Samsung - HW-Q990F

Also still have the N950, also now have it in my bedroom. Yes, it was Samsung’s first high end atmos bar. It was their first bar produced with Harman Kardan following their acquisition of HK. The 990F will blow you away coming from the N950. My main system is a 990B and it’s substantially better than the N950. Both are reliable.

Q990C/D/F will all work perfectly for your use case. Q990D would be the sweet spot of price and future-proofed support, and will likely leave some room on the budget for rear speaker stands or shelves to make placement seamless.

The sound is ridiculous right up to full volume, im a bit of a tech snob. Everything in my house electronic is samsung and their flagship models except from the kitchen appliances they don't make. I used to have bose audio equipment in the past, and 10k for a b and 0 system would be a waste for me. 990 is the best quality sound I've ever heard. If you are coming from anything other than a sound studio, you hear notes in music you have never heard before, and movies are game changers. I paid £860 for it, and quite frankly, I'd pay that a year, never mind the 10 it will last. It has upwards and sidewards facing speakers, so do the rears. I can not praise it enough. Having a samsung tv also gives you a symphony with ads, the tv speakers in also, and audio tracking. You hear bullets ping off the walls, and things bounce from the floor to the ceiling. I promise you won't be disappointed. I saw a deal the other day for a 65 95d tv and a q990d for £2400 that's a bargain. An awesome feature it has among many is the ability to have the music on it play on other rooms I have a q30d in my bedroom and my son has a samsung soundbar maybe a q6 in his room and there is a 801d in the kitchen and it plays on these aswell. They can't play music in the 990s, so I think it's only the 9 series option I don't have particular high ceilings or large rooms, so if you have really large rooms, the upwards and bass may be an issue, but with how loud it goes, i wouldn't think so. Dialogue and bass are perfect and have mine set to 0, so I can't imagine you would have an issue. There are a bunch of settings you can tinker with, but I leave it on adaptive and perfectly happy. I would suggest if you can wait to grab the 990f, which is just coming out, because it has a new sub, which I'm jealous of. lol, I'm already thinking of excuses as to why I need one. The only thing is the 990 is quite large, so check between your tv legs if it has 2. I also have a 930d, which is the model below, and if I'm honest, I can't see much difference. Even my sons q6 is amazing it didn't come with rear speakers, but I got him 9200s ones for it they don't have the upwards or side ways speakers thou. I couldn't speak more highly of the 801d ( no rears either) in the kitchen either ( I'm not some smug or rich asshole I used to have it in the bedroom so stuck it in there for when I'm cooking as I upgraded over time i moved the older stuff around the house is also didn't pay full price for any, all from deals or refurbished). The samsung Smart Things app is a thing of beauty. I'm a samsung fan boi so I'm kinda biased when it comes to samsung, but if someone tells you the 990d is bad, they liars. Sure they drop the ball with the update and the buds 2 pro I had were garbage and the fridge freezer I paid 2 grand for when one half the size and a quarter of price broke after a week and the day after I had the new floor put down with the cable and water pipe under it. I still wouldn't buy anything else. Edit: I've seen you mentioned tvs. I have 4 samsung in my home, a 8070, an 80d an 85d, and a 95d being an uhd a qled and 2 oled. I can't comment much on the 8070 as it's my sons but the others are fantastic the oled do much better black and the bloom than qled but if you hadn't seen the others couldn't tell. the oled also do the adaptive sound a little better but again if you weren't used to it then you can't tell. The 4k upscaling is fucking amazing it turns a hd picture to 4k beautifully this is a feature i could not do without. That was a bit of a book. Sorry, hope that answers if questions you. If you have the resources, get a 95d and a 990d, and if you can wait, wait for the 990f. I'm not sure if they are doing anything new with tvs. Saying that if you can grab an 80d and a 930, don't hesitate. I doubt in the end the difference is anything much. If anyone else is reading this and you are young or not have a huge budget consider a 8070 and q6 or 801d ( it's white and slim beautiful to look at even more so than the 9 series) my so. Has these and he is more than happy with them. The pair can be had for under £800 and would make anyone a great combo. 2nd edit: I seen your budget was in dollars not pounds sorry I'm from the uk.

I’ve had both, including the Sonos One as surrounds and the Sonos subwoofer too. I was a huge fan of the Playbar with the full spec - back then (2017-2020) you had to manually switch between stereo and 5.1 for surround sound. The Q990 is definitely a step up, can switch automatically based on the input codec (stereo, 5.1 or Atmos), is great value for money if you can nab one on sale, and is terrific Atmos wise. Ive never tried the newer Sonos system in all its glory as the Samsung was too tempting as a full system vs the Sonos Arc only price tag wise. Atmos support is growing apps wise and will only continue to keep growing. Music wise I’m not a huge fan of Atmos but fingers crossed that continues to improve too.

Q990F, you can probably pick up the D model for half of your budget. It will complement that TV! (I have both products).

Sony theater quad or Samsung q990d/f. It might not look impressive but i promise that it sounds impressive. Sony quad is slightly better from what I've heard, albeit much more expensive.

Samsung Q990D/F. The new Nakamichi 11.2.6. The new Sony Bravia theater quad.

Lol. Most people don't want that. Especially at a cost of $5k+. I had a Nakamichi 9.2.4 and sold it for the Q990D. I'm much happier. I prefer crystal clear dialogue and surround effects over Bass my neighbors can hear.

I'm using a Q990D in a 19 x 16 room and it's awesome. I prefer the Bass over the Nakamichi 9.2.4. I have the sub right behind my couch. It works great. There's more to cinema then just Bass.

Well high ceilings is bad for any soundbar, But the best soundbar hands down mainly with value is the q990 series (c/d/f). Next I would assume is the Sonos arc ultra(but the full set gets expensive) Then I guess the Bravia theatre quads(although not really a soundbar, and very expensive)(also works better with a sony tv, and u would need to buy a sub) That's just my thoughts, idk much abt other soundbars, other can say.

The more budget friendly Q930 not getting any love is so weird when its such a good solution for many people. Don't get me wrong Q990 is great but q930 for smaller rooms can be even more optimal.

ah maybe in the US, they put some crazy deals over there. In my country (EU) there always seem to be a constant price difference with the q990 being always around 200-300 euros higher than the q930

I think this is enough to for me to upgrade from a q930c but I dont really see a reason why someone would upgrade from a q990

Bigger drivers, better surround, dual sub, better software 

It's not about if it's a big upgrade, it's about if that upgrade matters to you and you are willing to spend the extra money. You will see most owners of both soundbars so they can directly compare reporting that there is a substantial difference, now if we also add the new sub that probably will outperform the previous q990 th software updates and the eclipse audio and new features etc etc then for me at least it's worth to sell my q930 and spend another 300-400 to upgrade. But as I said that's worth me, that doesn't mean that's worth for everyone 

Amen. I have gone from full top of the line $3k Denon THX receiver with mid-range priced quality speakers years ago to an atmos soundbar with rear up firing speakers and a nice sub and it sounds great. As good as my old previous setup? Probably not but it’s far more user friendly and everyone in the house can use it without worrying about which input etc. I don’t ever see myself going back to receiver and separates.

Samsung HW-Q990. I love it.

I think reviewers are reviewing for the category, just like how you don’t review a Toyota Corolla by comparing it to what a pickup truck can do. As you have seen yourself, the other top contenders in the world of sound bars cost more and don’t even sound better overall than the Q990 series. They also don’t offer 4 different sound modes and per channel adjustments so you can really dial in the sound for your room. But yeah, music will never have the richness on a sound bar as a traditional HT system with large left and right channels. But what it lacks in that department it easily makes up for in TV and movie content, especially convincing surround effects regardless of type of content.

And it should, for the fucking price it should. But it actually doesn’t. That’s why the 990 series have always been praised. It’s like the Nissan GTR of soundbars, beating super expensive systems while still below $1k lol! And if a bunch of dudes in a subreddit praising the 990 series isn’t something to consider, you’re just a sucker for Sonos. Because you’re probably neck deep in that shitshow of an ecosystem with the current status of their app.

There’s reviews and tests all over the webs. You’ll get crap sound with crap setups…regardless of whether it’s a traditional AVR with sub and sats or with soundbar w sub and sats. But, you can get great sound w great setups. Sennheiser Ambeo Max, Samsung Q990 line, Sonos Arc Ultra…etc. I just heard an Arc Ultra paired w sub4 and Era 300s that surpasses every mid level AVR setup I’ve owned or heard. (By mid level, I say under $8k)

I hadn't heard anything from the Q990 lineup until this fall and was really surprised by what I heard. Before hearing it, I thought it must sound great for the money, but it sounds way better than that.

Obviously this is just a another repackage with minor differences Samsung's been doing this since the q990b the biggest difference has been when they added HDMI 2.1 support that's the only real upgrade they've had since that everything else has been really really tiny.

The B to F is basically the same sound wise (the sound difference isn't even worth $100 tbh). The only major difference is HDMI 2.1. but it already supports earc so you should be okay if you have an LG or Samsung TV.

Its boring, but there really is just one flagship competing in that price range. The Q990 series is just the best as of now. I hope to see some proper competition eventually.

The Q990 has the ability, through the Samsung Smart Things app to set up the surrounds as extra "fronts".  So you can enjoy the Q990 by placing those speakers in front to widen the sound stage.  They don't have to be used as rear surrounds.  I'd get the Q990 and set it up that way, then if your living situation changes you have the ability to use them as rear surrounds.  Have your cake and eat it too. 

This is the best response. It's exactly what I did

If the Q990 doesn't fit, don't force it. I will say that the 9500s rears that you can purchase are decent, but NOT the same speakers that you get with the Q990. I would 100% buy a Q990 for future proofing just for the improved rears, even if I didn't use them for awhile. Alternatively, but the Q800 now (I love mine), and then upgrade to the Q990 when the time comes. it's not going to kill you - you can always repurpose the Q800 to another room or sell it to get a bit of $$ back.

You're not specifically wrong, but I will say that my HT-A7000 with RS5 rear speakers did a great job with phantom sound and made my basement media room sound a lot bigger than it was. The rear (and phantom side) separation was great. The front stage was somewhat narrow compared to an actual surround system but it made up for it with the reflective sounds off the side walls that placed side speakers where there were none. And there was definitely no issue with centering the vocals, haha. My son's Q990 does a great job in his living room, as well. Not a full system in terms of overall dynamics and separation, but very very acceptable, to say the least. I moved back to a full 7.1 (soon to be 7.1.4) setup and it's amazing, of course. But I do notice a difference with less reflective "side" effects when compared to the A7000. Not good or bad, but just noticeable. If Sony would ever take the quads concept and implement a 5th center channel speaker and allow for dual subs, they would blow away the market for those that want near-AVR performance with more simplicity.

Can you move the sofa forward about 10"? Here's how I set up my son's living room with his Q990 setup. https://preview.redd.it/tt808n9a9bie1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dde7751fccac9a3f9f6f130fbf896e3e9b3648d3 The atmos rears do a great job of dispersing sound toward the listener, to the sides, and upwards. I had really good luck with my Sony RS5 rears, as well (the 360 spatial sound mapping is amazing). My personal ranking would be the top Sony system (A7000 or newer Bravia 9), then Samsung Q990, and then the Arc system. I tried all 3 in Dec '23 and the Sonos sounded nice but sounded like a soundbar big time. The Sony and Samsung, gave me a better. cinematic feel, for sure. I would have a ton of ideas for your 5.1 system if you're still considering that, as well.

Well, the Samsung Q990 comes with the rears and sub. They really can't function without all three pieces integrated, so your point is valid, but sort of also proves my point. You have to have the combination of solid top level sound bar, great rears, and a good sub. That's the only way you're going to get a sound bar that functions anywhere close to a full system. My Sony system was my favorite, followed by the Samsung Q990. The Samsung also out performed the Sonos system, which was three times as expensive hands-down, no question. I spent close to $3000 on the Sonos system at the time. Bought the Q 990 to compare it to at a third of the cost. And the Samsung killed it. Then I went back and spent a little over $2000 on a Sony system and it topped everything. The Sonos arc system sounded really good, but it just didn't give me that same full cinematic experience in terms of depth and fullness. The main thing that Sonos has going for it is that you can use dual subs. But then again, so did last year's Sony system. Of course the new ones do not.

Samsung q990 is the best living room / waf setup. Full dedicated HT is a different story.

Yes it passes through DV to other televisions. Atleast my 990 does. However I ended up opting for going straight to the TV through EARC instead as I was having signal loss issues going from Bluray player/console to soundbar directly then out to TV

The newer samsung soundbars like the Q990 are definitely better than a 2.0 system

So the way you get “5.1” without what’s called discrete speakers, the ones in the back and 3 upfront, is something called “psycho acoustics”. Which is a process of directing sound to bounce of walls to simulate sound coming from that direction. It’s been around for a while however there is a lot and I mean a lot of snake oil peddling in the $100-$300 price range especially without discrete speakers. I’m probably a month into my research of soundbars. It’s a lot to sift through. Samsung makes the best overall soundbar in the Q990 but unless you’re getting the EPP discount they are north of $1000. The budget version in their line would be the QS730D at $300-$450 on Amazon. Does a pretty good job with 3 speakers simulating surround with 2 height speakers to provide Atmos effects. Sonos Beam and Bose 600 are the midrange no subwoofer options around $500. Great clarity and do a good job of simulating surround. Height effects aren’t that great on either model. Budgeting lower than these is Vizio M512-H6 and JBL Bar 5.1/500. Both I think are good units that won’t leave you feeling you’ve been duped.

Without a hesitation the Sonos beam gen 2. Or if you can find a good deal online one of the Samsung Q990 deals. I own 3 different soundbar setups and I'd say Samsung or Sonos have been the most impressive. Sonos for sound and Samsung for value.

Why are you saying dual 8" ? It's a single 8" woofer in the 990 and 930d sub. Personally see it as a downgrade deliberately trying to add daylight between the 930 and 990.

Should have got the Q990, can you return it?

The functionally totally integrated satellite on the Q990 speakers make a huge difference to just plain soundbars. If you care about SQ, skip the white and go with the Q990

Apart from the massive floor rumble (play independence day part 1 opening scene) on jbl, one will always struggle on dialogue clarity and absence of speaker levels on jbl. Smsung 990 is a true winner. Even better - take samsung 930b/c/d and save even more cash to enjoy an extremely good soundbar that samsung provides!

If you want high end, a Q930 (a B instead of D is likely cheaper) is good enough for you IMHO. It'll come with the rear surround speakers that also fire from the top. I have a C3 in a small living room and picked up a Q990 and it is definitely overkill. It's great but it's a lot for a small area. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great to me. It beats my older Q70T that I had paired SWA8500 read surround speakers. However, if I managed to find a Q930 at an even better price than what I got the Q990, it would have more than did the job. The Q910 would essentially be I think the same soundbar as the Q930, but the rear surround speakers are not wireless and only fire from the side. The best Samsung model that is only soundbar with subwoofer would be the Q900D. It's the same soundbar that comes with the Q990D (bigger than the Q930's bar). It's huge though. If you want to add the wireless rear surround speakers to the Q900 later, it'll be the SWA9500s. They are NOT the same wireless speakers as the ones that come with the Q990 but work similarly. They are wireless with front, side, and top firing. The most budget Samsung option that can do Atmos is the Q600C. I don't think they released a "D" model for this year so that might be cheaper. I believe the cheapest Atmos capable model this year from Samsung Q700D. However, the Q600 models are NOT compatible with the SWA9500s wireless surround speakers. The Q600 from what I am aware of are only compatible with the SWA9200s surround speakers. The SWA9200s I believe are only side firing. The cheapest bar that will work with the SWA9500 I believe will be the Q700C. It'll also work with the Q800 as well. The Q800D would likely be the "go nicer but not top of the line flagship" expensive.

I just got the Q990 for my house and the sound quality is better than I expected even though I was super high expectations going into it. The surround sound is incredible and the subwoofer allows you to feel everything!!! Largely recommend the Q series.

I just bought the Q800D from Amazon this morning. For me it was a best of both worlds system with the feature allowing me to add rear speakers at any time if I feel the need to have a true surround sound system. The 990 is the best you can get currently but to me the investment was too much to justify the cost

That’s the way I understand it as well. The speakers Samsung offers as add ons are Atmos Speakers too. It won’t be as strong as the high end model but imo you reach a point where you can’t really tell the difference without spending insane amounts of money.

Samsung q800 or better. The 930/990 models have rear speakers (need power). Comes with a sub. Sounds awesome.

That's entirely up to you haha. If you want to get some future proof long go for the best (or even go for 990 if it's in budget). If you move onto better quality videos and movies etc. you'll want the best possible (990). If it's just going to be always for sport and Disney and Netflix etc, go for middle of the pack. And as others have mentioned (I didn't because it's not the 4ktv sub), a tv upgrade one day would also benefit you lots - but that's for the distant future. Sound is now!

It sonos arc ultra work well with lg. I use it with my LG B4. Samsung make good sound soundbars. But they drop the ball on their firmware update with bricking some soundbars with the last update on their 990. If you are looking at a more busget friendly. The lg bars work well. They like the lower cost samsung does not do atmos like samsung top of the line. The lg s80qr is a pretty good soundbar that is not super expensive.

Samsung had a bad firmware release last month or two. And some 990 stop working aftet the update