A Guide To The Best TV Sound Bars

Some sound bars such as the Azatom Stealth Bar will come with a built-in subwoofer.

A sound bar is an audio device which is a substitution for your TV’s speakers as a sound bar is designed to have far superior audio quality to a TV. Some sound bars will come with a separate subwoofer which provides enhanced bass but a lot of sound bars will already have a subwoofer built-in making it more space efficient.

If your TV’s standard built-in speakers do not meet your expectations and you don’t want a separate speaker system as this takes up space and can make your TV stand look untidy, then a sound bar would be an ideal solution. Sound bars has a sleek design which allows it to sit on top or just below your TV and they are all pretty much wall mountable as well.

Like anything, prices can vary but you can pick up a sound bar for relatively cheap although the quality may not be as good as the mid-range or higher-end sound bars.  However, it does more than just replace your TV’s speakers, you can also play music through your Bluetooth sound bar with any Bluetooth enabled audio device.

Being able to play music through your Bluetooth sound bar won’t eliminate the need to buy a Bluetooth speaker unless you only plan to use the speaker at home.  Unlike a sound bar, you can take a portable Bluetooth speaker with you absolutely anywhere!  

How To Choose The Best TV Sound Bar

We have analysed the best sound bar speakers available on the market and we’ve compiled our unbiased conclusion into a top 10 best TV sound bars table which we hope you would find useful.

To those who are unfamiliar with some of the features of a sound bar, we’ll explain what the features and terms are below:

Power output – This is measured in watts, the higher the watts the louder the speakers are able to play without distorting. Some manufacturers do not provide the power output information in watts but the ones shown in the best sound bars table above will usually be loud enough for most people.

Virtual surround sound – Virtual surround sound attempts to give you the effect that there are more sources of sound than there actually is.

Subwoofer – Also known as a sub, a subwoofer is designed to give added bass to your speakers. This will come as a separate unit with some sound bars whereas other sound bars will have a built-in subwoofer.

Having a separate subwoofer may mean you will have higher sound quality but it’s also quite a big unit so will take up a lot of space. Subs can also connect to your sound bar either wired or wireless, so if you don’t want a lot of wires sticking out or you want to place the sub a bit further away, then a wireless sub may be something to consider.

On the other hand a sound bar with a built-in sub will still have high sound quality depending on the model of course, but it will save a lot of space and look a lot neater.

Channels – The number of the left will indicate the number of speakers there are and the number on the right is how many subs there are. The speakers are usually built into a sound bar therefore if a sound bar has a channel of 2.1 there won’t be two speakers visible.

Bluetooth connectivity – This allows any Bluetooth enabled audio device such as a smart phone, tablet, laptop, MP3 player, etc to connect wirelessly and play music through the sound bar.  If you’re going to be using a sound bar mainly for music then a mini Bluetooth speaker or iPhone docking station may be more suitable.

Near field communication (NFC) technology – NFC is a method of wireless data transfer that works when the devices are within close proximity. For example, if you want to use your smart phone to play music via the sound bar your phone will automatically detect the sound bar rather than you having to search for the device in your Bluetooth settings.