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Modern TVs may produce crystal-clear pictures and outstanding image quality, but their slimline design doesn't leave a lot of room for quality speakers.
A soundbar is a compact speaker system designed to provide an alternative to a multi-speaker sound system. These long, narrow boxes sit underneath your TV screen and enhance the TV's sound quality. While dedicated surround sound systems produce the best results, they have several drawbacks. Not only can they be complicated to set up and use, they can also clutter up a room and require more wires and cables.
Soundbars pack several speakers and the electronics that power them into an unobtrusive, slimline box. They're easy to set up and can mimic the effect of a home theatre system to greatly improve the sound from your TV. Soundbars are also cheaper than surround sound systems, allowing you to vastly improve your home viewing experience without breaking the bank.
One way to distinguish between soundbars is to consider whether or not they have a subwoofer. The subwoofer is designed to boost the bass, providing better quality low-frequency sounds and adding an extra punch to your viewing experience.
There's also a fourth option to consider: a soundbase. A soundbase is a large, flat base that your TV sits on top of and that has room for bigger speakers. While they can generally produce better sound than soundbars, they're not all that widely available.
When choosing a soundbar, you'll need to consider your budget, the size of your living room and the sound quality you want. This will allow you to buy a soundbar that's the perfect fit for your needs.
Make sure you consider the following factors when comparing products:
If you simply want to improve the sound from your TV, a soundbar with 2.1 channels might be all you need. However, for even better performance when watching TV/movies and listening to audio, a 5.1 or 7.1 model might be a better choice. 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 models support Dolby Atmos, which is designed to produce a more immersive experience by angling speakers upwards to the roof to simulate sound coming from above.
Most soundbars only need one cable to connect to your TV – HDMI is the preferred choice. You'll need to make sure your soundbar has all the necessary ports to connect to things like Blu-ray players, games consoles and USB storage. If you have a high dynamic range (HDR) 4K TV, check whether the soundbar includes a pass-through feature that allows it to transmit 4K HDR video to your TV.
How easy is the soundbar to connect to your TV and other devices and start using straight away? You can get a gauge of this by taking a look at the user manual and checking out some independent user reviews online.
Check the dimensions of the unit to make sure it will fit under or in front of your TV without blocking the screen or the remote sensor. Also check whether its design and overall look match your TV – for example, purely from an aesthetic perspective, you may want a model that closely matches the width of your TV.
Bluetooth functionality is a common soundbar feature and allows you to stream music to your soundbar from a compatible phone, tablet or computer. Wi-Fi connectivity is also important to allow you to listen to your cloud music library or use a streaming service such as Spotify.
Soundbar prices vary substantially between models and brands. You could spend a few hundred dollars and achieve a dramatic improvement in sound quality over what your TV offers, but top-spec models run to well over $1,000.
Some soundbars come with their own remote but others can be controlled via your TV remote. If a remote is included, make sure it has an intuitive layout and is easy to use.
Many soundbars can also be controlled using a smartphone app. Research what this app allows you to do and how easy it is to use.
Check the length of the manufacturer's warranty (one year is a common figure) and exactly what it covers.
Additional features you may want to look for in a soundbar include:
One of the major points of confusion for anyone unfamiliar with soundbars and speaker systems is the numbers used to describe different products – 2.1, 5.0, 7.1.2 and so on. What do these numbers mean?
They're used to indicate how many built-in speakers and channels a soundbar has. Speakers are assigned to specific channels, allowing different frequencies to be isolated and directed to different speakers and make it seem like the sound is coming from all around you.
So, generally speaking, the higher the numbers, the better a soundbar should be able to imitate surround sound.
