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Add to SafariWhen comparing Samsung HW-K650 vs Sonos Playbar, the Slant community recommends Sonos Playbar for most people. In the question“What are the best soundbars for music listening?” Sonos Playbar is ranked 2nd while Samsung HW-K650 is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Sonos Playbar is:
This system's combination of nine individually amplified speakers creates a very detailed and clear sound. It has great soundstage and instrument separation, which is quite beneficial for music listeners (and also film watchers too).
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Powerful sound, best suited for movie watching
This soundbar delivers sharp, aggressive mids and highs while the wireless subwoofer creates powerful bass frequencies. These combine to make action-packed scenes in movies and shows a joy to watch. Additionally, the dedicated center channel ensures that dialogue is always clear and distinguishable.
Pro Multi-room audio streaming
Samsung has included an application that you can use to stream music from your phone, online streaming services and even media servers in your home network to the soundbar via Wi-Fi. It’s also possible to set up a multi-room system with other Samsung audio products that are compatible with the app.
Pro Can be turned into a surround system
It’s possible to upgrade this soundbar to a full surround system, using its smart Wi-Fi features. All that's needed is a Samsung speaker (such as one from the Radiant series) that supports the Samsung Multiroom app, so it can be used as a surround speaker. It only requires a one-time setup via the Android or iOS app, and the whole setup permanently becomes a full surround system.
Pro Prepared to be wall mounted
This soundbar comes with wall mounts.
Pro Can be connected wirelessly to Samsung Smart TVs
If you have a Samsung Smart TV, it’s possible to easily connect it to this soundbar, wirelessly. All that's needed is the touch of a button on the remote.
Pro Supports HMDI ARC
If your TV has an HMDI ARC (Audio Return Channel) input, this soundbar can receive sound directly through the HDMI cable and, at the same time, it allows you to control it via the TV remote.
Pro Great for playing music
This system's combination of nine individually amplified speakers creates a very detailed and clear sound. It has great soundstage and instrument separation, which is quite beneficial for music listeners (and also film watchers too).
Pro Wall mountable, with automatic calibration
This soundbar is wall mountable and has a position sensor to recalibrate the soundbar if the position is changed from horizontal to vertical.
Pro Supports digital surround signal
The Sonos supports digital surround signal, like Dolby Digital.
Pro Very upgrade friendly
Most people will find this soundbar’s audio output to be sufficient, but if you want to add extra bass or surround sound, it’s possible to do so by adding Sonos speakers. Furthermore, setting them up is easy to do, as the Sonos mobile and PC applications will recognize the new speakers and will automatically recalibrate everything for optimum sound quality.
Pro Easy to set-up and use
This soundbar is made for simple use, with a very straightforward setup. It has just one optical input port for sound and two Ethernet ports for network use. All you need to do is connect the optical cable to your TV, an Ethernet cable to your router and install the Sonos Controller app on your smartphone or a PC. The app will help you go through all the necessary steps to pair your TV remote with the system, add additional speakers, sort your music library in the network or connect the soundbar to an existing Sonos multi-room setup.
Pro Wi-Fi support
The Sonos supports Wi-Fi, for music streaming.
Cons
Con HDMI connections are hard to reach
The HDMI connections are hard to reach, because of the cramped layout, so you may need to get a slim HDMI cable to circumvent this.
Con Too aggressive sound for pleasant music listening
This soundbar's aggressive approach to sound is not suited for proper music listening, as the high frequencies can become too overwhelming and lose detail. The preset music mode helps a bit, but doesn’t eliminate the issue.
Con Expensive
The Sonos is a quite expensive soundbar, definitely not aimed for those on a budget.
Con Limited connectivity
The soundbar only has one dedicated optical input to connect external devices.
Con Aluminum parts can get warm
The aluminum used in the unit’s body works as a radiator for the speakers, so the aluminium pieces can get warm.
Con No support for high resolution audio formats
This soundbar does not support high resolution audio formats, like Dolby TrueHD. You can work around this limitation by streaming the signal in a different format to the soundbar, but this degrades quality.
Con Lacks bass power
The Sonos lacks the room-shaking bass effect that's essential for action packed movies. For that, you’ll need to buy an external subwoofer.
