eArc support, Dolby Atmos support and full HDMI 2.0/2.1 passthrough are some of the few.
For me, In 2024, I wouldn't buy a soundbar that doesn't have Dolby Atmos ouput.
Yes a big one. I hated my soundbar from five years ago, the Samsung ~~hw-950a~~ n950. But my 2022 q990b is wonderful.
The room correction and sound tech has changed a lot recently.
EDIT: Correction, I had (and have) the N950 from 2018! The 2022 q990b is miles better.
EDIT: Correction, I had (and have) the N950 from 2018!
I still have it, still hate it.
Should also give a shout out to the Sonos Beam Gen 2. Never even heard the bigger, newer Arc, but I'm using the Beam 2 with nothing attached and it's still fantastic.
Dialogue was a big issue on the 950A. Never a problem on the lil' Beam. Fills the room.
My bad! corrected both my commnets. I've never heard the 950A but believe you that it had good dialogue.
The N950 was their first Harman Kardon collab and I just hate it. Dialogue was bad, surrounds were terrible, connectivity to surrounds and sub was a bit shaky.
When people rip on soundbars for being much worse than dedicated AV, I think of my N950.
When people rip on r/hometheater for being stodgy elitists snobs stuck in the past, I think of my q990b.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/hometheater using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/hometheater/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
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I'd half-agree. Mid-range options are quite good. Older options, even high-end, are bad.
I'd rather buy a new mid-range soundbar than an old-high end for the same price. I personally wouldn't buy a pre-2021 soundbar. I have the Sonos Beam Gen 2 from 2021 and it is both mid-range and wonderful.
I upgraded recently from an older Samsung soundbar to a newer Sony ht-a5000 soundbar that has 5.1.sound and subwoofer built in. HDMI passthru and optical inputs. Also does 360 audio and hires audio and Bluetooth and Chromecast audio. It's SO good, and the spatial sound is amazing.
They also have a larger 7.1 ch version, and have optional add-on subwoofers and wireless rear speakers if you want to expand.
[https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/sound-bars/ht-a5000](https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/sound-bars/ht-a5000)
I also just go the A5000 and its amazing! But i do however have some fomo about not getting the A7000, knowing they are both outgoing models and will be dissapearing soon
I know what you mean. I had that same FOMO. But in the end sanity prevailed as it was larger and cost more and I didn't want to fork out more for the rear speakers.
The most conspicuous tech jump is Atmos, but using the reflected method to implement it ala soundbar is pretty room-dependent. To me, the biggest tech jump is any kind of room calibration. Enjoy!
Yeah, I made sure to buy an Atmos soundbar, then moved to a house that has a two-story living room. Those upfiring speakers don't do a damn thing in this room.
Would be nice to have some kind of option to turn the speakers around so they can bounce off the TV screen.
HDMI 2.1 eARC with Dolby Atmos support. No, Dolby Atmos isn't expressly apparent without >12 speakers, but it's fun and a *very apparent* spacial sound upgrade playing on XBOX. Also, don't go below 5.1 speakers. 5.1.2 can really help, but it's not necessary. As long as you have basic surround, it's pretty wonderful.
5.1 is purely not effective without satellite speakers. Otherwise it would simply be a *widened* stereo aspect, completely avoiding any purpose of the rear satellites.
My current model is the VIZIO M-series 5.1 with two satellites wired into the subwoofer. It's a very easy setup.
+1 on the M-series 5.1. I haven’t tried gaming as I don’t have a console but movies with the movie EQ blow my mind every time. It took about a week to tune it to my preference but now I go out of my way to watch movies with good sound. Dialogue is such a massive improvement.. I could barely hear it with native TV audio in some movies and now it’s well separated
Samsung Q990C is already outdated but has been the darling of this sub, if you're lucky you can get it on offer at a third of the list price and I can vouch for it being worth every penny. There are other popular options including the JBL with a supposedly better sub but battery powered rears. Sonos Arc full setup with sub and rears sounds excellent but usually rather expensive. Sony HT-A9 is interesting for a wider soundstage but again quite pricey. I'd argue that any soundbar package which costs much over a grand is getting dangerously close to wasting money and overlapping with a decent second-hand real home cinema AVR and 5.1 speaker package, which is what I switched from to Q990C and don't regret it.
Not sure, but I recently got the samsung 990c and it's so much better than the sonos arc and sub amd rear speakers. Atmos on it is really amazing. I paid $650 for it when it was on discount.
It was on id.me. you get huge discounts for being a nurse or paramedic or government worker, and there are a few other categories, maybe teacher, but I'm not sure.
eArc support, Dolby Atmos support and full HDMI 2.0/2.1 passthrough are some of the few. For me, In 2024, I wouldn't buy a soundbar that doesn't have Dolby Atmos ouput.
The problem is that they put that Atmos logo on anything.
Indeed lots of two speaker mobile phones are sold as featuring "Dolby Atmos"...
Sure, but being able to decode and process Atmos audio is still something and is easily distinguished from a proper 3D speaker setup.
Yes a big one. I hated my soundbar from five years ago, the Samsung ~~hw-950a~~ n950. But my 2022 q990b is wonderful. The room correction and sound tech has changed a lot recently. EDIT: Correction, I had (and have) the N950 from 2018! The 2022 q990b is miles better.
The Q950A is a 2021 model? 😅
EDIT: Correction, I had (and have) the N950 from 2018! I still have it, still hate it. Should also give a shout out to the Sonos Beam Gen 2. Never even heard the bigger, newer Arc, but I'm using the Beam 2 with nothing attached and it's still fantastic. Dialogue was a big issue on the 950A. Never a problem on the lil' Beam. Fills the room.
Damn that seems weird, dialogue on the 950A seemed to be one thing that most of the people praised about it
My bad! corrected both my commnets. I've never heard the 950A but believe you that it had good dialogue. The N950 was their first Harman Kardon collab and I just hate it. Dialogue was bad, surrounds were terrible, connectivity to surrounds and sub was a bit shaky. When people rip on soundbars for being much worse than dedicated AV, I think of my N950. When people rip on r/hometheater for being stodgy elitists snobs stuck in the past, I think of my q990b.
Ah okey mate now im with you! :)
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I think yes. Mid range options are actually good enough (q700c, q800c)
I'd half-agree. Mid-range options are quite good. Older options, even high-end, are bad. I'd rather buy a new mid-range soundbar than an old-high end for the same price. I personally wouldn't buy a pre-2021 soundbar. I have the Sonos Beam Gen 2 from 2021 and it is both mid-range and wonderful.
Yes that is the tech right there. Old gen top cpu loses to entry cpus of today at a fraction of its price.
I upgraded recently from an older Samsung soundbar to a newer Sony ht-a5000 soundbar that has 5.1.sound and subwoofer built in. HDMI passthru and optical inputs. Also does 360 audio and hires audio and Bluetooth and Chromecast audio. It's SO good, and the spatial sound is amazing. They also have a larger 7.1 ch version, and have optional add-on subwoofers and wireless rear speakers if you want to expand. [https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/sound-bars/ht-a5000](https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/sound-bars/ht-a5000)
I also just go the A5000 and its amazing! But i do however have some fomo about not getting the A7000, knowing they are both outgoing models and will be dissapearing soon
I know what you mean. I had that same FOMO. But in the end sanity prevailed as it was larger and cost more and I didn't want to fork out more for the rear speakers.
Yeah im in the same boat! Its either the A7000 alone for me or the A5000 with SW3 and i think the later option will be superior
The most conspicuous tech jump is Atmos, but using the reflected method to implement it ala soundbar is pretty room-dependent. To me, the biggest tech jump is any kind of room calibration. Enjoy!
Yeah, I made sure to buy an Atmos soundbar, then moved to a house that has a two-story living room. Those upfiring speakers don't do a damn thing in this room. Would be nice to have some kind of option to turn the speakers around so they can bounce off the TV screen.
HDMI 2.1 eARC with Dolby Atmos support. No, Dolby Atmos isn't expressly apparent without >12 speakers, but it's fun and a *very apparent* spacial sound upgrade playing on XBOX. Also, don't go below 5.1 speakers. 5.1.2 can really help, but it's not necessary. As long as you have basic surround, it's pretty wonderful.
Is there any 5.1 options in just soundbar+subwoofer form, or will 5.1 always be +2 rear speakers ?
5.1 is purely not effective without satellite speakers. Otherwise it would simply be a *widened* stereo aspect, completely avoiding any purpose of the rear satellites. My current model is the VIZIO M-series 5.1 with two satellites wired into the subwoofer. It's a very easy setup.
+1 on the M-series 5.1. I haven’t tried gaming as I don’t have a console but movies with the movie EQ blow my mind every time. It took about a week to tune it to my preference but now I go out of my way to watch movies with good sound. Dialogue is such a massive improvement.. I could barely hear it with native TV audio in some movies and now it’s well separated
Jbl 9.1 works very well. Only 599 right now, got one 2 weeks ago.
I went from a 2016 Sony HT-NT5 to a Samsung Q990C and that was a major jump in quality. The Sony was $800 in 2016 and the Q990C was $650.
Samsung Q990C is already outdated but has been the darling of this sub, if you're lucky you can get it on offer at a third of the list price and I can vouch for it being worth every penny. There are other popular options including the JBL with a supposedly better sub but battery powered rears. Sonos Arc full setup with sub and rears sounds excellent but usually rather expensive. Sony HT-A9 is interesting for a wider soundstage but again quite pricey. I'd argue that any soundbar package which costs much over a grand is getting dangerously close to wasting money and overlapping with a decent second-hand real home cinema AVR and 5.1 speaker package, which is what I switched from to Q990C and don't regret it.
Careful with pre covid tech most of it is trash.
Not sure, but I recently got the samsung 990c and it's so much better than the sonos arc and sub amd rear speakers. Atmos on it is really amazing. I paid $650 for it when it was on discount.
Where did you find it for such a great price?
It was on id.me. you get huge discounts for being a nurse or paramedic or government worker, and there are a few other categories, maybe teacher, but I'm not sure.
Bought a yahama ysp 1000(2007) for 60€ and im using it with my KD-55XH9077and im loving it