Speakers have evolved so much throughout the years. Remember the hassle of installing the numerous wires and the space needed to install a surround sound system, especially when you’re living in an apartment?
Speakers now come in different forms, including the two most popular ones, soundbar and soundbase. Both soundbars and soundbases are tiny, elegant speakers that complete your home entertainment system.
These two are amazing in such a way that they offer visual appeal and produce extraordinary, fully immersive sound at the same time. However, what exactly are the differences between the two?
In this article I will highlight the crucial difference between soundbars and soundbases along with their pros and cons. Let’s get started!
Soundbars
Soundbars are generally long and thin speakers that takes the shape of a long bar, hence their name.
Thanks to its sleek and compact design, soundbars are normally placed under or in front of the TV or also often wall-mounted.
Some soundbars are also tuned in such a way that they produce maximum result when wall-mounted. You can consider getting a soundbar if you’re planning to mount them on the wall.
However, you can actually place them anywhere, because the design of the soundbar itself is already attractive. This is why people say soundbars can increase the visual appeal of your room.
Soundbars normally come with at least 3 separate speakers inside it. Nonetheless, those speakers aren’t capable of producing bass which is why some speakers come with built-in subwoofers for the bass. For those speakers that doesn’t, there’re subwoofers separately sold in the market.
Next, let’s talk about the connectivity. Generally speaking, soundbar is known to be more versatile compared to soundbases. Some types of connection that soundbar supports are optical, coaxial, and HDMI.
They can be connected to any TV easily, as long as the soundbar is compatible with the TV. For example, the TV has to have a HDMI port in order for the soundbar to connect to it.
In addition, some soundbars also support to wireless connectivity such as Bluetooth and Wi-FI. It’s recommended to get one that supports wireless connectivity for more convenience.
You should also look out for technologies such as DTS and Dolby Digital when it somes to soundbars.
Regarding the price, soundbars come cheaper compared to soundbases. However, you might have to spend more on subwoofers. The wireless ones are especially more expensive.
Pros
- More flexible
- Design is visually more appealing
- Some soundbars feature DTS and Dolby digital technology
Cons
- Not all model comes with built-in subwoofers
See also: 10 Best Soundbars for a Small Room
Soundbases
Soundbases are shaped flat and a bit rectangular, often said to look like like digital TV decoder. For this reason, some people even said that soundbases’ design is old looking. However, manufacturers are trying to make soundbases thinner nowadays.
The design of soundbases makes them suitable to be placed under a TV because unlike soundbars, they are bigger in size and isn’t wall-mountable. For this reason, it’s best if you match the base of your TV with the soundbase you’re getting before purchasing it. So, if you’re not planning to wall mount your speaker, it’s recommended to get a soundbase.
The main audio in a soundbase is produced by the main speaker drivers located in front. The good thing about soundbase is that unlike soundbars, soundbases comes with bass drivers located underneath the body of the soundbase which produces bass. With that, you won’t have to spend additional money on subwoofers, because they don’t come cheap.
The rule of thumb is that since soundbases are bigger in size, they have the ability to accommodate bigger speakers and drivers, hence the presence of bass drivers.
Like soundbars, soundbases can also be connected to TV viavarious connections like HDMI, but like I said earlier, you have to consider the size of the TV.
As for the price, soundbases are proclaimed to be more expensive compared to soundbars. Although this ultimately depends on the model.
Despite the reality that they’re designed very differently, there actually isn’t much difference between soundbars and soundbases with regards to the sound quality.
Pros
- No need for subwoofers
- Built-in base drivers to produce bass
Cons
- Less versatile
- Has to match the base of the TV
Read also: Flat vs Curved Monitor: Which One to Choose?
Conclusion
There you have it! The differences between soundbars and soundbases. At first look, they might not seem so different as they’re both “speakers”, but if you take a look deeper, there’re actually lots of crucial differences that you should know. To conclude, I hope the purpose of writing this article reached you!