Orbitsound T12 Soundbar V2 review

As the large subwoofer implies, these speakers are designed for more than just iPod use and can be connected to your TV, DVD or Blu-ray player using the stereo phono, optical or coaxial S/PDIF inputs. It’s important to note a couple of things about these, though. First, the T12 doesn’t have a decoder built in, so it can’t take a surround-sound soundtrack and do anything clever with it; it takes the stereo channels only. Secondly, S/PDIF can’t transmit HD quality soundtracks, such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio, so a Blu-ray player has to downsample the audio to DVD quality.

With these limitations in place, the sound that you get from the T12 is pretty incredible. The mix of speakers managed to produce clear speech without a dedicated centre speaker. Other effects, such as the rumble of explosions or short sharp bullet fire kept their clarity and detail. With the side speakers turned on you don’t get a pseudo-surround effect, but your room is filled with high-clarity audio and defined stereo separation.

As to whether or not the system is worth buying, it really depends on your requirements. If it’s just an iPod dock you’re after, comparisons with the B&W Zeppelin are inevitable. It’s fair to say that the Zeppelin is the more attractive product, but it’s audio quality is very similar, it doesn’t have the wide-stereo mode and it’s £100 more expensive. However, without the subwoofer it’s easier to place in your home.

That said, if you only want an iPod dock for music, we’d carefully consider not buying an iPod dock at all. Apple is notorious for changing the dock connector, potentially making anything you buy now incompatible with future products. For high-quality audio around your home, we recommend buying the Sonos ZonePlayer S5. This wirelessly streams music from a shared folder, plus you can now stream music on it using Spotify for Sonos. Given that the S5 is part of the world’s best multi-room audio system, you can add to your set-up and introduce music in every room as you go.

Still, if it’s home entertainment you’re after the T12 certainly has its place. Its high-quality audio and fantastic wide-stereo mode are incredibly impressive and can add extra depth and quality to your TV, films and music easily. If you want this kind of flexibility and don’t want a room full of speakers, the OrbitSound T12 Soundbar V2 is a great bit of kit.