Watching movies at home is very easy these days. The best streaming platforms often make it possible to watch blockbusters as soon as they hit theaters, and getting high-quality equipment like the best TV or home projector is getting cheaper every year.
That being said, even if you have the best TV, you won’t get the same theater experience at home without similar quality sound. To truly experience the emotion, immersion and excitement of your favorite movies, sound must enhance the visuals.
Does Dolby Atmos really sound better?This is what it can do
Dolby Atmos takes surround sound to another level, allowing you to enjoy theater-like sound in the comfort of your own home.
This is where the best Dolby Atmos speakers come into play. With this spatial audio format, you can experience sound like never before in your home, with superior spatial audio capabilities for a fully immersive, cinema-like experience.
Even better, you don’t actually need a huge speaker setup to bring Dolby Atmos into your home. We’ve found a range of great Dolby Atmos solutions that require you to find space for just a soundbar, a subwoofer and a pair of satellite speakers to experience 3D sound in its full glory – the rest comes through Complete the channels with the magic of virtual surround sound. So here are the best Dolby Atmos speakers you can buy right now.
Best Dolby Atmos speakers: Our top picks
Best Dolby Atmos speakers: Which one should you buy?
Choosing the best Dolby Atmos speakers can be quite difficult as there are so many great options out there. That being said, for us, the best option right now is the Samsung HW-Q990C. It combines exceptional performance with versatile sound to create the best Dolby Atmos speakers available.
If you’re looking for something on a budget, the Vizio M Series 5.1.2 Soundbar performs admirably for the price and is perfect for a budget home theater setup. Conversely, if you want to make your audio setup sound more interesting and engaging, and add a bit of oomph to it, the JBL Bar 1300X is a great choice due to its deep bass and generally interesting sound signature.
I tried Audible’s Dolby Atmos audiobooks to see if they sounded better
Here’s my experience with the series so far, along with tips on how to find and listen to Audible’s Dolby Atmos-enabled audiobooks on your own.
FAQ
Q: Where can I stream Dolby Atmos content?
Although Dolby Atmos was difficult to achieve at first, more than a decade after the standard was first introduced, things have completely changed.
Now you can find Dolby Atmos content almost everywhere. Movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Disney+ support Dolby Atmos. Roku also supports the format, as well as Android TV boxes such as Nvidia Shield TV and Amazon Fire TV.
That’s not all. If you have a newer console – Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 4 – you can also stream Dolby Atmos content – TV, movies, and even games – directly from them . Or, if you prefer spatial music, Amazon Music, Tidal, and Apple Music support the Dolby Atmos music format.
Q: Is the soundbar good enough for Dolby Atmos?
Since Dolby Atmos is a spatial audio standard, you may be wondering whether a soundbar alone, or a soundbar with just a few satellites, is enough to fill your room with 3D sound.
Well, contrary to previous surround sound implementations, Dolby Atmos doesn’t require you to get all the surrounding channels. Of course, this is still the best approach, but getting a true Dolby Atmos setup is not only extremely expensive, but also requires careful planning of your room layout and speaker placement. Instead, you can rely on virtual channels.
That’s exactly what the soundbars we selected above do. They have enough speakers inside them to give you a full Dolby Atmos experience, but instead of placing them around the room, they bounce sound off the walls and ceiling. This tricks your brain into thinking the sound is coming from somewhere like behind you, even though it’s being produced by the soundbar underneath the TV.