4 reasons why speakers are still a better buy than a soundbar

The traditional way to build your home theater setup has, for years, been the same. You get yourself a decently powerful amplifier, plug in a bunch of speakers, and voilà, your 5.1 surround setup is done. However, over the last decade or two, an unlikely competitor to this standard setup has entered the ring.

The competition in question is, of course, the soundbar. These little devices started as a budget solution for a TV audio problem. If you wanted something to amplify dialogues and sound a little bit, but you didn't want to bother with the whole stereo or surround setup, a cheap soundbar was an ideal solution.

Nowadays, though, soundbars have gone far beyond their humble, budget beginnings. Nowadays, they are far more popular than fully-fledged surround setups thanks to their convenience, and a much more compact frame. Combining that with virtual surround sound capabilities and other forms of software trickery, they can go toe to toe with speaker-based systems. That being said, there are still a lot of advantages that speakers keep over soundbars. So, if you're wondering which one you should pick for your home theater setup, here's why speakers might be the choice for you.

Your setup means your rules

Go as big or as small as you want

Soundbars became so popular thanks to, among other strengths, their all-in-one design. You only have to connect one piece to your TV (well, two if you went for a setup with a subwoofer) and you can start watching. However, with this convenience also comes the biggest limiting factor of soundbars.

Speaker systems, whether you're starting with a simple 2.0 stereo setup, or a more advanced 3.1 or 5.1 configuration, are always ready to be upgraded. Just grab some more speakers, plug them into your amp, and you can quickly expand the number of channels. Your amplifier is running out of available channels? Buying another one with even more possibilities is just as easy.

This means you can make your setup as huge or as compact as you want. A big home theater studio with dozens of speakers is totally achievable. On the other hand, a minimalist setup with a small amp and 2 quality bookshelf speakers is often all that you need to get crisp, stereo sound.

Tailor-made sound

Mix and match to your heart's content

Speaking of expandability, creating a speaker home audio setup gives you one more area to stretch your legs. By buying a soundbar, you're automatically limited to what the manufacturer provided: all the speakers are built into the soundbar; sometimes you also get a standalone subwoofer. However, with a speaker setup, you can make a set out of anything you want.

What it means is that nothing really has to match. You can get an amplifier from one manufacturer, two of your front channels from another, and the same story goes for any other piece of your setup. Of course, it's good to have opposite channels (so front left and front right, back left and back right, etc.) represented with the same pair of speakers, but aside from that, there are virtually no rules.

There's no replacing physical channels

Back in my day, you had to have a back speaker to have a back channel

Soundbars have become so popular, for the most part, because of the marvels of modern software. These small, under-TV devices can fill your whole living room with surround sound worthy of great speaker setups, and all of that is achieved by virtually creating audio channels around you. Then, a soundbar bounces the sound of your walls, making you feel as if the speaker was behind you.

This software implementation is breathtaking and, really, hard to imagine. However, as all things software, it's great when it works, but it can stop working. With a speaker setup, this is not the case. Once you have your stereo or surround system in place, with all the speakers exactly in their perfect positions, there is hardly anything that can go wrong. Because of the physical speakers, audio channels are firmly in place around you, without the need for any software trickery.

Don't limit yourself to TV

Throw some music into the mix

There is one more thing about soundbars that needs to be said. Unfortunately, they are rather narrow in their uses. Usually, a soundbar's sound, out of the box, will be tuned to be excellent for a typical TV-watcher. This means clear high tones for dialogues and a little bit of bass for immersive sound effects.

Unfortunately, the charm is quickly broken when you try to put on some music, and the limitations are revealed. In the end, these are tiny speakers, and they can only do so much. Speakers are a completely different story. You can mix and match them, settling on a setup that will work just as well when watching content, as well as listening to any type of music you want.

Are speakers better than soundbars?

Ultimately, as usual, it depends

As you can see, speakers are still holding their own against the onslaught of soundbars, and for good reason. Ultimately, these two kinds of devices serve a bit of a different purpose, so choosing one over the other is a matter of your own preference. If you're not that into critical listening, or you simply don't want all the hassle that comes with a true surround system, getting a soundbar is the way to go. On the other hand, if a bit of elbow grease does not scare you, and you like your setup to be as modular and upgradeable as you want, there is still nothing better than a traditional speaker setup.