Beam (Gen 1)

I just bought an Arc Ultra with a mini sub and it's incredible. I'm sure there is some technical reason I am wrong and I should have bought a Samsung, but I have never had a soundbar sound this amazing. The minisub is nice and small and packs a nice punch. Before that I had the Beam Gen 1 for 5 years. It was still running great, but I wanted to upgrade my system.

I had Sonos beam 1 for years because I lived in an apartment with neighbors and I needed crystal clear dialogue with out gun shots and explosions vibrating the walls. The beam was perfect. I no longer live in an apartment and recently upgraded to the Arc Ultra which is insane. The Beam 2 is probably even better and Sonos does a great job with voice clarity. You can easily add the sub mini at a later date. I’m not familiar with the other bar, but I can’t recommend Sonos enough. It’s also on sale for $369 on Sonos.com right now. You could check Best Buy for any open box deals too.

Have had Play:1's paired with a Gen 1 Beam in one room and a Playbase in the other for years. They work perfectly!

Sonos have poor left and right implementation with the Arc Ultra where the left and right channels are significantly quieter than the others, and especially the centre. I would recommend sticking with the Beam Gen 1. Buy the sub mini and upgrade to a Beam Gen 3 in the future.

I’m running a Gen 1 Beam in my main bedroom with 2 x Play:1s as rears, and it’s a great soundbar for that size space. The Beam tends to struggle a bit in larger spaces though, so depending on how big your room is, thats something to keep in mind.

For Atmos, you need either the Beam or the Arc. Sub and rears are not required, but definitely add to the envelope.

I've been building my setup slowly in fb market. I picked up the gen 1 sound bar for 50$, and I just picked up 2 era 100s for 115$ a piece. I have several other speakers around the house that I've picked up locally for 75-100 a piece. Just waiting on a sub to show up within a reasonable distance. If you don't need the latest and greatest, this is pretty effective, and still sounds awesome.

I've got the sc9s and have discovered i can't get rear speakers as they don't make them which is annoying as i wanted surround sound. It sounds great for movies with the Sub and Dolby atmosphere, for other stuff though my gen 1 Beam sounds as good. If I could have my time again id go Sonos so I could get rears mind you that was way over my budget as well as adding a sonos Sub and I got a great deal on LG bar bundled with tv. Wow Orchestra is ok. I guess 'it depends' is the answer.

Miles better with my Beam and my LG bar with sub..watching shows without it seems hollow. If just watching tv with the news or something tv sound would be ok but anything else need better sound

My Sonos Beam is great, super clear and I don't feel like i need bass for most things

I have the first gen beam with rear surround speakers and it’s a huge upgrade compared to tv speakers or even other cheaper soundbars I’ve heard. The gen 2 is supposed to be even better so I would say it’d definitely be worth it.