Soundbars vs Surround Sound Speakers: Which is Best for You?
Soundbars vs Surround Sound Speakers: Which is Best for You?
People constantly argue whether or not soundbars are a good alternative to a traditional surround sound system. Some will say that soundbars are absolutely terrible and some will live by soundbars and want nothing to do with traditional sound systems.
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My sound system was subsided by my wife, she is too loud, only thing I could hear was her voice
Hello,
Home theater 5.1 sets, like Sony Blu-ray player with 5.1 set .. not upgradable with 1000W of power
Are these good option in comparison to AV receivers ?
It’s only available in 2nd hand market … all brand new staff are bars which is either week or good but very expensive atmos and drsX
Don’t watch, video never starts for an actual comparison. Have to block this guy to save time in future.
What about just hooking up two powered shelf speakers to a tv instead of a soundbar? Or a Bose Wave Sound System? Or are there any powered floor speakers that you can plug in to a tv?
My husband and I are up in years and we’re having a horrible difficult time hearing our TV.
I’m looking to buy different speakers so we can hear movies. We can hear the news and normal TV fine but not the movies.
I hear movies fine on my phone with my Bluetooth.
Why does my soundbar buzz & vibrate with my Apple TV ?
speakers are easily the best choice, but soundbars are more compact and sometimes are significantly better in many situations where speakers would be super inconvenient
wellp we only got vga monitors with no sound. any sound is better than no sound lol!
I used to have a full wired sound system for few years. Now I have q800 900 and 990c. Wireless is the way to go now a days. I have a small child so I had to go that way.
We already have a surround sound system … and then my wife brings home a Sonos Arc 🤦🏿
I’m so confused with everything.
Could I not just connect top of the range speakers to a soundbar? And avoid the avr?
What’s the benefit of the avr exactly?
never listen to an idiot on YouTube that tells you $50 soundbars would barely sound better than a built-in speakers in a flat TV I can assure you this is completely false I guess he feels like most people have $5,000 to spend on sound bars most people don’t own TVs over $200
There is also a very few surround sound systems that have the rear speakers truly wireless: the speakers are battery charged and receive the sound signal wirelessly. For reasons I cannot understand, this is highly uncommon.
I decided to comment your dead wrong.
I had a full 5.1 system with Denon recover up graded it to 7.1 THX Dolby EX. Two JBL floor speakers. About 400 watts. Speaker wires everywhere.
Later on I bought a Samsung TV with a soundbar. 512 watts the N9500. That was 6 years ago. It was much better than my original system. I agree that currently it’s hard to update.
I just bought a new qd 90D TV Samsung with a Q990D sound bar. It does allow with the TV to update. They are planing to allow music frames to be added right now just one but more will come.
Also with any Samsung it will allow the optical to run simultaneously with a soundbar. Add another receiver two subwoofers.
Also to let you know I place my surround speakers higher on the wall. Listeners are within 130 degree facing surrounds. This is part of an Auro treatment. I hear the full Atmos and DTX sound. You can have engineered to separate the upfiring from other speakers.
My main point it will let you grow. Sony is doing something similar.
Think about it. I have been at this for a long time.
7:20 "thus making them louding and making your system sounds better"… Come on!!
That’s when I quit…
Thanks
Going from a fairly average soundbar (bought new) to a 5.1 system bought cheap used was completely gamechaning. Never going back!
Thanks for the basic information and comparison on soundbars and surround sound speakers!
I found a $50 soundbar on Ebay That Was a Vizio, so not every website has the same quality by $50
Also, to fellow bachelors out there… don’t marry a woman who won’t allow you to have a sound system for your OLED TV setup.
Thanks!
Right, so, initially i was a hater of soundbars and wireless subwoofers and for years i had my 5.2 (yea, 2 subwoofers 🙂 ) surround system that still works fine till this day.
Couple of months ago, i moved into an apartment and the previous owner left me an LG smart tv in the bedroom and i tried to watch a couple of shows on Netflix and Amazon. The sound quality of that tv can’t even be called rubbish..
So, of course, i didn’t want to invest in another surround system + to deal with the cables and thus, a soundbar 2.1 appeared.
I know it’s not a fair comparison with the 5.2; but hear me out; that sound bar thing is not terrible, especially with these AI features that check and adjust the sound.
My Bedroom tv went from unwatchable to enjoyable.
So yes, i get those that like soundbars; i’ve installed mine in 5 minutes and configured the settings in a few seconds; where as with my 5.2 sour round, i spent a few days with cable management and fitting stuff back together so that everything looks and works fine.
In conclusion, if you’re not a nerd with Sennheiser’s, Hifiman, headphone amps and other crazy stuff, just go with the soundbar; you’ll thank me in the end
I just watched two of your videos so far but I can already tell you’ll be one of my favorite channel. No non sense intro and direct to the point. How I wish I can also have one of those speakers or soundbars your have…. keep it up Bro.
The thought of dangling wires along my ceilings to connect the rear speakers isn’t appealing, nor is routing them through the attic. I’m one of those who would rather buy a soundbar and call it a day.
I have my audio in the back of the room closer to my projector running the 3 front speaker wires along with the Long HDMI ARC for when I do watch the TV during football season all together against the wall of my 20X10 media tent
Thanks for this great summary, Jonah. I’m a lifelong 5.2 receiver user but admit I’m intrigued by soundbars — in particular the JBL 9.1.4. I’ve been debating the pros and cons of upgrading to a 7.2 receiver system or grabbing the JBL. I’ve still got a lot of thinking to do about it but this definitely helped me out a lot.
Is it one or the other? Whilst shopping on Amazon, I picked a Polk audio signature elite ES35 soundbar, and it recommended a couple of ES10 speakers… I figured they were complementary….
I do not like normal regular virtualized soundbars anymore because they lack the true discrete movie theater surround sound quality of a traditional premium home theater surround sound system or even a very high-end/quality wireless discrete premium home theater surround soundbar-based systems I am a huge fan of both movie theater surround sound & Dolby Atmos and I am both an audiophile and love traditional Dolby Atmos home theater surround sound systems that are not too expensive In fact I use to own a Sony HTZ9F 3.1 Channel Wireless Dolby Atmos Soundbar System with a Wireless Subwoofer and without upward-firing height speakers then added Sony SAZ9R 2.0 Channel Wireless Surround Rear Speakers for my Sony Dolby Atmos Wireless Soundbar and Subwoofer Combo for a complete surround sound system for watching listening and enjoying many films tv shows and music even though it both gets loud sounds a lot better than my television I have owned in my house: LG 55-Inch B6 OLED 4K Multi HDR with Dolby Vision Smart Flat Big Screen Television (2016 Model) it does not sound as awesome cinematic premium powerful state of the art atmospheric three-dimensional dynamic room-filling impactful immersive punchy as a Traditional Audio/Video Receiver-Based Dolby Atmos Premium Home Theater Surround Sound System or a Very High-End/Quality Premium Discrete Dolby Atmos Home Theater Surround Soundbar-Based System both with REAL Upward-Firing Height Elevation Speakers originally I wanted one of the two Nakamichi Shockwafe Spatial Surround Elevation Dolby Atmos Premium Home Theater Surround Soundbar System Series with a Soundbar with Six High Quality/Performance Full-Range Woofers in a 3-Channel Discrete Configuration and Two High Quality/Performance Tweeters in a 2-Channel Side Surround Configuration that bounce sound off walls & ceiling Two Big Subwoofers Two or Four 2-Way Surround Speakers w/ High-Quality/Performance Tweeters Full-Range Woofer Drivers that sounds the same as both a real life commercial Dolby Atmos/IMAX movie theater & a traditional audio/video receiver-based Dolby Atmos home theater surround sound system but since I already owned a 5-year-old solid good Onkyo TXSR444 7-Channel Dolby Atmos Premium Home Theater Surround Audio/Video Receiver (2015 Model) since April 2016 I got a Traditional Klipsch 5.1.2 Channel Dolby Atmos Premium Home Theater Surround Sound Loudspeaker System that includes Two Front Tower Floorstanding Loudspeakers with Two REAL Dolby Atmos Upward-Firing Height Elevation Loudspeaker Two Bipolar Surround Loudspeakers One Center Loudspeaker and One Big 12-Inch Subwoofer all with High-Quality/Performance Woofers & Tweeters for nearly $2,500 with additional speaker wires for $100 & free speaker stands I bought for the money then hooked it up to my Onkyo TXSR444 Dolby Atmos 4K Premium Home Theater Surround Audio/Video Receiver (2015 Model) calibrated the loudspeakers with the included eq room correction calibration microphone I got on eBay and while enjoying watching and listening to films tv shows and music it felt & sounded a lot much better greater and more awesome cinematic premium powerful dynamic room-filling impactful immersive punchy in which it very much sounded like a real life commercial movie theater and changes the way I’m how I enjoy and listen to films tv shows and music I gave my Sony HTZ9F/SAZ9R 5.1 Channel Dolby Atmos Surround Soundbar & Subwoofer Combo System to my twin sister and boyfriend’s condo where their new TV is located in their bedroom LG C1 55-Inch 4K UHD Multi-HDR with Dolby Vision Smart OLED TV with Dolby Atmos/eARC is located in order to vastly improve their tv watching experience and they both liked there new 5.1 Ch. Dolby Atmos Sony Surround Soundbar/Subwoofer Combo System Later in June 2023 I got a much more newer state of the art advanced better immersive premium cinematic advanced critically acclaimed Denon AVRS970H 7.2 Channel Dolby Atmos Premium Home Theater Surround Audio/Video Receiver with a Highly Advanced Greater Powerful Robust Cinematic Premium Rich Punchy 32-Bit/192kHz Digital-to-Analogue Converter/Discrete High Power Amplification Technology/Room Correction Calibration Software Technology Audyssey MultEQ with Dynamic Volume & Dynamic EQ and 8K-60/4K-120 Passthrough/Upscaling Multi-HDR with Dolby Vision for nearly $800 w/ tax hooked it up to my one year old Klipsch 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos Home Theater Surround Sound System calibrated the loudspeakers with Audyssey MultEQ with Audyssey MultEQ set to Reference and Dynamic EQ set to On Reference Level Offset set to 0db and Dynamic Volume set to Light for the most maximum movie theater quality experience and after getting everything working flawlessly correctly and perfectly adjusting the sound quality setting the front speakers to +9.5/60Hz, the center speaker to +12.0/110Hz, the surrounds to +9.5/80Hz, the Dolby Atmos Upward Firing Height Speakers to +10.0/120Hz and the Subwoofer set to +5.0 plus the Subwoofer’s Low-Pass Filter set to 80Hz via both the Audyssey Menu & the Audyssey MultEQ Editor app and enjoying watching and listening to many films tv shows sports and music it sounded a lot much better greater and more advanced awesome cinematic premium powerful dynamic room-filling impactful immersive richer punchy three dimensional atmospheric advanced realistic detailed nuanced cleaner crystal clearer and didn’t just change the way how I enjoy watch and listen to films music sports and tv shows it honestly extremely much sounds and feels a lot like a real life commercial Dolby Atmos/IMAX Laser movie theater that I can clearly hear 3D surround sound objects above around through behind and everywhere in the room with my newer Denon AVRS970H Dolby Atmos Receiver than my older Onkyo TXSR444 Dolby Atmos Receiver even though with my older Onkyo Dolby Atmos Receiver I can clearly hear surround sound objects above around through behind and everywhere in the room my newer Denon AVRS970H Dolby Atmos Receiver is much much better than my older Onkyo Dolby Atmos Receiver in which it not only rivals my nearby Dolby Atmos commercial movie theaters commercial IMAX Laser movie theaters or even commercial movie theaters with 4K RGB HDR Laser Projection & Dolby Atmos but I am enjoying the content in which the filmmakers sound team & music team intended them to experience it as it was originally mixed in the recording studio that is unmatched by a lot of normal virtualized soundbars
Soundbars are for old people with hearing problems.
So basically, I really like the idea of being able to expand and change things like in the traditional speaker setup. But my problem is, I have no idea where I should put the speakers. For the front speakers, i only have space under the tv and I haven’t really found any speakers that are small enough to fit, without blocking part of the screen. The problem with the side speakers is, that I sit on the end of my Bed, so I don‘t really have anywhere to put the speaker on my right. Does anyone have an Idea for a solution?
Whoa!! That’s a lot of information!! Thank you so much for all of it. 😮😮
I farted three times during the beginning of this video. By the end of the video, I was on toilet, pewpin! You talked me through a rough time in my life. Thank you
Even a half decent set of computer speakers with a sub will do way better than TV speakers, especially regarding stereo separation, sound stage and bass performance. If you’re just looking at a budget less than $250 or only 2.1 channels, and you don’t need all the Spotify stuff and maybe not even need Bluetooth, you might be way better off with a $100 set of Logitech computer speakers.
I use my Bluetooth connection from my TV to my soundbar.. Perfect
Hello, I currently have a 5.1 System with an old AVR. I would like to switch to Dolby Atmos technology and enjoy having overhead sounds.
I do not have the possibility of installing speakers in the ceiling (I know that it is the best option in conjunction with a Dolby Atmos AVR).
Is a Dolby Atmos soundbar with rear speakers (like the Samsung HW-Q990C) worth it? Can this type of soundbar make you feel sounds above your head? Or will this change not be better than my current 5.1 system?
The TV room has a 9-foot (2.8-meter) high flat ceiling.
Thank you so much!
My Samsung TV speakers started rattling after two years so I got a Samsung sound bar (120W as if) with separate woofer. It sounds great!
Helpful! Thanks
Thanks.
I’m old school. Spend good money on a receiver and separate EQ and it really doesn’t matter about how cheap your speakers are.
Because with the EQ separating the bass to subs and voice speakers.. you can easily turn the volume up as need then adjust else where in the receiver. And never need your tv volume
One pro you didn’t mention for Soundbars: a good one like Sonos has a very balanced sound, bass doesn’t sound too loud and speech is clearly listened, so you don’t have to be controlling the volume during the whole film trying to avoid disturbing your neighbours.
I had to remove the subwoofer of my old hifi system because of that problem.
If you don’t have neighbours, and you like cars exploding like an Atomic Bomb, of course a subwoofer will be welcome.
Anyway, bass still sound well on the bar, I could even increase bass in my sound bar through EQ functions.
Rest of the pros and cons, you explained perfectly, whatever else I would say, you have already covered in the video. Good job
Great video lad loads of information there 👍
good
Take your video down your out of style
Biggest regret i have. I had a sony 5.1 receiver, great yamaha speakers, 2 large, 2 md and so much very expensive speaker wire. And i got rid of them ..why why why did i? Cuz my kids convinced me it was archaic and everything is wireless now. But also my receiver wasnt set up for hdmi. It was a bare wire input and what was before hdmi? It was called something else in early 90s. Dont remember if it was the same size ports ss hdmi is now. Im gonna save up and start visiting pawn shops and go back to it.
My but hurts from the suround.
I have a dilemma in that I have two great wired speakers installed up in the walls to the side and a little behind where the couch is that make music and movies sound great. We also have 2 wired floor speakers on either side of the TV. Everything runs through the receiver. My wife wants to eliminate the two floor speakers and go with a cleaner look. Is there a setup that will preserve the use of the two built in wired speakers while adding two more modern low profile speakers? Seems everything is wireless now but I do not want to abandon those wired wall speakers.
Many years ago I had 3 Klipsch Fortes with a couple of psb’s.. Pretty amazing…Now not even a sound bar…
Love speakers rather than a sound bar, have a centre that does the trick. ❤
The thing is im an audiophile and can afford a traditional speakers with an amp or receiver BUT i cant afford a big house nor can i afford to rent a big room (don’t want neighbors complaining also). I can only afford to live in small condos, I keep moving places every 3-5 years and moving lots of speaker with the receiver will be a pain, so soundbars are the only way to go as i need to live a minimalistic lifestyle.
at the moment i have a JBL bar 2.1 soundbar its sound quality is very decent for music with a very good low end bass, might upgrade to JBL bar 1000 in the future (easy to carry as its only two things the speaker and the subwoofer.)
This is very generic and we can get all this info by looking into any brochures.
Reviews should be based on Personal experience with the different setups!