Soundbar vs. Speakers: Which One Should You Buy?

What if you could hear each background sound in a movie or song down to the finest details. There are plenty of Bluetooth speakers and soundbars claiming to uncover or clarify all the sounds you cannot hear, but are both on par with each other, or is one better than the other at certain things?

Let Speakers Daily help you make your decision by comparing speakers and soundbars.

Sound Quality

A soundbar would undoubtedly sound better than inbuilt speakers, but they’ve got nothing on external speakers. While you only need one speaker to defeat a soundbar, you can always go for two with a stereo sound of 2.0 and maybe throw in a subwoofer for better sound quality.

If you’re a musician, gamer, or enjoy watching movies and TV shows, you can have a more immersive experience with a speaker set than a soundbar, which is more affordable but doesn’t do much in terms of bass and clarity.

Aesthetics

Speakers also have the upper hand on soundbars when it comes to looks—the latter has the unfortunate honor of looking like an overbaked baguette. However, its shape makes it an easy fit for your home. Soundbars only require a strip of space in front of your TV or computer, whereas speakers require shelf, wall, or floor space. 

While you can always hide subwoofers and other parts of your speaker set, you can also keep things nice, simple, and minimalistic with a soundbar.

Price Range

We’ve already discussed the price of soundbars briefly, but there’s more where that came from. A high-end soundbar can set you back $1,500, and a low-end soundbar can only cost you about $100, but they would both lack the one thing a speaker has: upgradeability.

You can upgrade a speaker set by replacing individual speakers, amps, subwoofers, etc. However, you won’t have that with soundbars, which you would have to replace entirely.

While speakers, even low-end ones, can cost a pretty penny, they’re a great investment because they can last longer than soundbars.

Soundbars vs. Speakers: Pros and Cons

Here’s a summary of the good and the not-so-good things about soundbars and speakers.

· Soundbar Pros and Cons

Soundbars are better than in-built speakers, a better fit for cluttered spaces, more affordable, almost wireless, and, therefore, easier to set up.

However, they don’t have the stereo effect of external speakers, can’t be upgraded, and possess limited features despite costing the same as a moderate speaker set. Simply put, they aren’t good value for money.

· Speaker Pros and Cons

Speakers can be expensive, clunky, and difficult to install, but these are their only faults. Once you buy and set up a decent speaker system, you can enjoy a better sound quality than inbuilt speakers and soundbars.

You can enjoy surround sound with two or more speakers or limit yourself to a single speaker, and it would still sound way better than a soundbar. You can also upgrade individual components of a speaker set instead of scrapping the whole thing.

If the upsides of speakers are something you would like in your home audio system, you can order one on Amazon, but not before checking out our speaker reviews and advice. Find unbiased reviews about the sound picks, speakers, and subwoofers on Amazon.

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