TechAudioSpeakersSoundbarsHarman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100 review: a single-box soundbar sensationLooking for a one-box-does-it-all soundbar? Don’t overlook HK’s Citation Multibeam 1100, which is very accomplished for both movies and music alikeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictDespite its appealing but unassuming design and mouthful of a name, the Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100’s great sound and impressive adaptability make it a genuine stand out even in a mid-range soundbar market already stuffed with talent.Reasons to buy+Sounds excellent with movies+Sounds fantastic with music too+Attractively finished one-bar designReasons to avoid-No significant rear channel effect without adding optional rears-Can’t sustain HDR with 4K/120Hz feeds-There’s no control appWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechAudioSpeakersSoundbarsHarman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100 review: a single-box soundbar sensationLooking for a one-box-does-it-all soundbar? Don’t overlook HK’s Citation Multibeam 1100, which is very accomplished for both movies and music alikeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictDespite its appealing but unassuming design and mouthful of a name, the Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100’s great sound and impressive adaptability make it a genuine stand out even in a mid-range soundbar market already stuffed with talent.Reasons to buy+Sounds excellent with movies+Sounds fantastic with music too+Attractively finished one-bar designReasons to avoid-No significant rear channel effect without adding optional rears-Can’t sustain HDR with 4K/120Hz feeds-There’s no control appWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Looking for a one-box-does-it-all soundbar? Don’t overlook HK’s Citation Multibeam 1100, which is very accomplished for both movies and music alike
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictDespite its appealing but unassuming design and mouthful of a name, the Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100’s great sound and impressive adaptability make it a genuine stand out even in a mid-range soundbar market already stuffed with talent.Reasons to buy+Sounds excellent with movies+Sounds fantastic with music too+Attractively finished one-bar designReasons to avoid-No significant rear channel effect without adding optional rears-Can’t sustain HDR with 4K/120Hz feeds-There’s no control app
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
T3 VerdictDespite its appealing but unassuming design and mouthful of a name, the Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100’s great sound and impressive adaptability make it a genuine stand out even in a mid-range soundbar market already stuffed with talent.Reasons to buy+Sounds excellent with movies+Sounds fantastic with music too+Attractively finished one-bar designReasons to avoid-No significant rear channel effect without adding optional rears-Can’t sustain HDR with 4K/120Hz feeds-There’s no control app
T3 VerdictDespite its appealing but unassuming design and mouthful of a name, the Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100’s great sound and impressive adaptability make it a genuine stand out even in a mid-range soundbar market already stuffed with talent.
T3 Verdict
Despite its appealing but unassuming design and mouthful of a name, the Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100’s great sound and impressive adaptability make it a genuine stand out even in a mid-range soundbar market already stuffed with talent.
Reasons to buy+Sounds excellent with movies+Sounds fantastic with music too+Attractively finished one-bar designReasons to avoid-No significant rear channel effect without adding optional rears-Can’t sustain HDR with 4K/120Hz feeds-There’s no control app
Reasons to buy+Sounds excellent with movies+Sounds fantastic with music too+Attractively finished one-bar design
Sounds excellent with movies
Sounds fantastic with music too
Attractively finished one-bar design
Reasons to avoid-No significant rear channel effect without adding optional rears-Can’t sustain HDR with 4K/120Hz feeds-There’s no control app
No significant rear channel effect without adding optional rears
Can’t sustain HDR with 4K/120Hz feeds
There’s no control app
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
With a price tag that puts it in the same ballpark asSamsung’s HW-Q930B full surround soundbar packageand theclassic Sonos Arc, though, does the Citation Multibeam 1100’s impressive-sounding specification really translate into enough sound quality to mix it up with such illustrious company as one of thebest soundbarsyou can buy? And with that Samsung connection is it alsothe best soundbar for Samsung TVson a larger scale?
Citation Multibeam 1100: Price and release date
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
The Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100’s £799.99 price in the UK puts it squarely at the mid-range level of today’s soundbar world. This means this single bar system finds itself up against a diverse range of stiff competition - including packages containing external subwoofers and rear speakers - from all sorts of well-known brands.
If you can live with less power and fewer drivers, the Harman Kardon’s Citation Multibeam 700 can be yours for less than half the price of the 1100. Check out the widget below to see what you make of that price comparison.
Harman Kardon Multibeam 1100 review: Features and what’s new?
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
The Multibeam 1100’s main justification for its moderately premium price tag is its combination of 11 separate drivers and Multibeam technology for dispersing sound more widely around your room - both of which are seriously promising features to find on a single-bar solution.
The individual speaker breakdown includes eight 60W woofers with three full-range 50W tweeters, six ‘racetrack’ drivers with three 1-inch tweeters, and two 2.75-inch up-firing drivers. This adds up to a potent (especially for a single bar solution) total output of 650W.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
The Citation Multibeam 1100’s connectivity is slightly better than expected thanks to its provision of an HDMI loop through. Quite a number of single-bar soundbars from relatively hi-fi oriented brands skip HDMI loop through support, leaving you having to depend on HDMI ARC (audio return channel) technology to deliver a convincing sound performance. Which is fine so long as your particular AV system doesn’t happen to fall foul of the audio sync issues that can crop up when using ARC.
Unexpectedly we managed to get the Multibeam 1100’s HDMI loop passing through4K/120Hzandvariable refresh rate (VRR)gaming signals from ourXbox Series XandPS5consoles. Unfortunately, running 4K/120Hz through the loop through causes Xbox Series X feeds to lose their HDR support; this only comes back online if you set the console to output 4K/60Hz or 1080p/120Hz.
So while getting any 120Hz or VRR support at all via a soundbar loop through is a pleasant surprise, owners of the latest gaming consoles and high-end PCs who want the full 4K/120Hz/HDR monty will still need to connect their gaming devices directly to their TVs (assuming those TVs support 4K/120Hz and VRR) and send the game audio on to the soundbar via HDMI eARC.
As well as its physical connections, the Multibeam 1100 inevitably supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth file sharing. This extends toAppleAirPlay, built-in Chromecast support, andAlexaMulti-Room Music - all of which open the door to more than 300 online music streaming services.
Wrapping the key features up are a proprietary PureVoice technology for enhancing dialogue at any volume, and the optional ability to partner the Multibeam 1100 with Citation separates such as the Sub S subwoofer and Citation Surround speakers to create a potential 5.1.2 system.
Citation Multibeam 1100 review: Sound quality
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
I’ve become rather used in recent times to listening to massively muscular soundbars that smash it with movie soundtracks but just don’t seem to know how to convert their movie prowess into something that sounds convincing with good old stereo music. The Multibeam 1100, though, nails music of all types - and, even more surprisingly, at all sorts of volume levels, too.
Its sense of musicality really is gorgeous for a mid-range soundbar. It retains a balance between the elements of any musical mix you throw at it, regardless of how dense and layered that mix might be. In fact, the denser and more ‘difficult’ a mix might be, the more you can appreciate just how good the Multibeam 1100 sounds.
Every element is rendered with precision and clarity, but without any element gaining undue prominence or causing any part of the speakers’ design the sort of difficulties that might cause you to become distracted from full immersion in whatever you’re listening to.
Male and female vocals alike are positioned and handled with aplomb, never becoming either peaky or submerged, and the soundstage is cast beautifully to left and right without losing cohesion or sounding forced. There’s an effectively handled sense of verticality in the mix too, especially if you play music using the available Smart Sound ‘pseudo surround’ music option.
Detailing with music is extremely impressive without becoming excessive, and as a further testament to the Multibeam 1100’s appreciation for music, even the Smart Sound option is typically a pleasure to listen to if you’re not too much of a purist to give it a try.
If I had to be really, really picky, while the Multibeam 1100’s music performance is hard to fault in stereo mode for a soundbar of its price level, in Smart Sound mode shrill elements at the top of a dense mix can become a touch harsh at high volumes. But if you find this bothering you, just turn Smart Sound off.
While the Multibeam 1100’s music prowess is great news for hi-fi fans, does it mean that the soundbar is compromised as a movie performer? Actually, no. For starters, it picks up where the music left off in being able to pick out phenomenal amounts of subtle fine detail in any movie mix that actually bothers to put such fine detailing in. This stellar clarity injects more life into a film’s world than most soundbars are able to manage - and it’s notable again, too, how well the Multibeam 1100 retain this sense of detail and ‘life’ even at fairly low volumes.
During the movie world’s most outrageous bass moments things can start to rattle a bit, but after putting my hand on various bits of furniture and the TV stand, the only residual rattling left that could fairly be laid at the soundbar’s door was actually pretty minor.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
It’s worth thinking back at this point to the Multibeam 1100’s music performance, to reflect on just how well it manages to adapt its integrated bass to the typically very different demands of music and movies, adeptly avoiding one of the most common soundbar pitfalls.
Also hard to reconcile with the refinement of the Multibeam 1100’s music abilities is the brutal impact it’s able to force out of its refined form when required, ensuring that heavy punches, explosions, car crashes and so on hit hard enough to make you wince. In a good way.
Score work is handled deftly, without muddiness or dominance, and manages to sound like it exists somewhere ‘beyond’ the main onscreen action sound effects - exactly as it should.
Dialogue is clear but also convincingly contextualised even under pressure from a dense backing mix, and the sound appears to have been slightly lifted to stop dialogue sounding as if it’s coming from below the onscreen action.
Male voices sometimes sound a little locked to the soundbar’s centre, rather than appearing to the left or right side as they ideally would. Also, finally, there’s more muscularity and raw power to be had from ‘beast mode’ soundbars likeSamsung Q990B,Devialiet’s Dioneand theSennheiser Ambeo, too. All of those models cost way more than the Multibeam 1100, though - for its money the Multibeam 1100 is as good a single component soundbar as I’ve heard.
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Harman Kardon Multibeam 1100 review: Design and usability
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
The Multibeam 1100 is more attractive than your average soundbar. Its dimensions of 1,150(W) x 65(H) x 130(D)mm should enable it to tuck comfortably under most of today’sbest TVs, and it wears those dimensions particularly well thanks to its rounded corners and edges, cool open ends (through which some of the soundbar’s audio ‘beams’ fire), and real-wool Kvadrat finish. This rich fabric cover for the top and front edges is available to buy in either black or grey options, too.
Aside from a smooth ‘seam’ containing the Harman Kardon logo between the curved front edge and the flat top edge, the only thing breaking the uniform, premium finish is an unusually large and gorgeously high-resolution LED at roughly the centre of the top edge. As well as providing information on the sound format you’re listening to, this provides clear, touch-responsive icons so that you can control the bar without needing the remote control. Honestly, the Multibeam 1100’s LED may be the loveliest such display I’ve ever seen - and as such it joins the Kvadrat finish in giving the soundbar a truly premium feel.
There is, though, one rather large problem with the gorgeous display: it’s in the wrong place. Putting it on top of the soundbar rather than on its front means you can’t see what it’s saying when you’re sat down on your sofa. To be fair, I can see Harman Kardon’s dilemma here; control buttons are generally best placed on top of a soundbar, so if you’ve made those ‘digital’, within the LED, you’ve suddenly given yourself a tough decision about whether you put the LED on the front of the soundbar where people can read the information it’s showing without having to stand up, or on top for easier manual feature selection.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Shiny, digital and cool though the Multibeam 1100’s on-bar controls might be, it’s still a relief to find it shipping with a remote control handset. This again looks and feels pretty cool, with its mixture of recessed and raised buttons and ultra-minimalist styling. Unfortunately, though, it’s something of a case of form over function, as the button labels are so small many people will need a magnifying glass to read them, and some of the buttons themselves, while raised, are also so small that they’re seriously hard to find in a darkened movie room.
HK Citation Multibeam 1100 review: Verdict
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
While the Harman Kardon Citation Multibeam 1100 might not have the catchiest sounding name, its sound is very catchy indeed.
With movies it delivers levels of dynamic range, power, effects placement and detailing that are rare indeed for a sub-£1K single bar solution, yet unusually for the midrange soundbar world, it’s able to turn its hand equally adeptly to music.
Yes, it’s missing a couple of feature tricks and isn’t the easiest soundbar to use, but all-round sound quality this strong is just too good to pass up.
Also consider
As a single box solution the Harman Kardon is very accomplished, then, but if you want a similar priced yet more surround focused ‘bar then theSamsung HW-930Bcomes with a separate subwoofer that gives even more low-end grunt, a pair of separates in the package too, and, when paired with suitableSamsung Q Symphony TVs, will give an even more connected-to-the-screen soundstage for movies.
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