#The wirecutter budget sub Bluetooth
#The wirecutter budget sub tv

At the request of Wirecutter readers, we’ve eliminated the price ceiling for this and future updates.

Price: In previous versions of this guide, we set a price ceiling of $1,000.

If your soundbar has HDMI inputs, you don’t have to worry which version of ARC your gear supports because you can connect your sources directly to the soundbar instead of to the TV.

#The wirecutter budget sub tv

The newest TVs equipped with eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel, part of the HDMI 2.1 spec) can pass an uncompressed Atmos signal, but both the TV and soundbar must support eARC for that to happen. Many TVs released in the past four or five years can pass 5.1 audio and Dolby Atmos over HDMI ARC but in a compressed form. Many older TVs equipped with HDMI ARC “dumb down” a 5.1 or Atmos signal coming in through HDMI to 2.0 channels, which they then pass to the soundbar.

HDMI inputs: Although such inputs are less important in a 2.0- or 2.1-channel soundbar, this feature may be essential if you have a 5.1-channel or Atmos-capable soundbar and want to get the highest-quality sound from streaming media players, Blu-ray players, and video game consoles.

When this connection works the way it’s supposed to, tech-phobic family members don’t ever have to touch a button on the soundbar or its remote. This feature is important because it allows the soundbar to work like it’s part of the TV: When you power up your source device (such as a streaming media player or a cable/satellite receiver), both the TV and the soundbar should automatically power up and switch to their correct inputs, and the remote for the TV or media player allows you to control the soundbar’s volume.

HDMI ARC connection: We included only soundbars that have an HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) jack, which lets you transmit audio via a single HDMI cable between the TV and soundbar.

#The wirecutter budget sub Bluetooth

Wi-Fi systems such as AirPlay, Chromecast, and Sonos are more complicated to set up, but they offer potentially better sound quality than Bluetooth because they do not apply additional data compression to the audio signal, and they can work in conjunction with other compatible speakers in a multiroom audio system setup. Fortunately, most new soundbars have this capability.

Wireless audio support: We considered only soundbars that had the ability to stream music from a phone or tablet, via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (or both).

Because all of these soundbars might be of interest to different people, we tried everything we could get our hands on. Bars that incorporate Dolby Atmos are usually labeled “5.1.2” or “5.1.4,” meaning they add two or four upward-facing Atmos speakers to bounce sound effects off the ceiling. A “5.1” bar adds surround speakers, which may be built into the ends of the soundbar or might be separate speakers. A “3.1” bar adds a center-channel speaker for better voice clarity.

A “2.1” bar includes a soundbar and a subwoofer this is the most common type, and most are priced under $300.

A simple “2.0” (or two-channel without subwoofer) soundbar is usually the least expensive and least complex, but generally it can’t deliver a cinematic experience. Number of channels: Soundbars can have anywhere from two to 11 channels of sound.The one downside is that the display is mounted on top so it’s harder to see the visual cues from a seated position, but our panelists didn’t mind this much. ( Optional surround speakers are available.) The HW-Q900A also has an effective and useful adaptive system that eliminates the need to change sound modes based on the type of content (like movies, music, or sports). The soundbar incorporates front speakers, upward-firing speakers, and side-firing surround speakers to produce a room-filling sound with music and movies, and the relatively compact, wireless 8-inch subwoofer offers plenty of deep bass with lots of punch and satisfying couch shake. The HW-Q900A can play back the more immersive Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio formats, and it has a wealth of connection and control features, including two HDMI inputs, an HDMI eARC connection to pass higher-quality audio from your TV, built-in Amazon Alexa voice control, and wireless audio streaming through Apple AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth. Our listening panel picked the Samsung HW-Q900A as the best-sounding system, even before they learned that it’s a simple, two-piece setup consisting of the soundbar and a subwoofer.