Every sound bar on the following list features the ability to cover your own home theater environment with a large amount of high-quality sound, and since you only need to buy one sound bar component, the low cost associated with purchasing one of these speakers is money well spent.
Why it's best: Featuring a sleek and stylish exterior that almost demands to be stared at, Definitive Technology’s SSA-50 sound bar takes virtual surround sound to new heights. This all-encompassing $1,099 speaker component pushes out very exciting high and mid-range audio signals during movie playback that allows the consumer to hear each movie’s loud sound effects and orchestral soundtracks with the precision and accuracy that Hollywood’s audio engineers designed it to sound like in home theaters world-wide.
The designers of this stunning sound bar incorporated a Spatial Array technology that creates five-channel surround sound by developing complex directional cues to send the proper amount of audio to any room it is installed into. The SSA-50 consists of a pure aluminum tweeter dome that supplies incredibly vibrant high-end, turning any home theater room into a professional-sounding theater environment. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
Why it's a best pick: To serve as a home theater system’s most important speaker component, a sound bar must be able to fit very easily underneath the HDTV in the home theater and must be able to handle a movie’s dialogue sequence with agility. Boston Acoustics’ P-400 speaker not only is nice and compact, but it also features a 4-1/2 inch neo magnet woofer per channel, resulting in incredibly forceful-sounding low-end audio.
The 1-inch VR aluminum dome tweeter that sends all of the high-end audio to the listening environment does a great job of delivering the correct amount of mid-range signals to the overall sound stage as well. This speaker retails for $900 and contains MagnaGuard magnetic shielding, which helps to alleviate the problem of sound distortion and noise blurring occurring because of close positioning of the sound bar to your HDTV. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
Why it's a best pick: For the consumer who really wants instant gratification when it comes to upgrading their less than stellar sound quality they are currently getting from their HDTV, Polk Audio has designed the SDA SurroundBar specifically for that purpose. This virtual sound bar retails for a very low $500 and also includes a subwoofer that does a great job in handling the lower-end audio spectrum during DVD playback, making for a more in-depth surround-sound experience.
Polk Audio’s engineers made the set-up for the home consumer so easy that all you have to do is unpack the box, use the included audio cable to run from the speaker to your current HDTV, flick on the power and you’re already finished. This type of consumer-friendly design should work very well for this product that will definitely fill up a smaller-to-medium sized home theater room very competently with excellent surround-sound. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
Why it's a best pick: Just because you have decided to purchase a lower-end virtual sound bar instead of a much more expensive 7.1 digital receiver and speaker system does not mean that you have to give up listening to higher quality surround-sound audio modes. The Denon DHT-FS5 sound bar includes Dolby Digital, DTS Surround and Dolby Pro Logic II, which results in superior high-tech surround sound that most any movie lover will find very gratifying.
This speaker component sells for $500 and includes a highly functional remote control that allows you to easily switch surround-sound modes with a flick of a button. The cabinet itself is very thin and modern looking, and the surround sound that this speaker disperses is nothing less than amazing, mostly when you consider the compact design of this particular speaker component. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
Why it's a best pick: Another sound bar that also includes a dynamic subwoofer, Sony’s HT-CT500 is priced at a reasonable $500 and features 400 watts of power, more than enough to fully envelop a medium-sized home theater room with articulate surround-sound. This sound bar also contains analog video upscaling to 1080p resolution as long as you are using an HDMI cable to hook this speaker up to your HDTV.
The HT-CT500 also has three HDMI inputs available to you, resulting in a great deal of flexibility when it comes to hooking up more of your high-def components to this high quality sound bar. And if you already own a Sony Bravia HDTV, you will appreciate how this sound bar enhances your TV completely, as this speaker was designed to perfectly sync up with Bravia’s video imaging. See more reviews, photos, prices, and specs
