Watching a movie or a big game with crystal-clear visuals is satisfying—but all the pixels in the world won’t save a crap audio. Poor sound has a way of undermining even the most cinematic picture. Dialogue can sound muddled and explosions empty and underwhelming. Fixing this doesn’t have to mean emptying your wallet, either. Sony’s 2.0 channel soundbar, currently on sale for $98, proves that decent home theater audio can come at a reasonable price.
Audio accounts for roughly half of a memorable viewing experience, the rest being video of course. A soundbar can elevate your home entertainment, whether you’re watching blockbuster movies, catching up on prestige TV dramas, or cheering during football season. Built-in TV speakers might technically produce sound, but the difference is like comparing a kazoo to a grand piano.
This compact Sony soundbar packs a deep bass and crisp tweeter into a slim frame. Its design suits apartments or smaller living spaces where a full surround setup would feel overkill. Placement is flexible, too—you can let it sit on a TV stand or mount it on the wall, depending on how minimalist or maximalist your décor is.
Tackling the Dialogue Problem
Modern audio mixing isn’t always kind to viewers. Action sequences can boom through your ears while important dialogue sounds like its being mumbled. Sony addresses this with a voice enhancement feature that keeps speech clear and intelligible, boosting the volume of the channels where spoken dialogue comes through, but keeping the rest reduced. You won’t have to make constant volume adjustments, turning it up so you can hear the plot, and then back down during a car chase as not to wake your neighbors.
Connecting the soundbar is super straightforward thanks to HDMI ARC, and the S-Force Pro Front Surround technology makes sure sound fills the room evenly. It doesn’t matter where you sit—the audio feels immersive from every angle. When using HDMI Arc, you’ll be able to control volume and other settings of the soundbar with the same remote you use for the TV.
Additional connectivity options via USB or Bluetooth allow you to stream music, podcasts, or audiobooks directly from your phone or other devices.
The package comes ready to go: remote with batteries, optical cable, AC cord, wall mounting template, and the soundbar itself.