tried with different cables/sources.

Fantastic Sound, Poorly Engineered HDMI ARC – The sound quality from the HW-K950 is second to none. It comfortably outperforms the BOSE and SONOS Soundbars in the price range. The only disappointment lies in the poorly engineered HDMI ARC functionality. Whilst the unit supports Optical Audio, the only way to truly experience the higher definition audio formats including Dolby ATMOS is through… Read more

HDMI (Optical requires compression whereas high speed HDMI is a lossless audio transmission). The input menu does not have a HDMI ARC option rather, it combines both HDMI ARC and Optical into a single input option called D-IN. In theory, the unit is supposed to detect whether the audio source is HDMI ARC or Optical however; in practice, it is 'buggy' with intermittent issues for HDMI ARC. Often the device fails to recognise the HDMI ARC audio input and you have to cycle through all the inputs to reset it. Other times, you have to go further by disconnecting and reconnecting the unit to the TV (using with a 2017 LG OLED 65C7) . Having read through quite a lot of the AV forums, it is evident that many customers are experiencing HDMI ARC issues with the product and there is little sign of support from Samsung.

This experience has made me reluctant to consider Samsung Soundbars including the 2018 released N950. The best aspects of the Soundbar simply cannot be enjoyed without HDMI ARC working seamlessly witht the connected TV. Very unfortunate.

Major disappointment – On the positive side, it was one of the view soundbars that offered Dolby atmose in a 7.1.4 setup. However Samsung’s refusal to update the firmware to dts-x was a big letdown. Instead the released a new model which look identical. Only supporting Dolby atoms directly from a ultra hd source is just stupid. It has an annoying habit of loosing connection to the rear speakers. When it works it is great, but has too many limitations  Show details

Excellent but not as good as the hype – I read a lot of reviews on this Soundbar before purchasing, all very positive and made me believe I would be getting a premium sound system that would blow away my old system. When connected to a suitable source, it can sound and perform excellent, but I do find that sound levels between inputs can vary hugely in volume, which is annoying when the… Read more ·  1

old amp and speakers didn’t do this with the same sources.

It is at its best when playing a bluray movie or Spotify and with the volume up loud. This is when it shines.

I was very surprised and disappointed that it has no on screen display, I thought this was standard on all devices made in the last 10 years, so making adjustments is all via the average built in led display, this felt like a backward step.

Streaming features work well when you connect it to an iPhone or iPad and use their app over wifi, although to use spotify which is shown in the app, you actually have to connect to the speaker via Bluetooth and then start the Spotify app so it was a little strange it shows the Spotify ison in the soundbar app because it doesn’t do anything.

The sub and rear speakers are wirelessly connected and I do occasionally hear the sub disconnect, it will stay this way for 10-20 seconds and then re-engage. Hopefully this will improve with a future firmware update - this is why I’d prefer the option to connect my speakers with cables. Wireless speakers aren’t really wireless, it just means you now have to have power cords running to each speaker instead - and while they’re not in use, they are still using power.! Gimme the old reliable speaker cable connection anyday.

Overall when you push it, it sounds great but I did expect more from it. My 10 year old amp just seemed to provide a lot more options and adjustments, and different sounds stage settings. Also the old amp had indicators that would show you what sound format you were listening to, such as Dolby Digital, THX, THX Master etc. this one doesn’t show you anything, so you can be watching a move and the thing just in stereo!

Sound (capable) 9/10

Features (with app) 7/10

Ease of use (as in getting the most out of it) 6/10