No matter the cost of your TV, it’s worth investing in a separate, dedicated speaker for your screen. Soundbars are a much more affordable alternative to home theater speakers and AV receivers, while still providing powerful and immersive audio. I’ve tested the best brands including Bose, Sony, Vizio, Sonos, Klipsch, Sennheiser and Polk to bring you the absolute cream of the crop. To help you find the best one for your needs, these are the best soundbars based on my listening tests.
What is the best overall soundbar?
If you’re looking for a step-up from that, then the best soundbar for most people is the Klipsch Cinema 400. This Klipsch speaker adds the oomph of a wireless subwoofer, which will help you get the most out of action films and music. Taking this one step further, the Vizio M512a-H6 with Dolby Atmos support is an excellent buy for under $500, and the best option for spatial audio on a budget. Lastly, if you want the best that money can buy, then the Sennheiser Ambeo will give you the best sound I’ve ever heard in a soundbar.
If you’re on the hunt for the best soundbar 2023 has to offer, I’ve rounded up some excellent speakers starting from $100. This list is updated periodically as I test new models.
The best soundbars of 2023
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Best for Bass|If you want to make your TV the next best thing to a cinema, this is one of the most affordable ways to do it.
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Best for Bass|If you want to make your TV the next best thing to a cinema, this is one of the most affordable ways to do it.
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Best for Bass|If you want to make your TV the next best thing to a cinema, this is one of the most affordable ways to do it.
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Easily supplanting my previous favorite, the JBL Bar 2.1 Deep Bass, the Klipsch Cinema 400 adds great design and an even bigger wireless subwoofer. Sound quality is still king, though, with a real sense of dynamics and excellent music replay. If you want to make your TV the next best thing to a movie theater, this is one of the most affordable ways to do it.
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Best Value|If you’re looking for quality sound at a solid price, this is where you start.
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Best Value|If you’re looking for quality sound at a solid price, this is where you start.
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Best Value|If you’re looking for quality sound at a solid price, this is where you start.
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If you’re looking to ditch your TV speaker, this is where I suggest you start. The subwoofer may be smaller than usual for the brand, but this audio bar still sounds great, as well as offering HDMI connectivity with ARC and a much easier-to-understand input display. The Vizio V-Series 2.1 is the best soundbar value I have tested in the last few years.
<div data-id data-cy="shortcodeListicle" data-location="LIST" data-position="6" edition="us" superlative="Best Dolby Atmos soundbar under $500" imagegroup="{"alt":"7dm20216","caption":"
The Vizio M512a-H6 is one of the least expensive ways to take true advantage of Dolby Atmos sound.
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The Vizio M512a-H6 is one of the least expensive ways to take true advantage of Dolby Atmos sound.
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The Vizio M512a-H6 is one of the least expensive ways to take true advantage of Dolby Atmos sound.
” overridecredit=”Ty Pendlebury/CNET” offer=”{"id":"07ca9c93-c3f3-4873-b885-36fb29370dd8","slug":"vizio-m512a-h6","label":"Vizio M512a-H6","edition":["US","ES"],"imageId":"00c8c527-c593-4d1b-b55d-5d57686f0577","imgWidth":550,"imgHeight":343,"objectType":"content_product_series","typeLabel":"Series","imgUrl":"/content/image/redirect/00c8c527-c593-4d1b-b55d-5d57686f0577/resize/75×56","icon":"type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product-series ct-small"}” techobjectinfo=”{"uuid":"07ca9c93-c3f3-4873-b885-36fb29370dd8","name":"Vizio M512a-H6","slug":"vizio-m512a-h6","productType":"SERIES","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1685472090195,"displayDate":"Tue May 30 2023 11:41:30 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)"}” usepricing=”false” data-key=”cnetlisticle__4f528353-6916-4186-9c55-ed998c0473cd” position=”5″ contenttype=”Best List – Precap” pagelayout=”FAQ Markup + BL Precap” showdetails=”true” suppressautoplay=”true” class=”c-shortcodeListicle g-border-thin-light-top g-inner-spacing-bottom-medium g-inner-spacing-left-large g-inner-spacing-right-large g-inner-spacing-bottom-xlarge g-outer-spacing-bottom-large g-border-thin-light-bottom g-border-thin-light-right g-border-thin-light-left”>
A true step up from the preceding soundbars, the Vizio M512a-H6 is the most cost-effective way to get true Dolby Atmos playback. This surround system includes the main soundbar with up-firing height speakers built in, a 6-inch subwoofer and two wired rear speakers. That’s a lot of parts, but it was easy to set up, and I was impressed with the overall build quality. Most importantly, it offers excellent performance with movies, including real Atmos effects I could hear, as well as music. The M512a-H6s lacks Chromecast and AirPlay streaming but still earns my hearty recommendation both for home cinema fans and for people looking to listen to their favorite album (whether in Atmos or not).
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Best Sonos|If you want super high quality with the ability to connect with the rest of the Sonos ecosystem, you’ve come to the right place.
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Best Sonos|If you want super high quality with the ability to connect with the rest of the Sonos ecosystem, you’ve come to the right place.
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Best Sonos|If you want super high quality with the ability to connect with the rest of the Sonos ecosystem, you’ve come to the right place.
” overridecredit=”Ty Pendlebury/CNET” offer=”{"id":"f1a953c7-d28e-4cff-bbf7-359f28ab4513","slug":"sonos-arc","label":"Sonos Arc","edition":["US","ES"],"imageId":"6dd60627-e81a-4f76-b00b-925e3ee16a5e","imgWidth":4000,"imgHeight":2667,"objectType":"content_product_series","typeLabel":"Series","imgUrl":"/content/image/redirect/6dd60627-e81a-4f76-b00b-925e3ee16a5e/resize/75×56","icon":"type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product-series ct-small"}” techobjectinfo=”{"uuid":"f1a953c7-d28e-4cff-bbf7-359f28ab4513","name":"Sonos Arc","slug":"sonos-arc","productType":"SERIES","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1682708589235,"displayDate":"Fri Apr 28 2023 12:03:09 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)"}” usepricing=”true” data-key=”cnetlisticle__fedb53f3-1a55-45e2-a127-3bc638a36fad” position=”7″ contenttype=”Best List – Precap” pagelayout=”FAQ Markup + BL Precap” showdetails=”true” suppressautoplay=”true” class=”c-shortcodeListicle g-border-thin-light-top g-inner-spacing-bottom-medium g-inner-spacing-left-large g-inner-spacing-right-large g-inner-spacing-bottom-xlarge g-outer-spacing-bottom-large g-border-thin-light-bottom g-border-thin-light-right g-border-thin-light-left”>
If you’re interested in setting up a multiroom sound system, a Sonos soundbar system is still the best option. The Sonos Arc is the company’s best soundbar and includes Dolby Atmos playback, a class-leading music ecosystem, and Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa built into the bar itself. The soundbar system sounds good with music and movies, and adding a pair of Ikea Symphonisk bookshelves should really boost your home theater sound experience. The Arc sounds a lot bigger than the cheaper Beam, and the smaller speaker needs the $700 subwoofer to make it comparable in terms of sound.
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Best motorized|The main draw may be its motorized height speakers, but once you get over their novelty, you’ll find that the speaker system also sounds great.
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Best motorized|The main draw may be its motorized height speakers, but once you get over their novelty, you’ll find that the speaker system also sounds great.
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Best motorized|The main draw may be its motorized height speakers, but once you get over their novelty, you’ll find that the speaker system also sounds great.
” overridecredit=”Ty Pendlebury/CNET” offer=”{"id":"a4648383-e96c-4822-bbf3-de17fecbef93","slug":"vizio-elevate-p514a-h6","label":"Vizio Elevate P514A-H6","edition":["US","ES"],"imageId":"b83211e7-3a5d-4f88-882e-71c0a51ce9cb","imgWidth":5160,"imgHeight":2891,"objectType":"content_product_series","typeLabel":"Series","imgUrl":"/content/image/redirect/b83211e7-3a5d-4f88-882e-71c0a51ce9cb/resize/75×56","icon":"type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product-series ct-small"}” techobjectinfo=”{"uuid":"a4648383-e96c-4822-bbf3-de17fecbef93","name":"Vizio Elevate P514A-H6","slug":"vizio-elevate-p514a-h6","productType":"SERIES","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1682708775012,"displayDate":"Fri Apr 28 2023 12:06:15 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)"}” usepricing=”true” data-key=”cnetlisticle__28113abd-e753-48c0-8404-d7aefaf72c39″ position=”9″ contenttype=”Best List – Precap” pagelayout=”FAQ Markup + BL Precap” showdetails=”true” suppressautoplay=”true” class=”c-shortcodeListicle g-border-thin-light-top g-inner-spacing-bottom-medium g-inner-spacing-left-large g-inner-spacing-right-large g-inner-spacing-bottom-xlarge g-outer-spacing-bottom-large g-border-thin-light-bottom g-border-thin-light-right g-border-thin-light-left”>
The Vizio Elevate’s main draw may be its motorized-height speakers, but once you get over their novelty, you’ll find that the speaker system also sounds great. The separate sub and height-enabled rear speakers really help pull this Vizio soundbar ahead of the Sonos Arc sonically. With Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Chromecast built in, multiple HDMI inputs and Bluetooth, the only thing the Vizio doesn’t provide is Apple AirPlay support.
At the AV Lab in New York City, I test soundbars head to head with a variety of reference equipment.
CNET follows a rigorous, unbiased evaluation process for all of its soundbar testing, from simple stereo speakers to Dolby Atmos systems. In the CNET AV Lab, I do comparative testing, pitting similar soundbars against each other side by side.
I evaluate the performance of each soundbar with a number of different types of content, including movies, music, TV shows and games. I use a number of test scenes — including the opening of Mad Max:Fury Road for playback of the spatial audio standard Dolby Atmos for soundbars which support it. I also use the Thanator Attack scene of Avatar (26.53) to test a system’s dynamics and detail retrieval.
When it comes to music, I use a number of CNET test tracks which you can find here in a Tidal or Spotify playlist. Tracks such as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Red Right Hand, with its deep bass and tenor vocals, help determine a system’s ability to track male voices in particular, without sounding congested. The song also helps with uncovering hidden details and the relative dynamics a speaker is capable of. Using both types of content — movies and music — I then grade the sound quality of each soundbar. I evaluate characteristics such as speech clarity, dynamics/volume, bass response and musical playback.
CNET’s dedicated audio lab in downtown New York includes a selection of 2022 and 2023 televisions (with HDMI eARC), plus Apple TV 4K streamer and Roku Ultra streamers, a Microsoft Xbox Series X and an Oppo UDP-205 4K Blu-ray player. I also use Roon music software to stream to individual devices or the Oppo player as needed.
Other soundbars I’ve tested
Zvox’s SB500 features an onboard subwoofer for excellent bass from a single unit
Soundbar FAQs
