The Best Cheap Soundbars of 2023 Upgrade your system without spending a lot.
When it comes to our home theater, we all like big sound. Whether we’re revisiting Gandalf in the accompaniment of Howard Shore’s stunning orchestral arrangements in the “Lord of the Rings,” or checking in to see a musical guest on “The Tonight Show,” the best cheap soundbars offer enough power and dimensionality to revolutionize your home cinema audio.
Soundbars are multi-driver speaker arrays in one singular package. These long speakers are meant to be positioned centrally at the base of your television, and often include mid-range speakers, tweeters, bass, and sometimes directional audio. Cheap soundbars usually won’t include some of the directional sound that you’ll find in premium models, and rarely deliver premium bass. However, they’re still capable of great mid and high tones, which will lend dialogue and action far greater detail and clarity than most televisions natively provide.
Soundbars aren’t only here for our movies however; most double as home audio stations that are ready to connect to your musical streaming service via Bluetooth or WiFi. Many soundbars also connect to voice services like Alexa, and some come with their own native capabilities, such as enabling Roku TV. Whatever your needs, there’s a surprising amount of diversity in the soundbar market. Bring new dimensions to your home cinema audio for less with the best cheap soundbars.
— Best Overall: YAMAHA SR-B20A
— Best with Subwoofer: Hisense HS212F 2.1ch
— Best for Alexa: Polk Audio React Soundbar
— Best Premium: SAMSUNG HW-Q900A
— Best All-in-One: Sonos Beam (Gen 2)
— Best Budget: RIF6 Soundbar