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welcome to audio advice top picks for
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the best Dolby Atmos Soundbars for 2025
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we've spent countless hours in our home
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theater testing lab with tons of
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different Soundbars to provide the most
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reliable and informative recommendations
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here now we've divided it into different
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categories including the best under $500
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the best under $1,000 the best
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all-in-one Soundbar the best Standalone
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Soundbar and a special Soundbar
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alternative option now to qualify for
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this list each one of our picks must be
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capable of Dolby Atmos have HDMI ER for
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easy control and have a proper price
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point that we feel is justifiable for
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what you get now we will only give you a
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brief overview of which Soundbar won
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each category but if you want more info
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we have in-depth articles and videos on
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our picks in this video that you can
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watch on our Channel or at audio
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advice.com which I've linked below now
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before we get started if you'd like to
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help support our Channel consider giving
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this video a like And subscribe and make
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your next purchase at audio advice.com
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where you get free shipping lifetime
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support and a price guarantee all right
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let's get started first up is the best
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Soundbar under $500 which we have chosen
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as the clips flexus core 200 there are a
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lot of sound barss in this category and
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it can definitely feel overwhelming when
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searching online for the best one now
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this pick comes in right at
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$499 but we feel it's 100% worth it to
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save up and get this Soundbar over a
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cheaper alternative and it actually
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punches well above its price point the
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clips flexus core 200 launched in 2024
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is a 3.1.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar and if
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you've ever struggled to hear dialogue
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clearly or felt underwhelmed by weak
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explosions and action scenes the
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Soundbar came to Market to change that
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the flexus core 200 features two 2.25 in
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upward firing speakers that bounce sound
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off the ceiling to create that immersive
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Dolby Atmos bubble of sound this design
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is a big reason why it stands out in its
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price range compared to competitors like
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say the Sonos beam Gen 2 which lacks
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true upward firing drivers many sound
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bars in this category actually rely on
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what we call acoustic trickery to
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simulate height effects making it seem
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like the sound is coming from above or
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behind you now while this Tech Works
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fairly well especially if you need to
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place a soundbar where upward firing
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speakers might be blocked by a cabinet
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it doesn't quite match the realism of
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sound physically bouncing off your
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ceiling and back down to you now if
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you've got a flat ceiling with no
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obstructions and can place the core 200
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in a clear open spot you're in for an
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incredible Doby Atmos Movie experience
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with this Soundbar it also has four
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front firing drivers tuned by Clips dual
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4in built-in subwoofers and a dedicated
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Center Channel Tweeter for crystal clear
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dialogue now one of our favorite
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features is the dialogue boost which
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lets you adjust dialogue Clarity
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directly on the Soundbar now unlike
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other sound bars with this feature Clips
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gives you three levels of adjustment low
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medium and high so you can really
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fine-tune voices to your liking now in
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addition there's a dedicated app that
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adds even more control allowing you to
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tweak the EQ for personalized sound and
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activate night mode which lowers loud
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noises so you won't disturb your
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neighbors now Bluetooth is also built in
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for streaming music from your phone but
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this Soundbar does lack features like
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AirPlay Spotify connect Wi-Fi audio and
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auto room correction so if those are
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musthaves for you in this price category
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we would probably recommend you consider
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the Sonos beam Gen 2 instead that said
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the core 200 really really impressed US
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during our testing in action-packed
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movies like six underground where
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dialogue can easily get drowned out by
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all the explosions going on the dialogue
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boost made every word intelligible in
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dialogue heavy films like the Irishman
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it also showcased that the richness of
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voices were really good without sounding
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tiny or flat now when you pair the core
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200 with the optional flexus sub 100 and
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the surround 100 speakers it transforms
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into a full home theater system that
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really creates an incredibly realistic
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Dolby Atmos bubble of sound with its
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exceptional sound future expandability
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and a sub $500 price tag the flexus core
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200 is a fantastic entry point for
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building an immersive home theater setup
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next up we have the best Soundbar under
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$11,000 which we have chosen as the
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Sonos Arc Ultra now this is the revamped
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version of the hugely popular Arc that
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launched in 2020 now this 9.1.4 Dolby
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Atmos Soundbar keeps the Sleek design of
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its predecessor but adds some exciting
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upgrades including a new touch bar on
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the back and Cutting Edge sound motion
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technology that takes the base
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performance to the next level now it
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also comes with an excellent automatic
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room calibration feature plus if you own
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a pair of Sonos headphones you can
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seamlessly transfer the sound to them
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and enjoy dynamic head tracking for an
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immersive Dolby Atmos experience now it
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also has things like Alexa Sonos voice
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control Spotify connect AirPlay 2
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bluetooth support and you can control
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your music directly through the Sonos
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app now if you want to level up your
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setup even more you can pair up with one
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or two Sonos subwoofers and either the
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era 100 or era 300 speakers as the
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surround speakers course you're looking
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at one of the most incredible Soundbar
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based home theater systems that we've
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ever heard sure it's a premium setup but
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the sound is absolutely worth it and is
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really only bested by real box stereo
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speakers with a true AVR or integrated
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amp and even then you'll still need to
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run cables throughout your room and
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install Atmos speakers to get the same
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immersiveness that this Sono setup will
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provide you with now even if you stick
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to just the Soundbar itself The Arc
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Ultra delivers pretty decent base and
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decent dialogue but where it really
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shined was its great Dolby Atmos effects
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for this reason the very first thing
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we'd recommend for much better sound is
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adding a Sono sub instead of the
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surrounds as the sub improves that low
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end and allows the bar to focus on the
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mids and highs to give you better vocals
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giving you a much more balanced setup
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now during our testing we Revisited a
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scene that we used to test the original
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Arc from the Irishman now where crickets
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are tripping in the background in a
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great Dolby Atmos home theater you're
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going to hear them coming from above and
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behind you and the arc Ultra really
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nailed it creating a great 3D bubble of
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sound using its side and upward firing
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drivers it was hands down the most
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convincing Atmos exper experience we've
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heard without adding surround speakers
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plus the new speech enhancement feature
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lets you use low medium or high settings
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to help give you a clear dialogue that
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is so much better than the speakers
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built right into your TV now at just
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under $1,000 the Sonos Arc Ultra is an
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incredible value it sounds phenomenal
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and you'll always have the option to
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upgrade later if you want to create a
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Next Level home theater with some
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subwoofers and Surround speakers moving
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on we have the best all-in-one Soundbar
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the JBL bar 1300x it's an 71.4 Soundbar
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that comes with a powerful 12-in
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subwoofer and has 1,170 WTS of total
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power but one of the most distinctive
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features of the bar 1300x is its
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detachable surround speakers similar to
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those first introduced on the JBL
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bardine do1 the rechargeable detachable
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speakers were arguably one of the main
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reasons the bar 9.1 was so wildly
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successful and JBL brought them to
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another level with the bar 1300 X With
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Better Sound and a 10hour battery life
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now these can be placed on shelves
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behind you or on speaker stands or they
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can even come with a mounting bracket to
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attach them to your walls if you wish
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now you can dock them right back to the
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Soundbar or just plug them in Via USBC
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to recharge them now in addition there's
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a great app included to adjust EQ
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calibrate the Soundbar with automatic
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room correction browse different music
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services and play your music via Wi-Fi
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now you also get Alexa Google Assistant
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Siri AirPlay and chomecast plus unlike
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any of the other Soundbars on this list
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the bar 1300 X has three HDMI inputs
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allowing you to easily plug in your
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gaming console Blu-ray player and cable
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box directly into the Soundbar and have
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one single HDMI cable from the art
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connection to your TV and control the
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volume and HDMI switching with just your
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TV remote you'll also be able to enjoy
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4K 120 frames per second content with
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uncompressed Dolby Atmos HDR and Dolby
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Vision pass through we love the ease of
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use of being able to plug in the latest
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gen Xbox or PS5 and enjoy 4K content in
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120 frames per second on the Soundbar
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once you experience High frame rates and
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4K resolution while gaming you're never
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going to want to go back now in our
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testing the included sub had a ton of
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depth and really brought the entire
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setup to the next level here characters
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voices sound so much better on this
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Soundbar than your standard TV speakers
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especially when you use the pure voice
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technology that JBL has implemented now
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we do wish you were able to adjust the
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pure voice settings instead of just
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turning it on or off but it's one of the
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few nitpicky things that we found about
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this Soundbar but overall there's so
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much to love about the bar R 1300x JBL
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really gives you everything you could
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ask for with this Soundbar and makes it
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extremely versatile which will fit the
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bill for so many people in apartments or
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spaces that really need some flexibility
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now on top of all of that it has some
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serious power and has a great sound that
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JBL is known for next the best Soundbar
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alternative is the Sony Bravia theater
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quad while this isn't technically a
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soundbar we thought it was worth
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including it on this list because of its
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great performance and flexibility which
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we think will suit some people better
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than just a soundbar itself the Bravia
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theater quad is an upgraded version of
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the popular Sony HTM A9 system and it
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includes four three-way speakers a 3 and
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38 woofer a 2 and 38 mid-base driver and
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a 3/4 in Tweeter all facing forward and
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an upward firing 3 and 1/8 Atmos driver
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on the top now also included is the
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control box that connects to your TV via
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ER and it supports 8K HDR 4K 120 Dolby
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Vision 360 reality audio Dolby Atmos
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IMAX enhanced dtsx and highres audio it
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even supports vrr allm and sbtm for
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gaming when using a PS5 you'll also be
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able to connect wirelessly with Spotify
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connect Apple AirPlay and Bluetooth but
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one of our favorite features is the
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ability to place the four speakers
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pretty much anywhere in your room
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without having to worry about each
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speaker being in the exact perfect
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location thanks to Sony's impressive
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sound field optimization technology now
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not everyone can put their speakers in
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the most ideal location so having that
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flexibility can be pretty attractive so
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we tested the Bravia theater quad with
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many different movies and music to see
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how it's stacked up against different
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sound barss specifically the race scene
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in six underground that we talked about
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earlier is one of the ones that we
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continually come back to you because of
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its sound effects that swirl all around
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you in a proper Dolby Atmos home theater
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now this Sony system when paired with
00:10:22
the Sony SAS W3 or SAS sw5 subwoofer can
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really transport you right into the
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middle of the action in this movie
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allowing you to hear everything from the
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glass shattering behind you and above
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you to the loud explosions that hit you
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right in your chest plus thanks to their
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Zoom voice 3 Tech the character's voices
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sound like they're coming right from the
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screen even without a dedicated Center
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Channel now it honestly just feels like
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there are more than just four speakers
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right in your room however there is one
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big caveat to this system most Soundbars
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greatly benefit from adding a subwoofer
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but we would say that the Bravia theater
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quad needs a Sony wireless sub warer to
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make the system worthy of your
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consideration it's not the most
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inexpensive solution but it's a very
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effective one that will fit the bill for
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so many people who want to have an
00:11:08
almost invisible and extremely immersive
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home theater system in their room and
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finally what we consider the best
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Standalone Soundbar is the DVA Dion the
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Dion delivers an impressive 5.1.2
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channels of Dolby Atmos immersion from a
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completely Standalone Sleek looking
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Soundbar that will also acoustically
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adapt to its position when it's either
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wall mounted or on a credenza for an
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optimal Sound Stage and plus it has a
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really striking look it has 17
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autonomous high-end drivers and eight
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built-in sowed subwoofers making the
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dvla Deone an all-in-one Soundbar that
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sounds really really good without
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needing a sub or rears now although this
00:11:47
Soundbar is the only one on the list
00:11:48
that doesn't allow you to add rear
00:11:50
speakers or a subwoofer it is by far the
00:11:53
best sounding Standalone Soundbar that
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we've ever heard sure a full Sono setup
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might outdo it in terms of spatial audio
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but that requires multiple speakers to
00:12:01
build out your system so when it comes
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to having a soundbar in nothing else in
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your room the Dion stands on top as king
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we picked this as the best sounding
00:12:10
Soundbar in our last evaluation and to
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this day we still think that it's the
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best option as a standalone Soundbar now
00:12:16
one of the test scenes that we used when
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evaluating all of these Soundbars was
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from the movie the atom project on
00:12:21
Netflix where there's an attack with a
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ton of deep bass and great sound effects
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now this scene showed just how much the
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Dion can stand apart from so many other
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sound barss the vocals are warm and
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natural and the sound is just phenomenal
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from the Dion the bass is also quite
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impressive and is probably the best
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we've heard in any Soundbar by just
00:12:39
itself of course we'd love to add a
00:12:41
subwoofer to this Soundbar but if you
00:12:43
don't want one or just don't have the
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space you're going to have a great time
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with the Dion as it almost feels like
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there's actually a subwoofer in the room
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with you it handles some deep base
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expertly and can really just bring a
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movie to life now dv's intelligence
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processor space AVL Sam and orb
00:12:59
technology are all packed into this slim
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beautiful Soundbar and make this an
00:13:04
outstanding choice for someone who wants
00:13:06
a standalone Soundbar that just sounds
00:13:08
and looks awesome all right that's our
00:13:11
list we'd love to hear your thoughts so
00:13:12
let us know in the comments if you agree
00:13:14
or which options you'd have added to
00:13:16
this list hopefully it's giving you a
00:13:18
good look at some of the great Soundbar
00:13:20
options on the market today and will
00:13:22
help you decide which one would probably
00:13:24
be best suited for you and remember just
00:13:26
because a soundbar didn't make this list
00:13:28
doesn't mean mean that it's not a great
00:13:30
option or the best one for you there are
00:13:32
a ton of great Soundbars Beyond just
00:13:33
these five so if you're still unsure or
00:13:36
want to look at other options you can
00:13:37
always check out our full selection at
00:13:39
audioadvice outcom or just call or chat
00:13:42
with our experts who can help guide you
00:13:44
in the right direction and as we said we
00:13:46
spend hours in our lab testing all
00:13:48
different Soundbars and we are confident
00:13:50
that you'll be impressed with any of the
00:13:51
picks on this list now we are
00:13:53
consistently updating our list as new
00:13:55
Soundbars come to Market so be sure to
00:13:57
check back if you're not quite ready to
00:13:59
upgrade now if you need more help
00:14:00
choosing which one is best for you you
00:14:01
can always watch our reviews of each
00:14:03
soundbar to learn more about all those
00:14:05
specific features and technology in them
00:14:07
and see how we thought that they
00:14:08
performed with different movies and
00:14:10
music now if you like this video please
00:14:12
help support us by giving it a thumbs up
00:14:14
hit the Subscribe button and turn on the
00:14:15
notifications so you don't miss out on
00:14:17
any of our latest content thanks for
00:14:19
watching and we'll see you next time
00:14:23
[Music]
