Was looking for a soundar and deciding between Bose and Sonos - The price got me over the line. Was looking for a single unit for a cleaner look. $91 Cheaper than https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/722184 so I thought I would re post.
CamelCamelCamel.
Had Samsung's flagship Atmos bars and a few Bose models including this on extra TV's in the house….
Music wise, Samsung is absolutely horrid in comparison. Always believed Bose as far as compact sound/Bluetooth speakers and headphones actually are really good.
Movies, not a huge difference, but Music is night and day imo.
Both have had bugs with set up and general use too.
Must be said I have particularly high end speakers elsewhere.
Thanks for your insights. I've got a HW-Q800T (2020). It required several tweaks to get it sounding right. The Bluetooth audio quality for music is pretty bad. However I found music quality is notably improved when connecting via eARC and utilizing the TV's Spotify app with Q-Symphony enabled. Overall at $649 I’m happy with it. I watch more TV than listen to music. I just wish it was dialed in better straight out of the box.
Why this over sonos beam for $606 please :)
If that’s a Gen2 Beam then it’s the better buy, else get this. See the rtings reviews linked below.
The bose looks better in most ways here?
https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/tools/compare/bose-smart-sou…
Why do you say the sonos?
Off the bat Sonos is 5 channels rather than the 3 of the Bose and supports Atmos. From the Rtings review the Sonos also has better surround performance. Otherwise they're pretty similar performance wise but for the dollars you're getting more in the Sonos.
The other thing I would say is the software built into Bose products is not as good as Sonos. Bose seems to struggle with software updates to fix issues compared to Sonos who release new features and fixes constantly.
Mind posting a link to this deal? Looking for a beam gen 2 myself.
Cheers! Can't access commercial unfortunately.
Thanks! Good price. I'm just wondering if it'll get cheaper for black Friday, and if I can hold out that long.
@imdarnevil: If you've signed up for JB Perks, when you have a discount voucher it can be used with a price match to knock a little extra off. Ended up getting the Beam 2 from JB for $575 recently with this.
I compared the Beam 2 to the Bose Smart Soundbar 300 in store as they were both a similar price-point. The Bose actually sounded cleaner, but the reviews saying that Sonos was the better ecosystem and less buggy software is what swayed me. Still haven't quite been able to find the sweet spot for TV sound though, to remove the muddiness of the Sonos at lower volumes, but it's still a great soundbar.
@teacherer: They email them out every now and then, usually an extra $10 off. They're usually posted here, those who don't need their codes often share them too.
The Bose seems similar if not better in the head to head?
I'm confused
https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/tools/compare/bose-smart-sou…
This doesn't do Dolby Atmos like the new Bose Smart Soundbar 900 if that's important to you…but it's almost double the price!
The 900 is good with the sub, that's what I ended up getting because I wanted a good allrounder for tv vocals and music. But definitely overpriced and you can get away with good budget options in Yamaha, Samsung and Denon etc.
Can we connect these Bose soundbars with sub-Woofers from other companies like Yamaha
Bose is just expensive furniture.
How is this compared to a bookshelf speaker like https://www.amazon.com.au/Klipsch-RP-160M-Bookshelf-Speaker-…? If you add a subwoofer the price is the same.
They look like passive speakers, so you'd need to add on an Amp.
And to get a similar feature set, (Bluetooth and Airplay) you're going to be looking in the $500 range.
Plenty of cheap desktop amps that are MUCH cheaper.
Used a Teac and a popular model on Amazon (sl?something..) that escapes me with great results. Around $180.
Yeah there are heaps of cheaper options, but do they have Bluetooth and Airplay support?
You might not care, in which case fine, but it's not like for like in features.
I'm 100% confident you could buy a better sounding system than either for way less than $789 if you were happy to go used.
@ESEMCE: Yes they do have Bluetooth and a variety of input options.
No idea why you bring up airplay. It's not necessary.
I haven't looked at them recently, maybe they are even better, maybe something offers hdmi too.
Regardless. A stereo amp with well matched passive speakers will absolutely flog any soundbar in a similar price range. Especially for music.
Used, even better value for speakers. They depreciate like nothing else. Mind you so do receivers.
@scuderiarmani: Airplay and Voice assistant features make this more than just an Audio output device for a screen.
Airplay is vastly superior to Bluetooth in both quality and ease of use.
And the voice assistant provided music services are also superior if you're happy to have an always on mic.
@ESEMCE: If you are going to buy $1400 bookshelf speakers you are probably putting SQ above all smart features.
I know where my priority would lie if I wanted better audio output.
FWIW, at this sorta budget I'd recommend the KEF LSX. If you can find the earlier model to save a buck or too, even SH. 2nd is better though as it has hdmi but costs more.
After a lot of research online, I went with a JBL 9.1 Bar: https://www.catch.com.au/product/jbl-jblbar913dblkas-9-1-cha…
Its f$%king fantastic for TV and movies - proper earth moving bass from the wireless 10" sub. I'd pay the extra for a sub - even for day to day TV shows it makes a big difference - its not just about the big rumbling bass - there are lots of subtleties that are filled in from the lower frequencies in speech and softer sounds.
The option of detachable rear speakers is great for me —- I usually leave the rears attached to the front bar but take them off and place them behind the couch for movies and NRL. They last about 6-8 hours on their internal battery which is more than enough.
The Dolby Atmos is also awesome… watching Drive to Survive on Netflix with Atmos was epic - the trackside camera footage made it sound like the cars were screaming over us!
One weakness is that it is definitely not the best for music.
I paid about 1150$ about 18 months ago
Is the HW-Q800B a good buy for $768 (OzAppliances) relative to this deal?
This or Samsung HW-Q990B?
Available under 1300 in Good Guys Commercial
$180 soundbars without a separate subwoofer seem like a popular and affordable way to upgrade from a TV's built in speakers (such as the Yamaha YAS-108/YAS-109) but is the $789.00 price justified? I get that Bose have a knack for getting big sound out of a small speaker but surely something like a Samsung HW-Q800B (Currently $824.25 via EPP) would absolutely run rings around this?