Spatial audio soundbars

Bring the boom without losing a whisper

- Words: Simon Lucas

The sound is half the fun of a movie - George Lucas said that, so it must be true.

But while getting big, immersive images has become quite a straightforward business, getting sound to match has been a little trickier. Or, at least, it has been if you're not prepared to fill your room with loudspeakers.

Which is where spatial audio soundbars come in. Cutting-edge designs like the three we have here feature multiple drivers and complex digital sound processing to deliver the deep, wide and tall sound that's the hallmark of a modern movie, all from a single enclosure that's not going to draw attention to itself when it's positioned beneath your TV. Well, its appearance won't, anyway...

And as well as dealing out a faithful impression of spatial audio, these soundbars are also ready to become part of a wider home cinema audio system. Some of them are happy to be a member of a multi-room system. And each of them is so confident in its abilities with music that they'll happily serve as your do-it-all, one-and-only speaker in the room.

These three are the best this sort of money can buy. But how do they compare? And when push comes to shove, which one is best for you?

WHAT'S ON TEST...

Marshall Heston 120

Marshall's very first soundbar plays on the company's rock 'n' roll heritage - and why not? The big brand logo, the salt-and-pepper grille treatment and the trio of rotary dials all look the part, after all, while Dolby Vision HDR compatibility means the Marshall is helpful even for those with the biggest of A/V systems.

Price: £899, marshall.com

SPECS

Size: 70 x 1100 x 145mm

Connections: WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI, USB-C, Ethernet, stereo RCA

Spatial audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS:X Channels: 5.1.2

Power: 150w