Having a good speaker system at home is a great way to enhance family movie night without buying a whole new TV set or going to the movie theater every other night. A new and improved alternative to sound speakers, soundbars make sure that you won’t have to waste half of your living room’s space with large and cumbersome speaker boxes.
Instead, a good soundbar can give you theater-level sound for a very manageable price and without overwhelming your living room’s physical space. Incredibly compact, they also produce a fantastic sound that’s very customizable and easy to control.
I’ll go over the main advantages of soundbars below. I can’t possibly list all of them as this is a new and constantly developing technology – by the time I’m done writing there will be new soundbar models with even more features. However, I should be able to showcase why the best soundbar models are definitely a great fit for most people who like to watch movies or listen to music at home.
The 7 benefits of soundbars
The best soundbars have a lot of features, some unique to each specific model. I won’t get into too many technical details as every soundbar model is different but I’ll go over the main broad advantages you can expect to see from these devices.
The most compact option for great sound
Size matters for all things and it's at the core of what makes soundbars great. The best soundbars are specially designed to be as compact and inconspicuous as possible. That’s precisely why they are becoming more and more popular than large, and cumbersome speaker systems which tend to take a lot of space in your home.
With a good soundbar, however, you can get just as good or even better sound than most speaker systems at a fraction of the physical space they take in your living room.
Soundbars are designed to fit as well as possible with your TV
A good soundbar can be placed both below, in front of, or above a modern flat-screen TV. This is fantastic as allows for a seamless and focused sound that doesn’t feel as if it’s coming in the wrong direction. The fact that a soundbar looks great with a TV is a neat side benefit too.
The best soundbars offer a great sound
It’s easy to view soundbars as just a bar of small, inferior speakers but that’s not what they are, at least not necessarily. While there are some cheap and sub-par soundbars out there, as is the case with any type of technology, the best soundbars offer a stunningly good sound. Even just a mid-range soundbar should offer a much better sound, bass, and a reduced audio loss compared to any TV speaker.
Many soundbars come with extra speakers
If you’re looking for a sound system with a few extra speakers to put at the back of the couch or in the corners of your living room, some of the best soundbars have that too. There are all types of models and designs to choose from – most soundbars that come with extra speakers have two of them but some have more too.
This allows you to always find what you’re looking for and get a system that’s right for your home. If you want them to have subwoofers, that’s an option and if you want them to connect wirelessly – most modern models can do that too.
Soundbars are slightly cheaper than extensive home cinema systems
Naturally, a great soundbar will be pricier than a standard or sub-par set of speakers. However, soundbars are also much better than such speakers so that’s not a fair comparison.
If we are to compare the best soundbars with some of the best home cinema sound systems, you’ll find that even the best soundbars are noticeably more affordable than them. In essence, they are a fantastic mix of quality and affordability – they offer nearly the best possible sound quality for most rooms and homes while helping you save a bit compared to the alternative too.
Great soundbars are perfect for the office too
Raise your hand if you’ve got an office meeting ruined because the sound simply didn’t reach everyone well enough. That should never be the case with even just a moderately good soundbar system – their sound will be much better than that of any laptop or PC and even of most sound speaker models. With a couple of extra speakers at the back of the room, even larger conference meetings should go swimmingly.
Soundbars can create an unexpectedly wide sound
Because each soundbar is made out of multiple speakers, these devices are actually capable of producing a surprisingly wide sound even without any extra speakers on the side. Depending on what model you get, you should be able to get a sound that fully encompasses your entire living room. The best soundbars can put to shame the speakers of even the most impressive TV sets and can almost rival the more luxurious extensive home cinema systems. Add a couple of extra side speakers and you’ve got a full stereo experience that barely takes any space.
In conclusion
For many people, myself included, soundbars are the way to experience sound at home. Whether we’re talking about movies, sports, or music, a good soundbar is a phenomenal way to both effectively and compactly bring crisp and clear sound to any space.
Extensive home cinema systems have their place too – the best ones do offer more speakers and better stereo sound than even the best soundbar with extra speakers. However, that slightly better sound comes at a significantly steeper price and it takes a lot more space in your home.