Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Our LG SJ9 soundbar setup and unboxing guide makes installation a cinch

Often when buying a soundbar, you’ll end up eschewing breadth and depth of sound in favor of value and effective space management. Not so with LG’s Dolby Atmos-enabled SJ9, which combines virtual surround sound with the distinctive Atmos ceiling-firing drivers, creating a massive, enveloping soundstage without requiring you to set up several individual speakers. Our LG SJ9 soundbar setup and unboxing guide will make installation a cinch, bolstering your home theater in no time at all.

What’s in the box?

In addition to the soundbar and the wireless subwoofer, you’ll get:

  • Wall mounts and a template
  • Cable management ties
  • An optical cable for digital connection
  • A remote with batteries
  • Some product literature

The power supply is built in, so there’s no need for an external cable. You won’t get an HDMI cable either, though at this point, most of us have enough of those bad boys lying around the house anyway.

Hardware setup

You’ll find all the necessary ports and jacks in the rear of the soundbar, in a centrally located alcove. There’s an aux-in jack (in case you want a second subwoofer), HDMI in and out, optical, and an Ethernet port for servicing only.

If you’ve got an HDMI ARC cable and a TV with an appropriate port, you’ll want to connect that way. If not, use optical instead — just make sure you take off the plastic caps before plugging anything in.

Once you’ve plugged the soundbar into a power outlet, allow it to fully power on before doing the same with the wireless subwoofer. That way, they’ll automatically pair.

Features and design

The curvy SJ9 is gorgeous, dressed in dark, silvery gray, with speaker grating that wraps around the front, as well as circular grates on top at either end. It features a scrolling digital readout across the front and some dedicated onboard control buttons (located on the front, near the left side) — though you’ll likely be using the remote instead.

The remote itself has all the basic controls you’d expect, plus a few unique ones. There’s automatic power and volume control, buttons to adjust bass and treble balance, and even a cool “night mode” function that compresses louder sounds when you don’t want to wake up the kids.

Software setup

Once everything is properly hooked up, head into your TV’s audio settings and make sure “audio out” is set to Optical/HDMI ARC, not “internal speakers” (and don’t select PCM in this instance).

If you have a newer LG television, you can select “LG Sound Sync/Bluetooth” to pair wirelessly, or “LG Sound Sync/Optical,” which will allow you to control the soundbar’s volume with your TV remote. Still, though, HDMI ARC should be your first choice. It just sounds better.

To connect with Wi-Fi, download the Music Flow mobile app (for iOS or Android), hit “Connect product,” and select the soundbar icon. It will walk you through the process to connect your SJ9 to Wi-Fi, after which it might prompt you to download an update — which you should do. After that, you should be good to go.

Caleb Denison
Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…
You have until June 9 to save $500 off an 85-inch Samsung The Frame TV
A painting being displayed on a Samsung The Frame QLED.

Looking for great TV deals? You still have time to save $500 on the Samsung 85-inch The Frame QLED TV when you head over to Samsung. It usually costs $4,300, but right now the popular and stylish TV is down to $3,800, making it more affordable than before. If you’re keen to invest in a large TV but love to save money too, this is a good opportunity. Here’s what you need to know about the TV before you decide to buy.

Why you should buy the Samsung 85-inch The Frame QLED TV
One of the best QLED TVs around, the Samsung 85-inch The Frame QLED TV is a delight in so many ways. At its core, it’s a fantastic QLED TV with 100% Color Volume with Quantum Dot technology saturating the screen with a billion colors. QLED adds a layer of quantum dots to a TV’s LED backlight with these dots, once exposed to light, emitting their own light with a high level of efficiency to provide great picture quality.

Read more
It’s your last chance to get up to $1,900 off a Samsung OLED TV
The Samsung S90C in a living room environment.

There’s still a little time left to snap up one of the best TV deals available today, with Samsung still selling the 83-inch S90C OLED TV for $3,500 instead of $5,400. The $1,900 discount is a pretty vast one and one that you certainly don’t want to skip. If you’re looking for a great new TV for your large living space, you’re going to love this deal. Let’s take a look at how great the Samsung S90C OLED TV is.

Why you should buy the Samsung 83-inch S90C OLED TV
Samsung makes some of the best TVs around and we’re huge fans of the Samsung 83-inch S90C OLED TV. It has an OLED panel so you get self-lit pixels which can light up independently of each other. That means that you can enjoy the deepest blacks and the brightest colors all on the same scene, ensuring you never miss a detail. The Samsung 83-inch S90C OLED TV uses a Neural Quantum Processor with 4K upscaling so its AI-powered processor can transform whatever you’re watching. There’s also HDR OLED which uses AI deep learning to analyze each scene, detecting areas that need to brighter, darker, or simply richer in color.

Read more
This Sonos Bluetooth speaker has a discount in time for beach weather
Sonos Roam SL in black on a rainy rock outdoors.

A day out at the beach. Cooking outside using a discounted grill or smoker. Pool party madness. What do they all three have in common? A lot of fun, but also a great chance to get any sound equipment ruined by a sudden downpour or a splash of inevitable water. That's why there are models of waterproof Bluetooth speakers, of which the Sonos Roam SL is one. And the good news is that you can get yours at a discounted rate before summer officially gets here. Right now, the Sonos Roam SL is just $127, which is $33 down from its typical price of $160. To get yours, all you need to do is tap the button below. Consider also reading below, as we examine the speaker and see why it is considered an easy pick up.

Why you should buy the Sonos Roam SL
The Sonos Roam SL is an easy-to-use, compact speaker for wherever you roam. Connect to it easily over Wi-Fi at home or Bluetooth on the go, giving you easy options to control the sound in a way that makes sense for you and your location. If you're at home and connected to your Wi-Fi system and have other Sonos speakers, you can even get the Sonos multi-room experience, which syncs everything in a nice way. So, you can keep the Sonos Roam SL out on the patio (where it might get rained upon) and keep the best Sonos speakers indoors and have a really cool, worry-free party experience that not many others will be able to replicate.

Read more