How to Choose a Soundbar

Flat televisions have very little room for speakers, and it shows. Voices sound thin, music lacks warmth and explosions arrive as a polite tap. A soundbar fixes much of that with one long box and, often, a single cable. The difficulty is choosing one, because the shelves are full of numbers, logos and promises. This guide sets aside the jargon and starts with the questions that matter in an ordinary living room.

Start with what bothers you

Before comparing models, decide what you actually want to improve.

• Hard-to-hear dialogue? Look for a model with a dedicated centre channel and a speech or voice enhancement mode.
• Flat, small sound for films and games? A wider bar or one paired with a subwoofer will add scale and depth.
• Music as well as TV? Check whether it supports the wireless or wired connections you already use for music.
• Late-night viewing in a flat? A night mode that narrows the gap between quiet and loud moments is worth having.

Size and placement

A soundbar looks most at home when it is roughly as wide as the TV or a little narrower. More importantly, it has to fit where you plan to put it. Measure the space on your cabinet and the gap between the cabinet top and the bottom of the screen; a tall bar can block the picture or the TV's infrared receiver. If your TV is on the wall, check whether the bar can be wall-mounted and whether a bracket is included.

Channels in plain words

Soundbars are often described with numbers such as 2.0, 3.1 or 5.1.2. The first number is the main speaker channels, the second is the subwoofer, and a third, if present, refers to upward-firing speakers for overhead effects.

More channels do not automatically mean better sound. A well-designed simple bar can beat a complicated one that is poorly set up or squeezed into the wrong room.

Subwoofer or not?

A separate subwoofer adds the low rumble that makes action scenes feel weighty. Many come wireless, needing only a power socket. In a flat with neighbours below, though, deep bass travels easily. If that worries you, choose a bar with good built-in bass and a night mode, or one that lets you turn the subwoofer level down easily.

Connections that matter

1. HDMI ARC or eARC. This is usually the best way to connect. Sound from every app and device on your TV goes to the bar through one cable, and your TV remote can often control the volume. eARC carries higher-quality formats; check that your TV's HDMI port supports the same.
2. Optical. A reliable fallback for older TVs, though it carries fewer surround formats.
3. Extra HDMI inputs. Useful if you want to plug a games console or player straight into the bar.
4. Wireless. Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for music from phones; some bars also join multi-room systems.

Look at the back of your TV before you buy. Knowing which ports you have prevents the most common disappointment.

Formats and logos

Surround and object-based formats can add a convincing sense of space, but only if your films, streaming apps and TV deliver them in that form. Treat format support as a bonus, not the main reason to pick a model. Clear voices and balanced sound make a bigger difference every evening than a logo you rarely use.

Listen if you can

Showrooms are loud and acoustically unlike your home, but a listen still tells you something. Bring a short clip you know well, ideally a dialogue-heavy scene and a piece of music. Pay attention to whether voices sound natural at low volume. Check the return policy too, so you can test the bar in your own room.

Setting it up well

• Place the bar centred under the screen, with nothing blocking its front.
• Switch the TV's own speakers off in the audio menu so they do not echo the bar.
• Run any room calibration the bar offers.
• Try the subwoofer in a couple of positions along the front wall.
• Update the firmware when prompted; updates often fix connection quirks.

The same bar can also serve a projector set-up; our guide to setting up a projector at home explains how to route the sound. If the soundbar is part of a wider refresh of the boxes under your TV, see choosing the right IPTV setup as well.