Looking for a soundbar but can’t afford to buy one of the best on the market?
You might be tempted to buy one of those bars around $100 that can be purchased on Amazon or in shopping centers, but I recommend thinking twice. The truth is that those bars usually have, at best, mediocre quality. It’s worth spending a little more and buying something with decent quality, which really improves the TV sound -many of those very cheap bars do not- and that can last you many years.
If you really want to buy a soundbar on a budget, take a look at these recommendations.
Denon DHT-S316
The only soundbar I recommend below 300$ is this Denon DHT-S316, a 2.1 channel bar and subwoofer set that offers good quality with music -better than any stereo speaker of its same price- and significantly improves the sound of most TVs today.
It’s a bar that I was able to analyze years ago and was quite satisfied with it, considering how cheap it is. And there is no bar at this price that houses inside a woofer and a tweeter for each of the two front channels, as the vast majority of cheap soundbars only carry a full-range driver per channel.
This distinguishes it from all the soundbars at this price, providing the best sound in its class. Its subwoofer also provides decent bass, and it’s not the typical toy subwoofer that soundbars of this class usually have.
Additionally, it is compatible with Dolby and DTS, is very complete in connections (it has HDMI ARC, optical digital audio, and analog audio output) and has Bluetooth. In short, a good soundbar for the most limited budgets.
Sony HT-X8500
Another good economically priced bar is the Sony HT-X8500, a bar I also analyzed at the time, and which happens to be one of the the best-sounding soundbar for his price without the need for an external subwoofer.
The truth is that this HT-X8500 has two small integrated bass reflex subwoofers along with two long-excursion full-range drivers, a combination that provides good bass, surprisingly deep for the compact dimensions of the bar, and helps give the sound a great punch both with movies and series as well as with music, where this bar also shows notable performance.
Additionally, Sony has implemented in this bar the Vertical Surround Engine technology to offer a very convincing surround experience even when there are no surround speakers, with a genuine feeling that there are objects moving around us. Obviously, it is an experience that cannot be equated to that of a system with dedicated surround speakers, but for a single soundbar, it is commendable.
Another strong point of this bar is that, in addition to the HDMI eARC port, it has an HDMI 2.0 input port with 4K 60Hz passthrough and compatible with HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Moreover, it is one of the few options at this price compatible with Dolby Atmos. For sound quality, connections, and price, it is a good option in this price range.
Denon DHT-S217
Another very good option from Denon is this DHT-S217, a model that is somewhat like the DHT-S316 I showed you before, but with the subwoofer integrated inside the bar instead of external.
Well, in fact, there are two subwoofers integrated inside the bar, and Denon has oriented them downward to have greater travel and provide greater bass depth in a reduced space.
In addition to this dual subwoofer, inside the bar, there are two midrange speakers and two tweeters that deliver very good sound in a 2.1 channel configuration, ideal for music and that with movies and series significantly improves the TV sound, also achieving good immersion and surround effect thanks to the 3D sound processing with multichannel sound sources.
Additionally, the Denon DHT-S217 decodes Dolby Atmos and is very complete in the connections section: it has HDMI eARC, HDMI input with 4K at 60Hz, optical digital audio input, another 3.5mm analog audio input, Bluetooth, and even has an output to connect an external subwoofer of your choice. So here you have another good cheap soundbar to recommend.
LG S60T
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know that in the mid and high ranges I have always preferred Samsung soundbars over LG’s, but in the low range, things change quite a bit, and LG has some interesting models. The most, this LG S60T.
This bar comes with a wireless subwoofer and has a 3.1 channel arrangement, being one of the most economical and recommended three-channel soundbars of the moment. Each channel is powered by full-range drivers, so the sound is not going to blow your mind, but having a central channel allows the bar to process the audio so that the voices are anchored to the center and the other two channels reproduce the effects and music, providing a very natural sound, with loud and clear dialogues.
It is also an ideal bar if you have a latest-generation LG TV, as the WOW Synergy function displays the bar settings on the TV as if they were part of the same TV menu.
This LG S60T also has good compatibility with formats (Dolby and DTS) and has good connections, with HDMI ARC, optical digital audio, and Bluetooth 5.3. LG also sells another model, the LG S60TR, with surround speakers that form a 5.1 system, logically at a higher price but also with good value for money.
Sony HT-S40R
But if there is a 5.1 soundbar with good value for money, it is the Sony HT-S40R, one of the popular and sold on Amazon for several years now.
The bar, which has 3 full-range drivers inside for the three front channels, connects by cable to an external subwoofer and to the surround speakers through a wireless amplifier connected to them by cable. But I think what makes this system special is that the wireless amplifier, as its name suggests, not only serves as a wireless receiver but also as an amplifier, giving these rear speakers a lot of power. The result is a powerful surround sound, unlike many systems at this price where the rear speakers are barely heard.
And not only the surround speakers enjoy amplification, as the bar’s drivers and the same subwoofer are powered by Sony’s famous S-Master digital amplifiers. Although the bar’s drivers are full-range and the sound is far from high fidelity, the power of the set, with 600W RMS, and the quality of the subwoofer, form a very remarkable set considering that the Sony HT-S40R costs less than €300.
The least positive is that this Sony HT-S40R does not decode DTS, only Dolby Digital and 2-channel LPCM, and does not have HDMI input ports, only an HDMI ARC and an optical digital audio input. If we overlook these two drawbacks, it is a fully recommended 5.1 system, especially for this price.
