Things I wish I'd known before buying: Teufel CINEBAR ONE

Created: Nov 14, 2025

I've been using headsets for everything audio-related for years now. Works fine, but wearing a headset all day gets uncomfortable. Time for a proper sound system.

The problem: my desk doesn't have space for traditional speaker boxes. So a compact soundbar it is. After some research I went with the Teufel CINEBAR ONE for 249,99 Euro. Good reputation, decent reviews, fits on the desk. Perfect.

Or so I thought.

Micro USB in 2025

The soundbar uses Micro USB. Not USB-C. Micro USB. In 2025. For a device that costs 250 euros.

Look, I get that Micro USB cables are still around, but come on. Everything has moved to USB-C at this point. It's reversible, more durable, and actually current technology. Having that one Micro USB cable in my otherwise USB-C setup is just annoying.

The 30-minute standby problem

Here's the bigger issue: the CINEBAR ONE goes into standby after 30 minutes without audio signal. Sounds like a reasonable power-saving feature, right?

Except you can't disable it.

Traditional powered speakers? You turn them on once and they stay on. Done. With the CINEBAR ONE, every single time I want to use it after those 30 minutes, I need to grab the remote and turn it on manually.

Want to quickly check a video? Remote first. Starting a game? Remote. Playing music? Remote.

It breaks the flow. With normal speakers, you just hit play and sound comes out. Here, there's always that extra step. And no, there's no setting to change this behavior or keep it always-on. I tried to work around this with some wireplumber settings like session.suspend-timeout-seconds and dither, but without any luck so far.

Was it worth it?

The sound quality and general power is amazing (at least for me as a non-audiophile). But these design decisions are genuinely annoying in daily use. They're not in the spec sheets, and most reviews don't mention them. But they matter.

If you're considering the Teufel CINEBAR ONE: Micro USB and mandatory 30-minute auto-standby are part of the deal. Now you know.