Samsung - Q990F

If he doesn't need the ports he could go with the C. Samsung's upgrades....lol....aren't worth tht money since years. It's laughable and I'm a Samsung soundbar guy myself. Wait till early summer and you'll get the F for 950 everywhere. As usual.

There’s a few top level reasons: - Some TVs do not pass every codec through eARC. In particular, DTS passthrough requires licensing royalties and technically DTS-HD/DTS:X/DTS MA passthrough is not allowed by their licensing though many high end TVs push out an update past DTS certification that “accidentally” wink wink adds pass through. In these cases, connecting directly to the soundbar allows the soundbar to decode these codecs - Some TVs add unsolvable eARC audio delays, sometimes varying per codec. The most problematic historically has been the XBox Series S/X which is notorious for Atmos adding around a quarter second of audio lag when passed through eARC but seemingly no lag when directly plugged into a soundbar. This varies from TV to TV and depends on what codecs you use the most. - Some TVs (LGs in particular) are prone to eARC handshaking issues where randomly the TV will output to its own speakers instead of the sound bar, especially after they go into deep sleep or one of the devices software updates itself. - Finally, convenience. Your TV setup might be one where it’s cleaner to have a single cord go from the soundbar to the TV. Overall when I had a Sonos without HDMI input I didn’t think I needed/wanted it. I just dealt with all of these oddities. But now that I have a Q990 with built in HDMI2.1 ports I absolutely love it.

I don’t know anything about the Q990D, but I do have the Q990F and am really enjoying it.

Whatever product on the arc. Sonos has always been overpriced. Your better off with the Samsung Q990d. Samsung always comes in number one. Check our the new Q990f coming soon.

Duel Sub!!! Thats awesome, Im buying (Rears also have more upfiring drivers), also want to see the party mode as hopefully that gives better surround from rear than the older versions pre 990d

Get the Q990D on sale ASAP. The F will have a different sub, but cost quite a bit more. Sonos is very good, but will cost you atleast twice as much!!!!!!!!!!! & they're having nothing but problems right now. AVOID

Yes, & you'll then get all the processing upgrades too!

Id pick the 990F over the Arc Ultra. Sold my Sonos Arc + Sub Mini + Era 100's setup about a year ago probably & also had a beam 2 before that. But overall I wouldn't say Sonos is worth the money. I'd also highly consider looking at the Klipsch Flexus Core 300 + Sub 200 (12") + Surr 200's. I have the Core 200 + Sub 100 (10")& I absolutely love this system & think it personally sounds better to me than my Arc setup did. I also thought my Samsung Q800B I had a few years ago was better than the Sonos setup too.... So Its between the 990F & the full Flexus 300 for me. I truly think I'd have to sit and listen to them both for a good 100+ hours before actually being able to decide which one sounds better

Its your money, I would go with the 990d the sonos is supposed to be better but I did not want to pay almost three times the price and app problems.The 990f will be better than the 990d with the new sub but price be very high for the first 6 months. What I did I bought the 990d and will keep for a few years till they get even better than buy something newer.

I'm patiently waiting for it. I'm getting that new Q990F and S90F 77" TV this Black Friday.

"Product performance and price point or value for money" is why I buy Samsung TVs. I have the Samsung S90C 77" that I bought 2yrs ago and I still enjoy it. I have the Vizio Elevate 5.1.4. Great sound system but I'm moving this set up to the game room!/loft and buying the S90F and Q990F later in the year when we move into a bigger house. I use the Samsung S25+ as a phone, and a Samsung Smartwatch Classic 6 and the ecosystem is just great for me. Buh outside that, I won't buy a Samsung for a washer and dryer, I will never buy a Samsung for refrigerator or any other home appliances. I think they just have where they stand tall when it comes to device performances.

Have Q990B right now, sound wise its identical to the D, so no point. I want the F because of its active dual sub

Many, like me, are more sensitive to that end of the frequency spectrum. With the Q-series' tendency to lack control and even outright overdo the bass, the listening experience can get quite fatiguing! The experience of many of films, shows, and songs will often benefit from a -2 or -4 dB on the subwoofer on top of spacefit calibration.

I've had the F for about a week. It's my first premium soundbar system. The rears are great, the bar is great, the sub is mediocre. It doesn't compare to my receiver and speaker setup, but I wanted something that looked clean and sounded good. This gets the job done. 8.5 out of 10 sounds right to me. Q-symphony is pretty cool, and I received a samsung music frame as a free gift. That's a pretty decent sounding picture frame. Plus, you can add it to the soundbar as an extra speaker. Overall, I'm pretty happy.

Although q990 is really good it sounds like its out of your budget, you could look for q930c/d its very close to q990 and might even be a better choice for small rooms

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

it really depends on the soundbar, you can find a q990 used for 600 750-800 new, no av set up at this price cant compete with that, especially in EU where hifi prices are ridiculous. but yeah most soundbars are not worth it Edit: I am convinced that this community has a nilistic mentality regarding all soundbars, propably the result of being in an echo chamber. Funny enough owners reports on avs that had low budget 2.1/3.1 or even 5.1 systems end up swapping them for q990, not only for convience but also for the overall performance. Good systems are superior to a system q990 none said otherwise. But you need at least 1000 euros (im not familiar with US prices) to build something new that can start coming close to the performance of a q990. When both the AV set up and the soundbar are bought new, the "I got an insane deal for a full system for 300 euros" thats not the norm, nor everyone wants to buy used products.

if you compare used products then compare to a used q990 for 600 , good luck finding something that is better than it at this price. Receiver + speakers + sub Edit: also to add that a 2.1 set up to be better than the q990 needs actually solid speakers and a sub, not random garbage you can find for 30 dollars

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 

This feels like just posting a copy paste of the promo material.  Mods should take this down

**This "REVIEW" is using promo material language,** its so obvious that it is obnoxious. There is no critisicm, no measurements, no comparison with other products or previous products there is really nothing. Either you have no clue about what you purchased and just told gpt to write you something OR you copy pasted the promo material. Check the language of the text that you copy pasted: " adaptive sound feature uses Samsung's proprietary technology to upscale the 5.1 signal and make full use of the 11.1.4 channels" "and impressive future-proofing with features like Eclipsa Audio" (a useless feature with 0 real content that none knows if its gonna become popular and if it even becomes popular your soundbar will have died till then btw) " its size feels justifiable given that just the bar houses 15 speakers." "What truly impressed me right off the bat was how effortless the setup was"  "Even watching basketball feels more immersive, with stadium sounds dynamically coming through the surround channels." **"makes a compelling case for anyone looking to elevate their home entertainment experience "** My favorite one (description of amazon product): "The soundbar delivers exceptional sound quality, a user-friendly setup experience, and impressive future-proofing with features like Eclipsa Audio. Whether watching movies, sports, or enjoying music, this soundbar makes a compelling case for anyone looking to elevate their home entertainment experience.  " **Reality check** Q990F is overpriced at launch and not worth your money untill it drops in the 800 range that it usually does within a short period. The product can not replicate a 11.1.4 even at best conditions its hardly a 7.1.4 system. The subwoofer is boomy as fk as every samsung soundbar subwoofer has been, which stems from pushing too much the sub to mimic how actual subs sound like. Eclipsa audio is marketing gimmick, spacefit sound plus/pro or whatever they name it this year is also a gimmick that at best helps slightly the sub. DSP is overly aggressive and it results in digitally processed sound that sounds off. To conclude, its not a bad product if you really want to go to the soundbar route but it is insanely overpriced at the MSRP price for what it is. It can provide a decent 5.1. 2ish experience in some rooms (if your ceiling isnt flat, or its tall its basically a 5.1) where the front sound stage suffers from what all soundbars suffer, the inability to have distinct L/R/C which results in a VERY center focused sound profile. **I am going to repeat this: I am not saying don't buy it, or that its bad, It is good for what it is, as long as consumers understand what they are buying its great, BUT marketing gimmicks such as 11.1.4 channels, Eclipsa audio etc. are** **ultimately misleading and inflate expectations beyond what the product can realistically deliver.**

All the previous Samsung subs were boomy af, this wont be an exception because of the aggressive DSP samsung uses in their soundbars. Its not about placement, if you compare a normal AVR sub and a Samsung sub on the same spot the difference is dramatic. Its not about size of drivers or how many drivers, its about the sound profile and the DSP that Samsung uses

How is it smaller? You got two 8" subwoofers on the F and only one on the D.....

I doubt the D sub is going to be better in any aspect. This new 300w dual 8" sub has to be much better. The weak sub was always the main problem with these bars.

Should be a lot better, plus they always make sound improvements no matter what, with new board arrangements and software tweaks.

I was thinking now, oh 300W for the F sub should be better than the 200W sub the D has. And then it came to mind my 80W 10" Vizio subwoofer that is miles better than the Samsung, so yeah who knows. But at least Samsung has been making consistent improvements over the years, even with the same speaker hardware.

Yep, this is what happens, every year Samsung improves the product regardless of speakers being the same. At least this year they added a new subwoofer.

Here are some quick thoughts about the new Samsung HW-Q990F after testing it out for a few days. Feel free to ask any questions. My first impressions were overwhelmingly positive. The build quality is excellent, and while the soundbar is larger than my previous one, its size feels justifiable given that just the bar houses 15 speakers. Despite its impressive speaker count, it remains surprisingly compact. What truly impressed me right off the bat was how effortless the setup was. It couldn't have been simpler—unbox the soundbar, surround speakers, and subwoofer, connect the power cables, and everything pairs automatically. I was bracing myself for the usual pairing hassle, where you need to hold down specific buttons or go through an elaborate process for each component. Thankfully, that was not the case at all; the setup was quick and seamless. To make things even more convenient, enabling SpaceFit Sound Pro automatically calibrates the system to your room, eliminating any need to manually adjust speaker placement or fiddle with calibration settings. Having watched a couple of movies and enjoyed some March Madness games, I can confidently say the sound quality has been exceptional. Voices are clear, natural, and easy to understand, even during fast-paced action scenes. The soundstage is immersive. While the surround sound setting delivers a rich experience, I found myself preferring the adaptive sound mode. As I understand it, the adaptive sound feature uses Samsung's proprietary technology to upscale the 5.1 signal and make full use of the 11.1.4 channels, enhancing the surround effects. Even watching basketball feels more immersive, with stadium sounds dynamically coming through the surround channels. The soundbar delivers exceptional sound quality, a user-friendly setup experience, and impressive future-proofing with features like Eclipsa Audio. Whether watching movies, sports, or enjoying music, this soundbar makes a compelling case for anyone looking to elevate their home entertainment experience.   \#SamsungHomeAudioInsiders2025  u/SamsungUS

Q990B, Q990C, Q990D and Q990F. All the same except 4K/120hz support in the last two. If you have any of these, you're good. Additionally, the reviewer should correct the review and mention that the Q990D already supported 4K/120. The way it is written, it sounds like it is a very important new feature, when it is not even something new.

I literally upgraded to one today and it's fantastic.

Both are high premium soundbars.i have both and loved movies.

I thought the same as you then I preformed a manual label adjustment of each of the channels and now the system sounds so much better

Do yourself a favour https://www.reddit.com/r/Soundbars/s/GoQ2xVaTWc Ps if you are passing the audio through your TV first, the TV maybe converting the format to multi-channel pcm 🤮. Use the info button on your soundbar remote to ensure the Correct Audio format is being passed through. My 2024 Samsung Frame won’t pass DTS formats

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.

You should try a q990 or quads. Some of us who have expensive setups feel the need to pretend that soundbars sound worse to justify ownership even though it really isn't

Unless you’re limited on space, get a receiver. Even if you start with just a 3.1 and build from there. 2 bookshelf speakers on some speaker stands, they have slim center channels that look awesome. Speakers can also come in different colors, so in the right room some piano gloss or white will look great. And new receivers work so well with new TV’s, it’s not as big of a headache as it used to be switching inputs all the time and using 2 remotes. I recently replaced my $1,500 Sony soundbar (HTST5000) for a 3.1 setup w/ large bookshelf speakers, and idk why I didn’t do it sooner.. the difference is night and day. Unless there is a specific reason you cannot do a receiver w/ speakers, then like others posted the Q990 gets great reviews and if you like you bass Nakamichi has a soundbar package with 2 subs 👍

I disagree with everyone here unequivocally recommending the 990 (which I do think is great, btw). If you have somewhere to put rear speakers and you watch movies on Netflix then the Q990 might be worthwhile for you. When watching movies the surround sound is really nice. If not then it will indeed be overkill because you're buying speakers you won't even set up.  Also, personally I find that on some sources dialogue can be a problem with the Q990 not because it isn't clear but because once the volume is where you like it for reasonable voice levels the system will blow your head off when loud elements or special effects kick in (explosions, car crashes or even yelling). I often have to watch movies with controller in hand to manage the volume shift between dialogue and louder scenes. This won't be a problem for news and sports, but likewise you probably won't appreciate the extra speakers either.  There's a version of that soundbar that comes without the extra speakers (I forget the model number). That might be more appropriate for you. But I'm that case don't expect anything too special, it'll just be a bit louder a bit clearer. Sonos arc is also pretty good but same thing: with just the bar on its own don't expect to be wowed, you'll just get more clear audio. 

You can use the Q990 rears as front L/R’s - with discounts and cashback it’s hard to beat it if you’re after bang for buck

Nah, I like my soundbar cause it sounds good enough while being simplistic. But it’s also no where near the quality of actually bookshelf speakers, but I’m okay with that. The soundbar serves its purpose and my bigger speakers do as well.

I have a Q930 and Q990 soundbars. I also have Revel, Monitor Audio, Triad, Anthony Gallo and Paradigm speakers. I also have about 8 different subwoofers which range from a peewee Definitive SC2000’s to Monolith subs that weigh nearly 100 pounds each. Those KEF speakers are nice but not a good value for performance. They’re geared towards people who want good audio but also need a stylish package. You pay a hefty premium for that style. For $2,400 you could’ve gotten Elac DBR62 bookshelf’s, DCR52 center, an SVS subwoofer with a decent receiver. This would’ve been a much more economical system with good reference quality audio.

In a small space a soundbar will sound perfectly fine. I used my Q990 in my living room for a few months and eventually decided I wasn’t happy with the narrow front soundstage. I ended up placing the Q990 in my bedroom, a much smaller space, and I think it works a lot better in a smaller environment. It produces less of a sphere of sound and more of a triangle. As far as quality of sound. There’s a video on YouTube of someone dismantling the Q990 bar. The entire system is made of cheaply made small speaker drivers. There are plenty of small alternative bookshelves, like the Wharfedale 12.0, which would easily outperform the soundbar in terms of quality and volume. Plus the AV route opens the door to much better quality subwoofers for the money. I’m happy overall with the Q990 in the bedroom. It does a good job in a small space and sounds much better than my TV. But it’s a far cry from high quality audio, especially if you’re a music lover, and all the speakers crammed into a bar doesn’t overcome their physical limitation and lack of separation.

I think you would be amazed by how much the surrounds add these days with Atmos, and how much better it is that they and the sub are wireless these days. I have a q930c and a q990b - both are great, but the q990 series is just better sound in every way once you've heard both. Also, the side channels on the rears seem to create a more joined up bubble of sound. I'm pretty certain you can buy both as standalone sound bars with just subwoofer...q900 series perhaps? I think it varies from country to country. I suspect that if you went q930c you'd be more than happy though. It's a great system in its own right. My brother is delighted with his.

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.

I was extremely tempted to get the Core 200, but in my country it’s rare for a retailer to allow change of mind returns. So if I didn’t like it I’d be stuck with it, and the lack of hdmi passthrough and room correction had me worried.  Got the Sammy Q990 instead and it’s good. I’m not blown away by it, and I was expecting more based on all the rave reviews and comments. But it’s good enough as an all rounder for movies and TV, though not great for music despite supporting wifi streaming. The app sucks but, after the initial setup, I haven’t had to use it again. I can see how Samsung have been smart in ticking all the boxes that matter, at a price point that is hard to ignore (when it’s on sale, not at full price)

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.

Samsung 990 is the best bang for your buck.

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

OP, the 990 was too big for our area (55in oled tv) so returned it and went with the Q800C, just soundboard and sub and I think it's a wonderful system. If you want just the bar and no subs, I would go with the Bose 900

Idk, pretty happy with my 11.1.4 Samsung sound bar that pairs with my TV speakers. Way better than a 2.1 system. Still better than a 5.1. For music I have a Frankensetup in a smaller, different room where it can shine with half the power output I don’t need atmos for music. I don’t need the tightest bass, or hifi clarity for a movie track or tv. I don’t need a system that cost $5000 to meet what my $1500 split over my 2 systems does. I also don’t want 20 fucking giant ass speakers hanging all over my living room