Last Updated on March 16, 2021 by SoundBarScan
If you plan to refurbish your TV system and plan to upgrade it using soundbars or surround sound, you must be wondering how to choose one.
With the latest advancement in technologies and sound systems, several market devices are trending, but you need to get your hands on the most suitable one.
We all love experiencing a cinema-like feel at home, but it all comes down to our budget, space in our living room, plus our references.
How do you compare a soundbar and surround sound?
Dive in to find out how do you compare a soundbar and surround sound:
Soundbar:
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Cost:
First, let’s talk about the soundbars. They are affordable, but they are not that cheap. The price range of soundbars varies depending on the features it offers, brand, the material used, and much more.
However, with several options in the market, you can invest in the best affordable soundbar, which comes with useful features.
An excellent soundbar will cost you a few hundred dollars, while if you plan on investing in a mindblowing sound system, it will cost you around $1000.
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Easy setup:
Next, we will move onto the setup of soundbars. They are easy to set, and they don’t take enough space in offices or rooms. Soundbars are easy to install, and there are several ways to place them based on the type of soundbar you purchase.
You can place the soundbars over the shelf underneath the TV or mount them on the wall underneath or above the TV.
Some soundbars are also available in the market, which can be used as TV platforms known as sound bases. If the soundbars come with surrounding sound speakers or subwoofers, they are placed in front with the right and left speakers placed on sides.
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Compact:
The soundbars are practical in all terms, whether we talk about their cost, simplicity, installation, easy setup, and space-saving feature, which makes them useful gadgets.
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Practical:
Soundbars are smaller and practical at the same time. Compared to the surround sound speaker systems, they are compact no matter they come with several elements.
Soundbars cannot feature more than three elements, but they come with single or dual elements in most cases.
On the other hand, surround sound systems have around six speakers, out of which five are the speakers while one is a subwoofer.
This indicates that the potential subwoofer and the soundbars will occupy less space.
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Good quality standards:
Soundbars serve as a great, affordable choice for delivering good sound results. They come with around two-speaker pls small subwoofer, which means they cannot deliver enough sounds. However, if you plan to invest in a better product than the TV speakers, it’s best to choose soundbars.
These characters make soundbars aesthetically appealing because of the compact size, which fits well in small offices, rooms, and apartments. You can easily install them in small rooms, especially if they are wireless. No mess and no more worries about tangled wires as the cables don’t scatter much in soundbars.
Surround Sound:
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Quality:
Surround systems come with top-notch sound quality without any imperfections, which makes them an excellent choice.
If you seek an exceptional solution to upgrade your TV’s sound quality, then it’s high time you invest in surround sound speakers. It serves as an ideal solution to offer rich sounds with deep bass, presenting sparkling highs and clear vocals.
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It comes with separate subwoofers:
The surround sound system features separate subwoofers which deliver enough punchy bass and are quite large. The surround sound system is highly accurate and delivers extremely low frequencies, which you easily feel.
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Feels all over:
You can enjoy top-notch sound quality with the surround sound system because they are everywhere, allowing you to indulge in all scenes, conversations, and songs.
You can enjoy listening to the sounds from different angles. They are present in front, beside, right, and left sides. When you watch TV or watch movies, you’ll feel like you are present in that scene.
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Perfect for a cinematic experience:
You’ll love surrounding sound systems because they are ideal for big rooms or big lounges in general. If you feel the need to invest in big speakers, then surround sound will definitely meet your needs of delivering powerful sounds.
If you use a soundbar rather than surround sound in big rooms, the quality will be lost, especially in highs, lows, and mids, making the sounds even worse.
Thus, people who have large living rooms or spacious areas invest in surround sound systems making them worth the price.
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Cinematic sound experience:
If you love indulging in a cinematic feel that too at the comfort of your home, then it’s best recommended to get your hands on the surround sound systems.
They come with five to six elements which means they are placed around your sitting areas like a couch or sofa.
This allows all users to indulge in top-notch sound quality from all directions. The surround sound system offers detailed, loud, clear, and perfectly balanced sounds.
Turn your movie watching experience into a completely new experience. This system is way better than the cinematic speakers because you can easily adjust the home theatre speakers.
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Customized setup:
Unlike the soundbars, which are meant to sit in front of the TV, the individual speakers in the surround sound system can be easily placed at your favorite spots.
Plus, you can also invest in speaker stands which can be mounted on walls, ceilings, or behind the sofas. Customize the entire living setup using the surround sound system.
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Blends with different brands:
What Else you’ll love about surround sound systems is that they blend well with different brands. Most brands use simple connections so that you can buy any of the speakers without any hassle.
Technical specs of soundbar and surround sound:
Now once we have discussed the significant differences between the two, let’s dive into finding out how do you compare a soundbar and surround sound:
Frequency response:
The frequency range is the range of frequency that is easily audible by our ears. The human ear is easily heard around 20 Hz to 20KHZ. The frequencies which are lower than 35 are not audible.
The subwoofer, which is present in the surround sound systems, is responsible for allowing you to hear low-end tones. The speakers with the highest frequencies let you know how high the speakers are.
Power:
The speaker’s power is represented in watts that tell us how loud or powerful the speakers are. Living in a big home or having a spacious room, it’s best advised to purchase speakers with extra power.
Sensitivity:
The speakers come with a certain sensitivity, which is represented in dB. This tells us about the loudness of the speakers.
The more sensitive your speakers are, the louder they are. Moreover, sensitivity tells us about the power of the speakers. To listen to louder sounds, it’s best to choose speakers with more power.
Impedance:
This sound speaker’s quality is measured using Ohms, which tells us how the speaker will resist the electrical signals. Speakers with low impedance need less power compared to high impedance speakers.
Summary:
Still trying to decide which is a better soundbar or surround sound, you need to consider the room’s size where you are planning to fit this device.
If you own a small apartment, then it’s best recommended to invest in soundbars. However, it’s best recommended for large spaces to invest in surround sound, which delivers exceptional sound quality.
Lastly, if you love sleek-looking wireless devices, offer easy installation, and produce good quality sound, it’s best to choose a soundbar.
However, when buying soundbars, you need to invest in a separate subwoofer. Soundbars are meat for creating specific corners for an exceptional listening experience.
Surround sound systems, on the other hand, require several wires running from the receiver. They take more space and need a complex installation process.
But if we talk about sound quality, they offer top-notch sound quality with maximum bass.
Indulge exceptional sound quality while investing in a soundbar or surround sound by famous brands like Sonos, Bose, and several others.
