Soundbars: What to know before you buy

so you're looking for a sound bar and you're wondering which one to get great let's talk about it [Music] first up we'll talk a little bit about soundbars then it's on to the recommendations as chosen by cnet's editors if you just want the recommendations please go to this time code right here okay so before you decide to plunk down your money on a sound bar there are a few things to know if you're just looking for an upgrade from your tv speakers it is extremely likely a sound bar will sound better than your tv speakers i say extremely likely just in case there is one tv out there that i've never heard of that has amazing speakers in the old days of crt tvs you could get some decent speakers in that big housing but this is now and tvs are super thin and tv speakers are not the best if you're looking to replicate a surround sound experience with a sound bar that is more difficult for cheaper bars but not impossible some sound bars over 300 dollars come with surround speakers while others may offer them as an optional accessory they usually cost an extra 200 if not no need to worry some simulated sound technologies can actually be quite convincing take a look at this sony video showing how one of its sound bars technology works essentially the audio would be fired in different directions and then bounce off of surfaces to make it sound like the audio is coming from above next to and behind you sony says this particular sound bar has built-in microphones that it uses to measure where surfaces are to optimize sound you may see a feature called hdmi arc when you're looking at sound bars so let's explain that arc stands for audio return channel it uses a single hdmi cable to send audio from a tv back to a receiver or sound bar your television and the sound bar would both have to have the arc feature for this to work take a look at the ports of your tv if it has arc it will likely be labeled if your tv does not have arc you'll have to use another cable to get the sound from your tv to the sound bar that could be an optical cable or a 3.5 millimeter analog cable which you can connect to the tv's headphone output whatever way you attach the sound bar to your tv you'll also need to get into your tv settings to turn off your tv speakers and push the audio out oh and one small consideration about sound bars while most are two inches tall it's worth checking the dimensions of the actual device the last thing you want is a sound bar blocking your view of your tv because it's too tall right okay on to the recommendations if price is no object take a look at the sennheiser ambio this is the best dolby atmos soundbar available the ambeo provides the most realistic surround sound from a single sound bar take a quick look at this video from dolby with dolby atmos audio can be coming from above and below your ears let's talk about more specs you get three hdmi inputs e-arc audio and the ambio has chromecast built in so you can beam stuff from your phone to this soundbar you also get a 2 foot tall microphone so you can calibrate your sound what do you do with the microphone after hang on to it for later in case stuff changes in your room you may have to recalibrate the ambio is not a small device here you can see it on its side next to cnet's thai pendle berry the ambio is about 1.2 meters in width or over 4 feet and its height is over 5 inches you will probably need to prop up your tv for an unobstructed view the downsides it does not come with a subwoofer so you're not getting truly deep bass also music doesn't sound great oh and then there's the price i hope you're sitting down twenty five hundred dollars the best all-in-one sound bar for under a grand is the sonos arc it's got some nice styling with the tubular look comes in black or white and it retails for around 900 the arc does not come with a subwoofer but it does deliver surprisingly deep bass sonos gives you the option to wirelessly add a subwoofer and rear speakers if you want the sonos also has some smarts it has support for both amazon and google's voice assistants i won't say they're wakeboards because that would be cruel while the ambeo and arc are great if you're looking to spend less check out the vizio v21 it is the best sound bar for in the money and it retails for around 190 dollars the vizio v21 also includes a wireless subwoofer so you can enjoy some bass one small gripe is that you cannot add rear speakers to the v21 if you want a good sound bar with rear speakers and atmos check out the vizio m512a h6 great name it comes with a subwoofer and two wired rear speakers the rear speakers plug into the subwoofer the vizio m512a h6 cost around five hundred dollars anyway back to the vizio v21 it has hdmi arc optical audio and aux jack and a jack labeled aux v8 the va stands for voice activated you connect your smart speaker to this port and the sound bar switches to the input automatically when it hears a command most people are probably better using a separate smart speaker as it doesn't mute the tv when you ask it something and lastly let's talk about the roku stream bar this is a two channel sound bar with side firing wide speakers it's not just a sound bar it's also a streaming device that explains the name stream bar anyway roku says its onboard streaming capabilities are about the same as the roku streaming stick plus the stream bar is pretty compact at only 14 inches in width so it should be able to find a space in your home easily the roku stream bar costs around 130 dollars you can also upgrade the stream bar with a wireless subwoofer and surround speakers if you'd like now remember that tech changes all the time so browse around cnet.com for all the latest there are links to everything we talked about in the description so if you want to get one of the sound bars we mentioned there you go big thanks to ty pendlebury for his help on this video i've been i as akhtar and i'll see you online

Channel: CNET

Views: 334,657

Keywords: CNET, Technology, Tech, Review, speakers, soundbar, SENNHEISER AMBEO, Sonos Arc, Vizio V21, Roku Streambar, dolby

Id: XeC3-IAVyHU

Length: 6min 14sec (374 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 02 2021