TechAudioSpeakersSoundbarsWhat’s the difference between a soundbar and surround sound?How to pick the best audio upgrades for every kind of TV including LED TV, OLED TV, big TVs and little ones tooWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechAudioSpeakersSoundbarsWhat’s the difference between a soundbar and surround sound?How to pick the best audio upgrades for every kind of TV including LED TV, OLED TV, big TVs and little ones tooWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
How to pick the best audio upgrades for every kind of TV including LED TV, OLED TV, big TVs and little ones too
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Sonos)
(Image credit: Sonos)
What’s the difference between one of thebest soundbarsand surround sound? We get asked that a lot, and the simplest answer is that a soundbar is a kind of speaker system and surround sound is something that speaker systems can create.
Surround sound is all about having multiple speaker channels, each of which gets its own audio feed. So for example with a single-speaker (mono) setup, all your audio is sent to and comes out of a single speaker. With stereo, you have a left speaker and a right speaker, with different audio sent to each – so the drums might be in the middle, the guitar over to the left, the keyboards to the right. We’re so used to that we don’t really notice it.
(Image credit: Denon)
(Image credit: Denon)
What is a soundbar?
There’s a second kind of soundbar, although it’s a lot less common: a sound base. This is a soundbar that’s been deliberately made wider and deeper so you can plonk your TV on top of it, which is handy for TVs whose legs don’t allow other soundbars enough room.
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Many soundbars also double assmart speakers, enabling you to commandAlexaorGoogleAssistant. Some can also stream from music and TV services to your TV. And many enable you to stream music from your computer, tablet or phone so you can use them asBluetooth speakers.
Some soundbars, such asSamsung’s ownsoundbars for Samsung TVs, can work in harmony with your TV’s own speakers, effectively turning your TV into a large central speaker.
The benefits are pretty clear: fewer speakers means less money and considerably less cabling.
Soundbars connect to your TV with a single cable, and many models' associated subwoofers and rear speakers are wireless so you can upgrade to full surround sound without running any cables.
The downsides? The small size of soundbars limits the size of the drivers they can contain, whereas with an AV receiver you can connect speakers of any size. That’s not an issue if you don’t tend to listen loud but the difference can be considerable if you do.
There’s flexibility to consider too, particularly if you want full surround sound. My system is a mix of Tannoy, Yamaha and can’t-remember-what speakers that I really like, but some soundbars will only talk to speakers and subwoofers from the same manufacturer.
And that can lead to the third thing, which is expense. If you take something likeSonos’s smaller soundbar, the Sonos Ray, that’s about $279/£279 – but if you want to add additional surround speakers, you need Sonos One SLs. They’re $398 / £340 a pair, and until the newer, cheaperSonos Sub Minilaunches the Sonos Sub subwoofer will set you back $699/£629. The sound you’ll get will be fantastic, but you’ll be paying a lot more than I did.
The good new is that you don’t need to spend anywhere near that much money for a great soundbar, and you can buy entire surround sound systems with a soundbar at the centre for considerably less cash. That’s why I think it’s important to check out ourbest soundbars guideso you can see the variety of systems, and compare them to thebest AV receiversto decide which is best for you.
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