2020 Best Soundbars | Dolby Atmos, Voice Control, eARC!
2020 Best Soundbars | Dolby Atmos, Voice Control, eARC!
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Today we’ll compare 6 high-performance soundbars from 6 of the biggest names in home audio — Sonos, JBL, Bowers & Wilkins, Sony, Samsung, and Sennheiser. We’ll discuss the high-notes of each soundbar, and we will award bonus-points to the bars that include a subwoofer plus other cool features. Our list of the best high-performance soundbars is based on price and features that complement both music and home-theater applications including Dolby Atmos surround-sound. The soundbars we’ll be comparing today are the new Sonos Arc, JBL Bar 9.1, Bowers & Wilkins Formation Soundbar, Sony HT-ST5000, Samsung HW-Q90R Harman Kardon soundbar, and last but not least, the Sennheiser AMBEO.
Keep in mind that not all of these soundbars come bundled with a subwoofer, but we’ll be sure to point out the ones that do. This is something to consider when thinking about how much you want to spend. All 6 of these soundbars have some important features in common. For example, HDMI ARC connection-types, multiroom-support, voice-assistant features, and with the exception of the Bowers & Wilkins Formation soundbar, there’s Dolby Atmos surround-sound for the most realistic 3D soundstage available. With Dolby Atmos, speaker drivers direct the sound upwards towards the ceiling where the sound then bounces back down to you. This allows you to experience the sound of a helicopter flying above you with true 3D sound. If a helicopter is hovering above the screen, you’ll hear the sound of the helicopter’s rotor-blades right above you. When the helicopter lands, you’ll hear and feel the sound travel back down to your level just like in real life. The more Dolby Atmos speakers a soundbar has, the more holographic the experience will be. Add the subwoofer, and you will feel the impact of the helicopter’s landing.
“ARC” (which is short for “audio return channel”) is a technology that makes setting up your new soundbar with TVs quick and simple. “eARC” (which is short for “enhanced audio return channel”) is the “enhanced” version of HDMI ARC that enables true Dolby Atmos with newer TVs. It’s important to note that you will not get true 3D Dolby Atmos surround-sound without a TV that features the newer “eARC”. However, all of the soundbars will still use the Atmos speakers for great effect even if your TV doesn’t have the latest and greatest eARC HDMI. Controlling one of these premium soundbars isn’t limited to just your TV’s remote control though. For older TVs that don’t allow you to see the benefits of HDMI ARC or eARC, hands-free remote controls with the most popular voice-assistants will let you control your soundbar with your voice or from your phone or a tablet too.
Adding any soundbar to your TV watching for movies, shows, sports or music adds so much to the experience. All of them will enhance movies, gaming, and music compared to the thin sound coming out of a flat-screen TV. So, you really can’t go wrong with any of these soundbars, but each one will perform slightly differently in every room. So, if you have any questions regarding which one would be best for your room, feel free to reach out to us over the phone, chat with us on audioadvice.com, or stop into one of our Raleigh or Charlotte North Carolina showrooms.
No Bose on the list ?
What?? No Bose 700?
Hey, I am planning to buy soundbar for my PC which has 4K monitor (BenQ EW3270U) as well. My motherboard has 5+ Optical S/PDIF port for audio (Realtek ALC1200 Codec). This soundbar will be in my bedroom and I don’t want 5.1 speaker setup. So I have rounded off few soundbars in a price range I can invest, can you suggest which one should I pick or if you have any other in this range that I should consider, that would be really helpful.
P.S. I am not keen on thumping bass from woofer, just looking for crystal clear audio, channel separation, awesome clarity and good mix of high, mid and lows. Anything else apart from this will be added bonus.
Sony HT-X8500 2.1 – Dolby Atmos
YAMAHA YAS-109 2.1 – Dobly Digital/ DTS Virtual X
Polk Audio Signa S2 2.1 – Dolby Digital (with wireless Subwoofer)
Denon DHT-S316 2.1 – Think this is expensive than others
Thanks
Yang paling bagus merk apa?
LG75UN8000 WHICH ONE SHOULD I BUY LGSL8YG OR SONY HT-700RF ?
Can you guys help me am getting a ps5 i love to watch anime,netflix , hulu and play my ps5 i am getting the lg -65 cx oled 4k uhd tv what should i get i have a budget of 1500$ on a sound bar which one is better to get Samsung HW- Q950t 9.1.4ch sound bar vs Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2.4 vs JBL BAR 9.1 True Wireless Surround with Dolby Atmos® could you guys please help me out ?? 😔
Request you to add Nakamichi 7.1.4 or 9.2.4 to this comparison
Battery powered speakers? That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen for a soundbar
Where is the Nakamichi?
14 min and 26 min waste is what I see – you just combined all the review into one.. When you compare, you should give points for each aspects and conclude with the winner. And then you need to highlight the best of runners why we cannot go for winner.
B&o beosound stage? 🙂
All these soundbars will overpower the average home’s room. You’ll never be able to crank them up for long w/o disturbing the neighborhood.
If you’re gonna spend that kinda money, why not invest it in an actual surround sound system where you get speakers to the left, right, and sides as well as center?
With or wirhout Dolby Atmos or DTSX, All I need is DTS Virtual X sound is awesome.
When the lowest priced soundbar here is the same price as my TV, I’m not feeling good about the rest of the review… Edit: But it’s a good review (I’m hearing lots about the LG 11 as the king…but again, there’s the B&o and Sennheiser if you want the top of the tops)
Of course, the best stuff ain’t cheap
Hi… i must confess I am a newbie in audio… but putting Samsung on the same playing field as Senheiser or Bowers & Wilkins??? That was a bit disrespectful :-p
Thanks, man! I will be going with the JBL – BAR 9.1-Channel 820W Soundbar System with 10" Wireless Subwoofer, Dolby Atmos, 4K, and HDR on my LG OLED TV. I love the 2 detachable wireless and rechargeable rear speakers. It was either this or the Nakamichi – Shockwave 9.2.4-Channel 1000W Soundbar System with Dual 10" Wireless Subwoofers and Dolby Atmos.
THIS IS TERRIBLE……….WHERE IS THE MANNIFICENT NAKAMICHI FOR GOD SAKE.
No Bose ?
You’re voice is annoying… I don’t want any of these now you dweeb
What about Bose 700 ? I heard the sound at costco and i was trully amazed ! But they dont support dolby atmos i think…
Is this Spenny from Kenny v.s. spenny
Good video but would have liked to see how Klipsch compared.
So which is the best ? You just blurted out some marketing words for each of the soundbars
many reviews have been talking about ground-shaking bass on the q90r, i’ve got mine since yesterday and tested 6 hours but i can get "acceptable at best" when i crank up bass and subwoofer to the maximum which is +6. i know placement is a thing but i can barely feel it moving when laying my hand on it during bass heavy music. newest firmware is on aswell. anyone got any suggestions?
At first glance I thought it was Tom Cruise doing a review. Then I thought Ross from Friends…then I thought Russ from friends!🙄
So which is the best?????
TV speakers suck because manufacturers hate us. They could put sound bar speakers in the same plastic with their TV screens. They fit. I put soundbar drivers in the bottom of my 24" Vizio TV. They fit and it works. The audio processor of the TV wasn’t built to drive the (very slightly) larger speakers so it still doesn’t sound great but it proves that size isn’t an excuse. The bottoms of most TVs are still thick enough to take the average driver that comes in a sound bar. They could even charge us what they would charge for a TV and a soundbar or even more. They don’t because they want us to suffer through the first world problems of having another thing with a power and input cable to either A; look at and be sad, or B; hassle with hiding. They want us to have to unbox another thing and deal with all the Styrofoam and warranty / instruction booklets and enough plastic bags to choke out ALL the sea turtles. They hate us. They hate the turtles they hate the world.
Can you guys help me am getting a ps5 i love to watch anime,netflix , hulu and play my ps5 i am getting the lg -65 cx oled 4k uhd tv what should i get i have a budget of 1500$ on a sound bar which one is better to get Samsung HW- Q950t 9.1.4ch sound bar vs Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2.4 vs JBL BAR 9.1 True Wireless Surround with Dolby Atmos® could you guys please help me out ?? 😔
Which one would you recommend to set up in a gaming bedroom and use it in conjunction with Series X and Ps5?
Great video
Moving the speaker, recharging them. How dumb. That’s a no for me.
Sonos Beam $400
+ Sonos x IKEA Speakers $200 🦇
If we can get some Up firing Dolby Atmos Speakers 👌😤
No talk of Teufel thx bar
Why is everyone pronouncing subwoofer subwuiaefer these days?
So will JBL 9.1 connect with tv only having HDMI arc and not the earc?
It was very informative but they never Summed it up with a specific recommendation
Doesn’t Samsung own JBL?
Sound bar is sufficient? No more having to buy a receiver, amp, tower speakers, etc.. and all that?
I have to say i was sold on the whole "sonos" pitch at first but then once i read into it more and listened to others the price cant justify it. I went with JBL 9.1 and honestly can say for the price difference its not much worth. Sure the JBL doesnt have as much as a crisp sound but still worth the price. Sonos knows they can drive the price up and people will buy just like the name bose
You saying B&W sounded just like BMW, and i was like wait does BMW make soundbars these days?
Missing Yamaha’s Sound Projector. Yamaha’s marketing department always seemed to fail to differentiate the difference between sound bars and sound projectors. The projectors ability to "beam" each channel using reflective surfaces around the room is superior to sound bars vaguely hosing down the room with sound
I’d no doubt want the Sennheiser. I love my Sennheiser headphones. It’s good to see them getting into the speaker domain.
Which one has the hardest hitting bass
Sonos no DTS terrible!!!
Samsungs audio has improved since they now own Harmon International, which consists of JBL, HK, Infinity, AKG, Mark Levinson, Lexicon, Revel and a few others…
Wondering what would pair nicely with my LG CX 65”
My question is and it’s for anyone who sees my comment, do i have to care about the 4k passthrough when it comes to eARC for example my new soundbar supports earc and my tv as well but the soundbar supports up to 4k 60hz and not 10 bit hdr i guess how is this going to work with the new ps5 ?? do i need a new soundbar since some games on ps5 will support 120hz on 4k or i’m good with earc and shouldn’t worry about the pass-through signals ? i don’t get the whole thing can anyone explain
what would be a good subwoofer ton compliment the Sennheiser Ambeo soundbar?