Bose - Solo Soundbar Series II

All modern sound bars are mainly designed to hook up over HDMI EARC. The only one Costco sells that's optical only is Bose Solo Soundbar 2. That is the only one I could think of that you could accuse of being too quiet. Try hooking them up over HDMI and if you think they're still too quiet, no snark but you really should think about getting your hearing checked. Almost any soundbar at 100% should be loud enough to actually be in the unsafe levels for your hearing.

I use Bose Solo Series II. For €155 it is absolutely great. Power on and it's done. No Settings. Just have fun.

OP,  Bose soundbar solo 2 Its small, sounds good, and if you go on Bose website, they sell refurbished. Full warranty etc, and its like $150cad, so only a little more then $100usd. I have one in my bedroom for the tv, its been great. Highly recommend.

Bose Solo I've bought refurbished for around 150 USD

I know this might be a tired question here but I didn't find a conclusive response right now. 500€ is definitely my upper limit, for reasons. The last soundbar I owned was a Bose Solo, which was better than the TV speakers but obviously not all that great. At first I thought about the Sonos Beam 2 however I heard from a friend that his tends to act up because the app sucks. Then I thought about one of the Bose Smart Soundbars, there's one on sale rn for 320€ I've also seen people recommend the Samsung Q600C or the Polk Signa S4. Of those options, which one is the best option? Mainly for watching movies and gaming.

The days of TVs with great picture AND great sound are over. That said, every soundbar I have had is a huge improvement over my TV, so I'm perplexed by your results. I've always had a soundbar with subwoofer or a soundbar with sun and rear surrounds. The sound is fantastic. But even the little Bose Solo bar we have under our 19" kitchen TV sounds waaay better than the TV alone