Best Surround Sound System: Top choices for home theatres

Samsung’s soundbar systems have received high scores from this site, but after the five-star HW-Q990C, you’d think they couldn’t get any better. Well think again.

The HW-Q990D is the 2024 edition of Samsung’s flagship soundbar and continues on the same levels of excellent.

Like with the previous models, it’s made up of a main soundbar, subwoofer and two rear speakers, which share the same upwards and side-firing speakers as the Q990C. The design won’t win awards for flair but this soundbar isn’t here to be stared at after all. You will need plenty of space to accomodate the main unit and unusually large subwoofer, as well as a sturdy surface for the main unit.

There are 11.1.4 channels of sound, the most you can get from any soundbar with 656W of amplification helping to power the speakers. The Space Fit Pro calibration has been tweaked this year, incorporating the subwoofer’s bass levels to calibrate the sound for your listening space. Chromecast has been added across the Samsung line-up this year for those who want to stream audio from their mobile devices.

Oweners of compatible Samsung TVs will benefit from Q-Symphony that joins the soundbar to the TV speakers for a even bigger soundstage. Another worthwhile upgrade is support for 4K/120Hz support through the HDMI input, so you can get the best gaming performance if you connect a game console to the TV via the soundbar.

While there’s no change in the number of channels, the Q990D sounds better than its predecessor. It uncovers more detail in tracks, and according to our reviewer, places them within the soundstage with remarkable precision. The rear speakers fill the space behind you excellently, the subwoofer hits hard without sounding as if it’s out of place.

Another improvement is the Q990D’s performance with musical. We found it to be the most musical sounding flagship bar from Samsung, the subwoofer much better integrated into the performance, and with music the soundbar sounds warmer, which makes for a more engaging performance.

Reviewer: John Archer
Full Review: Samsung HW-Q990D

Samsung doesn’t have it all to itself in the soundbar system market, with its fellow Korean rival LG also offering some options, such as its current flagship, the S95QR.

It original was released in 2022, but has received big software updates over the course of 2023 that have transformed its performance. Like the S80QR it has three upfiring drivers on the main bar, the out wide are for firing audio up towards the ceiling with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content, while the middle driver seeks to raise the height of dialogue so that it matches its placement on screen. As the centre channel, it alos helps with dialogue clarity too.

The rear speakers also feature front-firing drivers as well as upfiring speakers to help create a bigger soundstage.

In terms of performance, it delivers more flat-out power than the Samsung Q990C is capable of, with deeper bass than its precedessor, and a wide soundstage that fills all four corners of a room. It’s the type of performance that makes you forget that there are any physical speakers in the room.

It’s also better at handling music than the SP11RA, our reviewer felt that it achieved a more authentic and respectful balance between an original stereo mix’s elements.

In terms of features the S95QR can passthrough Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG through its HDMI input, and it can also passthrough 4K/120Hz for gaming consoles, a feature that’s not often supported, if at all, with soundbars. Wowcast support also allows for the soundbar to maintain a wireless connection with a compatible LG TV, so you can do away with wired connections.

Reviewer: John Archer
Full Review: LG S95QR

The Sonos Arc is one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars we’ve tested, and when paired with rear speakers and a subwoofer it creates an impressive surround system that does come at a premium price. 

On its own the Arc is a 5.0.2 system, with the Sonos Sub and rear speakers transforming it into a 7.1.2 channel set-up.  S2 compatible Sonos speakers are required for the rear channels, so the One SL, Era 100 or Five speakers are an option along with the Ikea Symfonisk Bookshelf speakers, while any generation of Sub can be partnered with the main Arc bar. You can now add the Sonos Era 300 to the system to have rear Dolby Atmos speakers to produce a complete hemisphere of Dolby Atmos sound. 

The audio performance is one we found impressive when all hooked up, with Trueplay helping to align and balance the speakers for optimal sound within the room. The rear speakers help to fill in the gaps behind the seating position, providing a subtle assist that engaged us more than the front-heavy performance of the Arc. The integration of the rear speakers is well handled, blending in well to create an expansive hemisphere of sound.

The addition of the Sub provides an impressive low end than you got with the Arc, helping to alleviate the Arc’s issue with transitioning between the bottom end of the frequency range to the mid-range. As the Sub is left to do the heavy lifting, the Arc can focus on the midrange, which we felt helped aid smoother transitions between bass and midrange.

Depending on the size of the room, a Sonos Sub may feel too powerful, and the cost of it adds to the overall outlay. There is the Sonos Sub mini, which is cheaper but Sonos doesn’t recommend pairing with with the Arc soundbar, saying it’s a better option to be used with the Sonos Beam or Ray models if you’re listening in a smaller room.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full Review: Sonos Arc Surround Sound Package

The HT-AX7 might be one of the more peculiar products you’ve come across in that it’s a ‘personal’ sound system.

So unlike the Samsung, Sonos, and LG efforts on this list, this isn’t for your TV but for mobile devices like a smartphone, tablet, and laptops. It’s a rather ingenious concept in our view.

It’s made up of three elements: two detachable speakers that you can place around you and the main speaker unit that sits in front of your seating position. It’s easy enough to ferry from room to room, and the width of speaker makes it easy to place if you’re short on space.

It connects via Bluetooth with no Wi-Fi support, an omission we though was a little strange. The wireless performance is strong, but we would have liked the ability to use Wi-Fi alongside Bluetooth for casting directly to the speaker.

The 360 Spatial Sound Mapping support creates a soundstage around your listening position with both physical speakers and virtual ones, although Sony claims it can produce overhead sounds, we found that to be more marketing mumbo-jumbo.

Battery is caimed to be around 30+ hours, and we certainly get the impression they could last that long from our time using them, although when the speakers are in standby mode they do consume battery so that’s something to watch out for if you don’t use the speaker for a week (or two).

The performance with movies and TV shows is quite impressive. There’s a wider, bigger soundstage to enjoy than if you were listening through a pair of headphones or the mobile device. Synching between what’s on the screen and the speakers is excellent, the rears fill in the space behind you in a way that keeps up the levels of immersion.

At higher volume levels it can sound thin, and with music it’s not that great. You won’t get much bass either, but that’s no surprise for a speaker of this size.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Sony HT-AX7