The 6 Best Soundbars Deliver Cinema-Grade Home Audio

Adding a soundbar to your TV setup is the first step toward building a proper home theater. Your TV is, first and foremost, a display. So while every model technically has built-in speakers, most aren’t very good. TV speakers tend to sound tinny, can’t get very loud, and sometimes get downright unclear when you turn the volume up.

And there’s a reason for that: Modern TVs are very thin and don’t have enough physical room inside for larger, more sophisticated speaker drivers, so they can't produce loud, detailed soundscapes. If you want a great setup for TV, movies, and video games at home, then you need a dedicated external audio system.

These days, the easiest and most cost-effective way to do that is by adding a soundbar. These unibody speaker systems sit under your TV, replacing the constrained TV speakers with a larger set of powerful speakers that provide more nuanced stereo sound, and often produce simulated surround sound. We think of them primarily as a TV augment, but they’re also great for listening to music or podcasts in your living room if you’d prefer to have a screen-off moment.

Over time, soundbars have evolved from the budget-conscious, all-in-one alternative to a surround sound system to the dominant form factor for TV audio. Even proper 5.1 and 7.1 systems feature a bar instead of three front-facing speakers. That’s good news for shoppers, because it means they come in a wide array of price points: Larger, more robust systems can cost just as much as a high-end TV, but there are also budget-friendly options you can get for $100 to $200, and even the cheapest ones feel like an upgrade compared to most TV speakers (especially when you add a subwoofer to pump up the bass).

That also means there’s a lot to think about when you pick one out, though. Luckily, I’ve been testing soundbars for years, so I can point you to the right option for your setup based on size, audio performance, and budget.

• Best Overall: Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar​
• Best Value: Klipsch Flexus Core 200 Soundbar​
• Best Dolby Atmos Support: Sonos Arc Ultra Soundbar​
• Best Under $300: Polk Audio Signa S2 Soundbar​
• Best Compact: Sonos Beam Ultra Soundbar​
• Best for Audiophiles: Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 Soundbar

I’ve been testing audio gear, including soundbars, since 2011. To find the best options on the market, I’ve spent weeks using each one (and many others) linked to my TV, pumping out audio for movies, TV, video games, and music.

Beyond scrutinizing each product's bass, treble, and midrange audio, I paid close attention to dialogue clarity, which is essential for any content focused on voice conversations—from movie scenes and newscasts to live sports. I also looked for options to adjust both sound and voice clarity on each device.

To do that, I watched a variety of movies, series, and live sports with stereo and Dolby Atmos-enhanced sound from major streaming services, including Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, and Hulu. I also streamed an eclectic mix of music to every soundbar from my phone and laptop. I also threw in a few podcasts to see how they sounded, too.

Bose’s newest flagship soundbar, the Lifestyle Ultra, is the audio giant’s best yet. It offers a sleek design and exceptional sound, with seamless smart home integration and an intuitive companion app that makes setup and audio adjustments easy. With a four-digit starting price before additional discounts, the device isn't an impulse buy, but a solid investment that will elevate the sound of any TV in any room.

With nine audio drivers, the Lifestyle Ultra delivered rich, immersive sound with deep, well-contained bass out of the box. The soundbar's low-end output alone was particularly impressive, adding depth to scenes without compromising other sound effects across the audible spectrum. Speech in any content I played sounded crisp and clear, too. As usual, the Bose app let me customize every part of the audio experience—from bass and treble to voice clarity.

And it shouldn’t be overlooked that this is a stylish piece of tech, whose curved sides, fabric speaker cover, and glass top panel help it blend seamlessly with any home decor.

Finally, Bose gives you the ability to build out a full surround system around this soundbar. (Once exclusively the purview of Sonos, wireless syncing among speaker families is increasingly common among high-end audio brands.) The Lifestyle Ultra speakers and subwoofer match the soundbar, both in their nuanced audio output and their luxurious style.

The Klipsch Flexus Core 200 is a stylish soundbar that delivers solid audio for under $500—a relative bargain compared to flagship options from brands like Sony, Bose, and Sonos. It lacks some of the features I look for in a bar, including WiFi connectivity, but it’s a strong option if you want great sound without spending extensively.

Soundwise, the first thing that impressed me about the Core 200 was its thunderous bass, powered by a pair of 4-inch subwoofers. Its low-end output added a welcome touch of excitement to everything I watched, listened to, and played, making it all more engaging. Needless to say, this is a great choice if you love bass-heavy music, too.

The Klipsch Connect companion app offers a robust selection of sound customization tools, including a graphic equalizer and the option to enhance dialogue in scenes. It also includes useful features like night mode, which tones down the bass to minimize disturbance to others. Given the Flexus Core 200's low-end power, that’s especially helpful for apartment dwellers like me.

You can expand the Flexus Core 200 into a surround sound system via an additional Klipsch subwoofer and surround sound speakers, all while keeping your budget in three-digit territory. The subwoofer features a 10-inch speaker that nicely complements the soundbar's already powerful bass.

The Sonos Arc Ultra delivers phenomenal audio quality, thanks to a whopping 14 audio drivers in the bar—that’s more speakers than any option on the list right now. It’s pricey, but like the Bose Lifestyle Ultra, it is a worthy investment that makes watching a movie at home feel more like sitting in the best seat in a movie theater.

The Arc Ultra generates powerful bass, crisp treble, and clear dialogue. Using the Sonos app, I could adjust the bass and treble intensity and enhance speech with four levels. Tuning the speaker for my space with Sonos Connect was also intuitive. The Sonos app used my phone's built-in microphones to tailor the soundbar's audio to my living room. The process took only a couple of minutes.

With more drivers, the Arc Ultra can deliver more sound across more channels, offering better surround support than the Bose and a broader soundstage. I gave the Bose the top spot because of its elegant design and more tools for streaming content from your devices, including Google Cast. That wireless protocol makes streaming high-quality audio to the soundbar from, say, an Android phone easy over WiFi.

And, like all Sonos gear, it offers unparalleled expandability. All Sonos speakers can integrate and interact wirelessly, letting you create a multiroom audio system and play music throughout your home. Even if you keep it to the living room, you can pair the Arc Ultra with a Sonos Sub and a pair of rear Era 100 or Era 300 speakers to create a full Dolby Atmos sound system that will rival your local movie theater.

The Polk Signa S2 is the soundbar to get if you’re upgrading on a budget. It offers an impressively slim profile and decent sound for about $250. Unlike most soundbars we test, it includes a subwoofer in the box, bringing you one step closer to a surround sound system. It’s a tremendous bargain for folks looking to try home theater audio on a tight budget.

Like any bargain, though, it comes with some compromises. It lacks Dolby Atmos, so you aren’t getting much in the way of simulated surround sound. With four speakers, though, you’ll get very nice stereo sound with a central channel for clear dialogue. With the subwoofer, you’ll also get nice, booming bass.

If you don’t mind spending a bit more, trading up to the $330 Polk Audio Signa S3, which I’ve recommended in the past, will net you improved sound quality and WiFi connectivity. Spending a bit more, about $450, on the Signa S4 will add Dolby Atmos compatibility. All three, frankly, are bargains, but the Signa S2 is a standout if you want to spend as little as possible on a starter soundbar.

The Sonos Beam Ultra soundbar is a great choice if you don’t have much room for a soundbar under your TV. At just under 30 inches wide, it has an impressively compact footprint without skimping on features or performance. And, like other Sonos speakers, it plays nice with any other Sonos speakers, so you can easily build out a larger system whenever you feel inclined.

The device’s nine-speaker setup includes a pair of upward-facing units for multidimensional Dolby Atmos sound. Experiencing that while streaming enhanced content made me feel like I was using a bigger soundbar. That’s an impressive feat for Sonos and worth paying more for the Beam Ultra than its competitors. Unlike other small soundbars, I didn’t feel like I was sacrificing audio performance for a smaller footprint when I put the Sonos offering through its paces.

Beyond impressing me with sound that belies its size, the Sonos Beam Ultra also caught my attention by delivering clear dialogue across any type of content. Like the pricier Sonos Arc Ultra, the Beam Ultra can also pair with the excellent Sonos Ace Ultra headphones for a private Dolby Atmos sound that won’t disturb family and neighbors.

The Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 is an incredible, if expensive soundbar that I primarily recommend for audiophiles who plan to use their home theater for listening to music. In addition to cinema-grade sound, it supports lossless audio file formats and streaming, giving you the best version of your music in your listening space. It also supports digital upscaling to extract more detail from lower-quality audio.

Of all the soundbars I tested, the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 offered the most detail, with 11 onboard speakers and spatial-mapping technology that mimics a surround sound setup. Plus, the app made it easy to optimize the sound for my space.

Unsurprisingly, the Bravia Theater Bar 8 integrates particularly well with Sony’s latest TVs. If you already own one, it’s your best bet. If budget and space allow, you can expand the Bar 8 into a surround sound system by adding a subwoofer and rear speakers.

If you have the budget, the pricier Sony Bravia Theater Bar 9 brings even more power and nuance, stepping up to 13 drivers for a wider footprint and even more powerful sound. It’s helpful for larger spaces, but I think most living rooms will be properly served by the Bar 8.

Sound

The easiest way to gauge a soundbar’s audio output is by looking at the number of speakers it has inside. Having more audio drivers (the central component of a speaker) allows your soundbar to generate more sound, across a wider variety of channels. That leads to both more volume and more precision.

Manufacturers will generally describe a soundbar’s speaker setup in terms similar to a surround sound speaker setup, with two to three numbers separated by a dot, like “5.1,” or “7.1.2.” The first number refers to the number of front-facing speakers, the second refers to dedicated down-firing bass speakers, and the third refers to up-firing surround sound speakers, which are crucial for virtual surround sound formats like Dolby Atmos.

As a rule of thumb, don't settle for fewer than four audio drivers in a soundbar, even on a tight budget. While it will still sound better than your TV speakers, at this point, you can do much better on even a shoestring budget.

Simulated Surround Sound (Dolby Atmos)

A soundbar is a one-piece system, so it cannot, by definition, provide surround sound . . . And yet most of them do. How? Any good soundbar will feature some form of simulated surround, most commonly using a spatial audio format like Dolby Atmos, which bounces sounds off the ceiling to place certain sounds around, above, or below you. It is not quite as good as having speakers all over the place, but it works quite well when you have a soundbar with dedicated up-firing speakers.

We generally recommend looking for Atmos support specifically. While there are other formats, Atmos is the most widely supported by streaming services and other hardware. And, unless you’re on a very tight budget, I’d say steer clear of a soundbar with Atmos, but no dedicated up-firing speakers. A soundbar can simulate surround sound without them, but it doesn’t work nearly as well: You’re basically setting yourself up to immediately start looking for another upgrade.

Size

When not wall-mounted, soundbars should be placed right in front of a TV and underneath its screen, with the second option being the most commonly used setup among consumers. The width of a soundbar is especially important in these setups, so measure your TV unit to ensure it fits before you buy. I learned the importance of this task the hard way a while back.

Full-size soundbars measure more than 40 inches wide, making them well-suited for a big-screen TV with a 65-inch or larger panel, including 75- and 85-inch options. Smaller ones suffice if your TV is 55 inches or smaller, or if you don’t want to overspend on an upgrade.

Connectivity

HDMI is the default wired connection for all soundbars, regardless of price. Connecting a soundbar to a TV is as easy as plugging the included cable into your TV's enhanced audio return channel (commonly known as “eARC”), which is baked into one of its HDMI ports. (Look for the port marked “ARC” or “eARC.”)

More expensive soundbars may support HDMI 2.1 passthrough, which allows you to run devices like a game console through the HDMI input port on the soundbar, freeing up precious port space. If your soundbar doesn’t explicitly support passthrough, I’d urge you to plug your gear directly into the TV; the chain will lead to additional compression that may lead to latency or performance issues.

WiFi connectivity is mandatory for a high-end soundbar. It allows the product to stream higher-quality audio and link with other speakers in a multiroom setup. Soundbars with WiFi also support Apple AirPlay 2 or Google Cast, making it super easy to stream audio from a phone, tablet, or computer.

Additional Features

Most new soundbars include a companion app. Only budget-friendly models lack one, but their lower cost makes up for it. An app makes setting up a soundbar, customizing its sound, and keeping it up to date with updates easy.

I prefer using an app to control a soundbar over a bundled remote control. The essential accessory isn't included with many new soundbars, but I didn’t miss it.