Attention! The accuracy of the information and the results of the ranking is subjective and is not an advertisement.
9 best soundbars
High-quality sound from the "bar"
Author: Alexander Lazarenko, Stepan Kagner
Even a technically advanced TV with a huge diagonal and great picture will not be able to provide the perfect sound when watching movies or listening to music. Connoisseurs of high-quality sound find a solution in acquiring home theaters. But not everyone has enough space to accommodate it. The problem can be solved by a soundbar - a monoblock active speaker, whose dynamics are controlled by a complex digital algorithm that very convincingly imitates the sound of an ordinary spatial speaker system: a good soundbar, taking up a minimum of space in the room, can divide the sound stage not only in right-left directions, but and “back and forth” and even “up and down”, taking advantage of the characteristics of human hearing. An inexpensive soundbar, although it does not give a spatial sound, will give it a better quality in comparison with low-power speakers that are now embedded in flat panels.
With the spread and improvement of wireless technologies, the advantage of soundbars has become the simplicity of installation: it is enough to connect it to an outlet without pulling speaker cables throughout the room. A modern soundbar can interface with a sound source and an active subwoofer “through the air”, play audio from a local network, and much more.
So, maybe you really do not need a lot of columns at home? Let's try to evaluate what the market can offer us in 2018. Having reviewed a variety of models presented on the Russian market, let us present our rating of the best and most popular sound panels.
Ranking of the best soundbars of 2017-2018
| Category | A place | Name | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Universal Sound Bars | 1 | Sonos playbar | 9.9 / 10 | 77 000 |
| Best Budget Soundbars 2.1 | 1 | Samsung HW-K450 | 9.4 / 10 | 15 500 |
| 2 | Samsung HW-M360 | 8.9 / 10 | 13 100 | |
| Best high-end soundbars 2.1 | 1 | Denon DHT-S514 | 9.8 / 10 | 41 990 |
| 2 | Canton DM 55 | 9.5 / 10 | 32 990 | |
| 3 | Canton DM 90.3 | 9.4 / 10 | 89 990 | |
| Best Soundbars 4.1 | 1 | Philips B5 | 9.8 / 10 | 5 810 |
| Best Soundbars 5.1 | 1 | Yamaha YSP-1600 | 9.7 / 10 | 39 990 |
| Best Soundbars 7.1 | 1 | Yamaha YSP-5600 | 9.9 / 10 | 129 990 |
Best Universal Sound Bars
|
77 000
Amazing functionality of the device. If someone is confused by the lack of HDMI connectors, the answer will be Sonos philosophy: creating a smart music house. The TV can be connected to the soundbar via an optical cable, or you can not connect at all, since the playbar will automatically receive a sound signal from your TV. In addition to its direct destination, the Sonos Playbar plays music from any device in your home, and if the content is not enough, the Playbar can easily find it on the Internet. Nine speakers are responsible for the excellent sound quality, and the ability to scale the speaker system adds additional bonuses to the player. You can direct a specific sound to at least every selected column in the house: a lullaby will sound in the nursery, and muffled rock in the living room. Since the gadget is fully integrated into your Wi-Fi network, you can control the soundbar from any device. Sonos Playbar sound panel will be appreciated by lovers of pure, powerful, surround sound, and multimedia cloud interactivity fans. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.9 / 10
Rating
Reviews
True acoustics of the XXI century.Forget about wires, consoles, HDMI, everything is configured and controlled from a smartphone. And the sound is simply amazing, the only one that begs is a full-fledged subwoofer. |
Best Budget Soundbars 2.1
|
15 500
The best in our ranking of an inexpensive soundbar is the Samsung HW-K450. Widely distributed tweeters well share the sound channels - in this regard, with proper installation and configuration, Samsung can be a good choice for stereo sound. However, in the implementation of Bluetooth, Samsung is clearly losing some models of competitors: interfacing with any devices other than its own TVs is more problematic, there may be short-term sound loss. So the sound panel HW-K450 is best purchased for TVs of the same brand or use an HDMI connection.
Another feature of the Bluetooth module in this model is that it may conflict with a home WiFi router, so it’s worth spending time setting up channels in both devices: alas, both Bluetooth and WiFi use the same 2.4 GHz frequency band . Do not forget about the firmware updates: the latter was released in June 2017 and significantly improved the performance of the soundbar in comparison with older software. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.4 / 10
Rating
Reviews
I had to tinker, but in the end the sound became stable and noticeably better than that of the TV speakers. |
|
13 100
The simplicity of the interfaces of this soundbar reduces the list of characteristics, but does not degrade its sound. Taking into account the fact that the Toslink optical interface is no longer a rarity, the absence of HDMI in this model cannot be called a definite minus, besides, there is also Bluetooth.
Thanks to Bluetooth, this soundbar has the option of expanding to full 5.1 acoustics: by purchasing the Samsung Wireless Rear Speaker Kit, you get real, not virtual, rear speakers, which also raise the total power of your home acoustics from the original 200 watts. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 8.9 / 10
Rating
Reviews
I took a sound bar for an old TV, so I didn't need a lot of bells and whistles. But for the opportunity to play music from a laptop or phone - many thanks to the creators. |
Best high-end soundbars 2.1
|
41 990
The Japanese brand Denon is unusual for the philistine ear, but for fans of high-quality sound, it speaks for itself. In addition to sound, the DHT-S514 attracts users with the convenience of control in conjunction with the TV: it comes with an infrared repeater, which allows you not to aim separately at the soundbar, but to send lazy to the TV as usual, teaching eight commands from any standard TV remote on a compact remote from the kit.
The soundbar is capable of receiving sound via HDMI, from the line input and optocable, Bluetooth is also supported, and with very good connection stability with different gadgets. Two sets of mid-ovals and tweeters, enclosed in separate volumes with phase inverters, are responsible for the sound of the front channels, and two 133-mm loudspeakers “settled” in the subwoofer. We especially note that when the volume is lowered, the detail of the sound is not lost, which is what cheap acoustics sin for: the speakers play all the nuances of the sound perfectly. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
I did not expect such a sound from the original compromise solution. Denon confidently holds the brand. |
|
32 990
Acoustics always need a certain amount of rear volume, and soundbars have always had clear problems with this that required separate tricks to improve sound quality. When creating the Canton DM 55, the solution was unconventional: this soundbar is designed as a TV stand, which limits the choice of options for installation, but it gives a solid plus to the internal volume.
The soundbar is a monoblock one, that is, a subwoofer is built into it: 50 mm and 19 mm tweeters with silk diffusers are responsible for the side channels (which in itself already hints at the quality of the “tops”), two low-frequency loudspeakers are located in the center of the case and directed downwards . The sound panel is devoid of HDMi-input, having only traditional analog and optical. There is also Bluetooth, and with the support of high-quality audio stream apt-X. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.5 / 10
Rating
Reviews
Awesome sound. Honestly, I did not expect anything like it from the soundbar, but I was able to surprise. |
|
89 990
The acoustics of the German manufacturer Canton always stunned the rumor of true music lovers and moviegoers, and also repeatedly won in various competitions and nominations. So, the Canton DM 90.3 model is recognized as the best soundbar of the 2015-2016 year according to the version of the European Association of Image and Sound (EISA). The reward is a reward, but the main thing is the really outstanding sound that this powerful 2.1-speaker surround sound system creates. Add a modest but harmonious and stylish design, ease of connection, a wide range of input and output interfaces - and we get almost perfect sound bar. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.4 / 10
Rating
Reviews
I love everything compact and high quality. Therefore, I chose the soundbar Canton DM 90.3. I did not hear such an exceptional sound even from clever home theaters. I recommend to all audio lovers. |
Best Soundbars 4.1
|
5 810
In the fight for quality of detailing the sound in the “back and forth” direction, where the soundbars have obvious problems, Philips engineers in their Fidelio series resorted to a simple but effective solution: they created the 4.1 system, where the soundbar uniting the front channels in one case was complemented by two compact wireless satellites. In order not to clutter the room with the power wires of the satellites, they were made wireless not only by connecting, but also by power: the built-in batteries can be charged from the soundbar itself, in which the satellites are inserted into the sidewalls. Of course, deciding to watch a movie with spatial sound, you have to shoot satellites every time and arrange them, so in B5 this is the most controversial moment. It is possible and not to shoot the satellites - in this case, they expand the stereo base of the front channels, making the sound more interesting than that of the usual 2.1 soundbars. You can use them as separate speakers for your smartphone or laptop. Another unconventional solution is the subwoofer speaker, which is aimed directly at the floor. However, in practice it works well. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.8 / 10
Rating
Reviews
Chose a soundbar in a real store. Philips B5 design immediately attracted attention, and after listening, I already knew that I would choose. The focus with the separation of speakers and wireless performance finally strengthened my choice. |
Best Soundbars 5.1
|
39 990
Ultra-compact solution, the best sound panel for those who care about every inch of space: due to the built-in subwoofer, this Yamaha soundbar will take up minimal space in the room, while providing excellent and detailed sound, if you do not require a brainwave infranise from it, which is a compact 60-watt subwoofer just physically will not give out. Given this, the developers have equipped the soundbar with an output to an external subwoofer - if you have a low base, you can always add acoustics to the floor.
All sound channels are output through multidirectional 20-watt broadband speakers.Although clear skepticism can be experienced with such a solution, in practice these speakers provide sufficient uniformity of the frequency response, and their sound is not bad. In addition to the ability to connect via HDMI, the soundbar also supports DLNA (an Ethernet connector is provided for connecting to a home LAN) and optics. Owners of Apple gadgets can play music from them using AirPlay. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.7 / 10
Rating
Reviews
It's great that one soundbar can be used with a TV, and with a laptop, and include music from a tablet. And the sound for this size is great. |
Best Soundbars 7.1
|
129 990
In its complexity, this soundbar ... no, nevertheless, rather, a full-fledged sound projector can confidently argue with studio equipment: it has 32 high-frequency radiators, 12 mid-frequency speakers and 2 low-frequency speakers, and with individual amplifying paths! Like the AFAR lattice of a military radar, this design becomes capable of generating tangible directional sound "rays" in a room, fully constructing a sound stage. And there is support for all modern spatial formats - not only Dolby Atmos, but also promising and actively implemented DTS: X.
If the two 100-mm low-frequency woofers are not enough for you, it is always possible to connect an external subwoofer, which is also controlled through the built-in signal processor, which adjusts the phase and time delays for each channel individually. Moreover, the subwoofer can be used both wired and with Bluetooth-connection, so that the choice you are not limited. In fact, this soundbar in terms of functionality is similar to a middle-class AV receiver, in which the acoustics are embedded. The simplicity of setting up all 46 audio channels here deserves a separate description - it is enough to activate the settings mode and use the complete measurement microphone to adapt the sound emitter control algorithm to a specific room. Main advantages:
Minuses:
|
 9.9 / 10
Rating
Reviews
The best soundbar! With such a size it is just something! When it rains on the screen, you really feel drops are falling, buying Bluray is one hundred percent worth it. |
Which soundbar is better to buy?
The main criterion when choosing the best soundbar is, of course, high-quality sound. To achieve the perfect sound, manufacturers expensive sound panels use first-class components for their speakers and innovative technological developments. That is why professional sound panels form a powerful, deep, crystal-clear, surround sound without distortion and interference, but the price of such combines exceeds the limit.
Budget models focused on the mass consumer, and although they are inferior to world leaders in sound quality, sometimes they overlook them in terms of functionality, going beyond the classical speaker system.
Connecting a remote subwoofer using wireless technology is becoming an almost integral part of a modern sound panel. An important criterion is the design of the model. It is important that the soundbar harmoniously and organically fit into the interior with your TV and does not seem like an alien "body."
The choice is always yours. Enjoy the shopping!
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Updated: 14.02.2018
