Soundbar VS Home Theatre: Detailed Comparison (2022)

A soundbar is a sleek rectangular device that is usually placed alongside your TV to provide better sound quality to the listener.

They enhance the audio quality in such a way that soundbars can act like a decent replacement for home theater systems.

They come with built-in amplifiers and sometimes even subwoofers to provide you with quality sound. 

Soundbars come with wireless capabilities so that you can easily connect them with multiple Bluetooth speakers without the need for wires. Subwoofers can also be used separately alongside the soundbar.

What Is Home Theatre?

A home theater comes with a set of multiple speakers, front speakers, rear-end speakers, subwoofers, receivers, and Dolby Atmos technology.

Its main purpose is to provide you with the surround sound effect, as sound comes from all the sides of the room where the setup is placed.

Basically “a home theater is any space within a home that features audio and visual equipment that is intended to replicate the effect of watching a performance in a commercial theater setting.”

Soundbar VS Home Theatre: Detailed Comparison (2022)

Nowadays, home theatre systems are being easily replaced by soundbars as people find soundbars easy to handle rather than a whole home theatre setup.

Both the sound speakers have their advantages and disadvantages along with extensive features.

It can be hard to choose especially when you don’t have a detailed idea of which one offers what and which one can suit your purpose.

To make you understand exactly that, in the following section we will see some key differences.

• Sound Quality
• Physical and setup structure
• Complexity
• Price

1. Sound Quality

The sound quality of both soundbar and home theater are good in their capabilities.

A home theater offers you a theater experience obviously because the speakers are almost placed everywhere around the room.

A soundbar, although it comes with multiple speakers within it doesn’t match the sound level of a theater system. 

Soundbars work really great if you use them in a small room and a home theater system works great if you have a specifically dedicated room for the setup.

Overall, the sound of both of the devices shouldn’t disappoint you depending on your level of satisfaction and the sound you want to achieve.

2. Shape & Size

As we already discussed before, the soundbar is less space-consuming because it is just simply a bar placed under the TV, whereas a home theater system is a system with many parts alongside it.

A home theater system will require you to get an AVR, around 6 speakers, and a lot of cabling.

The setup of a home theater system is configurable so you can buy minimum items if you are just starting out and then can gradually increase.

Keep in mind that a soundbar can easily be moved from one room to another, but a home theater system is not portable and is a lot of hassle. If you are shifting homes frequently, then you have to go through a lot of work of setting up the home theatre system every time.

3. Complexity

In terms of complexity, home theater systems are a lot of work. They are best suited if you have a specific room for this purpose as once set up, they are difficult to move around.

Home theater systems also require a lot of maintenance and regular cleaning because of the presence of multiple speakers. 

4. Prive Variation

A soundbar is definitely less expensive as compared to a whole home theater. It will cost you a lot of money to purchase the different parts of a home theater system.

A soundbar can also be expensive depending upon the model and the more features that you want. For example, a soundbar with the Dolby Atmos technology will be more expensive than a simple soundbar.

However, if you are looking for a theater sound then you can purchase just a few basic home theater parts to help you begin with.

Finally, to summarize the above points, lists of Advantages for both of the sound systems are:

Advantages Of Using A Soundbar

• Compact and occupies less space.                                       
• Doesn’t require cables.                                                          
• Cost Friendly.                                                                           
• Easy to setup and use.

Advantages Of Using Home Theatre

• Highly immersive sound quality.
• Looks like a real theater.    
• Very suitable for a dedicated room.

Conclusion

In conclusion, what are the two important things that you need to look at before deciding on one of the systems?

• Purpose of buying
• Budget

Many people inconvenienced by the home theater system’s hassle, have shifted to using a soundbar along with their TV.

Moreover, you can also enhance the soundbar by connecting it with multiple wireless speakers. Unlike the home theater system, soundbars do not require high maintenance as well and are simpler to clean. 

Home theaters are best if you want them to act as a theater at home, otherwise, the soundbar is more preferred since its cheaper, slimmer, and easier to use. 

However, a soundbar’s voice production also depends on the size of the room you are placing it in and the setup of the room, which means whether the room has other furniture, curtains, or solid reflective surfaces.

You can also use speakers for PC if you have intense work of voice production.

These can all also affect the sound. Whereas, in the home theater system, it doesn’t matter what furniture you place in the room as long as the speaker’s line of sound production is not barricaded.

That was all, using the above information, you should now be able to figure out what is the best option for you!