Unlike other such devices that are designed to sit in front of the TV this is made so that your TV and stand sit on it. This means that exterior sound really surrounds and engulfs the TV so you realise how bad your own TV sound is.
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There are two ways to use this if your TV has a headphone out socket and one way if like mine it does not have this.
However using the RCA jacks means that the sound from the TV speaker can be muted separately to the SoundBar which gives a different dimension to available sound both with and without the TV sound being included.
It is 71x36x3cm. The last figure is at the edges but it does rise slightly more than that once more than a centimetre of so in.
Initially I was reluctant to place my fairly old and heavy 32inch TV on it while it is LCD it weights a great deal more than more modern 40inch plus models do. However the Maxell unit is solidly made and supports it without problem.
Once you have a soundbar you realise just how bad in range TV sound is. Speakers today are better than they were but you still have a limited high end and an almost non existent low end. Even jingles that you have heard hundreds of times have new content when the output comes through the RCA jacks and the Maxwell SoundBar.
I could achieve the effect of using the output through the headphone socket by muting the sound from the TV.
However I found using the RCA jacks provided gave a more diverse effect to the overall sound as you are increasing the number of speakers and you can adjust the volume from both sources to get the desired effect you want.
Once you have the level you want from the soundbar and the TV try moving around the room I found several spots where the surround sound was better than others. Treble is not hugely effected in any place but bass can be changed.
There is a small 15 button 8x4x.5cm remote control that can be tuned to also take over some basic controls from your TV. This is all explained in the A5 size Instruction Manual in the 16 pages of it that are in English.
The unit can also be controlled from buttons on the right end of the front edge for those occasions when the remote vanishes.
When the unit has power connected and is working there are no LEDs showing on the front. On occasions when it has power but not working you see a small red LED and maybe a flashing orange while the volume is altered or you are muting the unit. Full details of all settings are again available from the Instruction Manual.
I have a setup with a TV and an external Freeview + box that has the ability to record, when I use this it does not use the Soundbar when the sound output is using the RCA jacks from the rear of the TV this is a minus point for me.
The quality of sound as well as the depth of sound are much improved using the Maxell Soundbar, it took a while for me to adjust to it and now I think it is better than the other bars that sit in front of the TV, but of course it does centralise the sound.
The Maxell MXSB-250 is available from the link below for £69.99.
http://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Maxell-Soundbar/Pr385202000
http://uk.maxell.eu/en/products/maxell-mxsb-570.aspx
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Comment by brivigrass, 18 Dec 2014 23:44
I have just purchase the Maxell soundbar mxsb-250. I am pleased with the unit except for one problem I tried to connect it to the tv audio sockets using the rca leads but I could not get it to work. So I have had to connect it to my sky hd box and this works ok. The problem connecting this way is I have also got a freeview box and if I want to use that I have to turn the soundbar off or I would be watching a freeview program with the sound coming from my sky box. I would be grateful if anybody has a solution to this problem.
Thank You
Brivigrass