

It feels like a bit of a throwback to yesteryear’s tech. The whole thing is quite boxy and black and plain. It's massive: 49 inches long, five inches tall and 7.5 inches deep. When you get it out of the box, it’s immediately clear that you’re getting a serious unit. But honestly? Given the sound quality you’re getting here, I’d forgive you for prioritising this over the screen.
#Best soundbar tv#
Why we like it: The sound balances to your room’s exact specificationsĪt £2,199 there’s a reasonable chance that this particular soundbar costs as much, if not more, than the TV you’re plugging it into. If you can cope with that, then plough on ahead this is a solid unit which sounds great and works in a variety of contexts. That’s not a demerit, per se, but it’s worth being aware of. You won’t find Google Assistant or Alexa settling down here. The one thing I would note is that this one is definitely intended as a soundbar, not a smart speaker. Essentially, Wide just makes the sound bigger and more dynamic while Focus makes everything a little bit more clear and straight. Essentially these are designed to optimise the sound for different room sizes: Focus is for smaller rooms and Wide is for bigger rooms. One interesting feature is that you can put the soundbar into Focus or Wide modes. Everything is crisp and detailed, and I was able to pick out plenty of details in my music which weren’t noticeable on other lower quality soundbars. Many other soundbars I reviewed had great bass but muddy overall sound not so here. The bass is fantastic, the highs sound bright, and it doesn’t half go loud. Put it this way: there’s a reason this one’s at the top of my list. Right, now let’s talk about what it sounds like. So, before you buy any soundbar, make sure your TV has an ARC port. Now, there are other ways to connect to link TV to soundbar – the Katch One, for example, can do Bluetooth, optical cable, and AUX – but chances are your old(ish) TV doesn't have those either. And when I say old TVs, I’m not referring to the black and white boxes your granny had the first TV I tried to test the soundbar with was purchased in 2014 and doesn’t have the port. This is the standard mode of connection for soundbars, but it’s worth noting that older TVs tend not to possess said port.

For a wall set-up, it comes with lovely leather straps, which give it a classic, sophisticated look.Ĭonnecting it to the TV is simple: just plug it in with an ARC HDMI port. The Katch One is about medium sized for a soundbar, 34 inches long with a nice fabric cover over the speaker grill. Let’s start from the beginning: the look. Plus, the whole thing looks sleek and sophisticated too.īut I’m getting ahead of myself. Simply plug it into your TV and with next to no effort, you get a serious upscale in sound quality. Below, I'll reveal what I consider to be the best soundbars available, and explain whether budget options really can be better than blow-the-budget models.Ĭoming in at a relatively mid-range price, the Dali Katch One sums up everything a modern speaker is supposed to be. However, certain models crop up again and again when you start talking about – and researching – the market, so I did my level best to test all of these, covering the different manufacturers and price points. There are a smorgasbord of soundbars available, at a variety of prices, and frankly, too many to review. The difference between a soundbar and a general speaker is that the horizontal length of the unit allows it to better differentiate stereo sound. Different sounds can fire from the right and left speakers within the soundbar, making for a more immersive sound experience. Inside, it contains a number of speakers to really tune up the volume. Simply, these are long speaker units, designed to sit under the television screen. These days, if you want a truly cinematic experience, you really need to invest in a soundbar. As the displays themselves have got slimmer and skinnier, good quality speakers have been squeezed out. Modern displays are sleek, wide, and bright with incredible colours, and best of all you don’t have to pay a fortune for a decent screen.
#Best soundbar movie#
Things have rarely been so good for television and movie fans.
