Many hours can be spent with ease in front of the TV, discovering new nature documentaries, catching up with your favourite series, watching sports games and even indulging in the best of Netflix with a smart television. Often your TV’s sound quality just isn’t up to scratch, however high-end soundbars provide a solution to this, transforming your viewing experience with high-quality sound without the clutter.
Why choose a good quality soundbar?
Since we’ve found ourselves home a lot more often than previously used to, it may have become more apparent if your TV’s sound quality isnt upto the standard of the picture. As TV’s have become increasingly thinner over time, while electronics companies have managed to make them slimmer with an increasingly better image quality, this decrease in size doesn’t always cater for an improvement in sound quality with a lack of depth for speaker placement.
Some TV manufacturers have tried to get around this with multiple drivers or speakers firing downward into a scooped base along with all sorts of innovations that help with sound quality, but many TVs still leave a lot to be desired with sound. For this reason, a soundbar has never been such a good idea…
For the best possible home cinema sound experience we usually recommend a full 5.1, 7.1 or Atmost setup (5.1.2 or 7.1.2) with AV receiver however in many cases you dont want speakers and cables around the room and for a more minimalist solution soundbars are a great alternative. In many cases we’ve found the higher end soundbars are even upto the performance of a very good full speaker setup. Either way, your screen deserves better sound to match the grandeur of the image quality.
Their space saving streamlined designs means that for a lot of people a good quality soundbar is a much easier and ergonomic option to install and live with and obviously even if you have a full home cinema speaker setup currently, a soundbar is an excellent choice for screens elsewhere in your home and our range of soundbars caters to every budget along with variation in size depending on the size of your room and screen. Our staff picks are below but if you need any further pointers please feel free to contact us
Staff Picks
We asked three members of team at Audio Affair to give their soundbar recommendations, which will be summarised below with their key features and benefits for improved TV audio.
1) Wharfedale Vista 200/200s
The Wharfedale Vista 200 has proved itself to be one of our best selling soundbars, offering fantastic sound quality for a modest price. It’s a great solution to improving TV audio while getting Wharfedale’s warm and spacious sound. It measures only 90cm long and is packaged in a sleek, slightly curvilinear body that sits inconspicuously under your flat screen TV’s.
Wharfedale’s Vista never fails to look super sleek and elegant whether that be mounted on a wall or placed on a stylish entertainment cabinet. You can also use the Vista as a standalone speaker and with Bluetooth pair your devices and enjoy great sound whilst streaming music or viewing video content. To take things to the next level, we also have the the Vista 200s with a 6.5″ subwoofer for better bass performance.
2) Dali Katch One
Our second staff pick is the fantastic Dali Katch One, What HiFi’s recent 2019 award-winner for “Best soundbar £500-£1000” 2019. Visually, the Katch One differs to many soundbars on the market, with a much larger design and minimalism that embodies everything central to Scandinavian design. For colour finishes, the Katch One soundbar comes in Iron Black, Ivory White and Mountain White with a soft grey front panel and sleek grille to match. Supplied with two wooden feet and leather mounting straps, the Katch One has versatile placement options that prioritise both style and function.
It’s packed with 10 drivers, eight of which are dedicated to the bass and driven by four 50 watt class-D amplifiers for a room-filling performance. Movie soundtracks, action scenes, and the quietest intense moments are delivered with crystal clear detail and expression. Displaying the brilliance of Dali, the Katch One has Bluetooth aptX, wide and focus DSP modes for tailoring your watching and a range of connectivity options for connecting to other sources. The Katch One is the full package.
3) Sennheiser Ambeo
Last but certainly not least is Sennheiser’s Ambeo soundbar which we consider to be the ultimate soundbar. A welcome surprise from Sennheiser on launch, Ambeo is packed with new design and technology that clearly set it apart from lesser alternatives. It delivers a fully cinematic and immersive experience at home with 13 drivers (including top and side firing drivers) to create an impressive and surrounding experience. Features include the latest audio codecs like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X as well as 3D technologies for a truly immersive, and astonishingly convincing sound quality experience whether you’re watching 4K, Blu Ray, Netflix, playing games, or anything else.
Masters of audio, Sennheiser unlock the true potential of a soundbar with the Ambeo with wireless connectivity options Bluetooth, Google Chromecast and uPnP for high resolution music streaming. It offers a musical sound, rich with detail that we haven’t heard from any other soundbar and put simply is the best soundbar we’ve ever heard and in many cases it sounds as good as similarly priced 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setups – it’s that good.
If you’re interested in trying any of these models please remember we offer a full 30 day money back guarantee and have 0% finance options at checkout on orders over £500.
To read more about these models, check out these blogs on the Vista 200, Katch One and Ambeo soundbars.