The size of the soundbar is primarily down to the larger-than-enough drivers Sennheiser has managed to fit in, and the result is a sound big enough not to need its own subwoofer, with clear, direct dialogue and detail and subtlety in spades. The way it stretches the sound around you creates a great atmosphere and really draws you into the action.As we note in our review: "While some soundbars with external subwoofers go deeper, the bass here is delivered with weighty gusto and seamless integration. This is what helps the Sennheiser achieve the sort of effortless, natural tonality and texture that most rivals can’t begin to match." But the best thing about the Ambeo Max's sound? How little attention it draws; "there's none of the beamy, nasal harshness found in many other soundbars and on the whole, the processing is natural and convincing."

When testing a soundbar, the first thing we focus on is the process of setting it up. Typically, that will mean placing it in front of a TV (or monitor), connecting it to a power source and the input source via included cabling or HDMI cables if not provided in the box. So as you can see, doubling the amount of power you can drive a speaker at does not mean you’ll double the volume. It increases it a very small amount (as far as your ears are concerned). The main upgrade on the PS-949 (aside from its bigger sound) is the addition of app support, which comes as an alternative to the physical buttons on top of the speaker. Sonos is one of the leading manufacturers of soundbars and the Ray is its most affordable option yet. It’s also the smallest, weighing under 2kg and measuring just 60cm across. That diminutive stature means the Ray can be incorporated into just about any TV setup, and the sound it delivers is guaranteed to be a marked step up from your telly’s in-built audio.Therefore if you have a home stereo or car stereo in which 2-way speakers are used, you’ll have to add more 2-way speakers (if the total impedance can be supported by the amplifier) or add more amplifier channels for more sound. 5. Doubling the number of speakers or amount of power does not double the volume Generally speaking, the human ear will hear a very small amount of volume increase for each doubling of acoustic power: about 3 decibels (dB). For most people, the small amount of volume increase you notice when turning up a volume knob 1 notch is somewhere around 3dB. For speakers with wire already attached, typically the brass or golden-colored wire is the positive one The Sharp HT-SBW460 is one of a limited number of budget soundbars to support Dolby’s surround-sound technology, Atmos, and it delivers surprisingly effective virtual height effects given its price. The bar uses four front-firing drivers to successfully convince your brain that certain sounds are coming from above you, and also does a great job of positioning effects to the left and right of the soundstage.

Manufacturers have tried, with varying success, to enhance the audio coming from their televisions. But, if you want to improve TV audio, you need a separate speaker designed for that purpose. Generally, soundbars are a single long speaker with several drivers inside but some come with external subwoofers for extra low-end extension and rear speakers for surround sound effects whereas others are compatible with other speakers from within the manufacturer's brand. If floor-shaking bass is high on your priority list then these are models you'll want to consider. The SF150 also features Sony's S-Force Front Surround technology, which applies processing to give the acoustic impression of a more encompassing sound stage. While there is no replacement for surround sound,it adds a dramatic sense of weight and separation. Some soundbars will come with pre-programmed modes for different types of content. In our experience, soundbars with cinematic modes often use 'spatial' processing that can introduce high-frequency artefacts. In contrast, 'music' modes will usually have a bass and treble-heavy EQ that can sound a little brash. We tend to favour a flat standard mode, if one is available, that we manually adjust to our liking. But there is no one size fits all approach that will work for every room and listener. The Ray has been conceived to slot into cabinets without its sonic dispersion being impacted. However, it doesn’t feature the virtual Dolby Atmos decoding of Sonos’ more premium soundbars – the Beam Gen 2 and Arc (both below). So, pragmatically, Sonos also decided to ditch the HDMI eARC connections of its pricier products in favour of a classic optical input, which almost every TV will have, but monitors and consoles may not.Delivering Dolby Atmos from a small chassis is no mean feat, but the 2023 What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Sonos Beam Gen 2 achieves a convincing, immersive performance without so much as a vertical speaker in sight. Instead, when watching Atmos content, two of the soundbar's five front-facing arrays are dedicated to reproducing overhead and surround sounds. With its hefty processing power, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 uses psychoacoustic HRTF (head-related transfer function) technology to give the impression of height without needing to get vertical. The Creative Stage V2 delivers everything you could want from a budget soundbar. The bar is sleek and compact, making it a great fit for most medium-sized TVs, while the discrete subwoofer adds welcome weight and richness to bass reproduction. It may seem like a rather niche product, but for those who don’t already own a soundbar or media streamer, the Roku Streambar comes with a glowing recommendation.

In our initial review of the Ray, we felt that its bass handling, which resulted in an unusual low-frequency resonant buzz across various movies and music, hampered its overall performance. However, since an update in July 2022, that problem has now been widely alleviated, and as such, we have upped our initial verdict from three to four stars. While we weren’t blown away by the HTB490’s overall sonic performance, its wireless subwoofer delivers the best bass response of any cheap soundbar we’ve tested. Low-end frequencies are handled with precision and there’s plenty of power too, with the sub putting out 160W in addition to the 80W amplification for each of the soundbar’s full-range drivers. Cinematic action sequences benefit tremendously from the subwoofer’s impressive impact and this is particularly evident at higher volumes, at which the HTB490 is very capable of filling a medium-sized room. You can also see from above that really cranking the volume takes a lot of power! How to get more volume from speakersThis is because unlike separate speakers with no crossovers, in this case, many sounds will be filtered out. What this means is that little to no sound would be produced if another 2-way speaker is connected in series. The Sony HT-A7000 is an outstanding, future-proofed, all-in-one performer with excellent integration if you have a newer Sony Bravia TV.

The number of channels present in a soundbar is represented by two digits separated by a full stop. The first digit reflects the number of primary channels, while the second indicates the presence of a subwoofer to handle low-end frequencies. So, a 2.0 soundbar possesses two audio channels – left and right – while 2.1 bars add a third via a subwoofer. We’ll go through all of its different connectivity options – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI, stereo, optical etc. – and then proceed with assessing its sound quality across each supported method, across whatever channel configurations are possible, using a range of audio sources. The resistance value comes from a long coil of wire inside each speaker called a voice coil. A voice coil is a coil of wire that, when placed inside a magnetic field, makes the speaker move and produce sound when driven by an amplifier. Sound quality is impressive too, with virtual surround sound reasonably effective given the limitations of a 2.0-channel setup and plenty of ways to customise your audio experience. That customisation extends to the Katana SE’s LED lighting too, which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but is an essential inclusion for some gamers.The other two sound modes are less impressive, but useful nonetheless. The processing-free Pure setting delivers audio as intended by its creator, while Night mode decreases the dynamic range to improve low-volume listening. There are also three dialogue enhancement options available, all of which successfully accentuate speech.