Best soundbars for TV

Top pick: Samsung HW-Q990F 11.1.4 system. It's the closest thing to a real surround setup in a box — a big bar, a subwoofer and wireless rear speakers with up-firing drivers, so Dolby Atmos actually moves sound around and behind you. If you want the best movie night without wiring a room, start here.

Who the others suit:

• Bose Smart Ultra — the most natural dialogue and music for a one-bar living room; no rear speakers to place.
• Sonos Beam Gen 2 — small enough for a bedroom or a TV on a narrow stand, and it grows into a Sonos multi-room setup.
• Bose Smart Soundbar — a simpler, cheaper step up from TV speakers with room-filling sound.
• Sonos Ray — the tidy, low-cost fix for muffled TV dialogue.
• Roku Streambar SE — best if your TV's smart interface is slow: it's a streamer and a soundbar in one.
• ULTIMEA 2.2ch — the budget starter bar for a secondary TV.
• Yamaha YAS-209 — plain, reliable HDMI/optical hookup with virtual surround.
• Samsung HW-Q600F — a smaller Atmos bar if the full Q990F is more than your room needs.

Check the bar's width against your TV stand, and that your TV has an HDMI ARC/eARC port — that's what makes one-cable setup work.