6 Of The Best Soundbars For Audiophiles, According To Audiophiles

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For many users, soundbars are likely the sweet spot when it comes to getting enjoyable audio when watching TV and movies. Modern TV speakers are generally disappointing, with TVs’ thin bodies necessitating tiny, downward-pointing speakers that rarely offer decent, let alone impressive, audio. Conversely, going with proper speakers can be quite a hassle, especially with passive setups that require dedicated amps and a bunch of wiring.

Soundbars sit in between the two, offering a significant upgrade over the built-in speakers of your typical TV yet without the complexity, size, and sheer weight of proper home-theater setups. They’re easy to use, usually connecting to a TV via HDMI eARC, and offer good value for those on a tighter budget. Audiophiles, however, will most likely choose speakers over soundbars, as they can often offer better audio quality.

However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get some high-quality soundbars that should be able to satisfy — if not necessarily wow — those of the audiophile persuasion. After all, not all soundbars are value-oriented; higher-end units can easily fly past the $2,000 mark and provide suitably impressive sound quality to go with their eye-watering prices. Some of these come from major soundbar brands like Samsung, while others hail from brands more usually associated with hi-fi gear, proving that companies have started taking the soundbar very seriously indeed.

The Sennheiser brand is arguably inseparable from the concept of high-end audio, as proven by products like the Sennheiser HD 660S2 and HD 600, which are often considered some of the best wired headphones for audiophiles. But the German brand’s audio efforts extend beyond the pleasures of head-fi, as the Ambeo Max soundbar shows.

This isn’t some half-hearted attempt to break into a seemingly-lucrative consumer market, either. While Sennheiser isn’t against targeting mainstream consumers with products like the USB-C-equipped HD 400U headphones, the 5.1.4-channel Ambeo Max soundbar is as far removed from the average consumer as a big-brand soundbar can get. The Ambeo Max debuted in 2019 for a whopping $2,500 and still costs $2,000 or so more than half a decade on, making it quite a big financial commitment for all but the most wealthy home-theater enthusiasts.

What does that sort of money get you, however? Quite a lot, judging by reviews. It’s definitely geared toward 3D audio and movies, with several levels of Ambeo processing available for listeners to choose from, but it handles stereo music well, too. The Ambeo’s bass is one of its primary strengths, with reviews generally highlighting its strong low end. That said, it’s far from a one-trick pony, and the rest of the sound spectrum is also presented very impressively. It’s perhaps not quite on par with a proper high-end hi-fi setup, as Stereonet would have it, but even that outlet had to admit that it got very close. Thus, audiophiles who, for whatever reason, don’t have the space for separates may find a lot to like here all the same, despite its age.

The JBL brand has a long and storied history in the hi-fi and audiophile world, with quite a few of its classic speakers — like the legendary JBL 4344 — being highly-sought after and commanding eye-watering prices. While the Samsung-owned JBL of today is admittedly far removed from the brand that James B. Lansing founded in the 1940s, the modern company still has quite a few capable products in its portfolio, like the JBL Bar 1300 mk2.

The 1300 mk2 is quite affordable as far as high-end soundbars go, with the 11.1.4-channel package — consisting of a sub and a soundbar with two detachable wireless speakers that you can position as rear speakers — available for around $1,300. Despite that, it’s a strong performer, with reviewers highlighting its impressive ability to present human voices, thanks to its PureVoice 2.0 digital signal processing tech. PureVoice 2.0 isn’t just handy for ensuring clarity of dialogue in movies and TV shows, either; it also makes the 1300 mk2 great for all sorts of music, as well, especially vocal-oriented material.

It does a good job with stereo sources, but particularly excels with Atmos-encoded music — provided you crank the volume, as What Hi-Fi? discovered. Pair it with an Atmos-capable streaming service like Tidal or Apple Music, then, and it seems like you’ll have a lot of listening fun for a reasonable outlay (by this list’s standards, at least). What makes it an even better deal is that those detachable ends function as standalone Bluetooth speakers that you can take out and about — and sound great while doing it, too.

KEF is a brand known for making great speakers, such as the LSX II that many users consider some of the best wireless speakers for audiophiles. Thus, it’s probably not that huge a surprise that the brand’s maiden soundbar effort, the XIO, ranks as one of the most impressive on the market. Thus, those who consider themselves audiophiles would do well to check the KEF XIO out first if they’re looking for an upgrade — provided, of course, that they can stomach the $2,499 MSRP.

That price seems to be well worth it, though, if reviews are anything to go by. The 5.1.2-channel soundbar lives up to KEF’s reputation, with journalists praising its performance for movies and music alike. It earned plaudits for its power, authority, and massive sound in the former, with big bass and clear high-frequency details alike. Those traits extend to music, too, with lively and detailed sound that What Hi-Fi? thought was good enough to serve as a listener’s only music playback system — which, as the outlet pointed out, is far from common among soundbars.

The XIO also shows the audio company’s mastery of the digital side of the equation, with a great KEF Connect app that gives access to all the usual settings such as EQ and mode selection and allows you to control the many streaming services it supports. The XIO natively supports for high-res streaming services like Qobuz and Highresaudio, more usual fare like Spotify and Tidal, and even Tencent-owned QQMusic — further adding to the XIO’s credentials as an all-in-one music solution.

Yamaha possibly isn’t the first name that comes to mind for audio-visual and hi-fi gear; the brand, of course, is probably more recognizably attached to motorcycles and musical instruments, for example. Despite that, it has a solid reputation for making highly-regarded components like speakers and amps, and the company seems to have drawn on some of that when developing the Yamaha True X Surround 90A soundbar package.

Stereonet’s review of the Yamaha 90A makes that link clear, with the site’s reviewer likening the 90A’s music capabilities to be a direct continuation of (and even an improvement on) the classic Yamaha house sound. Thus, expect a bright and clean reproduction of music, with excellent details and impressive soundstage that places all the necessary sonic elements where they need to be across the stereo field. Yamaha also includes an AI-powered surround sound feature for those who really want immersive audio, although reviewers weren’t that keen on using it with music.

The Yamaha’s ability to handle stereo music is already plenty impressive, but it’s true defining feature is how it presents movie audio. Reviewers raved about how big it sounds, with heaps of volume on tap and, provided you set it up right, excellent overhead audio and vertical soundstage from the upward-pointing speakers. You will pay a lot for the privilege of this sound quality, though, with the package — consisting of a soundbar, a wireless subwoofer, and two wireless surround speakers that double as portable Bluetooth speakers — costing about $2,800 or so, but nobody said the pursuit of high-end audio was cheap, did they?

Samsung has soundbar offerings available at almost every price point imaginable, including a few that compete well against some of the best sub-$200 soundbars out there. While one might think that that breadth may serve to dilute the brand’s strengths, soundbars like the 11.1.4-channel HW-Q990F show that the Korean manufacturer can compete well at both ends of the market.

The Samsung HW-Q990F is, as is common in this high-end segment of the market, a multi-component system: You get a main soundbar, a wireless subwoofer, and two wireless surround speakers. It has a range of AI-powered features that can tailor the sound output based on the audio content, enhance dialogue, and manage the bass frequencies. Like many other Samsung soundbars, the Q990F also supports the brand’s Q-Symphony feature. This lets you sync the soundbar and your Samsung TV’s speakers, using the latter to supposedly offer a fuller sound — although your mileage will vary when it comes to the feature’s effectiveness.

Samsung’s soundbar generally excels with movies and TV content, where its sizeable complement of speakers and software trickery allows for an impressive, engrossing, and convincing Atmos experience. While movie lovers will likely get the most out of the Samsung, it’s still a strong option for music, too, with reviews praising the way it handled vocals and mid-range frequencies. While it won’t replace a strong dedicated hi-fi system, as Sound and Vision opined, it still acquits itself very well and offers an enjoyable listening experience, especially for those moments when critical listening isn’t on the table — and even audiophiles will want to do some casual, laid-back listening from time to time.

French company Devialet first made waves in the U.S. with the Phantom, a $2,000 speaker that turned heads (and impressed reviewers) when it debuted in 2016. That’s a pretty crazy price for a speaker, of course, especially considering would have needed two of them for a proper stereo setup. Thus, the fact that the 5.1.2-channel, surround-capable Dione soundbar is available for a shade over $2,000 seems a bit of a bargain in comparison.

Now, to be clear, the Devialet Dione is, in some respects, a bit of a disappointment. It has a single HDMI port, can’t decode DTS, and doesn’t support voice commands. The latter two were already issues for some reviewers when it debuted in 2022, and are likely just as (if not more) annoying now that a few years have passed. It also doesn’t have any EQ. If you want a versatile, do-it-all soundbar, then, this probably isn’t it.

If you want a soundbar for music, though, this is one to consider. For one, it has eight subwoofers, which Devialet claim allow the Dione to reach down to a furniture-rattling 24 Hz. It’s not just marketing speak, either: Sound and Vision’s testing showed that it can indeed present audible content at those frequencies. That said, it’s not only about the bass; its design, plus a host of fancy engineering, results in tuneful and balanced music playback, from natural bass through to a sweet midrange and detailed high-frequency response. That said, reviews have also noted that the Dione’s bass response in movies can be inconsistent, so those who prioritize movies and TV may be better served by other products.

There are plenty of soundbars on the market, many of which are genuinely excellent. However, not all of them are necessarily audiophile-tier — even if that, as with any enthusiast-based criteria, is a very subjective measure. Thus, to identify a handful of soundbars that would satisfy audiophiles, we had to be more selective in the reviews and outlets we consulted.

So, instead of basing our picks on reviews from tech- and gadget-focused outlets, we focused exclusively on products that received positive reviews from publications known for evaluating and focusing on high-end audio-visual gear. Thus, there’s a better likelihood of these reviewers having higher, and potentially even audiophile-grade, standards.