True to its name, a soundbar is a long, slender speaker designed to dramatically improve on the built-in audio experience that comes standard in most modern TVs. A great soundbar is the focal point of an immersive home theater experience, and it’s among the easiest upgrades you can make to your entertainment setup.

Whether you envision a theater-quality experience or just want better sound in a small space, there’s a Sonos soundbar that’s right for you. In this guide, we’ll run through every option in our lineup and review everything you need to know to choose the best soundbar for your space and listening style.

Capabilities across Sonos soundbars

Before we get into the details of each individual soundbar, let’s do some level-setting. All of the current-generation Sonos soundbars mentioned in this guide share a few advanced capabilities in common. Regardless of which you choose, you can expect:

• Home theater-quality surround sound. Every Sonos soundbar is fine-tuned to deliver an exceptional surround sound experience that puts you right in the center of the action.
• Trueplay tuning technology. No two rooms are the same, and no soundbar should be “one size fits all.” Sonos soundbars incorporate custom Trueplay tuning that adapts their audio output to the unique acoustics of your space. (Supported iOS device required.)
• Speech Enhancement. This technology boosts the audio frequencies associated with the human voice, resulting in crystal-clear dialogue with nary a missed mumble or whisper.
• Multiroom audio pairing. Pair any Sonos soundbar with other Sonos speakers throughout your home for a continuous listening experience that stays with you as you move between rooms.
• TV Audio Swap. This WiFi-powered connection enables easy switching between your soundbar and headphone audio sources, giving you the option for a more private listening experience when the mood suits.
• Night Sound. This considerate feature may win you points with your neighbors or roommates, as it reduces the intensity of loud sounds while increasing the level of quieter sounds while listening to TV at night — making dialogue clear at lower volumes.

Add up all these features and capabilities, and you’re left with a soundbar suited to be the centerpiece of your home entertainment. But each Sonos soundbar shines in its own ways, so let’s explore them individually, starting with our most impressive offering yet.

Arc Ultra: The flagship home theater experience

Put simply, Sonos Arc Ultra is the best-performing soundbar in the Sonos lineup — a powerhouse that pushes what’s possible in a home theater experience to cinematic proportions. Its 14 precisely engineered speaker drivers span the full range of audio frequencies, and they’re nested within an acoustic architecture that’s precisely tuned to render every sound with dramatic clarity.

This is made possible by Dolby Atmos, a spatial audio technology that places individual sounds in three-dimensional space, rather than blend them together across a limited number of mono or stereo channels. The result is an immersive, multidimensional soundstage that brings more clarity to dialogue, more punch to explosions, and more depth to every scene. (Note that Dolby Atmos experiences require Dolby Atmos-encoded content and a compatible HDMI eARC connection.)

As the flagship soundbar in our lineup, Arc Ultra benefits from the best and latest innovations Sonos has to offer. One shining example is its space-saving Sound Motion technology, which delivers clear, booming bass frequencies with virtually no mechanical vibration. Another is AI-powered Speech Enhancement — an evolved version of the feature that intelligently adjusts to your preferred level of speech (Low, Medium, High, or Max).

To learn more about Arc Ultra’s features and capabilities, check out our full introduction.

Arc Ultra is best for:

• Serious home theater enthusiasts who will settle for nothing less than the best
• Large living rooms and open-format spaces that demand powerful, room-filling sound
• Music and movie lovers who crave the full depth of Dolby Atmos spatial audio
• TVs 50” and over

Beam Ultra: Spacious sound

The latest addition to the Sonos soundbar lineup, Sonos Beam Ultra packs three dimensions of spacious sound in a size-defying frame.

An evolution of the much-loved Beam (Gen 2) soundbar, Beam Ultra houses additional front-facing and upward-firing drivers that generate an even more expansive soundscape than its predecessor. Engineered to enable Dolby Atmos spatial audio, Beam Ultra’s upward-firing drivers send sound waves toward the ceiling and then back down to the listener, adding a height dimension to create a more realistic audio experience.

Like Arc Ultra, Beam Ultra is designed to be the focal point of a Sonos home theater setup. Though it’s designed to sound great all on its own, Beam Ultra can also seamlessly pair with additional speakers like Era 100 or Era 300 for an even more immersive experience.

With a smaller footprint than Arc Ultra, Beam Ultra makes a legitimately premium home theater experience more accessible than ever.

To learn more about Beam Ultra’s features and capabilities, check out our full introduction.

Beam Ultra is best for:

• Listeners who want Dolby Atmos sound without the Arc Ultra price tag
• First-time Sonos buyers looking for a soundbar they can build a system around
• Cinephiles who connect with sound design on a spiritual level
• TVs up to 65”

Beam: Made for everyday listening

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) has consistently ranked among our most popular soundbars, and it’s easy to see why. Beam packs powerful, precise sound into an elegant and surprisingly compact design, making it a great option for anyone looking to level up their everyday listening and watching experience.

Like Beam Ultra, Beam benefits from Dolby Atmos spatial audio — though it takes a different approach to immersive sound. Rather than actual upward-firing drivers, Beam uses advanced processing to create simulated height channels that create a spatial audio effect with fewer speakers. This smart innovation helps Beam punch well above its weight, especially considering the soundbar’s sleek profile, which blends seamlessly into your home wherever you decide to put it.

To learn more about Beam’s features and capabilities, check out our full introduction.

Beam is best for:

• Mid-sized rooms, where Beam's compact power shines
• First-time purchasers looking to make a meaningful upgrade from built-in TV speakers
• Anyone who wants a more affordable way to experience Dolby Atmos audio
• TVs up to 65”

Ray: The ideal soundbar for smaller spaces

Not sure if your listening room is big enough to benefit from a soundbar? Before giving up on the dream of blockbuster sound in an apartment-size footprint, consider Sonos Ray: a small standalone soundbar specifically designed for such spaces.

Ray delivers the clear, powerful sound you’d expect from a Sonos soundbar, but it balances impressive performance with a compact and understated design. This makes it an ideal option for rooms where space is at a premium, such as bedrooms and studio apartments. Speaking of tight spaces, since all the drivers in Ray are forward-facing, this is a great option for media shelves that may not have room to accommodate upward-firing drivers.

Despite its smaller profile, Ray benefits from many of the same features as its siblings in the Sonos lineup. It supports TV Audio Swap for private surround sound as well as Trueplay tuning technology that adapts the audio output to match the unique acoustics of any space.

To learn more about Ray’s features and capabilities, check out our full introduction.

Ray is best for:

• Smaller spaces where larger soundbars might feel out of place
• Sticking in a tight credenza or media stand shelf
• Budget-minded listeners who don’t want to miss out on Sonos quality
• TVs up to 55”

Build a home theater around your soundbar

The best soundbars can deliver a surround sound experience all on their own. More often, though, they serve as the foundational piece of a home theater setup that grows and evolves over time.

Once bitten by the home theater bug, listeners often choose to complement their soundbar with additional speakers dedicated to specific channels or frequencies. For example, a couple of Era 100 or Era 300 speakers can serve as dedicated rear audio channels when paired with a soundbar. And if it’s bass you crave, a standalone subwoofer like Sub 4 can generate deep, pulse-pounding low end with no buzz or rattle.

All Sonos soundbars are designed for home theater audio, but some are capable of a more immersive surround sound experience all on their own. This might inform when and how you add additional speakers to your setup. Start with a premium soundbar like Arc Ultra or Beam Ultra, and you’ll have spatial audio straight out of the box. You might also consider jumping straight to an immersive set or surround set, which includes a soundbar with additional speakers at a discounted cost.

There’s no shortage of options. The best fit for you will likely depend not only on your audio preferences, but the specific dimensions of your listening space. To learn more, check out our ultimate guide to building a Sonos home theater.

A part of the Sonos system

A Sonos soundbar isn’t just the basis for a great home theater setup. It can also be the starting point for a multiroom audio system that follows you as you move through the various rooms of your home.

All of the speakers in a Sonos system work together to deliver a harmonious sound experience, with customizations and controls available via the Sonos app. With the app, you can individually tune your speakers to fit the acoustics of your space, and group two or more Sonos speakers together so they play the same content in sync. You can also customize the channels in your surround sound setup as you add more speakers to complement your soundbar.

Over time, many Sonos listeners move from a single to a multiroom audio setup. The Sonos system is versatile enough to accommodate any combination of speakers and listening styles, and to grow with you as your needs evolve.

Shop for your next soundbar today

Soundbars may keep a low profile, but they’re really the stars of the modern home theater system. Most Sonos soundbars are tuned to deliver a surprisingly spatial audio experience even without any additional components, though some are more capable of this than others.

Whichever Sonos soundbar you choose, it need not be the final decision in shaping your home audio setup. Many listeners opt to pair their soundbars with additional speakers as their needs evolve, and the Sonos system makes this seamless.

Ready to choose your soundbar? Get in touch with a Sonos expert by phone or chat.