The Best Sound bar and Subwoofer Systems for your HD TV

Samuel J Tan Entertainment, Home & Kitchen, Soundbars, Speakers 0

Most flat screen LED HD TV with their slim look and near zero bezel (the edges of the screen) achieves this at the expense of sound quality.

The best and easiest way to get good quality HiFi sound is to use a sound bar and subwoofer pair.

Table of Contents

Upgrade the TV’s Sound System

Big and crisp images, brilliant colours, super picture quality and Ultra High Definition only to be let down by tinny sound. This is usually the case for most big screen flat panels.

The easiest way to have an immersive sound experience is with a powerful wireless subwoofer for the deep and rich bass and a sound bar that delivers ultra real voices and great mid to high range sounds.

While some would recommend a 5.1 surround sound system for your TV but what if you don’t have the space nor room for it and can’t be asked to cable anything. Enter the Bluetooth Sound Bar and Wireless Subwoofer system.

Top 5 Best Bluetooth Sound Bar and Wireless Subwoofer Systems

Here is a quick look at our list:

A Closer Look

Now for a detailed look at each of the speakers,

Samsung HW-H551 Bluetooth Sound Bar and Wireless Subwoofer

The Samsung HW-551 is a 320 Watt 2.1 Channel Soundbar with Crystal Amplifier Plus and Subwoofer producing 80 + 80W on the soundbar and 160W on the subwoofer.

The wireless active subwoofer produces thunderous bass sound quality adding dynamic and rich base levels for better listening experience.

It supports the following: Dolby Digital, DTS, Bluetooth HiFi Codec, Surround Sound Expansion, Smart Volume, 4 DSP modes, Lip Sync, 3D Video Pass through.

For connectivity: Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC), USB2.0, Bluetooth, TV SoundConnect, Audio Return Channel, Bluetooth Power On, HDMI Input/output, Audio Input, Optical Input

Format Supported: AAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, FLAC

What You Need to Know

Activate the speakers using the smartphone app to wake it up
Bluetooth compatible allows streaming of music direct from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets).
Also connect wirelessly with Bluetooth enabled TV so no trailing cable between soundbar and TV.
Control the soundbar and TV from a single TV remote. Control your soundbar with bluetooth.
Silver model looks really good. Black option available.
Remote control included and wall mount bracket included for the sound bar.
Dimensions: Bar 943mm(W) x 55mm(H) x 60mm(D), Subwoofer 291 x 369 x 291mm, Weight 13.8kg

Other Option: Samsung HW-H750 Wireless Multiroom Soundbar with built-in Valve Amplifier

Sony HT-CT370 Bluetooth Sound Bar and Wireless Subwoofer

The Sony HT-CT370 Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer is a 300W 2.1 channels entertainment system with Sony’s proprietary S-Force PRO Front Surround technology. The soundbar is only 50mm high and the subwoofer is compact or at least narrow with a width of 135mm both spotting a minimalist design.

The wireless subwoofer is compact but still produces deep bass and room filing sound for that cinematic effect.

Tap to connect your mobile devices via NFC and stream your tracks and apps with Bluetooth. Devices without NFC can still connect via Bluetooth.

The multiple HDMI ports turns the sound bar into a sort of hub to enable multiple devices (Internet TV, Blue-ray Disc and game console) to connect with ease.

What You Need to Know

Powered by S-Master Digital Amplifier using full digital signal path to reproduce digital audio signals without the multiple analogue stages for improved audio performance, more power and less distortion.
It supports the following: S-Force Pro front surround, ClearAudio+, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Dual Mono, DTS-HD, LPCM.
For connectivity: 3x HDMI inputs, 1x HDMI output, 1x optical input, Bluetooth (AAC) and NFC.
Optical cable and food pad included.
Dimensions: 135 x 361.5 x 394 mm, 7kg (subwoofer)
Colour options: black or silver

JBL SB400 320W Wireless Cinema Soundbar and Subwoofer

The JBL Cinema SB400 is a Wireless soundbar with an 8-inch wireless subwoofer that uses the HARMAN Display Surround Technology that lets you add cinema sound without adding multiple speakers.

In combination, the system produces 320 watt of power with 200 watt coming from the 8-inch wireless subwoofer and 120 watt from the soundbar itself.

Some retailers indicates only the soundbar power rating and did not mention the overall power rating which would include the powerful subwoofer.

The soundbar on its own does produce the full range of sound, incorporating the left and right woofers and tweeters. It also comes with dual-position equalisation to optimise the performance for any location.

The system puts you in control of the level of bass; volume, frequency and subwoofer output phase to optimise the sound for your personal preference.

What You Need to Know

Connects using Bluetooth to provide high quality music streaming from mobile devices (smartphone, tablet or laptop)
Dolby Digtal decoding of film soundtracks in their native format, eliminating conversion stages that reduces sound quality providing superb surround-sound quality.
3 x HDMI inputs and one HDMI output with Audio Return Channel (ARC) which sends the TV sound back to the sound bar which simplifies the switching and makes the system easier to use. Also includes analogue and optical digital audio inputs.
Includes wall mount bracket, analogue audio cable, optical audio cable, IR remote that learns the volume control of your TV remote allowing control over the sound bar and TV volume
Dimensions: Subwoofer: 355mm x 329mm x 320mm, 10.5kg. Sound bar: 95mm x 1100mm x 64mm

Panasonic SC-HTB480 2.1 Bluetooth Sound Bar and Wireless Subwoofer

While most downward facing and firing sub-woofers have their speakers exposed and expect buyers to put it on a hard reflective surface, Panasonic has taken the approach of including an elevated bottom panel for bass-reflex.

The 16cm cone driver on the 130 watt wireless subwoofer unit couple with the bottom panel provides the deep bass while the low profile delta form sound bar supplies 60 watts per channel bringing a total power of 250 watt.

What You Need to Know

Stream from your mobile devices with easy one touch connection using NFC (Near Field Technology). This pairs you device then streams your playlist or app using Bluetooth. For devices with NFC, simply connect directly via Bluetooth.
A Panasonic app is available that not only lets you stream from your stored library but also from streaming music services such as Spotify or Last.fm.
It supports the following: Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II/Dolby Virtual Speakers, DTS Digital Surround.
For connectivity, there is Bluetooth, NFC for one touch connection, HDMI output to TV with ARC(Audio Return Channel) to listen to sound from the TV’s onboard receiver, HDMI input from Blue-ray Disc player or DVD, Digital Audio input from TV
Includes wall mount bracket and IR blaster remote
Dimensions and Weight: Subwoofer 180 x 408 x 306 mm 5.0 kg, Soundbar: 950 x 53 x 110 mm, 2,5kg

Sonos PLAYBAR wireless Sound Bar and Sonos SUB Wireless Subwoofer

The Sonos PLAYBAR and Sonos SUB when added together to create the a 2.1 entertainment system for TV is completely off the chart in terms of sound quality. It is also the most expensive of the systems shown here. If you look at the price tag, this is completely a different league.

There is no Bluetooth connectivity on either the PLAYBAR or SUB. Sonos is a wireless multi-room speaker system that relies on your home’s wireless network. This meant it can stream from a variety of sources on the local network and streaming services, not just tracks on your mobile devices.

However, a Sonos BRIDGE is required to create a dedicated network for the home theater system and to reduce the load on your local network which will inevitably happen when you start to add more and more speakers.

Going with Sonos while expensive meant you can upgrade your system. Upgrade options include the Sonos PLAY1 as satellite speakers, Sonos Play 3 or 5 as front channels to complete your 5.1 or even 7.1 surround.

The Sonos App lets you control and group the PLAYBAR and SUB together, or any other speakers from Sonos and choose to stream from different sources.

The PLAYBAR delivers rich textured HiFi sound. This amazingly powerful sound bar is said to perform 24 million calculations per second to allow each driver to add or subtract its output for a perfect balance. It contains six woofers and three tweeters for the full range of sound. The left and right tweeters are angled outward to create the widest possible sound stage.

It is powered by not one but 9 Class-D digital amplifiers that are tuned perfectly to match the speakers and acoustic architecture. There is also a Night Mode that compresses the volume so you don’t wake the family. There is even a built in accelerometer to readjusts the sound should you decide to mount* the speaker on the wall so it will sound good no matter the orientation.

Unlike the other Sound bar and subwoofer system featured here, the PLAYBAR only has one optical input so the Blu-ray, video console and other video streaming players will need to go on the TV. This meant the speaker will support any common audio formats from the TV which includes, Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM.

Apart from the wireless network adapter to stream music wirelessly, there are also two ethernet ports for direct connection to the local area network but it is unlikely that you will need this.

The Sonos SUB is one of the most impressive sub we have seen in the market. It produces a room filling deep and clear bass. Setting up the SUB is a breeze with a single press of a button.

It works with the PLAYBAR once grouped together using the Sonos App to complete the 2.1 channel system.

There are two force-cancelling speakers positioned face-to -face to offer deep sound with zero cabinet buzz or rattle.

*Sonos wall mount bracket available separately.