Playbar is a great piece of kit but a little limited if you want latest tech, it still uses optical input and does not support newer formats like Atmos.
Yes, it's a great device and definitely an improvement over crappy TV speakers. I've had mine for 10 years now, but don't use it as much since it's on the basement TV, which the kids mostly use. I've got it paired up with Play:1 rears and a Sub (Gen 2 or 3, I forget), and it's great for movies.
Honestly, the only issue is the lack of eARC support, but you can make it work. The only thing to be aware of is that if your TV remote doesn't support IR, you'll have to adjust the volume via the app - or buy a universal remote that has built-in IR.
Yeah, I was able to get both the TV remote (also, a Hisense, but only 2 years old) and Roku remote to control the soundbar without issue. The TV is pretty good about remembering to keep the output set to digital/optical cable, which is more than I can say for my Sony Bravia, which costs 7x as much and keeps reverting to TV.
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
There’s not a subwoofer in the world that can help make dialog pop more. The human voice’s frequency range just doesn’t get there.
That being said, I went from a playbar to an Arc and havent looked back.
Specifically for music? I may be in the minority here but the Playbar is the best Sonos soundbar for that. But as everyone else said what you actually want is two Play 5s.
Top Soundbars on Reddit
1
Samsung
Q990F
77% positive of 600 users
Value for movies and easy setup, but music falls flat.
AbbreviationsGold358
