Soundbar - Sonos or samsung

[Ma’bad]

I'm currently exploring soundbar options and have managed to narrow down my choices to three possibilities, all of which fall within a similar price range. My current lg soundbar, sk9y keeps switching outputs (to arc) and this is frustrating the family. Here are the options I'm considering:

Option A: Samsung Q990b/c Option B: Sonos Beam Gen 2 paired with surrounds Option C: Sonos Arc as a stand-alone unit

My TV supports eARC, and I intend to primarily use the soundbar for enhancing my movie and TV series viewing experience, with occasional music playback. Based on my research, the Samsung soundbar appears to offer good value for money and sounded impressive during my store visits. While I haven't had the chance to personally experience the Sonos soundbars yet, I'm curious about their performance as well.

i have made a table on the advantages of each which I have attached.

 

[Lupus]

Price range? Cause I've got the 9.1 that came out in 2020

Search results for: 'jbl bar 800 pro 5 1 sound bar with subwoofer and detachable speakers' - HiFiCorp

Welcome to HiFiCorp....Widest Range Of TVs, Audio Devices, Home Appliances & More. Don't Miss The Best Deals. TVs, Electronics, Homeware & More. Everything at Great Prices. Buy Online Now. Nationwide Delivery. Click & Collect in Store. High Tech, Low Prices.

www.hificorp.co.za

This is their newer version, they do have a 1000 which is apparently a bit overkill

 

[Ma’bad]

Price range? Cause I've got the 9.1 that came out in 2020

Search results for: 'jbl bar 800 pro 5 1 sound bar with subwoofer and detachable speakers' - HiFiCorp

Welcome to HiFiCorp....Widest Range Of TVs, Audio Devices, Home Appliances & More. Don't Miss The Best Deals. TVs, Electronics, Homeware & More. Everything at Great Prices. Buy Online Now. Nationwide Delivery. Click & Collect in Store. High Tech, Low Prices.

www.hificorp.co.za

This is their newer version, they do have a 1000 which is apparently a bit overkill

I will have a look at the reviews of this soundbar. I am hoping to get the above when they go on special for around 18k. Max 20k. Attached serval price tracker for arc

 

[spidaman]

Have you considered the JBL 800 and 1000?

 

[TedLasso]

I have an arc with sub and surround speakers. Love it. Though I think it was the addition of the sub that made it even better.

I bought it because I already had crap loads of Sonos gear.

They do some crazy stuff in that what you have / sound today may be different with the next firmware update which is not something you can say for any other audio equipment you buy. They had missteps with neutering the bass in a arc/HT setup that took months to resolve and apparently even their ERA speakers ( my next one's when I finally get rid of the play:1s that I have had for soooooo long and still work so beautifully) had some issue in a HT setup (them being designed for spatial audio) that was resolved in the last update.

You can see that two ways ,I prefer to see it that they continue to support their hardware ( which has been reliable).

Note:- Some guys with arc, LG OLED and either PS5/apple TV/ Xbox have issues with a random popping sound - covered in news this week since Tom warren from The Verge just experienced it and was surprised Sonos haven't had a fix for two years now or something. Ars also covered it thereafter.

I have all those devices except for gaming and thankfully I haven't experienced it.

Good luck!

 

[Ma’bad]

I have an arc with sub and surround speakers. Love it. Though I think it was the addition of the sub that made it even better.

I bought it because I already had crap loads of Sonos gear.

They do some crazy stuff in that what you have / sound today may be different with the next firmware update which is not something you can say for any other audio equipment you buy. They had missteps with neutering the bass in a arc/HT setup that took months to resolve and apparently even their ERA speakers ( my next one's when I finally get rid of the play:1s that I have had for soooooo long and still work so beautifully) had some issue in a HT setup (them being designed for spatial audio) that was resolved in the last update.

You can see that two ways ,I prefer to see it that they continue to support their hardware ( which has been reliable).

Note:- Some guys with arc, LG OLED and either PS5/apple TV/ Xbox have issues with a random popping sound - covered in news this week since Tom warren from The Verge just experienced it and was surprised Sonos haven't had a fix for two years now or something. Ars also covered it thereafter.

I have all those devices except for gaming and thankfully I haven't experienced it.

Good luck!

Thank you for your advice. I wasn't aware of the popping issue, and I have indeed encountered popping when using the LG SK9Y soundbar with Atmos content on my Apple TV. Interestingly, I haven't experienced this issue when using it with my Nvidia Shield. Additionally, I have an LG TV. I'm curious, in eARC mode, does the TV display a numerical volume indicator on screen? My current soundbar just shows +/- on the tv, and I'm aware that Sonos devices also lack a visible volume indicator.

 

[TedLasso]

Thank you for your advice. I wasn't aware of the popping issue, and I have indeed encountered popping when using the LG SK9Y soundbar with Atmos content on my Apple TV. Interestingly, I haven't experienced this issue when using it with my Nvidia Shield. Additionally, I have an LG TV. I'm curious, in eARC mode, does the TV display a numerical volume indicator on screen? My current soundbar just shows +/- on the tv, and I'm aware that Sonos devices also lack a visible volume indicator.

Same, only +/- a bit irritating when I first got the arc but two years later even forgot about that haha

 

[cguy]

I believe that I actually have all 3 sound bars (ARC, Beam2 and and older Samsung) right now attached to TVs of progressive age.

The ARC with sub and rear speakers gives fantastic quality sound. Far better than the others (although my Samsung is definitely an older model).

I habe a whole Sonos ecosystem that allows me to play Spotify (or whatever) in any room I choose.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I sounds more like you have an HDMI-CEC misconfiguration of some kind than you need a new soundbar.

But also why would you NOT want it to Arc? Surely all your audio is going through the soundbar and you want this to work properly?

 

[SauRoNZA]

Thank you for your advice. I wasn't aware of the popping issue, and I have indeed encountered popping when using the LG SK9Y soundbar with Atmos content on my Apple TV. Interestingly, I haven't experienced this issue when using it with my Nvidia Shield. Additionally, I have an LG TV. I'm curious, in eARC mode, does the TV display a numerical volume indicator on screen? My current soundbar just shows +/- on the tv, and I'm aware that Sonos devices also lack a visible volume indicator.

Your HDMI-CEC configuration sounds entirely messed up.

You shouldn’t see any volume controls on the TV, only on the soundbar.

How are your devices connected? What are they and what TV is it?

 

[NeonNinja]

Dang. R15k on a soundbar

 

[Ma’bad]

I sounds more like you have an HDMI-CEC misconfiguration of some kind than you need a new soundbar.

But also why would you NOT want it to Arc? Surely all your audio is going through the soundbar and you want this to work properly?

My tv is an lg cs. I have content in TrueHD format, and I've connected the bluray player to the HDMI input as my soundbar only supports ARC.When I turn on the TV and the input is set to the soundbar, it switches the soundbar input to optical. I then have to manually adjust the input using the soundbar remote or choose the soundbar input on the TV remote, which usually switches it back to HDMI input on the soundbar.

Both my Apple TV and PS5 are connected to the TV, utilizing ARC . The popping typically arises when I start a show with Atmos audio on Netflix or Apple TV+ using the Apple TV, the soundbar display shows unsupported when that sound is heard, howerver it then plays the movie /show fine in atmos. I had hoped that upgrading to an eARC compatible soundbar would allow me to streamline everything through eARC, eliminating the need to constantly switch inputs.

 

[Lupus]

Your HDMI-CEC configuration sounds entirely messed up.

You shouldn’t see any volume controls on the TV, only on the soundbar.

How are your devices connected? What are they and what TV is it?

On all my arc setups you see the volume on both, the TV volume is just an indicator for the sound bars. So at 50 on the TV it's 15 on the SB as that is 50%

 

[Lupus]

My tv is an lg cs. I have content in TrueHD format, and I've connected the bluray player to the HDMI input as my soundbar only supports ARC.When I turn on the TV and the input is set to the soundbar, it switches the soundbar input to optical. I then have to manually adjust the input using the soundbar remote or choose the soundbar input on the TV remote, which usually switches it back to HDMI input on the soundbar.

Both my Apple TV and PS5 are connected to the TV, utilizing ARC . The popping typically arises when I start a show with Atmos audio on Netflix or Apple TV+ using the Apple TV, the soundbar display shows unsupported when that sound is heard, howerver it then plays the movie /show fine in atmos. I had hoped that upgrading to an eARC compatible soundbar would allow me to streamline everything through eARC, eliminating the need to constantly switch inputs.

Well to really get Atmos you do need eArc, though you could just plug the apple TV into the hdmi port as it's the Atmos provider while the other 2 aren't?

 

[Ma’bad]

Well to really get Atmos you do need eArc, though you could just plug the apple TV into the hdmi port as it's the Atmos provider while the other 2 aren't?

Lossy Atmos (DDP) can be obtained through ARC, which is the technology utilized by streaming services. For lossless codecs such as TrueHD and DTS:X, which are commonly found on 4K Blu-rays, eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) is necessary.

 

[Lupus]

Lossy Atmos (DDP) can be obtained through ARC, which is the technology utilized by streaming services. For lossless codecs such as TrueHD and DTS:X, which are commonly found on 4K Blu-rays, eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) is necessary.

Ah you have a 4k blu ray player, lucky . They say that about lossless Atmos but having switched to am eArc tv there is a difference

 

[SauRoNZA]

Lossy Atmos (DDP) can be obtained through ARC, which is the technology utilized by streaming services. For lossless codecs such as TrueHD and DTS:X, which are commonly found on 4K Blu-rays, eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel) is necessary.

Well only if you want it passed through the TV, not if it’s connected directly to the soundbar.

 

[SauRoNZA]

On all my arc setups you see the volume on both, the TV volume is just an indicator for the sound bars. So at 50 on the TV it's 15 on the SB as that is 50%

Strange I don’t have this on either of my setups.

On my Samsung + Onkyo receiver there is an on screen display but it’s coming from the Onkyo not the TV.

On my LG + LG there’s nothing on the TV and only the display on the soundbar.

 

[Lupus]

Strange I don’t have this on either of my setups.

On my Samsung + Onkyo receiver there is an on screen display but it’s coming from the Onkyo not the TV.

On my LG + LG there’s nothing on the TV and only the display on the soundbar.

Might be cause its lg to lg it has its own comms? But from my Hisense to Jbl it'll show on both, on my hisense to Sony on both.
But my hisense to cheap hisense it doesn't, but that one is odd as even through optical it acts like arc. Turns on and off with the TV.

 

[SauRoNZA]

My tv is an lg cs. I have content in TrueHD format, and I've connected the bluray player to the HDMI input as my soundbar only supports ARC.When I turn on the TV and the input is set to the soundbar, it switches the soundbar input to optical. I then have to manually adjust the input using the soundbar remote or choose the soundbar input on the TV remote, which usually switches it back to HDMI input on the soundbar.

Both my Apple TV and PS5 are connected to the TV, utilizing ARC . The popping typically arises when I start a show with Atmos audio on Netflix or Apple TV+ using the Apple TV, the soundbar display shows unsupported when that sound is heard, howerver it then plays the movie /show fine in atmos. I had hoped that upgrading to an eARC compatible soundbar would allow me to streamline everything through eARC, eliminating the need to constantly switch inputs.

I do seem to remember something about this way back when and it was something I needed to change on either the TV or Apple TV.

Arc in general is a ****up. There is always some device causing kak. In my case it’s the PS5 that just turns on at random with other devices and then fights them for the input.

It’s so annoying I ended up disabling HDMI-CEC on the PS5.

Do you suffer from load shedding? I’ve noticed that this can break the chain of HDMI-CEC devices and the best way to fix it is to them all off, turn the TV on first then the soundbar and then the other devices and cycle through them before a “clean” power off.