I just bought the 8inch dragon set from best buy and one single 12 inch add on sub on ebay from the source grade A I think this should be great and it was all still cheaper than the normal price of just the system
If money really is no object, the Nakamichi Dragon Quad costs $7K and is the best on the market. For less money, the less expensive Nakamichis are still the best on the market. I have a Shockwafe 9.2earc on one TV and a Shockwafe 7.2 earc on another TV. I've been through more soundbars than I can remember and the Nakamichis are the only ones that I've kept. Better than Vizio, Samsung, and a million others I tried.
Are those the only options? And what do you plan to use it for? Movies? Music? Regular TV? Gaming?
If you have the money, the Nakamichi Dragon with four subs is probably the best soundbar you can get. It's expensive as hell though. The Nakamichi Shockwafe Wireless is a great more affordable option.
If you like Klipsch, for full surround if you're going to be watching movies, the Flexus Core 300 plus a couple of the matching subs would be awesome.
The Sony you mentioned is just OK.
Not true. Their newer soundbars are excellent. I have two different Shockwafe eARC models and they are a lot better than pretty much all comparable systems from Samsung, LG, Vizio, TCL, and a bunch of others I've been through. I bought and returned probably 7 or 8 soundbars including the highly rated Samsung 990. The only ones I didn't return are the Vizio M512a-h6 which I kept because they were the best out of that bunch. All the rest of them were pieces of crap. Eventually I upgraded from the Vizios to the Nakamichis and never looked back. I still have the Vizios stored in a closet just in case.
The most recent ones like the Dragon and the Shockwafe Wireless are incredible.
That said, sure, a well matched system of AVR and separate speakers can sound better but they are also more expensive and not always physically possible to place in some rooms.
If you want a no fail of a soundbar system you could go balls to the wall and do what I did and drop $2800 on a Nakamichi Dragon. That thing is the absolute best system I have ever used.
I’m guessing you maybe bought it by now or decided not to. I have the dragon with 2-12” subs. I haven’t heard the dual opposing 8” subs. IMO, it’s amazing. I’m about to update the firmware to get the ULTRA AHD which supposedly makes a big difference. But anyway, I’m no sound engineer but for me, i dig it. Most the audiophiles out there will steer you away and tell you to build a home theater system with separate components and also say it’s Way over priced. The dragon is plug and play. No wires to run, and to me, it sounds incredible. The center bar sounds so crisp, the 2-12’s get you that bass you want and the rears for sure immerse you more than most rears that come with sound bars. Get what you want man, I’m happy with the dragon I just hope it lasts
Check out the Samsung Q900F…EPP pricing is right at $800. There are other ways to qualify for discounts outside of EPP…military, 1st responder, student, etc.
I have (2) Full 9.3.6 systems w/ fairly high end components and a Nakamichi Dragon w/ (3) SVS Sub integration..each costing significantly more than the 900f. As a comparator, from a cost standpoint, there is no single component in any of my room setups that cost less than the 900F.
My assessment so far is that the Samsung system is pretty good, especially for $800! Bass response is not exactly what I’m looking for, but in my use case (office system), it’s enough. At some point, just like with the Dragon, I will add a standalone sub…but not a requirement nor is it an “urgent” need.
Top Soundbars on Reddit
1
Samsung
Q990F
77% positive of 600 users
Value for movies and easy setup, but music falls flat.
Critical_Nebula84
