STEREO GUIDE test verdict
+ very natural tuning
+ deep and precise bass due to built-in subwoofer
+ Remote control and app
+ very flexible concept with HDMI-eARC
- Phantom Center only
- for surround sound additional boxes necessary
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Sound: Tonal balance / transparency9.6
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Sound: Bass / Dynamics9.8
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Sound: spatial imaging8.3
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Ease-of-use / Connectivity9.6
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Price / Performance9
The Nubert nuPro XS 8500 RC soundbar is designed to go beyond common standards. This already starts with the setup. It looks like Nubert laid a full-blown floorstanding speaker flat with thick, acoustically beneficial wooden walls. A 180-degree turn, so to speak, for immersive 360-degree sound in the home theater with Dolby Atmos and dts:X. Nubert CEO Martin Bühler confesses to STEREO GUIDE: “We wanted to create a power-packed monster. A soundbar like a big V8 engine with torque in all positions.” That was also achieved, that much is already revealed. But if you expect maximum performance not just as a one-box stereo system, you still have to invest properly in tuning parts, just like in the muscle car. The review reveals why and what exactly.
A stereo soundbar from the nuPro series, which is actually reserved for (semi-)professional active speakers? The concept of the nuPro XS-8500 RC is as unusual as it is exciting. It looks a bit like a floor-standing speaker placed on the lowboard under the TV. In terms of price, it plays in a class where other manufacturers, such as JBL with the Bar 1300, which we recently had in review, already offer Dolby Atmos, subwoofer and rear support in a package.
Wireless system expansion
Nubert advertises it on the homepage as a “wireless surround system” and refers to the integration of Dolby Atmos and dts:X codecs. In combination with certain active speakers from Nubert, 7.1.4 configurations are possible. The bar itself, however, remains acoustically true to a basic stereo concept. If you really want to enjoy true surround sound or immersive imaging, you have to purchase additional wireless rear and ceiling speakers. The XS-8500 RC can control up to eight nupro-X boxes without cables. You can choose from compact speakers, floorstanding speakers and, more recently, in-ceiling speakers. The setup then saves AV receivers, the speakers for the front channels and a center subwoofer. However, it also drives the overall cost of such a system to immersive home theater heights.
Either way, you have to sacrifice a little space under the TV: The largest Nubert bar measures 120 centimeters in width and 17 in height. And it pushes towards the center of the earth with 29.5 kg, which makes wall mounting just as difficult as placing it on wobbly shelves. The TV itself may be placed on the bar without hesitation, which can withstand a load of up to 100 kg.
Wide front, classic HiFi concept
Behind the magnetically held cover, one discovers the classic hi-fi equipment: On the left and right, respectively, there is an arrangement of a fabric tweeter and two midrange drivers of the 12 cm class. The dome sits slightly offset upwards between the midrange drivers and should play very far down in the frequency range, which should be conducive to a more homogeneous image and wider sweet spot. In contrast, there are no speakers for a channel-discrete reproduction of center, surround or immersive information.
For this, the bottom of the XXL bar hides two adult bass speakers of the 20 cm class. They are equipped with hard polypropylene diaphragms and play in downfire mode on the surface on which the bar is placed. On the one hand, this is an advantage because it results in relatively definable acoustic conditions, but it places increased demands on the stability of the shelf or lowboard. For the bar brings built-in amplifiers of 580 watts of continuous power, more than half of which is used for the subwoofers. A pair of bass reflex tubes on the back help out in the lowest range.
Nubert nuPro XS-8500 RC: Connectivity and inputs
The small connector panel on the back shows the only HDMI port as “HDMI eARC”, although the specs only talk about ARC. This makes pairing with the TV and routing the respective played soundtracks including level control via the TV quite easy. Only via the HDMI-eARC input does the Nubert Bar also know how to decode surround signals like Dolby Atmos and dts:X. However, this only really makes sense when additional wireless rear and immersive speakers are integrated.
There are also various wired inputs for stereo operation: In addition to two optical Toslink jacks, two coaxial S/PDIF as well as an analog RCA pair. Switching between sources is done via the included remote control, which fortunately has direct source buttons, or on the front keypad as well as via app.
Additionally, Bluetooth is available with the codecs AAC and aptX HD. According to the manufacturer, a WLAN connection with streaming functions was deliberately omitted to prevent the built-in functions from becoming obsolete.
What the Nubert X-Remote App can do
The Nubert X-Remote App is much more than just a “remote” for the nuPro XS-8500 RC. The acoustic calibration via the smart device’s microphone, for example, requires the app – and currently an Apple device, since the microphones are only sufficiently standardized here. However, Nubert does not leave Android users out in the cold and optionally offers a compatible and calibrated USB microphone.
If you start the automatic calibration procedure, the soundbar measures the frequency response using loud test tones and calculates correction filters for the low frequencies. It also displays them on the smartphone screen with quite a fine resolution, which can be very helpful especially when optimizing room acoustics and placement. Because the best room resonance is still the one that can be avoided by a better set-up and does not have to be corrected in the first place.
For further acoustic adjustment, there is a 5-band graphic equalizer and a gain function for the individual inputs.
Another important setting that can be defined in the app as well as via the front display is the surround mode. Here, the listener has to decide whether he wants to listen exclusively to stereo, or whether he wants to have the corresponding sound distributed or virtualized to the channels assigned to the bar in the case of surround sources. With stereo sources, however, an upmix is then also performed in case of doubt. So in practice you have to change the mode depending on the source.
Single hit: This is how the XL bar sounds when operated alone
I know Nubert sound decks from countless reviews, for example for LowBeats, with whom we also heard our latest soundbar reviews in cooperation. Compared to the usual plastic beams, they are not only robust as armored cabinets. They were always a bank sonically as well. Thus, the high-end soundbar from Nubert already met a certain expectation. Not least because it also embodies by far the largest, heaviest and most expensive home theater sound system that has so far been reviewed by the young hi-fi magazine STEREO GUIDE.
After my colleague Raphael Vogt had heaved the 29.5 kilogram Onebox Home Theater under the TV in the home theater test room with me, the expectations were immediately a bit higher. And they were not disappointed, either. The self-confident saying on the shipping box, “doesn’t sound, doesn’t exist,” is not an exaggeration – although I had to cover my ears at first. This was simply a result of the very loud impulse sounds during the calibration via the microphone of my iPhone. After all, the nuPro XS-8500 RC staked its claim in no time: There’s something going on, no question about it.
Sonically in line
The fact that Nubert delivers a steady stream of exceptionally neutrally tuned speakers is probably already known far beyond the epicenter in Schwäbisch Gmünd. It is therefore no surprise that the company’s top soundbar does not deviate from this line. But let’s be honest: A monster of a soundbar, a V8 device awakens one expectation in all of us above all, doesn’t it? Freely after Wilhelm Busch (which hopefully has not yet been canceled) I will put it this way: Music is often perceived as lukewarm if it is not connected with really rich bass. And as far as bass fun is concerned, that goes double and triple for home theater owners. They especially love to beat the bush.
With the Nubert nuPro XS-8500 RC, both user groups get their money’s worth. The overkill high-end TV speaker sounds extremely broadband and has level reserves to make itself heard even by the neighbors many floors below or above your own home theater. This Bemerk bar combines all the virtues of overtone resolution, transparency to the deep, very clean, controlled bass foundation, so to speak, in the Onebox concentrate. However, this does not necessarily make their classification in a review any easier. Let’s ask ourselves: Why do you usually buy a soundbar? In addition to price advantages over separate components and speakers, the mostly flat soundbars and sound decks can be hidden in front of or under the flat-screen TV.
The soundbar for special cases
Of course, the Nubert can easily carry a 65-incher. But discreet is somehow different. And cheap too. Okay, that speaks for performance-oriented applications. The Nubert can handle more bass and significantly higher levels than conventional soundbars and even makes those that come with an external subwoofer look quite old, especially in terms of low-frequency precision. Apart from the martial appearance in design and dimensions, this speaks for a use in the sealed-off home cinema basement of a single-family house. However, the space advantage of a one-box solution is lost there. Even the integrated subwoofer does not offer any added value. If you really want to make a big effort, you will probably sooner or later consider a Single Bass Array or Double Bass Array. With such subwoofer groupings on one (single) or two opposite (double) walls, the bass can be connected to the room much better than with an integrated solution.
That in mind, there’s really nothing to criticize about the Nubert nuPro XS-8500 RC. People and their demands are different. Perhaps a homeowner will have to cut back financially and spatially on his home theater plans after the heating walls because the storage tank for the heat pump eats into the budget and usable space for the basement theater? Or someone who is less concerned with discreet looks than with lush sound in the living room will do as the Americans do. They can’t run their V8 engines out on the local highways either. However, you will very much enjoy the calming feeling with lush power reserves during relaxed cruising.
Power test in the listening test
That works just as well with the nuPro XS-8500 RC. But it is really in its element in the upper “speed range” – for example with music like Yello’s “The Race”, where it can show off its entire repertoire of rich, dry punch, excellent impulsivity and fresh, but never sharp highs. In doing so, it generates a broader stereo base that is more reminiscent of a hi-fi system than, say, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 or the JBL Bar 1300. However, the latter can offer a 360-degree panorama not only because of its Atmos speakers on the top, but also because of the detachable wireless rear speakers.
So, if the focus when buying the soundbar is on stereo music playback, the Nubert easily outperforms the two US soundbars, especially in the other hi-fi virtues like neutrality, voice reproduction and bass precision. Harp sounds or wind instruments in the field of serious music are also tailored to the wooden body of the Nubert soundbar. And the V8 among the soundbars is also very good for movie sound. Movies like “Days of Thunder” or Tom Cruise’s new aerial act, “Top Gun: Maverick,” developed a powerful buzz. And if dialogue seemed flat, it was entirely due to the script. However, the Nubert’s reproduction remains rather two-dimensional like the Bluesound Pulse Soundbar+, which is also very suitable as a replacement for the classic stereo system.
Official HiFi show up to the red zone
Original quote from my esteemed reviewer colleague Vogt: The Nubert puts on a “real HiFi show”. Voices are rounded off with a “pinch of gold dust”. You could say that. It only gets toxic when you turn the “V8” far into the red range, then the DSP chip regulates the bass back out of self-protection and the nuPro XS-8500 RC starts to scream as if the engine had blown away the muffler. However, the somewhat sober Swabian could generally take a tiny slice of the Scandinavian Bluesoundbar’s warmth in voice reproduction. But that was also complaining at a very, very high level.
If you want to tune your high-end soundbar, you should be prepared for some expenses. It really gets plastic with additional wireless speakers for a maximum possible 7.1.4 setup with Nubert nuPro XS-8500 RC in the center. The necessary Dolby Atmos-capable decoder and the required wireless technology are already on board in any case. Sure, then it becomes very uncompromising, but also from the price.
Nubert nuPro XS-8500 RC: Conclusion and alternatives
The special concept of the nuPro XS-8500 RC only shows its strength when additional wireless expansion channels are taken into account. As a pure stereo soundbar without expansion, the XL-Bar competes with active, HDMI-capable stereo speakers such as the Klipsch The Sevens or the Nubert nuPro SP-200 2-way speakers. These two solutions cannot keep up with the bass power of the Swabian “V8 displacement monster”. But considering the price difference, a fat active subwoofer should be easily available for the same money, especially with the SP-200. But this, like the expansion of the nuPro XS-8500 to a 7.1.4 ensemble, is an individual decision that everyone must make for themselves without regard to the rating in the review, which only refers to the solo performance of the soundbar in 2-channel mode.
Technical specifications: Nubert nuPro XS-8500 RC
- Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: 1970 Euro
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 120 x 17 x 40 cm
- Weight: 29,5 kg
- Features: HDMI-eARC, RCA, optical/coaxial S/PDIF input, Bluetooth aptX HD, Sub Out, app control, up to 8 wireless active speakers as surround additions, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, PCM up to 24Bit/192 kHz.
- More at:: www.nubert.de
