No dialogue of a brand new mid-range soundbar could be full with out mentioning its largest competitors, so though it is a overview of a Bose product, let’s handle that from the beginning. Sonos has persistently been our prime choose for the very best mid-range soundbar for years. The corporate’s Beam has been an important possibility for smaller rooms or restricted house because it debuted in 2018. The 2021 refresh added Dolby Atmos to the combo, however value, a scarcity of flashy drivers, and low bass remained main issues. that may deter consumers. Three years after the second-generation Beam, Bose is seeking to tackle Sonos and the Beam with the compact, Atmos-friendly Good Soundbar ($499).
Bose could also be finest recognized for noise-cancelling headphones and earphones, however the firm has a strong historical past with audio system and soundbars, too. These units often show the identical love of unpolluted and heat sound, which means that finer particulars are by no means a problem. Bose additionally likes to make use of helpful options to increase the usefulness of the audio system, with issues like dialogue enhancement, room tuning and extra. For the Good Soundbar, nevertheless, the corporate allows you to use a set of its wi-fi headphones as encompass again audio system, taking a barely completely different strategy than Sonos to bringing headphones into the lounge.
Bose/Engadget
Bose’s compact soundbar integrates its personal headphones in a sensible manner and has ample driving audio out of the field. Nevertheless, you’ll want to add satisfactory bass for music.
- Brilliant, clear sound
- Small, compact design
- Private Encompass Sound works effectively
- Loud directional audio with out added audio system
- Want a separate sub for satisfactory bass
- Audio enter recognition
- The distant management feels low cost
- The most effective characteristic requires a further buy of $300
$399 at Adorama
What’s good concerning the Bose Good Soundbar?
Bose managed to construct a compact soundbar with a easy design that will not distract an excessive amount of out of your mantel or your TV. 5 drivers guarantee adequate readability, so even the best particulars and sound results come via clearly, and the speaker association supplies nice driving audio from the soundbar alone. That is partly attributable to the truth that Bose employs two lighted drivers within the middle of the speaker. For these occasions when you do not have entry to Dolby Atmos content material, Bose’s TrueSpace know-how will combine the sound for a spatial expertise.
The corporate presents an AI-powered dialogue mode that re-balances voices in opposition to all different sounds in order that spoken phrases will be heard clearly always. It does this with out sacrificing the immersive facets of the soundstage, so it isn’t only a enhance in speech quantity. I discovered the Bose’s dialogue pickup to be among the many finest I’ve examined, proper up there with the Sonos, so I left it on for nearly all of my testing, which is not the case with most soundbars I’ve reviewed.
The principle enchantment of the Good Soundbar would be the manner Bose selected to combine a set of headphones with the speaker. A characteristic referred to as Private Encompass Sound locations the rear channels contained in the ultra-open headphones, leaving the primary audio coming from the sound bar. Since these headphones have an open-ear design, you possibly can hear all the pieces clearly whereas letting your mind combine them into your head. I believe Bose wished to supply one thing much like Sonos’ Swap Audio TV with out duplicating it immediately, and Private Encompass Sound permits customers so as to add rear audio system for an funding that does not simply sit on a shelf when not in use.
Private Encompass works effectively, and the very best half about it’s that it is adjustable. There are alternatives for quantity, middle channel and “peak and encompass” ranges, so you possibly can enhance or lower the amplification of any sound supply. These three parameters provide the potential to place greater than the rear channels attainable within the headphones. You will get a dialogue via the middle channel management, in addition to enhance the general quantity if the inventory impact is simply too low.
What’s extra, you possibly can utterly disable Private Encompass and the ultra-open headphones will play the complete audio coming via the good Soundbar. Additionally, turning down the amount on the speaker utterly turns the Bose headphones into one thing nearer to Sonos’ Swap Audio TV, which is nice for films and exhibits when others are sleeping or do not wish to be disturbed. This mode is what Bose calls SimpleSync, and it is suitable with the corporate’s newest Bluetooth audio system, in addition to the QuietComfort Extremely headphones, the QuietComfort Extremely headphones, and the QuietComfort 45 headphones.
One other helpful characteristic is the flexibility to regulate the middle and peak channels on the Good Soundbar itself. Bose additionally offers you the flexibility to lift or decrease the bass and treble, in addition to a Wall EQ swap that adjusts the tone if you happen to’ve mounted the speaker underneath your TV. All of that is good to have, however I used the middle channel adjustment essentially the most as elevating it elevated the impact of the driving audio coming from the soundbar. There is a good quantity out of the field, however this setup takes it up a notch, offering some good sound reflections from close by partitions. It is nice for films and exhibits with plenty of zooming autos and noise, like racing clips Journey to outlive or battle scenes in Cheater One.
What’s not so nice about this soundtrack?
Like most soundbars, the Good Soundbar does not produce sufficient low-end noise by itself to supply one FULLY immersive audio expertise. Regardless of the crisp element and good directional motion, the speaker would profit from Bose’s wi-fi subwoofer (beginning at $499) for a 5.1 setup. The corporate additionally presents two rear speaker choices beginning at $399, which is able to enable everybody within the room to benefit from the added encompass channels. Is the Good Soundbar adequate by itself for smaller areas? Possibly for TV and films, however if you happen to’re tapping it to drag double obligation as a music speaker, you may wish to add a sub.
Bose’s Private Encompass Sound characteristic is a pleasant perk, however just one individual can use it at a time, so it is actually for viewing alone at this level. Except, in fact, you wish to be a jerk and provides your self the improved sound and go away your associate, household or buddies with the inventory expertise.
Functionally, the Good Soundbar responded to my instructions and all of its modes labored effectively. One factor that aggravated me was its reluctance to routinely discover the right enter after I turned on the TV after listening to music by way of AirPlay. Each different soundbar I’ve examined will begin taking part in TV audio when the display screen vibrates, although some could take a number of seconds longer than others to kick in. With this soundbar, I typically needed to choose the audio supply within the app for issues to work correctly.
I am not one to harp on soundbar remotes, however I am compelled to right here. The Bose accent included with the Good Soundbar appears very low cost. It is much like what may include a fan or lamp, though this one has a stronger plastic body, so it’s kind of sturdier. I perceive the need to incorporate a distant management with a $500 soundbar, however both it wanted slightly extra polish or Bose might simply go away all of the controls to the app.
The ultimate verdict on the Bose Good Soundbar
The Good Soundbar is priced the identical because the Sonos Beam, which stays nice for smaller areas and is only a extra compact possibility total. There are numerous similarities between the Beam and the Good Soundbar, and a few small however noticeable variations. Sonos’ benefit lies in its TV audio sharing device and bigger ecosystem, although that benefit is hampered by the fixed rebuilding of the app. Sonos additionally presents dynamic head monitoring for extra immersion, which Bose’s soundbar lacks. Bose presents multi-room audio with the Good Soundbar, and you should utilize the ultra-open headphones to personally hear TV sounds on prime of the encompass perform.
It is clear that Bose is taking intention at Sonos with the Good Soundbar, so the query then turns into which firm’s audio tuning you like. Since each provide issues like Atmos audio, room calibration, dialogue enhancement, and headphone utilization, the selection comes down to non-public sound sensitivities. I believe Bose does sufficient with its headphone integration to make this a troublesome determination, so long as you are keen to spend $300 to get the additional {hardware}.
(tagsTranslate) speaker(s) gear(s) soundbar(s) dolby atmos
