LG Music Flow H7 review
LG’s top-end Music Flow H7 produces crisp audio paired and looks great, but the control app is a little basic
Specifications
Speakers: 4, RMS power output: 70W, Dock connector: None, Networking: 802.11n Wi-Fi, 1x 10/100 Ethernet, optional Bluetooth (SBC), Dimensions: 370x110x232mm, Weight: 4.1kg, Streaming formats: LG Mesh Network
The app isn’t the most attractive we’ve seen and falls short of Sonos’ Controller app but is simple and functional. The app is able to integrate with music streaming services including TuneIn, Napster, Deezer and Spotify. Much like many other multiroom audio systems, use with Spotify will require a Spotify Premium account to use Spotify Connect. Rather than using the Music Flow app you use Spotify’s own dedicated app and then select the speaker to use. This means that you’re limited to streaming one track only from Spotify; Sonos can stream as many tracks are there are players.
There is also the option of playing local on-device music or music stored on a NAS drive or networked computer and the Music Flow app has a home screen that organises your music by Most Played and playlists. It will also recommend music based on different moods and there’s search functionality but this only works with your local music.
The feather in the Music Flow range’s cap is its ability to play high-resolution audio files at up to 24bit/192KHz in WAV or FLAC formats, which is a real boon for anyone who values audio purity. High-resolution audio presents music in its most lossless form and as close to a studio master as you’re likely to get but buying high-resolution audio tracks remains expensive.
The app makes it easy to see what music is playing from each speaker on the network as well as group them together. It’s possible to mix and match different speakers in the Music Flow range so you can use appropriately sized speakers for each room.
The H7’s 70W drivers produced a surprisingly wide soundstage that had pleasing depth to its sound. Bass is loud and punchy, but it can be overbearing. On certain test tracks this was detrimental to clarity in the midrange and treble, with the sound becoming slightly muddy on certain test tracks that had a lot of low frequency emphasis.
For the most part, however, the sound from the H7 was rich and vibrant and generated the necessary excitement in our rock tracks while adequately producing the instruments in our acoustic tracks. It was also more than capable of filling a mid-to-large size room with sound. Playing high-resolution tracks the audio became even crisper.
If you want to play HD audio tracks, the Bluesound Pulse is more expensive, but sounds better. For a better multi-room experience go with Sonos, with the Sonos Play:5 a good alternative.
Hardware | |
---|---|
Speakers | 4 |
RMS power output | 70W |
Audio inputs | 3.5mm stereo |
Audio outputs | None |
Dock connector | None |
USB port | None |
Memory card support | None |
Networking | 802.11n Wi-Fi, 1x 10/100 Ethernet, optional Bluetooth (SBC) |
NFC | Yes |
App support | iOS, Android |
Battery capacity | N/A |
Dimensions | 370x110x232mm |
Weight | 4.1kg |
Streaming | |
Streaming formats | LG Mesh Network |
Supported servers | DLNA |
Audio formats | MP3, FLAC, WAV |
Internet streaming services | Spotify, Napster, TuneIn, Deezer |
Buying information | |
Price including VAT | £329 |
Warranty | One-year RTB |
Supplier | www.johnlewis.com |
Details | www.lg.com |
Part code | NP8740 |