When people ask me about the best Dolby Atmos soundbar, I have only one real answer. Go out and buy the Sonos Arc Ultra. It’s a spectacular piece of under-TV hardware, powering a surround system out of one box. Now that’s cool.
It’s also quite expensive. Not everyone has a thousand dollars lying around to spend on a soundbar, or even the space for Sonos’s TV stand dominating tube of sound. There’s a wonderful alternative to the Sonos Arc Ultra that costs less than half the price.
Sono’s mighty soundbar
(Image credit: Sonos)
Once you’ve dropped the $1,099 on the Sonos Arc Ultra, you’ll be wondering what kind of experience you’re in for. In a word, spectacular. In a few more words, it’s a stunning movie experience that makes it feel like you’re sitting in the theater.
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The only thing you need for the full effect? Some expensive Coca-Cola and a massive bucket of popcorn. Although with the amount you’ll have spent on this setup, you’ll probably be stuck with a small bag of Hershey’s Kisses and a tin of pop.
Spaceships flying overhead that feel like they’ve just scraped the top of your cranium, jungles that surround you with environmental sounds, rainstorms that make you feel like you’re getting wet. Bassy explosions that shake the room. It’s all incredibly immersive, and a whole lot better than the “all-in-one box” solutions that do fine for most people.
But then, we’re not most people.
(Image credit: Future)
If you want to maximize your Sonos Arc Ultra experience, you can augment your surround sound with additional speakers and subwoofers. My Sonos Arc Ultra is paired with some Era 300 speakers and a Sonos sub 4.
The speakers sit around the back of the room for some physical rear surrounds, and the subwoofer provides some seriously impressive bassy kick. That makes an already expensive soundbar cost even more, so it’s not for the faint of heart.
You can always grab a cheaper Sonos sub mini or some Era 100s for surrounds. That’s flexibility, baby, something that most other soundbar packages lack. It all adds up to make the Dolby Atmos soundbar that I recommend to anyone who uses the words “I want the best Dolby Atmos possible.”
The cheaper alternative
(Image credit: Future Photo Studios)
If the full Sonos Arc Ultra gives you the financial heebie-jeebies, there are options that won’t break the bank. Are you going to forgo that monster audio performance? Absolutely, as you might expect. But you won’t have to take out a mortgage for it either.
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We adore the Polk Audio Signa S4 for a number of reasons. First, and perhaps most importantly, is the Dolby Atmos performance. For something that costs half as much as the incredibly impressive Sonos soundbar, the virtual surround that the Signa 4 kicks out is pretty good.
We loved how the characters moved about the room while watching “The Wild Robot,” and the Jets flying overhead during “Top Gun: Maverick” placed us directly on the deck of a massive naval carrier.
It packs in more than just excellent Dolby Atmos performance, of course. It looks slick for a start, and comes with a subwoofer in the box for low-end performance. The bass is super solid to boot, making sure that you’re firmly immersed in your movies and TV.
Another benefit of the soundbar, as with most, is increased clarity for dialogue. That’s going to improve things when watching the news as well as movies and cinematic TV shows, so that you’ll be able to hear more of what people on screen are saying. That’s one of the biggest pros over your built-in TV speakers.
It lacks smart features like the Sonos Arc Ultra, but there’s Bluetooth for wireless listening. The controller is comprehensive, setup simple — there’s really very little more you could want from the Signa S4. Except, perhaps, a popcorn dispenser.
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