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Best Surround Sound Systems

Updated January 2025
Bottom line
Pros
Cons
Best of the Best
JBL Bar 9.1
JBL
Bar 9.1
Exceptional Performance

This soundbar delivers powerful, crystal-clear audio, enhancing your home theater experience.

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Exceptional Performance
Bottom Line

This soundbar delivers powerful, crystal-clear audio, enhancing your home theater experience.

Pros

It comes with a 10-inch subwoofer and two detachable surround speakers, which can be recharged on the side of the soundbar. The speakers last up to 10 hours and can be used to create a 3D sound experience. The soundbar also has built-in DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. You can wirelessly stream content with Chromecast, Bluetooth, or AirPlay2.

Cons

The remote is simple and doesn't have any buttons for tuning.

Klipsch Black Reference Theater Pack 5.1 Surround Sound System
Klipsch
Black Reference Theater Pack 5.1 Surround Sound System
Excellent Value

This system delivers impressive sound quality and performance for home theater aficionados.

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Excellent Value
Bottom Line

This system delivers impressive sound quality and performance for home theater aficionados.

Pros

Boasts excellent Dolby 5.1 sound performance with minimal physical footprint. Five individual units allow for physical separation. Subwoofer connects wirelessly. Impressive technology for natural, distortion-free sound. Comes from a trusted brand.

Cons

Except for the subwoofer, the speakers connect via spring clips and speaker wire.

Samsung  Q-Series Surround Sound System
Samsung
Q-Series Surround Sound System
Tested & Approved

This complete package may have a high price, but we found it's perfect for those looking for high-end sound.

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Tested & Approved
Bottom Line

This complete package may have a high price, but we found it's perfect for those looking for high-end sound.

Pros

This set lets you complete a full Dolby Atmos sound system with its main soundbar, subwoofer, and two rear speakers. They can also link together wirelessly so you don't have cables everywhere, and our team found the setup to be great for gaming, too.

Cons

The pieces are both heavy and bulky, making it difficult to get them set up.

VIZIO 5.1 Soundbar SE
VIZIO
5.1 Soundbar SE
Most Comprehensive

A terrific set consisting of a subwoofer and speakers for improving sound quality while watching TV.

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Most Comprehensive
Bottom Line

A terrific set consisting of a subwoofer and speakers for improving sound quality while watching TV.

Pros

The soundbar has a low profile and supports DTS-X and Dolby Atmos, which significantly boost audio quality. It comes with two surround sound speakers and three integrated speakers. Sound volume output can go as high as 96 degrees. It supports wireless streaming, and the HDMI eARC port lets you control the soundbar with your TV remote.

Cons

It doesn't offer wired connectivity options other than HDMI.

Samsung 3.1Ch Soundbar with Wireless Sub HW-Q6CC
Samsung
3.1Ch Soundbar with Wireless Sub HW-Q6CC
Dynamic Sound

A minimalist option with excellent Dolby Atmos surround sound and useful features if you own other Samsung devices.

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Dynamic Sound
Bottom Line

A minimalist option with excellent Dolby Atmos surround sound and useful features if you own other Samsung devices.

Pros

Adaptive Sound adjusts the audio profile to your media as it plays, so you're not constantly adjusting audio levels. Connects to your TV with HDMI eArc or Bluetooth. Tap Sound feature allows you to tap a Samsung smartphone against the speaker to connect easily.

Cons

Some customers found the bass levels underwhelming.

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BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and all opinions about the products are our own. About BestReviews  
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and all opinions about the products are our own. About BestReviews  
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. We buy all products with our own funds, and we never accept free products from manufacturers.About BestReviews 
HOW WE TESTED

We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections.

First Reviewed
September 25, 2021
51
Models
considered
28
Hours
researched
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Buying guide for Best surround sound systems

Melissa Nott
Written by Melissa Nott

Updated January 2025

Ready to buy now? Shop the best:

When it comes to home theaters, 4K TVs get hyped a lot, but if you ask us, a good surround sound setup is just as important to the viewing experience as a high-resolution screen. Surround sound takes the multichannel audio from whatever you’re watching — cable box, Blu-ray player, or streaming box — and separates each channel into a different speaker, allowing you to hear dialogue more clearly, and you can hear explosions, vehicles, and crowds throughout the whole room. With the right surround sound system, you can add a whole new dimension to your video enjoyment.

Finding the right surround sound system can be tricky because there are so many different approaches across the market. While some people love the simplicity of all-in-one bundles, others prefer the massive sound of multi-speaker packages with speakers that are so big they’re basically furniture. Still, others prefer surround sound speakers designed for computers because they’re so good at creating big sound in small spaces.

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Experiment with subwoofer placement. While it’s true that subwoofer audio is directionless (meaning it’s impossible to tell where it’s coming from), that doesn’t mean you can put yours just anywhere. Trying your subwoofer in various locations will give you a sense of what it can do — in some cases, the right corner placement can make all the difference.

Key considerations

Before you do any shopping, there are two big questions to answer.

Do you want a receiver and speakers or a home theater in a box?

To create proper surround sound, you’ve got two choices: you can go with a traditional receiver-and-speakers model and purchase each separately, or you can buy a preconfigured “home theater in a box” that includes everything you need for a modest, typical surround sound setup. If you opt to buy everything separately, you get a lot more choice, but bundles are usually a lot more affordable. Our take: if you’re outfitting an apartment, dorm room, or other small space, a home theater in a box is your best bet. If you’re building a home theater or need the absolute best audio quality available, plan on buying a receiver and speakers separately.

Which surround sound configuration is right for your space?

There are a number of ways you can set up a surround sound system, but the most popular configurations are 5.1 and 7.1 speaker systems. In a 5.1 speaker system, you have a center channel, left and right channels, side left and right channels, and a subwoofer (which is the .1 in 5.1). In a 7.1 speaker system, you have two additional rear channels. (And if you opt for latest-and-greatest audio technology like Dolby Atmos, you can add up to four additional channels in your ceiling.) Not sure how to decide? Here’s all you need to know: if you mostly watch streaming content or cable TV, a 5.1 system is perfect (they don’t broadcast in more than 5.1 anyway). If you watch a lot of Blu-rays or 4K Blu-rays, or you plan on building a system that supports Dolby Atmos, start with a 7.1-speaker system.

Surround sound system features

So, what can you expect in the box? That depends on what kind of surround sound system you buy.

Speaker sets for use with receivers

These include five or seven speakers and a subwoofer. Speakers in these sets are big and bulky and can get quite loud. We definitely recommend buying surround sound speakers together because they’re often designed to match one another’s sonic qualities. When you’re ready to buy speakers for your home theater, plan on getting them all at the same time. Speaker sets for surround sound systems can range from $300 to $1,500, depending on how many speakers are included and the speaker quality.

Home theater in a box and gaming surround sound speakers

These typically include five speakers and a subwoofer. The key difference here is in how much smaller these speakers are and how much quieter they are. “Quiet” may not be accurate here, though, because even the most modest home theater in a box or gaming speaker set should be enough for an apartment or small room.

Surround sound system prices

Inexpensive

Entry-level surround sound systems cost between $250 and $400. Systems in this price range are the best bang for your buck in surround sound — they cut a few corners but still bring enough power and audio quality to drastically improve your home theater experience. If you’re looking for a basic 5.1 surround sound system for a small- or medium-sized space, you’ll find your best options in this range.

Mid-range

Surround sound systems that cost between $400 and $1,000 are great for larger rooms or users who care a lot about high-end audio formats. If you watch a lot of action or sci-fi movies, or you like watching live concerts, it’s worth it to invest in a more expensive setup. You’ll get speakers that can deliver outstanding clarity at high volumes.

Expensive

Systems that cost more than $1,000 are usually for hard-core home theater enthusiasts. Systems beyond this price point are typically sets of massive speakers coupled with receivers that have enough power to fill an entire basement or ballroom with sound. If you’ve got the money and you want a professional-quality home theater, plan on spending at least this much on your surround system.

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Expert Tip
An audio/visual receiver is the brain of your surround sound system. Make sure to choose one that supplies the capabilities you want.
STAFF
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Tips

  • Trust your own ears. When it comes to anything audio related, experts can often exaggerate about audio quality because it’s so subjective. What’s most important is that your surround sound system sounds good to you. If you don’t like how one sounds, return it and look for a better one. Conversely, if you find a system that works for you, go with it even if you’ve never used that brand before.

  • Invest in banana plugs to connect speakers to your receiver. Most modern receivers work with banana plugs, which are adapters for speaker wire that make connectivity easier. We are big advocates of banana plugs: they keep your speaker wire from corroding, they reduce the risk of accidental electrical shorts, and they make hooking everything up much easier.

  • Boost the volume of the center channel speaker if you have trouble hearing dialogue. All surround sound systems allow you to manually adjust the volume levels of each different audio channel, and dialogue always comes through the center channel. If you often struggle to differentiate the sound effects from dialogue, or if you just want to make dialogue louder than everything else, adjust it in the settings.
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We strongly recommend getting a universal remote for use with your surround sound system if you don’t already have one. A surround sound system means separating the devices that handle video from the ones that handle audio, which means multiple remotes. Save yourself the headaches and control everything from one remote.

FAQ

Q. Do surround sound systems sound better than soundbars?

A. Yes. Soundbars are useful for providing improved TV audio in situations where space is limited, but most soundbars aren’t able to produce the depth and quality of sound that a surround sound system can. Surround sound works best when the speakers are set up to literally surround you, and while many soundbars can emulate surround effects, in most cases, there’s just no comparison: surround sound systems are better.

Q. What is Dolby Atmos?

A. Dolby Atmos is a new audio surround sound concept that’s becoming popular on both 4K Blu-rays and many streaming devices. Dolby Atmos takes an existing 7.1 soundtrack and adds two or four “height” channels; that is, it uses additional ceiling speakers to position sounds at specific places in your room, creating a much more immersive audio effect. To get Dolby Atmos, you’ll need a content source and playback device that support it and a surround sound system that’s compatible. In situations where it’s not feasible to use ceiling speakers, some users opt for “up-firing” speakers, which sit on top of existing speakers and play upward. At the end of the day, Dolby Atmos is worth it — in the right room it can make you feel like you’re in the middle of a rainstorm, and it sounds like the action is happening right in your viewing space.

Q. Is it important for all the speakers in a surround sound system to match? Can I mix and match speakers from different brands?

A. While you technically can mix and match speakers from different brands in any surround sound system, we recommend against it. Surround sound systems use multiple speakers that are built to work with one another, and that typically means that they sound best together (and not great when third-party speakers are introduced). Unbalanced audio can be really distracting, so it’s worth it to buy a surround sound system with a complete speaker set.

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