Fluance AB40 3D Surround Soundbase Preview

It’s not a soundbar, it’s not a T.V. stand, It’s a soundbase! If you want to improve the audio experience of your TV, and find that space is at a premium, then you may want to consider a soundbase. Unlike a soundbar, a soundbase is designed to fit under your TV, rather than above or in front of it. In this way the soundbase acts as a TV stand, but can only be used if your TV has a center stand and not two sets of legs on either end. Fluance recently released their version of the soundbase with their AB40 and we are very excited to see what they've delivered.

Our 3D Sound uses Bass Boost and psychoacoustics to calculate precise harmonics that are related to the fundamental tones of sound, virtually reproducing the lowest frequencies just as if there was a subwoofer in the room.

Fluance

Although we're leery of any product using circuitry to artificially boost the bass response of the amplifier without having the physics behind the air displacement, since we haven’t heard the AB40 yet, we are intrigued to see if they’ve pulled it off. Fluance claims their AB40 soundbase can reach bass frequencies down to 30 Hz (though no spec on output level in given) which will be pretty impressive from four 3” aluminum drivers.

At just 26" wide you have to find the right T.V. to go with your soundbase
Rear view (left) and Top view (right)

The AB40  does have a beautiful real wood exterior and is designed to hold up to 150 pounds!  Under the hood, the AB40 has an impressive 90 watt class D amplifier to power dual silk dome tweeters for the highs, and four midrange/woofer drivers for the lows. This combination is designed to give greater clarity to vocals at any volume, as well as provide the listener with appropriate sound effects regardless of where they are seated in relation to the base. Fluance’ biggest hype for their soundbase is their Grammy-award winning 3D surround sound technology. In 3D mode the AB40's sound processing technology is designed to digitally enhance the soundstage, widening the listening experience for an enveloping in-home theater experience.The drivers are each angled at 35 degrees, which should provide a nice dispersion of sound and fill the room with high quality audio. The AB40 also features AptX enhanced Bluetooth technology so you can also stream your favorite media from your portable devices.  That's a lot of technology packed into a product of this price class.

Both optical and 3.5mm stereo AUX inputs give you a variety of input options but no HDMI

How Does it Compare?

We are excited to see what kind of sound is able to be produced from such a small package, as the box only measures 3.9 x 26 x 14 inches. This is comparable in size to another soundbar we just recently reviewed, the Polk MagniFi Mini, if you are looking for a point of comparison. Coming in at $199.99, the AB40 is very reasonably priced compared to the Yamaha SRT 1500 for $600 and the Sony HT-XT1 for $430 and warrants consideration from any consumer looking for a high-quality, small home theater system on a budget. We're anxious to get our hands on one to bring you the full review!

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.