The 8 best soundbars for a cinematic sound’experience from your TV

While the picture quality of our televisions continues to improve, audio often suffers. The thin bezels of modern TVs leave little room for powerful speakers, sometimes making dialogue sound unclear and lacking in depth. That’s where soundbars come in, capable of delivering explosive sound that perfectly matches the images on the screen.

The best soundbars on the market combine cutting-edge technologies, such as support for Dolby Atmos, with a sleek, compact design. Whether you have a generous or more limited budget, in this article we’ll introduce you to the 8 soundbar models that elevate your living room audio experience to new levels of cinematic involvement.

The Sonos Arc: the sound megaphone for your movies

The Sonos Arc is a real beast in terms of size and sound power. Over a meter long, this sleek cylindrical soundbar is best suited to larger living rooms, but even in smaller spaces it will deliver a spectacular audio experience. Equipped with 11 digital amplifiers, 8 separate woofers, and 3 silk-dome tweeters, the Arc delivers immersive, enveloping sound through Dolby Atmos integration.

While not accompanied by a wireless subwoofer, the Arc’s woofers still manage to generate powerful bass that can make you feel your heartbeat during action scenes. In addition, the Sonos app allows you to activate the TruePlay feature, which adjusts the sound according to the shape of the room. Alexa and Google Assistant integration is also a welcome addition. The only downside? The absence of HDMI ARC support, which prevents you from enjoying Atmos audio from consoles such as Xbox or PS5.

The Polk React: an excellent entry-level soundbar

If you thought you had to spend a fortune for a decent soundbar, the Polk React will make you think again. This low-end model has a surprisingly stylish design, entirely covered in fabric and with an Echo speaker in the center. In addition to serving as an Alexa smart speaker, the React integrates seamlessly with other Echo devices for a multiroom experience.

While lacking Dolby Atmos support, the React’s audio still offers noteworthy performance for those who simply want to enhance their TV’s audio setup. Without exceeding the limitations of its compact size, the sound is clear, precise, and crisp, without distortion even at very low or high frequencies. Audio presets on the remote control and the dialogue enhancement function can also come in handy.

The second-generation Sonos Beam: compactness and quality

The second generation of the Sonos Beam is very similar to the previous model. This mid-range soundbar continues to offer excellent sound, but now sports a sleeker design with a plastic grille that brings it closer to the flagship Sonos Arc, as well as integrating support for virtualized Dolby Atmos and HDMI eARC.

Sonically, the Beam is always up to the task. The four elliptical mid-front woofers, improved center tweeter, and three passive radiators for the lower frequencies, supported by five amplifiers, give an impressively wide soundstage. Although upfiring speakers for the Atmos effect are missing, virtualization still adds a tangible three-dimensional dimension to movies and music. The second generation of the Beam also offers greater depth, coming even closer to the Arc’s performance. Then considering Sonos compatibility with major music streaming platforms, including hi-res services, and support for Alexa and Google Assistant, there’s really nothing to complain about.

Sennheiser’s Ambeo: the ultimate in soundbars

Five years after its debut, Sennheiser’s Ambeo soundbar still remains one of the most powerful and best-sounding models on the market, as well as the most expensive of those tested. Famous for its earphones, Sennheiser has made this soundbar its only speaker product, and it has done so in style.

Impressive in size, the Ambeo houses six 10-cm woofers, five 25-mm tweeters and two 9-cm full-range drivers facing up. Thanks to this top-notch technical equipment, the Ambeo offers a truly extraordinary audio experience, with a breadth, depth and pitch of sound that make listening to Dolby Atmos movies a truly cinematic involvement. Dialogue is clear and perfectly centralized, while sound effects such as moving cars and flying helicopters seem to flow smoothly and naturally across the room.

Everything can be conveniently managed from the remote control, which provides access to numerous additional features, from custom audio profiles to Chromecast support. The only downside: the decidedly high price. But if you have the budget for it, the Ambeo is undoubtedly the best choice.

The Panasonic SoundSlayer: surround sound power for gaming.

This little soundbar from Panasonic doesn’t look like much, with its fabric cover and compact size, yet it proves to be a real powerhouse for surround sound during desktop gaming sessions.

Inside we find two full-range drivers and two tweeters. It is a practical 2.1 soundbar that can easily fill a room during intense gaming sessions, returning orchestral soundtracks and bursts of bullets in an epic and immersive manner.

Designed in collaboration with Final Fantasy 14 sound designers, the SoundSlayer offers three sound profiles dedicated to different game genres – RPG, shooter and enhanced dialogue. Beyond the gaming presets, classic cinema, music and standard settings are also available for listening to multimedia content. Although it lacks Alexa or Google Assistant integration, you can still connect your smartphone via Bluetooth to play your music.

The Denon Home 550: compact but powerful

This soundbar from Denon may look cute and small, yet its sound is truly mighty, enhanced by a number of interesting features. Notable among them are Alexa integration for voice control and support for the proprietary HEOS music streaming system.

If you are already part of the Denon HEOS ecosystem and have other speakers from the brand scattered around your home, you can connect them all together and play audio in multiple rooms. In addition to the infrared remote control, the Home 550 also has a handy touch panel on the soundbar body for direct control.

Inside are two tweeters, four full-range speakers and three passive radiators. Although it is not the most powerful soundbar ever, its audio is rich and crisp, with no distortion or choking of low frequencies. The highs and mids also have a full-bodied sound, making it ideal for prestige movies and TV series. There are several sound presets, including movie, music and pure, with controls to adjust bass and treble.

Although the sound does not reach abysmal depths, the balance and neutrality are still appreciable. If desired, the Denon DSw1H wireless subwoofer (€599) can be paired for more impact during explosions.

The Roku Streambar: an all-in-one for smart TVs.

This compact soundbar from Roku is actually more of a curved “soundbrick,” which is a true streaming stick that also includes a sound system to enhance your TV’s audio.

The Streambar thus turns your smart TV into an even smarter device, thanks to the Roku OS that gives you access to thousands of apps such as Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, and Spotify, as well as games and news. All this can be conveniently managed with the Roku voice remote control.

Despite its media center capabilities, the Streambar also offers a good audio compartment, considering its low price of €129.99. The two 1.9-inch front drivers and two side drivers of the same size generate a wide and quite powerful sound, although it lacks Dolby Atmos support. Dialogues are nevertheless crisp and clear, with an appreciable hint of bass despite the absence of a built-in subwoofer.

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage: elegance and sonic power.

This premium soundbar from Bang & Olufsen is truly a marvel. The Beosound Stage is a beautiful brushed aluminum jewel that also offers truly extraordinary sound. Inside we find 11 drivers, each with its own amplifier, working in perfect harmony to give you a top-notch three-channel sound system.

Everything is managed through the Bang & Olufsen app, which allows the sound to be optimized according to the soundbar’s position in the room, ensuring the same listening experience whether the Beosound Stage is mounted on a wall or placed on a piece of furniture. The app includes classic audio profiles for movies, music, TV, and nighttime listening, all of which can be customized to your preferences. There are also controls for height virtualization, bass channel on/off, and more.

The sound is truly impeccable, with crisp and powerful dialogue and music. It is possible to clearly perceive car chases across the room. Despite lacking a dedicated subwoofer, the Beosound Stage still manages to generate full-bodied bass, thanks to B&O’s promise; that it does not need one to deliver an immersive listening experience. Although this is a rather expensive soundbar, it is undoubtedly one of the best we tested.

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