I’m a home theater obsessive, and these are the Black Friday soundbar deals I recommend
DA Gadgets Refresh 2024-11-23T21:54:04.558Z (Image credit: Amazon) The most common connection for high-quality soundbars today is HDMI ARC or HDMI eARC. This means they connect to your TV over an HDMI port, and take all your TV’s sound over this connection. What are the advantages and what are the differences between them? We have a guide to explain all, my friend. Read our in-depth HDMI ARC and HDMI eARC explainer. 2024-11-23T20:57:36.587Z (Image credit: Future) Getting a small soundbar doesn’t have to mean missing out on mod cons such as real upfiring speakers for Dolby Atmos height channels and Wi-Fi music streaming – the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 proves that. And it’s pretty inexpensive to begin with, and is even better value in today’s deals. Small size, high features – it’s very impressive, and got a glowing write-up in our Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review. Bose Smart Soundbar 600: was $499 now $399 at Best Buy 2024-11-23T20:41:11.481Z (Image credit: Future) Want the option of big, cinematic surround sound, but can’t have speakers set up behind you the whole time due to space or aesthetic preferences? Let me introduce you to the JBL Bar 1300X. It’s a great-sounding, very powerful soundbar that’s extremely wide… because the ends detach to become battery powered wireless rear speakers. Just put them behind you when you want surround sound, and attach them to the bar to recharge or when you don’t want them floating around. They form part of the bar’s sound profile when attached. JBL Bar 1300X US deal: was $1,699.99 now $899.99 at Amazon JBL Bar 1300 UK deal: was £1,299.99 now £999.99 at Amazon 2024-11-23T20:25:25.355Z (Image credit: Sonos) A key thing that people don’t always think about before buying a soundbar is whether the dimensions are a good fit for your TV. Really, I’d love to see soundbar manufacturers put suggested TV sizes on the descriptions of the soundbars. Smaller soundbars, like the Sonos Beam Gen 2 or the Ultimea Poseidon D50 are good for TVs from 32 inches to 55 inches. They won’t quite match the scale of the pictures beyond that size. There are mid-size soundbars, like the Sony HT-S2000 or the Samsung HW-Q800C that will work from 48 inches to 65 inches nicely – probably just about to 75 inches in the Samsung’s case. And then the premium soundbars – the Sonos Arc Ultra, Samsung HW-Q990D or Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar – are all designed for TVs of 55 inches and up. They’ll stick out well beyond anything smaller, which will just look odd. 2024-11-23T20:12:37.523Z (Image credit: Future) For those who want a huge, all-encompassing Dolby Atmos sound, the Samsung HW-Q990D is the five-star soundbar system to beat. It gives you 11.1.4 channels of sound spread over a big bar, two rear speakers and a meaty subwoofer – and it’s so impressive. It’s also practical – it has two HDMI 2.1 inputs, as well as a connection to your TV, so it can pass 4K 120Hz video through. That means it actually adds an HDMI port to your setup. When anyone asks what the ultimate soundbar home theater system is for a realistic price, we go straight to the Q990D. Samsung HW-Q990D US deal: was $1,997 now $1,100 at Walmart Samsung HW-Q990D UK deal: was £1,699 now £985 at Amazon 2024-11-23T19:53:29.343Z (Image credit: Future) The first thing you might be wondering when shopping for a soundbar: do I need one with a subwoofer, or will one that’s just the bar itself work for me? Basically, it comes down to the cinematic power you want. A single bar obviously takes up much less space in the room and so might be preferable for your setup overall. You can expect a soundbar like this to add more range to the sound overall, more clarity to speech because the mid-range will stand out more from other frequencies, and better width to the sound so it feels big has a difference from left to right. Some expensive models can produce pretty impressive bass. But adding a subwoofer will add far more bass, and this means you’ll get the impact of explosions, the hum of an ominous soundtrack, or the tone of a musical score all coming through much more like was intended for the movie. It’s really just about what you want from a soundbar – clarity in a compact frame, or a much bigger and more cinematic sound. 2024-11-23T19:27:28.139Z
