Samsung - HW-Q600A (2021)

Just got a q600f on Woot for $300 and the swa-9250 rears for $150. Paired them together for a nice 5.1.2 system for $450. Sounds great for the money

Heck yeah. That's what we have in our bedroom. It's perfect and expansive enough for sure

Rumbling, yes. Probably not below 35 or so....but if you corner load it, it wil sound good for sure. 95% of bass in movies is probably 25 to 35.

I was considering buying the Q600F and Q800F. I think they should really be just used as they are as buying surrounds to go with them costs almost as much as the Q930F or Q990D here in AU and not as good as those supplied in the higher level soundbars as they only add physical surround speakers (True 5.1.2) and without adding rear atmos or extra channel processing found in the q930F (True 9.1.4) and q990D (11.1.4 full cinematic).

I have Q600A and it's not bad. Especially if you get the surround kit later. Note that 600 and lower tier bars use different surround kit compared to 700 and better. 600 uses SWA-9200s and 700 and upwards use SWA-9500 models.

That's hard to say, I don't know your budget and all but I would say you should consider Samsung, ever since they bought Harman Hardon in 2017, their Q series Soundbars have been many people's favorite, they are pretty high end. I have a Q600A(3.1.2) and a Q800B with the SWA-9500S Rear Speaker Kit, so it's 7.1.4 or 5.1.2 without the optional rear kit. Let me tell you, these Soundbars are amazing, at least the Q800 is for sure without the need for the rear speakers. I just wanted to kick it up a notch and have a home theater experience in the living room. The Q600 is still great but it became my bedroom Soundbar. If you don't care for surround sound then the 3.1.2 channel is still amazing and pretty clear. Nothing overlaps, the frequencies stay in their place, I can hear the action and hear dialog. This is just my opinion and some may disagree but I feel like having a separate receiver and separate speakers is old school or only needed if you plan on having a real big Atmos experience in a very large theater room. For everything else a Soundbar can be amazing in most people's houses with an exciting Atmos experience. As for Sonos, they are sort of a rip off for what you get, you can get their Soundbar with no subwoofer at all for over $1000 which is ridiculous, and doesn't have rears either! You may notice here on Reddit many people will say get a Samsung Q990 but hardly recommend Sonos because they are sort of like Apple, you pay this huge price for a lower experience. It's still a good experience but once you add all the money up, you realize you could have bought a cash car on Facebook Marketplace for that amount. Lol I will say to save money many people find deals on Soundbars on Amazon Woot. So you can search "Q990 Woot" on Google and see it's $1000 off to $997 right now. Or I see the Q930 is $697 which is a big upgrade above me which is annoying for me to find because I spent almost $900 on my Q800 setup at Nebraska Furniture Mart. Lol So these are just my opinions but if you have a lower end Soundbar or using TV speakers then a good high end Soundbar will still trip you out, I didn't know Soundbars can be this good. Remember stores always have return policies, just use a credit card so no real money is spent yet and try one out, if you don't like it then return it. Double check Woot though, since it's an overstock warehouse, there might be no return policy or a limited one, so I would confirm that if you went the Woot route.

I'm still curious how much better a Q990F is over a Q800B + 9500S. Some people say and tell me it's barely any better. Not a night and day difference compared to when I had a Q600A with no rears and moved to the Q800B then later the 9500S was a night and day difference. So yeah some say it's insanely better and others say for my setup it won't be a big difference just some little upgrades. I don't need it, but I'm so curious and $967 on Woot has me like ahhh! Lol

My soundbar adventure started with a crappy $70 Samsung model I can't even remember, it was 2.1, then I went to the Q600A(3.1.2) and it was great or so I thought. Then I moved to the Q800B(5.1.2) and it was literally night and day, it almost sounded like true surround sound all from the front, it was at least a very wide sound for sure and I was amazed. Then I added the 9500S rears later on which made it 7.1.4 and yet again I was amazed because I never had true rears and it was awesome for a good while and honestly it is still great and friends and family were amazed when they would visit. But now the Q990F(11.1.4).... It's not exactly worlds beyond different but yet it kind of is at the same time. There is so much more dimension to the sound and the clarity is insane even with Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus content compared to the other soundbars. The overall surround field is also much wider then the Q800B+9500s, I can hear birds in the dining room for example when watching let's say Avatar. The Q800B with rears sounded good on the couch but the second I got up and walked forward, then the rears would just disappear, but now I can hear the Q990F rears even if I sit on the floor at the coffee table or standing closer to the TV. So honestly the Q600A which sounded so good at first is honestly disappointing compared to the Q990F for sure and it's quite a step down from the Q800B as well. You have to experience it to understand. You look back and think "I thought it couldn't get much better than that? Wow, how is this possible?" If you got the Q990 Series someday you would think your Q6CC(3.1) is trash compared to it, I can guarantee it, especially since it's a small step down from the Q600. The funny thing is that I have been to other people's house who have an AV receiver setup with big speakers and it doesn't even sound very good at all. But I feel they don't know what they're doing either and probably have everything just playing as Basic Stereo. So having the Q990F, also properly setup is unlike anything I've heard in a home before.

Strongly recommending q600d ; its a beast

I was also looking to get one, and going with 600F, getting it for 23K INR owing to Corporate discounts, Personal reasons why I am going for 600F over 800F 1. 23K vs 38K INR - Corporate Pricing. 2. will need to connect to Gaming Console to Soundbar / TV anyway, so can't really use the wireless connection for Dolby Atmos on the 800F, TV pairing will be the 2025 Samsung Neo QLED. 3. My living room size is almost 270 sq ft. and I believe 380W will be ample on 600F. 4. Viewing distance is also 6-8 ft, so I am ok without the side speakers on 800F. 5. Not much of an audiophile, can do without that engulfing effect of the side speakers. I think the sole reason to go for 800F will be the following; 1. If you need to be in an omnidirectional sound aura. 2. Lower frequency response will be better on 800F, the subwoofer weighs 7Kgs on the 800F vs 5Kgs on the 600F, so I believe the "thump" will be way better on 800F, dense packaging. 3. If you just have a TV and Soundbar, no external devices (console etc.), then no fuss of running HDMIs, a clutter free setup.

thank you for this.. Going with the 600F too.. and I can always add the rear speakers

It definitely is possible to get some Atmos “feel” out of a standalone soundbar OP, the JBL is great for 5.1 but it down mixes Atmos into stereo - you’re looking for a 3 digit number like 3.1.2 to signify true Atmos. I’d recommend Samsung Q600F (or a D if it’s significantly cheaper, the D is last years model - only real difference is sub size) or if you want something different a [Polk Magnifi Max AX](https://www.polkaudio.com/en-us/product/outlet/refurbished/magnifi-max-ax/300542-refurbished.html) which you can pick up for under $400 with the discount code at top of the page.

Yup. The Samsung is 3.1.2 I believe, the Polk is 5.1.2. You’d need rear speakers for true 5.1 surround - but both of these will sound great in your apartment without them.

I had the same problem with the hw q800 series 3 years ago. Had a hw q600 series soundbar and sub that sub was way punchier than the big one. I had found a way to download a bass test somewhere to see if it was me or sub just underwhelming. Turned out the latter, returned it and got a refund. Some reviews of the q990d say the same, others don't for some reason.

I bought a samsung Q-600 soundbar for more or less $200 as it was set to be replaced by the next year's version

Honestly under that budget, get a 2.1 system and call it a day. If you really need a soundbar, i got my parents a samsung q600( was around 24k) its pretty decent.

I have a used q600 (150 euro) and new rear speakers (130 euro) + 30 euro stand. Works perfectly. Awesome sound experjence

Samsung Q600, sound very good (well tuned)

Samsung q600/q700 cheapest and do an amazing work… (and you can buy rears later)

Samsung Q600 or Q800 Or sonos beam

Yes, maybe the q730 will be better then. But neither the Q600c or Qs730 have the Active voice amplifier, tho you can still put up the volume of the center Chanel on both of them, to hear the voices clearer. If you can find an old/used Q800b or C it would be much better. but if not go with the Qs730

As a HT installer that’s installed just about everything, my favorite is the Samsung q60 which is now the q600. That guy sounds amazing with any brand TV. Bonus if you can utilize Q-symphony

Grab a samsung 3.1.2 there around 300$ open box Canadian usa prob like 199$ I forget the model