What is a Soundbar?

What is a soundbar for TV? Well, if you want a better audio experience for your flat panel TV but don’t want the added clutter and loss of space that comes with large speakers and sound systems, a soundbar may be a good solution. Soundbars are usually long thin speakers that offer high-quality audio and can be easily mounted to your TV. they will improve the viewing experience of even the top-rated TVs on the market. Standard soundbars will offer much better stereo quality sound than your TV, but there are also options to make the soundbar surround sound as well, up to a 7.1 if you are willing to pay. There are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to soundbars, so it’s a good idea to do your research before taking the dive. Continue reading to learn a little more about soundbars.

What Do Soundbars Do?

Flat-panel TVs offer excellent image fidelity and room-filling screen sizes but their built-in speakers are often anything but room-filling when it comes to sound, lacking deeper bass response and stereo or surround-sound image realism and focus. Often people turn to dedicated audio systems with large speakers as a solution, but not only are such systems often quite expensive, they also take up a lot of room, and it’s not always possible to place external speakers optimally, especially if you have a large TV that’s already hogging a lot of space.

Soundbars solve this problem by offering superior sound quality and response in a compact, ergonomic package that can integrate seamlessly with a flat-panel TV or smart TV. Not sure if you have a smart TV, you can easily check what is a smart TV and if your model makes the cut.

There are many options when it comes to soundbars depending on your TV model and the level of performance you’re looking for, but most soundbars are Bluetooth-enabled and made to be mounted with a dedicated mounting bracket directly underneath or on top of the edges of your TV, and are easily removable should you wish to mount them to a wall separately- or to a different TV.

Stereo and Surround Sound

Before investing in a soundbar, you’ll want to consider a couple of things including what your TV is made out of. That is, whether you’ll be using stereo or surround sound settings for your viewing experience. There are various classes of soundbars, some of which will offer far superior performance in emulating the surround experience (as opposed to the multi-speaker setup required for true surround sound.

• Standard soundbars offer the most economical and ergonomic option but lack a dedicated subwoofer. These models will usually have a built-in subwoofer, therefor, may not produce deep and focused enough bass frequency for some.
• 2.1 soundbars are built with an additional, usually, wireless subwoofer and can offer a good emulation of surround sound at a reasonable price point.
• 3.1 soundbars have three channels (left, right, and center) as well as a subwoofer and offer even more realistic surround emulation, but are more expensive.
• 5.1 and 7.1 soundbars offer the truest surround sound performance, having left, right, and center channels, an external subwoofer, and two to four additional left and right surround rear speakers. The downside is that they’re considerably more expensive than 2.1 or 3.1 systems, and their additional external surround rear speakers and subwoofer mean they take up more space (though still often less than a dedicated separate audio system. This is the type of sound bar system you will want if you are looking for a more cinematic experience.

If you’re simply looking for a space-saving, easy-to-use step up from your TV’s built-in speakers and don’t use surround sound settings, a standard soundbar model may be your best choice. If you are going to use a soundbar, be sure to use the HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) port on your TV if it has it. To understand why this is important you can read more about it in our article on what is ARC TV. It should be noted that there is a chance your picture and sound might not line up correctly when watching something. This could be because of your soundbar or a faulty HDMI port. Don’t worry we have a guide on how to fix sound delay on your TV as well. And while you are at it, if you discover that you have a faulty HDMI port, we have an article on how to fix an HDMI port on your TV, too.

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