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How about immersing yourself in a cinematic experience right in the comfort of your own home?
Whether you’re enjoying your favorite TV show or diving into a thrilling movie, you can transport yourself into the heart of the action. Experience every moment as if you’re right there with the characters, feeling the intensity as it unfolds.
The key to achieving this level of audio excellence lies in a 7.1 soundbar. A 7.1 soundbar is the ideal choice for creating a remarkable home theater setup. It boasts an array of powerful speakers, including built-in subwoofers, a central channel, and side-firing channels, all working together to create a spacious and immersive soundstage.
Image | Product Name | Editor's Rating | Price |
---|---|---|---|
Sony HT-A7000 | Check Price | ||
Sony ST5000 | Check Price | ||
Samsung HW-Q900A | Check Price | ||
LG E1LGSP11RA | Check Price | ||
Samsung HW-Q900T | Check Price |
Best 7.1 Soundbars Reviews
In recent times, the popularity of 7.1 soundbars has surged, leading brands to refine their features and enhance the overall design.
So, let me guide you through the intricate details of the top 5 best 7.1 soundbars currently dominating the market.
1. Sony HT-A7000
The Sony HT-A7000 represents the latest flagship offering in Sony’s premium soundbar lineup, boasting a robust 7.1.2 channel configuration and an array of impressive features. Its sound profile is notably neutral, delivering vibrant and pristine audio performance that immerses you in a captivating listening experience, regardless of the content being played.
In addition to its well-balanced sound profile, this top-tier 7.1 channel soundbar from Sony offers a range of EQ presets, allowing for further sound optimization tailored to the content and enabling the adjustment of the relative soundstage for enhanced audio quality.
It’s worth noting that the HT-A7000 does not come bundled with an external subwoofer, giving you the flexibility to augment its performance with separate subwoofers and satellite speakers if you desire a more precise and powerful bass response. However, for regular streaming purposes, the built-in subwoofer proves to be more than sufficient.
The soundbar itself is a sleek one-unit device with a metallic grille covering all its internal drivers. The transparent grille design enables you to easily discern the driver placements, allowing you to position the soundbar optimally for a rich and exhilarating audio experience.
Featuring a 7.1.2 channel setup, the HT-A7000 incorporates a range of full-range drivers, tweeters, a central channel, and built-in woofers situated on both sides. These integrated drivers work harmoniously to deliver a robust and immersive audio output.
The stereo frequency response of this soundbar is commendable, and it offers premium features such as room correction to adapt the audio performance to your room’s acoustics. Moreover, it provides a room calibration option, prompting you to input your room’s dimensions to fine-tune the sound output manually. While it may not achieve ear-shattering volumes, it offers ample sound to fill crowded gatherings.
One notable highlight is the exceptional performance of the center channel, which delivers precise and detailed vocals, making it ideal for podcasts or movie-watching.
Furthermore, the HT-A7000 comes equipped with a range of connectivity options, including optical digital, dual HDMI input and output, HDMI ARC, USB, and a 3.5mm AUX port for seamless integration with external devices. It also offers wireless connectivity features like WiFi, Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay, and Chromecast for convenient online music streaming.
Considering its comprehensive feature set and powerful sound output, it’s evident that the Sony HT-A7000 is tailor-made for high-end home theater setups, promising an immersive and thrilling audio experience for your entertainment needs.
2. Sony ST5000
Sony’s HT-ST5000 is another premium soundbar boasting a 7.1.2 channel setup, featuring advanced audio formats and a sturdy build quality. This soundbar proves to be an excellent choice for various uses, although it’s important to note that it lacks side-firing speakers that can make a significant difference in overall sound performance.
Setting up and configuring the HT-ST5000 is a breeze, thanks to its seamless installation process and wireless connectivity options. The device’s stylish design adds a touch of elegance to your home decor, with a metal grille on the front providing a glimpse of the drivers housed within.
In contrast to the HT-A7000, this soundbar comes with a contemporary wireless subwoofer. However, it’s worth mentioning that the soundbar itself is relatively wide, requiring you to allocate a dedicated space for it as it might not fit between the legs of your smart TV.
The back panel of the soundbar houses all the necessary connectivity inputs, including HDMI ARC, HDMI output, optical digital, three HDMI input ports, USB, and Ethernet. Thankfully, the soundbar supports all standard audio surround formats over an HDMI ARC input. Additionally, it offers wireless connectivity options such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and Built-in Chromecast support for seamless pairing with smart devices.
When it comes to audio performance, the HT-ST5000 excels, delivering detailed, rich, smooth, and stunning sound with exceptional clarity. With support for Dolby Atmos and DTS formats, the sound appears to bounce off the ceiling, creating a sensation of sound emanating from all directions. DTS ensures thrilling and pristine music playback, while the center channel isolates vocals from the background, enhancing transparency for improved clarity.
However, it’s important to note that this soundbar lacks room correction and some additional smart features. It does offer a limited number of EQ presets, but the subwoofer’s punchy bass adds enthusiasm to music streaming, making it a compelling choice for audio enthusiasts.
3. Samsung HW-Q900A
The Samsung HW-Q900A is a formidable 7.1.2 soundbar renowned for its exceptional metal build quality, accentuated by a transparent grille on the front panel. Adding to its distinctive design, vent openings on each side contribute to the surround sound experience. While it doesn’t include satellite speakers, it does feature a subwoofer that delivers rich and robust bass.
However, it’s essential to note that this soundbar is relatively heavy and wide, so you’ll need to allocate ample space in your room to accommodate it effectively.
In terms of sound performance, the HW-Q900A is versatile, adapting to various content types to ensure a finely-tuned acoustic experience. Its inherently neutral sound profile aligns well with default settings, but it grants you the flexibility to fine-tune treble, bass, surround, height levels, and other characteristics to suit your personal preferences, providing a customized music listening experience.
One of its standout features is the extensive array of sound enhancement options. An intriguing addition is the Auto EQ room correction, which employs a built-in microphone to communicate with the subwoofer, adjusting bass production to harmonize with the soundbar’s performance. Furthermore, the soundbar offers preset modes, including standard, game, surround, and adaptive sound, enhancing the overall audio experience.
Connectivity options abound, featuring optical digital, HDMI ARC, HDMI out, two HDMI inputs, Bluetooth, WiFi, and Apple AirPlay, enabling seamless pairing with other devices through both wired and wireless means. Additionally, the HW-Q900A enhances your TV-watching pleasure with HDR10 pass-through, delivering captivating sound quality. Gamers will also appreciate the powerful audio output when playing on a large screen.
Furthermore, you have the convenience of controlling the soundbar using either the included remote control or the Samsung SmartThings app from your smartphone. While basic functions like changing EQ settings, managing volume, and regular adjustments can be handled via the remote, the app offers advanced features and settings customization, elevating your overall user experience.
4. LG E1LGSP11RA
LG is a premium brand renowned for its luxurious products, which may not always prioritize aesthetics but consistently deliver smooth, high-resolution audio that pleases everyone in the room.
LG recognizes that perfection isn’t always necessary and offers a simple matte design that seamlessly complements your TV and the overall room decor, especially when wall-mounted. Despite its solid and durable build quality, the LG soundbar comes with a warranty to safeguard against unexpected damages.
The LG SP11RA, a 7.1.4 channel soundbar, is a versatile choice suitable for various uses. It excels in adapting its audio quality to match the content you’re enjoying. For example, when watching a movie, it refines the audio, emphasizing dialogue delivery to ensure even the softest whispers are heard. On the other hand, streaming pop music at maximum volume creates a thrilling soundstage with bass rumbling, elevating the excitement.
This soundbar also boasts support for advanced audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS, delivering well-defined and detailed sound performance even at higher volumes. The inclusion of firing speakers with DTS creates an immersive room-filling sound experience, seemingly emanating from various directions.
Furthermore, its impressive stereo and center channel performance make it an outstanding 7.1 soundbar. However, its capabilities extend beyond these features. Wireless connectivity options enable easy pairing with any smart device, and the support for Apple AirPlay facilitates convenient online music streaming at the touch of a button.
Setting up the soundbar is hassle-free, with the added convenience of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support. You can control the entire soundbar’s functions with voice commands, enhancing the overall user experience.
One notable area where the LG soundbar distinguishes itself from Sony and Samsung’s top 7.1 channel soundbars is in its height channel performance. It offers more dynamic, vibrant, and clear audio output with efficient power consumption and stable connectivity, setting the LG SP11RA apart as an excellent choice for audio enthusiasts.
5. Samsung HW-Q900T
The Samsung HW-Q900T is an awe-inspiring 7.1.2 channel soundbar that plunges you into the depths of sound, meticulously capturing every beat and note in your tracks.
It is renowned for delivering high-resolution, crystal-clear audio, ensuring that even the softest whispers in your content are heard with precision, while simultaneously immersing you in the nuances of your music.
Setting up this soundbar is a breeze; it swiftly connects to various devices, including smart TVs, phones, and gaming consoles, utilizing WiFi, HDMI, or optical digital connections.
Equipped with seven channels, a powerful subwoofer, 16 dynamic speakers, and dual up-firing channels, it creates a 360-degree sound experience that’s unparalleled. Every speaker contributes to a lush and captivating audio output, maintaining clarity even at maximum volume, without any perceivable distortions. The bass is noteworthy for its distortion-free, non-muddy quality.
At its full potential, this soundbar cranks up the volume, shaking the room with punchy bass and resonating sound. The array of speakers at both ends of the bar ensures an expansive sound performance that engages everyone in the room, elevating your entertainment to the next level.
Moreover, with Dolby Atmos and DTS compatibility, it further refines sound quality, solidifying its status as the quintessential home theater speaker. The built-in Alexa feature simplifies setup and management, granting you complete control and relaxation while operating the device.
Audiophiles and aficionados of Netflix streaming will find much to appreciate in its performance, particularly the exceptional vocal clarity delivered by the center channel. Additionally, it offers multiple enhancement options to cater to your specific audio preferences.
Final Verdict
In conclusion, it’s important to recognize that a 7.1 channel soundbar isn’t your typical music streaming device; rather, it’s primarily designed for enhancing your home theater setup. Investing in one of these soundbars is a significant decision, so it’s advisable to take the plunge when you’re fully prepared.
These soundbars, with their 7.1 channel configurations, bring both weight and substantial sound production to your entertainment space. We’ve meticulously reviewed and included the top products on the market, conducting thorough assessments.
To make an informed choice, we encourage you to delve into the detailed reviews of the best 7.1 soundbars available and share your ultimate decision with us. Your selection should align with your specific audio and entertainment needs, ensuring a truly immersive and enjoyable home theater experience.