TV SOUNDBAR BUYER’S CHECKLIST

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A SOUNDBAR FOR YOUR TV

IS IT GOING TO FIT?

Make sure you measure the width of your TV, and its bezels, before shopping around — you don’t want your soundbar to obscure the screen or look awkwardly huge below your screen.

DOES YOUR TV HAVE HDMI PASSTHROUGH SUPPORT?

It probably does if it’s a recent model, but if you want to use HDMI and not an optical connection, make sure it does (check for an ARC HDMI port).

SHOULD I USE HDMI OR OPTICAL?

If you’ve got passthrough support, HDMI. If you don’t, and you want to control your soundbar with your TV remote, optical is the better and easier option. HDMI may be inaudibly better, fidelity wise, but it’ll take more wrangling.

DO I NEED BLUETOOTH?

No, probably not, but you’d be silly to buy a unit without this support, if you want to use it to stream music from other smart devices.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2.1, 3.1 AND 5.1?

Basically, the amount of speakers and/or channels you’re getting. 2.1 is two speakers in the soundbar and a separate subwoofer. 2.0 is two speakers and no sub. More speakers means a better, albeit artificial, surround sound approximation, and real surround sound kicks in at 5.1. Be aware that more speakers doesn’t always mean better sound output: three speakers with 30 watts each will push out less sound than two with 50.

DO I NEED DOLBY ATMOS?

Maybe. This is new-ish audio tech which can approximate surround sound better than anything that came previous. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll need an HD Blu-ray player (say, an Xbox One S) and not all media supports it. If you’ve got the money, go ahead. For most people, it’s not quite a must-have yet.

CAN YOU WALL-MOUNT IT?

Many come with all the brackets and bolts you’ll need, but check!