It is an all-in-one speaker system that delivers high-quality TV sound without the space, complexity, and expense of installing a soundbar, a home theater receiver, and a surround sound speaker. A soundbar's tall, thin cabinet contains two or more speakers and can provide stereo or surround sound. Some soundbars come with a separate subwoofer to produce deep bass that adds a more intense experience and realistic effect to soundtracks and effects.

Almost all soundbars you'll come across are self-powered or active - meaning they have their own built-in amplifiers. But there is also a fading type of soundbar designed to connect to and draw power from a receiver. These non-powered or passive soundbars lack another key advantage of the active models: easy setup and operation. Since 99.9% of users are looking for active soundbars, this article covers self-powered soundbars only.

While shopping, you will come across soundbars from most TV manufacturers as well as from almost every sound company. A soundbar designed by the company that manufactured your TV may be a perfect match cosmetically or may offer other compatibility benefits. But for pure sound quality, you'll probably get better audio performance with a model from a company whose primary focus is audio equipment.

Pro tip: Soundbars come in all different shapes and sizes. Some can be mounted directly on the wall, while others are designed to be placed under your TV or directly above your TV unit. One of the tricks to choosing the best soundbar for your needs involves determining the dimensions of the space where you'll be using your soundbar. There's nothing worse than unpacking a great soundbar and finding it doesn't fit on your TV or stand. Our recommendation? Measure the length, width, and depth of your flat-panel TV and be sure to evaluate these before purchasing a soundbar. Use this information to guide your choice.

Knowing where you’re going to place your soundbar will instantly simplify your decision and narrow down your options. There are two basic options. If your TV is wall-mounted, you can mount the soundbar directly underneath it for a clean, uncluttered look. If you’re going in this direction, the next step is to think about how you’re going to hide the power and connection cables.

On the other hand, if your TV is built into a stand or cabinet, you may want to place the soundbar in front of the TV. In this case, you should measure your stand and the base of your TV to make sure your soundbar doesn’t protrude beyond the stand.

You should also calculate the space between the top of your stand and the bottom of your TV screen to make sure the soundbar doesn’t block your TV screen. Some soundbars can be placed flat with the speakers facing forward, or with the speakers facing up, for this very reason.

Soundbars come in a wide range of sizes, from 30cm wide to almost 150cm long. The right size soundbar for you will depend on the size of your room, the size of your TV and your personal preferences.

If you plan on shopping for your soundbar in-store, take out your phone and take a few photos of your TV before you leave the house. That way, you can reference these photos when comparing options and get a better idea of how different soundbars will look in your home.

If you think you might want a Subwoofer along with the soundbar, that might limit your placement options a bit, but you'll likely need less space than you'd expect. This is because almost all of these subwoofers are wireless. That is, they receive the audio signal wirelessly through the soundbar, so you don't have to connect any cables between the soundbar and the subwoofer. However, you will need to plug your subwoofer into an outlet for energy.

Also, it is difficult for our ears to tell where the low frequencies produced by the subs are coming from. Bass frequencies have wavelengths in meters and spread throughout the room. So you can usually position the subwoofer pretty much anywhere in the room and have it mix well sonically with the sounds your soundbar produces - you can conveniently place your subwoofer next to your sofa or in a corner of the room.

So far, we've talked about soundbars that have a really long, slender stick shape. But there is another type: platform-style soundbars, sometimes called soundbases. Also called a soundbase, this design sits under your TV and supports the sound your TV produces. Soundbases have specially reinforced cabinets. If you're considering this type of TV sound system, check the specifications to make sure it can support the weight of your TV, and make sure the soundbase is the same size or wider as your TV's base.

If you don't have a lot of vertical space between the bottom of your TV screen and the top of your stand, a solid base may be your best bet. It's also a smart choice if you want full-range sound without a separate subwoofer. Sound bases have two advantages that help them produce a surprisingly full sound. They can use larger speakers and the cabinets are much larger; this gives the speakers room to breathe so they can produce more bass.

It is worth repeating that any soundbar (soundbar) will sound much better than your TV. Basically, soundbars tend to be stereo designs that reproduce the same left and right channel sound information as your TV. But thanks to larger speakers powered by real-power amplifiers, they provide a much more powerful, spacious and satisfying sound performance.

You'll also find systems with two speakers, or even three in a left/right/center configuration that can go beyond the limitations of stereo. These soundbars can use Dolby Digital processing to anchor the dialogue to the TV screen, and route sound to the respective speakers in a proprietary way so you get a wider and more realistic soundstage with more precise placement of sound effects.

Then there are multi-channel soundbars that emulate the realistic, immersive sound of a multi-speaker surround sound system. They are typically labeled as 5.1 or 7.1 systems and produce separate sounds assigned to each channel to create a three-dimensional sound field.

Some soundbars use special beam-type speakers to project sound through your walls, making you think your ears are surrounded by speakers.

If you don't like seeing cables around and prefer Wireless TV solutions; If you are using your TV's built-in apps and/or streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Video for your home theater enjoyment, you should definitely consider a soundbar that will work in harmony with your TV.

All these platforms offer Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround etc streaming on many broadcasts nowadays. When you pair your new model TV, which is still very powerful with Dolby Digital decoding capability, with a soundbar that supports it, you will take your TV enjoyment to another dimension.

With the popularity of wireless music playback, it's no surprise that many soundbars now offer this feature. With the built-in Bluetooth® feature, you can easily stream music from your smartphone, tablet or Bluetooth-enabled computer.

Almost all soundbars today work flawlessly with your favorite music streaming apps (Spotify®, Apple Music, etc.) as well as music stored on your phone.

Some soundbars also come with Wi-Fi® capability for quick access to online streaming services as well as your personal digital music library. Soundbars with this feature include Wi-Fi-based wireless sound systems such as Play-Fi, which lets you set up a multi-room audio system for seamless music playback.

Many soundbars also have a USB port. So you can load your favorite songs onto a flash drive, leave them plugged in above your soundbar and listen to them whenever you want.

When choosing a soundbar, be sure to choose one with the correct connections for your TV and other components. There are two basic ways to connect a soundbar to your system. The most common way is to use your TV as a relay hub: you connect your Blu-ray player, cable or satellite box, and game console to your TV, then send the audio from your TV to your soundbar.

This is a basic approach that allows you to switch audio and video signals simultaneously when you switch inputs on your TV. Typically, you set up a digital audio connection (optical or HDMI) between your TV and soundbar to be able to enjoy surround sound with sources that provide it. This is an especially good form of connection if you bought your TV in 201 or later.

TVs in pre-2015 models would convert audio to a two-channel PCM signal. This produces stereo sound that can still be played with soundbars and that sounds good, but not surround.

By the way, if you can't get sound from a connected source when there is a picture on the screen, the answer to this question is usually related to the sound settings; Go to your TV's menu and check PCM or Dolby Digital preferences in the sound settings.

Every HD TV and 4K TV has an optical digital output, and almost every soundbar does. This connection ranks second after HDMI as a way to stream high-quality sound from your TV to the soundbar.

Speaking of HDMI, a growing number of soundbars include HDMI connections; this means you can connect your Blu-ray player or high definition media player directly to the soundbar.

Once your soundbar is connected and set up, you can usually use your TV remote to control its volume. Most TVs and cable or satellite remotes can be programmed to control a soundbar, or the soundbar can learn your TV's commands. Most soundbars include at least a basic remote and often have free remote apps that let you use your smartphone or tablet as a remote.

Originally developed as a reaction to the mediocre sound performance produced by TV sets, soundbars have become a highly preferred part of our daily lives over time, providing user-friendly performance, comfort and a much more satisfying sound performance.

Today, among the many models, anyone can find a soundbar solution to suit their preferences and budget.