Best soundbars and home audio for the holidays
If you're looking to recreate the movie theater at home, these are the best gifts for your family and friends.
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With a lot of people still staying close to home, many of us have been spending a lot of time hunkered down watching TV and listening to music. So if there's a music fan or movie buff in your life, this year it makes sense to give them home theater gifts that will take watching their favorite movie to the next level. Maybe a streaming device or something that will crank the audio capabilities of their smart TV up to 11?
Perhaps you don't have a cinephile on your holiday gift list, but maybe you do have a music lover who's really into vinyl. Then you want to make sure their speaker system is as good as it can be. After all, when you have a library of old records, you shouldn't skimp on sound quality.
Whether it's a soundbar for the games room, a new AV receiver for a movie lover's home theater system or a new turntable for a music enthusiast's living room, there's a perfect gift here for practically everyone.
And now, on to our holiday gift guide for top audio gifts.
Best soundbar under $100
Creative Stage
- Plenty of features including HDMI and subwoofer
- Clear sound
- Great with music
- Useful display
- Not as good as dedicated TV soundbars
- Not very loud
The Creative Stage offers everything you need for sound on a smaller TV or gaming system: HDMI, a separate subwoofer and a clear display. It also helps that the sound is light years ahead of other systems at the $100 mark.
Best soundbar under $200
Vizio V21
- Excellent home cinema sound on a budget
- DTS Virtual:X improves immersion
- Versatile connectivity, with HDMI ARC
- Small subwoofer, not very articulate
- Voice assistant connection isn't super useful
The Vizio V21 is a 2.1-channel soundbar, which offers a host of connections including HDMI. Stepping up to $130 gets you better sound than the Creative can muster, plus a wireless subwoofer. No more wires trailing across the room!
Best smart soundbar
Yamaha YAS-209
- Excellent sound in a compact size
- Amazon Alexa onboard
- DTS Virtual:X
- Articulate subwoofer
- No onscreen display
You can certainly spend more on a smart soundbar -- the two Sonos cost $400 and $800 respectively -- but the Yamaha YAS-209 offers excellent bang for buck. It sounds fantastic and it offers Amazon Alexa for controlling your smart home.
Best streaming soundbar
Roku Streambar
CNET Score
- Compact and easy to set up
- Affordable
- Excellent dialogue reproduction
- Tried-and-true Roku experience
- Lacks bass in movies and music
The Roku Streambar is an all-in-one entertainment system with a streamer and a speaker in one. It offers 4K video output and excellent dialogue reproduction in an easy-to-use unit. If you want to upgrade a loved one's older TV, this is the best way to do it.
Best multiroom wireless speaker
Sonos One
- The Sonos One integrates both Alexa and Google Assistant voice control, with better sound quality than any smart speaker at its price. It offers smart home controls from both systems and its far-field microphone performs well. The Sonos One works seamlessly with Sonos multiroom system and can pair with a second One for stereo sound. It also supports Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect.
- The One costs twice as much as an Amazon Echo. You can't switch between the Assistant and Alexa on the fly, and need to run setup again. It doesn't work well if you have an Echo within earshot. There's no Bluetooth.
The Sonos One has been around for a little while now but it's so versatile that I've seen it anywhere from living rooms to shops to restaurants. For $200 it offers excellent sound, great multiroom capabilities and the choice of either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice control, and it's AirPlay compatible, too.
Best affordable turntable
Fluance RT82
- Offers everything you could want except an onboard preamp
- None
The Fluance RT8X range offers excellent value for vinyl fans, with the RT82 sitting right in the sweet spot. It includes convenience features like a speed switch, height adjustable feet and auto-stop. In our breakdown of five $300 turntables, the Fluance came out on top. It sounds great and it's built to last.
Best bookshelf speakers under $350
Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2
- Excellent sound for the price. Solid build quality and attractive finish. Front bass port allows close placement to walls.
- Big, boxy design. Not as forgiving or versatile as competitors.
The Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 speakers offer a taste of the high end in a relatively affordable bookshelf speaker model. They offer a tidy build, front-firing reflex ports for better flexibility and a detailed, enjoyable performance for a TV or movie night. Partner it with a high quality amp or receiver for the best results.
Best Atmos soundbar
Vizio SB36512-F6
- The Vizio SB36512-F6 is one of the least expensive ways to get Dolby Atmos. Sound quality is excellent for the price. The compact design includes dedicated rear speakers, and the number of inputs exceeds many competitors with Bluetooth, HDMI in/out and Chromecast Wi-Fi music.
- The sound bar lacks DTS:X decoding, its performance with music isn't spectacular, and the dotted input display can be confusing.
When the Vizio SB36512-F6 came out it proved that you didn't need to spend a grand to get an Atmos soundbar, you needed less than half that. Unlike the still-great Sonos Arc, the Vizio includes both a wireless subwoofer and dedicated rears for the best surround sound experience.
Best receiver for the money
Onkyo TX-NR696
- The Onkyo TX-NR696 offers excellent home theater performance in a relatively affordable package. Its massive feature set includes Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio, Chromecast and Apple AirPlay streaming, six HDMI and a phono input for vinyl fans.
- It's not the most refined-sounding with music and the bloated remote lacks polish.
The Onkyo TX-NR696 is the best receiver of 2020 so far. It offers a wealth of features, including numerous streaming options -- like Chromecast built-in -- and it sounds really good into the bargain.