Bose - Smart Soundbar 900

I have Bose 900+ sub 700 and surrounds. I like it better than my beam + sub gen3 + era100s.  The Bose surrounds are super compact and fit my setup nicely mounted in the wall. Not to mention the Bose sub is much better than the Sonos sub.

I have the 900 with the bass 700, if I did it again I would do an actual 5.1. Hard to mimic the separation.

I’m happy with my Bose 900 soundbar + wireless sub in my living room. If I had a dedicated room for a home theater sure I’d get a 5.1 system with speaker wire running around the room perimeter.

To start with, you have speakers there that are replacements for other speakers. Firstly the Solo series (and the TV speaker series) are not considered soundbars. THey won't give you movie quality or surround sound. They are really just there to improve on your TV sound (particularly vocals) without blowing the budget. They lack many functions like adding surround sound, and generally have no app or wifi connectivity. I beleive the 15 replaced the 10, and the 5 replaced the 15. The "Bose TV speaker", replaced the Solo naming conventions and is the current on. The current Soundbars are the 600 (entry level, but just announced the replacement "Bose Smart Soundbar") and the 900 (top of the line) are the current ones. So if you are after movies and good quality sound, you really have a choice between the two (better or best). Bose tends to sell through old stock fairly well, so if you are seeing those others, it's likely they are second hand or refurbished.

Bose 900 or Bose Smart Ultra will give you the best dialogues

I still think the Bose soundbar 900 is one of the best out there, pair it with the 700 sub and rear speakers it’s a powerhouse.

I have the 900 and my friend has the Ultra. The AI dialogue does seem to help w dialogue clarity, but it’s a subtle difference between the two bars. The 900 has a dialogue mode as well, but dialogue clarity is so good that I rarely use it. Overall, the 900 and Ultra are so close that I couldn’t tell one from the other in a blind test. Both sound great.

Did you run adaptiq on the Bose? I have the 900 and it’s not even on the same planet as TV speakers in terms of sound. I had a few minutes to listen to my neighbors new Sonos Arc Ultra and it sounds fuller, more spacious and more detailed than the Bose 900 or Ultra. It’s a great sounding bar.

I’m not sure if a Bose soundbar will regulate the volume change between shows/movies and commercials, but their soundbars have exceptional dialogue and have a dialoge enhancement mode if you need to make it clearer without turning the volume up too high. It’s $399, but I’d recommend the smart soundbar. It sounds great and dialogue is very clear.

My neighbor and I both have Bose soundbar/bass module setups and he invited me over to check out the Arc Ultra he received this morning. He currently has a Bose Ultra soundbar with bass module 700, but was really interested in all the Arc Ultra buzz, so he bought and asked me if I wanted to hear it against the Bose. Yes....yes, I do! So I went over to his place for a listen. The Arc Ultra (standalone bar) sounds more immersive, fuller, more detailed and more accurate than both my Bose 900 and his Bose Ultra. When I was shopping for a soundbar setup, I picked up an Arc and Sub gen3 and Bose soundbar 900 w bass module at the same time to decide which one I liked better. We kept the Bose because it sounded more spacious, the dialogue was clearer and the fam wanted bluetooth capability. That being said, I preferred the Arc's definition and more powerful sound over the Bose. I thought if Sonos could get the Arc to sound more spacious with improved dialogue clarity while maintaining the definition, I'd be tempted to make the change. I think it delivers on the things I wanted from the first gen Arc. I'm not going to switch out my Bose setup for the Arc Ultra anytime soon because we really enjoy our current setup , but it's nice to know it's an option. My neighbor is sold on it, but I think it comes down to wife acceptance factor as to whether or not he keeps it.

My first decent setup was a 5.1 channel, Polk Audio speakers and sub with a Denon receiver, then later a Marantz receiver. That was years ago, so I don't remember models or the specs. Over the years, I've had other stuff from Cambridge audio, Yamaha, Denon and other brands. The most recent AVR setup I had was a 7.1 system with Aperion Audio speakers, sub and a Marantz SR5015 receiver. I have friends with home theater/audio setups that range from a few grand to low six figures in one case. The sound on those range from really good to incredible (for the higher end setups) The tipping point for me was us buying a fixxer upper of a house. At first I planned on a better AVR setup for our TV room, but then I noticed my fam and I had the best time sitting in our ratty living room doing movie night on a low budget, temporary TV that was way too small for the room. No external speakers, surround sound...etc. Then I realized I had a great time because I wasn't fussing with audio stuff whenever we watched a movie. I was taking the fun out of my own experience and the experience of the family. When we gutted and remodeled the room, I decided I wasn't going to go the AVR route. I decided I was done with all the wiring, connections and tweaking. My wife wanted to keep the room classy and minimalist, so we ended up trying some soundbars and opted to go with a Bose 900 and bass module 700. Clean looking install, sounds pretty good and it's pretty much plug in, calibrate and play. To be clear, the Aperion Audio setup I had completely obliterated my current setup, but it should given the cost, size build quality...etc. Recently, my neighbor/buddy picked up the Arc Ultra, Sub4 and Era 300s and invited me over to check it out. It seriously beats a lot of the mid level AVR setups I've heard and owned. It has definition, detail, clarity, good height channel effects and plenty of power.

I have a 600 in our bedroom and 900 in our tv room. Flat, 8ft ceilings and we don’t get specific height effects either. Just a greater sense of height to the overall presentation. We have bass modules for both bars as well and they definitely up the immersion factor. Not just by adding bass…the whole setup sounds bigger. I think the sound processing might adjust when the bass modules are added which allows the bars to focus more on mid range stuff. There’s an added weight to the midrange…it’s not in your face, but noticeable.

That sucks that it doesn’t work well w the Hisense. I have a 900 and 600, both connected to Sony TVs and they’ve been pretty much plug and play since day one.

I have Bose 900 Soundbar Bose 700 Subwoofer and Bose rear Speakers... More than Happy. Bose do have a later Model after 900.

Having heard them all, and owing a Q990D I'd strongly say the ARC. Then Bose then Samsung/Sennheiser. Only Samsung/Sennheiser is for music I think they sounded good enough but for the other 30% I think the 990D is better. I had a demo of the Q990D and the full Sonos set up, for music jesus the Sonos was amazing (even with no rears) but as soon as a movie comes in the Q990D slaps the Sonos for room filling sounds really full audio. The Bose was very nice but for me by the time you add the Sub in your paying Q990D money. And for that 1% movies I'd take the Samsung.

I have both Sonos and Bose . I have Bose 900 Bose 500 and Sonos arc and playbar. Both have their pros and cons but based on Sonos edging out Bose on sound quality and the app I used to recommend them more based on software alone. I was close to upgrading my whole home to Sonos until the app update that caused all the headaches. To this day the app is terrible and the soundbars have so many issues connecting that I don’t even want to use it anymore . Say what you want about Bose but the app is basic and it just works.

Go and buy bose 900 with a subwoofer or Sonos with a subwoofer. You can add surround speakers later if you need it.

Definitely the Bose. Better quality sounding bar & much better subwoofer (the BM700 is possibly the best/most powerful soundbar subwoofer on the market). I just tried the Polk Magnifi Max AX SR myself & I'm not going to lie I expected MUCH more than it provided. It just felt like a really out of date system (which it is, but still underwhelmed me). I definitely expected much more from the subwoofer too but it really under delivered badly! The bar itself actually sounds decent tho. If Polk releases new soundbars anytime soon, I definitely think they'll be substantially higher quality than the Magnifi Max AX, but I wouldn't recommend Polk at the moment.

In my bedroom, I have a Bose smart soundbar 900(it’s the big one, now called ultra) and a Bose bass module 500(the “smaller” one)… Bass wise, it absolutely blows my Samsung out of the water…and I could add a second 500 sub if needed… i paid $450 for the bar and $400 for the sub on eBay….it is bananas…I eventually added rears(they are tiny…size of a Rubix cube) and our bedroom sounds like an imax theatre…can’t imagine what it would sound like with another bass module… anyhow, once they announced the smart ultra, the 900 became a bargain…I know this Reddit sub is not super into the bose line but the 900/500 combo is bananas…plus they make it in white too…

I own the Bose soundbar 900, the 500 subwoofer, and rear speakers and I think it sounds amazing. Do with that information what you will. lol

Can only speak for myself but I own the Bose 900 soundbar, the 500 subwoofer, and 2 surrounds and I love it. It's a relatively small living room and the sound is really really full and rich.

I was very close to getting the 990D, but I eventually found an insane discount on an open box Bose 900 sound bar. I've been very happy with it, especially when I figured out how to add an aftermarket wired subwoofer instead of the overpriced Bose Bass Module.

I have the soundbar 900, surround 300s and bass module 700. It sounds great if you like the Bose bass heavy sound profile. I’ve heard the soundbar ultra has better AI dialogue features but even that sounded gimmicky to me when I checked it out. The Q990D may be the better move considering you get the rears and a sub for a much lower price than the complete Bose setup. If you want a true home cinema, then you definitely have to get an AVR and separate speakers. But if you want to stick with a soundbar then the Q990D is the most viable choice 99% of the time. Also the Bose soundbars don’t support DTS/DTS-HD (except the 700 which does lossy DTS core) so if you have blurays or use IMAX enhanced with a streaming service that audio will not work/ gets transcoded to lpcm. The Q990D has full codec support, here’s a link to a rtings [comparison](https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/tools/compare/samsung-hw-q990d-vs-bose-smart-soundbar-900-with-speakers-bass-module/49714/28849).

My Bose 900 soundbar and 700 woofer SHAKE my house. Would recommend!

I do. Own one. Bas quality. And filed a case to warranty & support. Got the basic do this do that, etc, things that i did previously. When i told them those things failed, they said they will adress my case to factory, didn’t heard from them again. Yes, they sell, because they’re cheap. But they fail to deliver. Yes, they have premium products too, for a lot of cash. But for that money? I’d rather get sony bravia or lg - considering tv’s. As for soundbar i’m using bose 900. Could n’t be happier.

I have a new A95L, haven’t set it up yet, but when I do I’ll be connecting my trusty Bose 300 soundtouch soundbar, which I’ve owned for the last 6 or 7 years. It has a great dialog mode, and gets used a lot when watching tv shows. Had it connected to my previous w805 and then A90J and its performed well. As it’s no longer sold, the updated version is the Bose Ultra or 900 soundbar.

Meanwhile using pass through from my Xbox Series X, with my Bose Smart Soundbar 👀. Glad I didn’t listen to you all, enjoy your lower bandwidth sound signal !

I'd pick the sonos. That being said you won't regret either one. Both sound great, but the bose surrounds are dated as fck if you ever intend to expand. Best thing bose has is that awesome sub which I think blows Sonos sub out of the water.

I have the Ultra and if the choice is between the two, get the ultra. There is a noticeable difference in the soundstage and the ultra also has room correction. The Smart is a good bar regardless if money is tight but the ultra is definitely better. If you’re looking at the Ultra price point maybe take a look at the Sonos Arc Ultra as well. I tried it but preferred the Bose.