Samsung - HW-Q65C

Just picked up the the q65c from Sam's club sounds pretty good considering I have a q990f in the other room

UPDATE: Purchased the Costco HW-Q60CF and it was by far leaps and bounds better than the AX700. Dialogue clear as day and the upfiring drivers on the top of the bar gave a nice, clean, enveloping sound from above while not being too overwhelming or drowning out the rest of the sounds. I ended up returning it the next day because I was told by someone that Sam’s Club had the HW-Q65C on Black Friday sale for $289. I purchased the HW-Q65C which is a 5.1 system (no upfiring drivers on the bar, but comes with a pair of Rear Speakers). Overall I love it as much as the Q60CF, but I honestly think the sound displacement on the 3.1.2 bar itself takes the win over the 5.1. The upfiring speakers are a nice touch for those who don’t want the full “surround sound” experience. They give a nice height/depth feeling to whatever you’re watching. I will say though, the 5.1 on the Q65C is just as good, and I find the rears on this system to be more “solid” than the Hisense AX700 (IMO they felt and sounded hollow/plastic-y). For fun, I watched the same dialogue scene in the Gran Turismo movie that was beyond frustrating with the AX700 where I couldn’t hear ANYTHING unless I cranked the bar up to 30, which blasted my eardrums out on the following scenes - the Samsung handles it beautifully. The scene is clear as day at the lowest level (and DRC was toggled on/off for both the Hisense and Samsung to test) and everything sounds rich and crisp. The following scenes are deep and fulfilling with nice bass and good treble levels to enrich the sounds of the cars. The surround sound on the rears (which I also have placed in the same spot on the shelves EXACTLY where the AX700 rears sat) are super clean and not distracting. Note- The rears on the Q65C system ARE wired with speaker wire, which I know most will hate, but coming from someone who does telecom for a living, I prefer it as the wires carry throughput, power, and audio with less latency and minimal noise in frequency. Wireless is awesome, but all things wireless have drawbacks - quality in signal strength and latency is one of them. Overall - Samsung bars in general, but specifically mine that I have now (HW-Q65C 5.1) are 8/10 for me and my family. I rate it that only knowing something like the Q990 would be absolutely INSANE and would for sure be a full 10/10 I’d rate the Hisense AX700 a 5/10 as the system itself offers amazing value, but I truly was frustrated with it overall no matter what I was watching. The units feels much cheaper than Samsungs as well, which doesn’t inspire confidence. I hope this helps others. As everyone should remember - this is all my personal opinion. Everyone is different and I’m not an expert (but I have tested quite a few different soundbars at this point from different manufactures).

It seems like you may not need Atmos, may not need a subwoofer, so the sky and the floor is the limit. I have the 2021 Q65t (no eARC, no angled edge) and would recommend the new Q65c version that you can get at BJ's and Sam's Club for $400. https://www.reddit.com/r/Soundbars/s/zg01U2nEws I'm a budget-minded, sometime hobbyist, but this is also migrated to my second setup as I circled around the block with my old AVR when I realized I could have 2. It is great with dialogue. https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/reviews/samsung/hw-q65t Coming from TV speakers, adding the included rear surrounds that get you real 5.1 that are pretty easily placed (albeit wired to a powered transmitter that extends like 7 feet in each direction) and having creative engineering simulate more of an atmos bubble effect of 5.1.2 will be a huge jump over $100-$200 for a run of a mill 3.1 soundbar. I'd argue it's far more bang per buck than paying $1300-1500 for the 990 that is really just 5.1.2 with the same company's creative engineering to get you to 11.1.2 vs having 6 more speakers. I recently ran 5.1 and 5.1.2 Atmost tests with my 2021 version (surrounds are high up) and it was spectacular. If I was going to do a soundbar and wanted atmos, I'd find a q600f (3.1.2) for like $300 used and pair it with the HWA-9250s for I think $120 to get 5.1.2. Found that going through this sub, maybe there is some flaw but it's always 50% marked down from retail price. The more I've read about actual Dolby Atmos, the happier I am I opted to pursue Atmos with my primary AVR.

I bought this one for 289 now it's 350 it's so worth it! I have really high peaked ceilings so up firing would not really work. This one fills the room nicely, it's great https://www.samsclub.com/ip/13599821582 Q65c Sam as the q60c but surrounds are included

Actually, I highly recommend this. Slightly cheaper AND better. Q series soundboard with Dolby Atmos and rear surrounds. https://ebay.us/m/2FieNK

Turn it on Bluetooth mode. Smarthings won't see it while connected to the TV.

You are right it's considered 9 speakers. I never trust retailers info,I always go-to Mfr site and look for specifications there. https://preview.redd.it/x7dxqn9g2bme1.png?width=1856&format=png&auto=webp&s=99b12edc6cabf12cb50466e1193250eb4e0acc01

https://preview.redd.it/ta5u4wwi2bme1.png?width=1856&format=png&auto=webp&s=b353b18933a496cc0399b35b02bf433996713b5d

The Samsung tv will help with center channel with the Q symphony I believe. Prob will not notice much if at all. Samsung as others had said is def a far better bang for your buck. I don’t consider myself an audio expect but I had what I thought was a nice lg 5.1.2 soundbar and the Samsung blows it away. Voice clarity is what shocked me the most. All ranges of sounds are more defined and crisp even when only steaming. 4k Blu-ray Discs up the level another few notches. There are a bunch of posts on this subreddit explaining how to save a bunch of money ordering some Samsung directly if you choose to go with that soundbar

Don't buy a soundbar just because it's the same brand as the TV, I tried Samsung's Q-symphony and it's ass. I also switched to a Sony TV while keeping the Samsung soundbar.

I found that Q-Symphony adds a nice touch of fill-in to the front soundstage. Not life changing, but definitely worth it.

Yes can, i know people with have the same situation and have All In One soundbar, which is not probably the best from Samsung, but working good. Samsung Q-Symphony on TV working in this perfect too. Sound can be around you, effect is amazing. Just add soundbar from TV about 1 metre distance and have to be cool effect with specific material of video. Humans which have this situation have smaller room than 12 squares metres. You probably will be need better soundbar as S class 60 models.