Soundbars are a great way to get improved sound from your TV or to neatly provide 3 front channels for a 5 or 7.1 surround set up.

We use them for a variety of installs from small second bedrooms to large home cinemas.

We’ve made a shortlist of the best soundbar speakers and put them in order of 1 to 5.

[5] Yamaha YSP-4100 £1299

Yamaha’s latest Digital Sound Projector™ provides many new great features like HD Audio decoding, 1080p-compatible HDMI (4 in/1 out), IntelliBeam, numerous listening modes, UniVolume™, AirWired™ technology for iPod/iPhone and subwoofer.

We consider this soundbar too big and over-complicated for most of our systems and customers. It is a good buy for DIYers wanting to add some extra dimension to their standard TV and with it’s AV receiver functions such HDMI switching it is good value for money. Consider using with a decent sub-woofer to get the crucial lower frequencies.

[4] KEF KHT8005 £1100

KEF’s KHT8005 is a tour de force of acoustic engineering. Intimate, realistic vocals. Deliciously expansive imaging. Seductive ambient effects – and above all, flawlessly precise reproduction throughout even the largest room.

KEF’s KHT soundbar is more suitable for our uses due to its size and fairly minimal style. The sound is good but for the price, you can do better.

[3] B&W Panorama £1499

Panorama adds a whole new dimension to home entertainment, bringing truly immersive surround sound to your TV from a single, discreet speaker. Movies, music and games come to life in a way you never thought possible. You won’t believe what a big difference a small box can make.

The B&W panorama sounds great but we don’t like the way it looks. It’s over-complicated like the Yamaha and only suits certain styles/sizes of TV.

[2] Artcoustic Modular Centre/LCR £400

We love Artcoustic’s Modular Centre/LCR. It gives great performance for a speaker at this price. It’s small, simple, clean design is what we have come to expect from Artcoustic and it comes in multiple sizes to suit various screens.

[1] Artcoustic DF Multi £1600-£2100

The DF Multi is our absolute favourite soundbar speaker. We use these in many of our installations. The power and quality are as excellent as the design and build quality. The DF Multi comes in sizes from 42″ to 60″ to suit most TV’s but Artcoustic also provide a bespoke service where they can build special sizes to order (if perhaps you happen to have Panasonics 153″ Monster or a 3m wide projector screen!

If you’d like advice on speakers for your home cinema, or if you’d like to visit the Artcoustic showroom to hear the modular or DF multi for yourself then call us on 0800 195 4825