Soundbar jargon buster

As you hunt through the best options for turning your living room into a home cinema experience, you’ll come across some of these words…

HDMI ARC/eARC

HDMI ARC (audio return channel) and the new eARC (enhanced audio return channel) allow you to send video and audio both ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’ via a single cable – before, you needed two. This is the connection you’ll need to use to connect your soundbar to your television via HDMI – it will usually be labelled on all kit from 2009 onwards.

CHANNELS

Home cinema sound is often discussed as channels, and written as 5.1ch or 7.1.2ch. These numbers refer to the number of individual channels of sound into which a soundtrack has been broken down. The first number refers to the number of surround channels, the second to the subwoofer channels and, when there’s a third number, the number of height channels in an Atmos setup.

SUBWOOFER

A subwoofer is a separate bit of kit that deals with the lower bass frequencies. When used with a soundbar, it takes over when things get too low for the soundbar to manage. This will generally be explosions in action films, and kick drums and bass guitars in music.

SAMSUNG HW-Q800T

PRICE: £699 | CHANNELS:

3.1.2 | DIMENSIONS:

(HWD) 6 X 98 X 11.5CM | WEIGHT: 3.6KG | SEPARATE SUBWOOFER: YES (40 X 20 X 40CM, 9.8KG) | BLUETOOTH: YES | WI-FI: YES | ATMOS:

YES

Samsung’s mid-range soundbar is a feature-packed option that’s accompanied by a wireless subwoofer to add some kick to the low end. This helps it to be slender enough to slide under the front of most TVs without issue, but it does come with brackets for wall mounting if you prefer.

Samsung’s Acoustic Beam technology works wonders here, with 56 holes that act as individual speakers to direct sound high and wide from two upward-firing speaker arrays. The result is an impressive wall of powerful yet insightful sound that easily extends to the listening position and overhead.

When used with a compatible 2020 Samsung TV, the company’s innovative Q Symphony feature can boost the sound even further, working with the TV’s speakers to complement the soundbar performance and add more depth and height.

Still want more? Samsung offers a bolt-on wireless rear speaker package for expanding the virtual surround sound into a more physical one, which can really complete the experience and fill in the gaps that the soundbar alone misses out on.