The ‘world’s first audiophile soundbar’ is getting expanded with wireless Dolby Atmos surround support, as if this bonkers speaker wasn’t immersive enough
- BACCH 3D virtual surround up front, Dolby Surround/Atmos for rear channels
- New control box also provides additional connectivity
- An open system: use whatever speakers you like
When Canvas HiFi unveiled “the world’s first audiophile soundbar” earlier this year, it came with a huge specification: 8-inch drivers pushing out 1,500W of power in a three-way setup. When we actually heard it, we were very impressed – we said it was “astounding” – and now it’s even better with a Dolby Atmos upgrade.
The new setup uses the Canvas soundbar for the front soundstage, with additional active speakers for the surround, rear, and height channels. The soundbar itself uses BACCH 3D for audio positioning and supports Dolby Surround and Dolby Atmos for the additional speakers.
How does the Canvas soundbar handle surround sound?
The BACCH 3D system is a virtual surround system that Canvas says is “fundamentally different” from conventional virtual surround technologies. It controls the acoustic interaction between your left and right ears to deliver a larger, more precise soundstage, with the left, right, center, and bass channels sounding as if they’re coming from physical speakers. The rear channels use Dolby Surround or Dolby Atmos as required.
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The heart of the system is a new control box, developed in collaboration with the German electronics specialist Almando. This new box handles surround decoding and signal distribution to the Canvas soundbar and additional speakers. It also acts as a connectivity hub, enabling additional inputs and outputs and better integration with larger AV systems.
Canvas has deliberately made this an open system, so if you’d rather use another firm’s speakers for your rear and height channels, you can. However, it would very much like you to check out its new collaboration with the Danish speaker firm System Audio, which will be adapting some of its Silverback active speakers to match the Canvas design universe and deliver a “visually coherent sound system”. The Silverback speakers are the ones on the wall in the above photograph.
The new system will make its debut at IFA 2026 in Berlin, which runs from the 4th to the 8th of September 2026.
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