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Reddit Reviews
I wouldn't recommend the Bose TV speaker, it's barely got any power. I think you can find the Bose Smart 550 for under $300. It's just the Smart 600 (or now called the "Smart Soundbar") without a voice assistant so it'll be the same sound quality but cheaper. I recommend you look into it & see if you can find the Smart 550.
Between these three... I think the Bose would be the better option. However, I would invest in a wireless sub just so you can have a more impactful experience. The Samsung would be second best, very close to the Bose but didn't have that good of a surround sound experience from some of the reviews I've seen. Probably because the Bose is 3.0.2 and the Samsung is 5.0. The Sennheiser Ambeo Mini seemed like the worst of the three, while still a decent stand alone, and I like it because it has a built in sub... it just doesn't stack to the other two in terms of performance. Persoanlly, I think the Sono Beam Gen 2 would be the better sound bar to get, as it's cheaper to upgrade with surround speakers and subwoofer. However, on it's own it has a better sound stage and offers a room correction feature.
Just for reference, I got used Bose TV Speakers for my parents at $50 a pop with eARC support. These are bad. Minor upgrade to your TV at best. They are worth $40 itself. Yamaha ATS soundbars from eBay are $40 refurbished and they have better sound + subwoofer out. IMO better to get premium soundbars used since they hold value like copper infused gold.
I don’t really follow the market . But for compact speakers Samsungs/LGs do have speakers with center channels (3.0 or more) which help tremendously with dialogue, something that most TV speakers struggle with. I like to get Bose for my parents just purely because they are dead simple to use, well built, and go pretty loud without the risk of permanently damaging them. Hope that helps. eBay refurbs with 20% coupons, Amazon resale clearance when they run extra % off, if you’re not too keen on hitting up facebook marketplace. But you do pay a hefty fee for convenience.
End of reviews
Rankings by Use Case
Top recommendations from others in the same boat
Best for Apartments

Top pick
Sonos - Arc Ultra
Best for Dialogue clarity

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Samsung - Q990F
Best for Large open-concept rooms

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Sonos - Arc Ultra
Best for Music-first listening

Top pick
Sonos - Playbar
Best for Standalone setups

Top pick
Sonos - Arc Ultra





