Surround sound offers maximum audio immersion, but there are costs and space barriers.
No matter what TV you have, it’s almost certain that its built-in speakers are terrible. They may be fine for watching news or random YouTube videos, but for a real movie, you’ll probably struggle to hear dialogue, let alone detail in the bass and mids. In addition, modern surround sound technologies such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X have moved from channel-based to object-based mixing, which requires sound to come from the overhead in addition to surrounding you for the full experience.
If you want to upgrade your TV speakers, you have two options. You can equip your living room with a surround sound system, placing speakers around the room to immerse yourself in sound, or you can go the cheaper, easier route: plug in a sound bar and call it a day. Because of the substantial difference in price and convenience, many people wonder if a true surround sound system is worth it.
The answer is, frustratingly, that it is a personal decision. Which sound system you prefer for your home theater depends on your budget, willpower and physical dimensions of the room where your TV is. A soundbar is simple, cheaper and still a big upgrade over built-in speakers, while a surround sound system is more complex, more expensive and packs a bigger sonic punch.
Soundbars cannot match a true surround sound system
Soundbars almost always underperform compared to true surround sound. That’s not to say that they have bad audio, but rather that they can’t cover the listener in a bubble of three-dimensional sound like a modern surround sound system can from discrete speaker units. Traditional 5.1-channel surround sound is difficult enough to approximate with a single soundbar. When you add Dolby Atmos and DTS:X to the equation, you also have to consider extra channels placed overhead.
Many soundbars make a strong effort to overcome their physical limitations. If you’ve seen soundbars that advertise Dolby Atmos surround sound capabilities, what actually happens is that the soundbar has some internal drivers (the part of a speaker that produces sound) at an upward angle. The sound from those drivers bounces off your ceiling and, ideally, back at you, creating an Atmos-lite experience that’s a little more immersive. It’s a neat trick, but it only works in perfect conditions. If your ceiling is arched, textured, has lights or the like, the sound from the speakers above can be disturbed and not reach you.
If you have the right room, and if you place your Dolby Atmos soundbar correctly, you can begin to understand what a true object-based surround sound system is like… the same way you begin to understand the taste of fruit by drinking a LaCroix. While almost any soundbar brings a noticeable upgrade from your TV’s built-in speakers, that’s an extremely low bar (pun unintended).
In a blind test conducted by The New York TimesThe paper of record found that pretty much anyone can tell the difference between a fancy soundbar and a custom surround sound array. When listening to the surround sound system, the participants were better able to understand the dialogue and feel, well, surrounded by the sound. The two fingers were space and friction. Few participants said they would buy the surround sound system over the soundbar, either because the former did not fit well in their living room or because they were not confident in their ability to install and set it up properly.
Soundbars are simple, but choose surround sound for the best experience
Soundbars are most worth it if you have a box-shaped room that for whatever reason can accommodate more speakers, or if you can’t afford a full surround sound system. They are also a suitable choice if you just want to plug a gadget into your TV and never worry about sound again.
There is nothing wrong with being in one of those camps. Not everyone cares about being fully immersed in a spatial audio mix where every explosion or voice is instantly precise. And not everyone who wants that experience can afford it or has the space for it. Again, even a mid-range soundbar is probably a decent upgrade over your TV’s onboard speakers, and it’s always going to be a better option that you can blindly compare to your current setup. You have to make a call somewhere. A good middle ground is to opt for a 5.1.2 sound bar that offers two rear speakers and a subwoofer along with the bar. It’s not as intense as a true surround system, but might hit the sweet spot for you.
The difference in price alone is enough to scare most people away from a surround sound system. You can get decent sound on a budget, especially if you know where to look for deals. But even an entry-level surround sound system, whether a package with speakers of your choice or a home theater pack (HCP) that comes as a set, can run you close to a thousand dollars. You can get a little closer to $700 if you find a bargain or an over-performing system for its price. In the mid range or higher, expect to pay mid four figures.
But let’s say you have the space, the money and the know-how to install a real surround sound system configured with DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. If you care about a detailed home theater audio experience, skip the sound bar and invest in a receiver and speakers.