Sound bars are a commodity now maybe they are but there's no getting around the fact
that there are a ton of them to choose from if you've landed here needing some help figuring
out which one to buy well good news because that's exactly what I'm going to try and do
welcome back everyone I'm Caleb Denison and I know the last thing you need is for me to explain
to you why you want a sound bar you know why you want one but I can definitely understand if you're
feeling a little apprehensive about choosing one since there are so many to choose from well we've
tested quite a few over the years including some of the best you can buy right now so allow me to
share my personal favorites and see if that helps you make a decision before I get to it and just in
case you didn't see the short I published a few days ago I just wanted to say thank you to those
of you out there who helped us reach the 1 million subscriber Milestone I appreciate you so much kind
of a big deal for us and all of you out there who are subscribed helped make it happen as promised
we are going to have a celebratory giveaway and we'll post details about that soon but I assure
you none of it will be happening in the comments section yes I'm sorry but this is another PSA
urging you not to engage with anyone posing as Digital Trends in the comments section we will
never ask you to connect with us on telegram or anywhere other than digitaltrends.com really
anyway thanks again and if you aren't already subscribed it's not too late and if you want
to support us in another way I've got shopping links to all the sound bars on this list down in
the description click one of those and we'll get a little Kickback not required by any means but
certainly appreciate it okay so to start know this not every great sound bar is on this list
this is a list of my personal favorites based on those I've tested over the last year or so and I
have to keep this list rained in or we just be here forever so just because I don't recommend
the sound bar you already bought or are thinking of buying that doesn't mean it isn't a good choice
okay just can't catch them all and for that matter I'm gonna be a little light on details with these
sound bars because we need to keep it tight but I do have links to all the full reviews down in the
description so with that said how about we start with the less expensive options and work our way
up that means that we must start with the the best sound bar under 200 bucks and that's the Vizio
M series all-in-one aka the Vizio m-series AIO m213ad-k 8. hey don't shoot the messenger okay I
don't make these model numbers up I know you won't remember it which is why I have it printed down in
the description also there's an older model that looks similar so be sure you click through to this
one anyway what this Soundbar lacks in memorable model number it makes up for in performance for
the price it supports HDMI earc processes Dolby Atmos and dtsx has six speakers built in two of
which are dedicated to producing bass and frankly it sounds far better than it should at this price
I suspect that for a lot of folks this is all the sound bar you need if you just hate the way
your TV speaker sound and need something better and that's because this Soundbar has a way of
bar exceeding expectations it's small in stature and big in sound the Fidelity is the surprisingly
good too you won't find it sounding harsh or empty or Hollow at all so if you've been wondering can
it really be that good at just 200 the answer is an emphatic yes next on the list is a quick
shout out for the zvox av157 TV speaker now if you or someone you know frequently struggles to
hear dialogue when watching TV or movies then this speaker may be a good solution its primary purpose
is to make dialogue more intelligible and it does that very well for a broad range of folks with
varying levels of hearing abilities as it's got 12 different presets to choose from one of them
is likely to make hearing dialogue much easier and for that purpose the Z Box is a solid buy next up
is my favorite pick for an inexpensive full 5.1 surround system and that is the Vizio m-series
5.1 Soundbar model m51ax j6 good grief look this Soundbar features discrete surround speakers that
you connect to a wireless subwoofer so you'll need to place the subwoofer toward the back of
the room and plug it into power but once you do that you get wireless signal delivery to the sub
and Surround speakers which I found to be very convenient again the Fidelity on this sound bar
is surprisingly good as is the Surround Sound Performance and base impact Vizio is the value
leader in sound bars right now and this pick is another reason why and believe it or not this
isn't the last we've heard from Vizio on this list if you want true surround sound without busting
the bank this is the best pick for the money so now it's time to move into Dolby Atmos sound bars
and to clear up any confusion I know that a lot of sound bars advertise Dolby Atmos on the box and
they do process and kind of approximate Dolby Atmos around but they do that virtually using
Sonic trickery the Dolby Atmos sound bars I'm going to run through here each have at least two
up firing drivers to bounce sound off your ceiling and in some cases actually have four up firing
drivers just wanted to make that distinction so just to keep things changed up a bit I want to
highlight the Bose smart Soundbar 600. this Soundbar is another single speaker solution
it has two up firing drivers and it has built-in support for Amazon's Alexa sorry if I just alerted
your smart speaker which is what makes it a smart sound bar now this Soundbar sounds super robust
and is another great compact sound solution with the added benefit of height effects that
Dolby Atmos offers Bose makes a lot of excellent sound bars but the reason that this one makes the
list is because we actually feel it edges out the Sonos beam which is another strong option in this
category the Sonos beam does Dolby Atmos virtually and does a great job with it but the Bose soundbar
600 with its discrete drivers just does it better now of course the Sonos beam comes with the
advantage of being part of the Sonos ecosystem and nobody does multi-room audio better than Sonos so
two solid options here just depends on what your needs may be but I highly recommend both moving
along and in the same price category is the Vizio M series Elevate now this is one trick sound bar
it's got up firing speakers that emerge from the sound bar when an Atmos signal is detected which
is more than just a cool party trick and when there's no Atmos signal the speakers rotate back
in and fire out at you enhancing The Sound Stage for anything non-atmodes that you're listening
to it comes with surround speakers and a wireless sub and I think it's a pretty attractive package
it sounds great I really enjoy listening to this thing and I think you will as well now you may be
aware that there is another Vizio Elevate sound bar that's the P series Elevate and it's a bit
more expensive it's been around for a while longer and it doesn't follow the same design
language as the M series but it does also have rotating Atmos speakers up front as well as up
firing drivers in the surround speakers so it's a bit more capable overall and a great sub 1000
option for premium at most performance next up is our top pick for music listeners in the sub 1000
category and that is the Sony HTA 5000 now this is a great Dolby Atmos Soundbar for movies and
TV with two up firing drivers and you can build on it by adding surrounds or a subwoofer if you
need to but like the other single bar Solutions on this list it can stand on its own really well
and what makes it stand out is that it sounds great for music in a way none of the other sub 1
000 sound bars on this list do it's just more articulate and true to musical recordings has
a great soundstage and awesome balance it's kind of a niche pick I'll grant you that but one that I
think could help folks with with some particular needs now things are really gonna heat up the
prices are going up but we're getting into some seriously premium sound territory here I'm going
to step outside of this Progressive pricing thing we've got going on and go straight to
the most expensive sound bar on this list but wait till you hear what I have to say about it I think
it'll make sense I'm talking about the Sennheiser ambio sound bar plus nobody and I mean nobody does
virtual Dolby Atmos surround sound better than Sennheiser this is by far the most convincing
compact single speaker Dolby Atmos sound solution we have ever heard so if you're wondering why it
is so expensive well that's why it sounds superb top to bottom it's amazing for music as well as
movies and honestly it's just astonishing what this sound bar can do you may be familiar with
the larger even more expensive Sennheiser ambio this is the smaller version we're talking about
here with still very impressive chops granted I know this isn't the right sound bar for everyone
but if you want the best you can get in a modestly sized package here it is it is exquisite premium
and also Exquisite now my friends we have come to the top of the list the best of the best and
honestly I've been kind of debating between these two sound bars for like days now trying to decide
if one should be crowned King over the other and I'm just not comfortable saying one is objectively
better than another because it's gonna come down to personal needs and preferences so let me tell
you about my favorite top tier sound bars of the year the Sonos Arc and the Samsung q990b
now obviously we're talking about two different approaches here the Sonos Arc starts as a single
speaker deal it sounds bigger Fuller richer and has better Dolby Atmos surround effects than
the smaller Sonos beam that I mentioned earlier and that's because it has discrete Dolby Atmos
speakers but with the Sonos Arc you can add other Sonos speakers as surround speakers and you can
add a Sonos sub as well and if you do that you'll get a full Dolby Atmos surround package that is
more expensive than the Samsung qn990b I'm about to talk about but its performance is impeccable I
think the Fidelity is more refined and upscale for my personal taste but it's also a bit more
versatile in that the Sonos surround speakers can function as whole home audio speakers if you want
them to I mean like I said before nobody does whole home audio better than Sonos so the fact
that you can have a full Dolby Atmos surround system and a distributed sound system from this
modular package is pretty enticing some may say that that's the best there is but then there's the
Samsung q990b which I think is the best one box surround sound solution that you can buy right now
everything you need comes in one box with a Burly sound bar very capable subwoofer and arguably the
best wireless Dolby Atmos surround speakers I've heard to date they actually have four drivers in
each one and the Dolby Atmos surround effects that they help create along with the atmos drivers in
the sound bar it's just a phenomenal experience and the Fidelity is Top Notch too I love the
quality and richness of the sound plus if you own certain Samsung qled TVs you also get Samsung's Q
Symphony sound feature which uses the TV speakers to enhance the sound field a little bit plus the
ability to have no cables at all between the TV and the sound bar for truly Wireless Dolby Atmos
surround sound signal delivery it's not Bluetooth it's way better than that so you can see how some
may argue that the QI 90b is the top dog on this list now I know some of you may be wondering about
the Klipsch Cinema 1200 and I do so love that system very much there's no better subwoofer
included in a soundbar package on the market if you ask me I had to mention it here for sure
and if you love Clips go for it just know the subwoofer is unapologetically forceful and kind
of hard to tame down it's best for big rooms for sure of course I say that as I'm rocking one in
my bedroom but as I've said before it's kind of a ridiculous application anyway no matter which
way you go from budget to Ultra Premium I think every pick on this list is a super solid choice
in its price bracket you can't go wrong with any of them I hope I've helped make your decision a
bit easier and remember if you want to learn more you'll find full reviews for these linked down in
the description whatever you pick have fun with it thanks as always for watching everyone leave me a
comment about what you think is the best Soundbar out there please consider liking and subscribing
I'll see you on the next one and until then here's two other videos I think you might like