Top Soundbar Picks
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Soundbars offer a few advantages over traditional home theater sound solutions: they tend to take up less space, are easier to set up, and are more affordable than a comparable home theater setup. Whether you're looking for a soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos or want something you can plug your older MP3 player into, there's a model for you. The best models will feature a balanced default sound that can reproduce rumbly lows for cinematic sequences. You'll also want discrete satellites and up-firing drivers for immersive surround and height reproduction; a dedicated center channel for dialogue in prestige TV dramas; and wide format and connectivity options for streaming service and physical media compatibility. As soundbars get cheaper and more compact, many of these features become less commonplace, so you'll want to find the right trade-off between performance and budget.
We've tested over 250 soundbars, and below are our top picks. See our recommendations for the best budget soundbars, the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, and the best 5.1 soundbars.
Popular Soundbar Comparisons
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The Sonos Arc Ultra is a step up from the Sonos Arc, both in terms of features and performance. The new acoustic architecture results in an improved frequency response, with a better bass extension and articulation. The dynamics performance has also been improved: the newer version compresses even less at max volume. While both soundbars integrate well into existing Sonos ecosystems, pairing with popular speakers like the Sonos Era 300, the Arc Ultra features Bluetooth integration, which will be a bonus for most users. The older variant comes with an optical to HDMI adaptor as standard, which will suit users with older TVs. That said, you can still purchase this separately.
