Stereo vs. Surround: which configuration is best for your soundbar?

A good soundbar is more than just a plastic chassis full of speakers, it’s a meaningful addition to your home theater. Whether you’re looking for a volume boost for movies and TV shows, or the kind of immersive audio you expect from surround sound, replacing your TV audio with a soundbar is a solid first step. But not all soundbars are equal, and there are many nuances to consider, including additional speakers and audio formats. Some soundbars are better designed to deliver stereo sound, while others are designed to simulate larger speaker setups, with rear and height effects.

If you’re wondering what type of audio format is best for your system, a better question to answer might be: “What type of room does my soundbar live in?” » At the bare minimum, all soundbars are capable of decoding and outputting stereo sound, which may also be described as “2.0” or “PCM” on the packaging and in the manual. Plus, you generally don’t need anything more advanced for small to medium sized rooms. At the 2.0 level, many soundbars do an excellent job of enhancing dialogue and often provide a wider soundstage than most TV speakers.

The results improve even more when you start adding a subwoofer to get better sound, which is why it’s a good idea to invest in a bar that comes with one. A subwoofer saves your soundbar’s main speakers from needing to process and output ultra-low frequencies, like the pounding of a dinosaur’s footsteps, the hum of a massive spaceship, or the energy of a soundtrack with pounding drums. Allowing these front-end channels to focus on treble and midrange performance.

Let’s say you have a medium or large sized living room. Larger floor plans tend to be more suited to bigger, bolder sizes, which may make for one of the best soundbars for audiophiles, experts say. You probably won’t buy a 2.0 system at this level either. We suggest starting with bars that can handle at least 5.0 surround. Fortunately, many home theater style bars also come equipped with a wireless subwoofer. Some others come with a subwoofer and a set of rear speakers that usually plug into the subwoofer for power.

A wireless subwoofer is just as important to a surround sound setup as it is to a stereo soundbar, if not more so. The dedicated front left, right, and center speakers on your soundbar (if it has one) should not attempt to produce bass frequencies. A subwoofer should always handle the lowest bass. And if you’re not ready to invest in a bar-subwoofer combo, there are a number of soundbars that will let you add a dedicated subwoofer after the fact.

If you own one of the best 4K Blu-ray players for movie buffs, it’s also helpful to know what types of surround formats your soundbar can handle. Many Blu-rays are encoded for DTS or Digital Theater Systems audio, but not all bars can decode a DTS track. This usually means that your system will need to remix the audio for stereo playback. Most streaming platforms tend to use Dolby for audio encoding, but some streamable movies and shows also use DTS.

HDMI ARC on a TV or projector is for soundbars, as are plugs marked eARC or digital optical. The former is the better option, because HDMI allows for the kind of round-trip bandwidth required by advanced formats like Dolby Atmos. But even with all the right cables and compatible audio formats in place, most soundbars simply can’t deliver the kind of precise, object-based immersion that Atmos is known for.

Part of the problem is that most Atmos-optimized soundbars use upward-firing speakers, designed to radiate sound through the ceiling. This audio is then supposed to be reflected back to your seating area. That’s good in theory, but it’s still not the same as in-wall or in-ceiling speakers aimed directly at you. In some cases, Atmos-ready bars won’t even have upward-firing speakers, which usually means the system has to rely on even more bouncy and reflective sounds coming from the side and front drivers.

Ultimately, nothing beats a wired AV receiver for a true Atmos 5.1.2 or higher footprint. But not all households can afford the higher upfront cost that these types of surround setups involve. Not to mention, connecting multiple speakers to an amplifier is less user-friendly than simply connecting a soundbar to your TV.