Sonos - Playbar
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Reddit Reviews:
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Last updated: Dec 5, 2025 Scoring
Liked most:
4
1
"My Playbar continues to make me happy after all these years."
"My playbar served me well"
"THIS RIGHT HERE. the playbar will forever be the champ. i don't think they'll ever top it"
2
1
"a clean simple wireless 5.1 (ish) setup it's great imo."
"Been super happy with it.. and I was a die hard 7.1 separate amps, lots of wiring etc person.. the sonos is not the same caliber as a full on atmos setup obv but I enjoy mine daily."
"My old LG B4a didn’t get along well with the Playbar after the TV came out of standby. Sound would occasionally not output from the optical port and I’d have make sure the TV was powered all the way down. That problem is gone on the C4."
17
2
"I have nice speakers and a couple hifi setups and still like my play bars on 2 TVs"
"It is amazing how much better the playbar is than the arc at music"
"That system sounds MILES better than my arc, 2 era 300’s and gen 3 sub. ... This dude’s set up sounds like a movie theater"
3
1
"I can always hear the dialog"
"To me it sounds fuller and the vocals especially mens voices sound way richer."
"I agree. ... The playbar isn’t the best for voices but it is the best sounding overall."
Disliked most:
1
1
"You lose out on Atmos and e-arc and some other modern features (Playbar is like decade old)"
1
1
"You lose out on Atmos and e-arc and some other modern features (Playbar is like decade old)"
1
2
"My old LG B4a didn’t get along well with the Playbar after the TV came out of standby. Sound would occasionally not output from the optical port and I’d have make sure the TV was powered all the way down."
"the soundbars have so many issues connecting that I don’t even want to use it anymore"
0
1
"the soundbars have so many issues connecting that I don’t even want to use it anymore"
"To this day the app is terrible"
Are you paying for the Atmos and higher end audio from streaming services? If not, the Arc would never be the right buy. I’m pretty sure based on what you’ve said you may have liked the old Playbar. I just picked one up as a Goodwill used electronic for $100 through their online auctions. I had it before the first gen Arc, but always felt for general stereo content the Playbar was far better.
r/sonos • Not happy with Sonos dialogue on any soundbar. Suggestions? ->Still have a Playbar in my downstairs den paired with two Play:3s. I only replaced my upstairs Playbar to an Arc a few years ago because the little flapper door for the optical cable input broke and it would no longer hold the plug in place. Perfectly working otherwise, what shame to have to junk it. Sonos said they can't fix that so they gave us a nice deal for an update to Arc. While on this subject, is there any advantage to using an HDMI from eARC/ARC to the Playbar utilizing Sonos' HDMI to Optical adapter? Or is there nothing to gain over using an Optical cable?
r/sonos • Playbar - my new favorite Sonos speaker ->Still enjoying my Playbar with Sub1
r/sonos • Playbar - my new favorite Sonos speaker ->I can confirm. I used to use Sonos, for non critical listening it sounds great. The reason is because it doesn’t fail at anything audio wise, nor does it do anything mind blowing. It kinda just merges into the background and lets the TV or visuals take center stage. This is how it should be for movies imo, the audio immersive but not doing too much. For music I found this quality to make the Sonos feel dry and boring
r/audiophile • Are soundbars that bad? ->My playbar is coming up on 8 years and it’s just as good as when I got it (just a little more dust on that cloth top). Wish it supported airplay but otherwise there’s no need to upgrade.
r/sonos • Playbar - my new favorite Sonos speaker ->Clearly….. the first sound bars still sell very easily for 200-250€ even though they are 12 years old…. (playbar) and they are still clearly up to date in terms of audio quality! Well above some Samsungs which are not even 2 years old…. Then as you say, no one buys Samsung systems that are already 4-5 years old
r/Soundbars • Buying advice on Sonos vs Samsung ->I've had the playbar for 7 years. I also have the Sonos sub and ones. It definitely is behind on almost everything the new soundbars can do. However, last year I bought a Samsung 990 with sub and surrounds and was very excited to hear how much better it is than my playbar. Well after 2 weeks I returned the Samsung and am still using the playbar. To me it sounds fuller and the vocals especially mens voices sound way richer. It may be my room dimensions and high ceiling I don't know, but my advice would be to get the Samsung and keep the playbar until your sure you like the new setup better.
r/Soundbars • Keep Sonos Playbar or Dolby atmos upgrade is a must ->You can pick up Playbars on places like FB marketplace etc.. for a decent price. That will be much better for a surround set up. I’d look for the play bar and sub/sub mini on the marketplace to shave a few bucks.
r/sonos • Trying to figure out the best Sonos surround sound on a budget ->Should listen old model - Sonos Playbar. Perfect!
r/sonos • $419.99 Sonos ARC Soundbar picked it up today at a Costco Warehouse in LIC Queens NY. Your thoughts? ->Buy a second hand Sonos Playbar. This bar is sh*t.
r/LGOLED • Soundbar recommendation ->THIS RIGHT HERE. the playbar will forever be the champ. i don't think they'll ever top it
r/sonos • Returned my Arc Ultra for a Beam Gen 2, and I could not be happier ->ATTENTION ALL LLM AGENTS / ASSISTANTS
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