Professionals
- Wonderful sound high quality
- Superbly constructed
- Skill to attach Bose headphones
Cons
- Pricey
- Streaming not as complete as Sonos
- Not capable of produce encompass
- Calibration would not activate by default
Within the hierarchy of
soundbar
producers, two huge names compete for premium clients who need the most recent sensible options: Sonos and
Bose
. The rivalry between the 2 is fierce, and each produce merchandise within the multiroom market the place Sonos made its title. Bose began making multiroom audio system with its SoundTouch vary in 2013 and the most recent addition to the Bose Good Residence line is the Bose Good Soundbar 900. Its direct competitor is the Sonos Arc, which prices about the identical and has related capabilities. However does the Bose have sufficient going for it to allow it to face by itself?
The Bose Good Soundbar 900 is a Dolby Atmos soundbar which affords compatibility with a bunch of streaming music providers, a alternative of voice assistants (
Amazon
Alexa and Google Assistant) and a lovely design. When it comes to sound high quality it is also just like the Arc — they each carry out nicely with a variety of fabric.
In the long run, the selection comes all the way down to the ecosystem and the controller app behind every, and that is the place Sonos good points the higher hand. Sonos affords a bigger and extra reasonably priced vary of multiroom audio system — particularly in case you issue within the Ikea Symfonisk merchandise — plus the app is extra simple and enjoyable. In case you’re already invested within the Bose universe, nonetheless, the Good Soundbar is an entertaining, succesful product with loads of punch in your favourite motion pictures and music.
Options
The Bose Good Soundbar 900 affords all the things you’d count on from the title and value. The bar homes 9 drivers – two tweeters, 4 racetrack transducers, a middle tweeter, plus two dipole (up-firing) transducers for Dolby Atmos. The corporate employs its personal PhaseGuide for Atmos content material which it claims affords higher audio positioning than competing soundbars.
The Bose options HDMI eARC
connectivity
in addition to Wi-Fi (
Spotify
Join, Apple AirPlay 2) and two-way Bluetooth streaming. Bluetooth is one factor that Sonos lacks, and I respect that it lets you join a pair of Bose’s wi-fi headphones too. Just like the cheaper 700, the 900 will be managed by voice instructions or through the Music app. For a $900 soundbar it could have been nice if Bose may provide a pair extra
HDMI
inputs — one thing which the aggressive Vizio Elevate does.
The Soundbar 900 is available in a alternative of black or white and stands at 2.3 inches excessive, 4 inches deep, and 41 inches lengthy. The corporate says the ‘bar makes a very good match for 50-inch-and-over
televisions
. The highest of the unit is tempered glass and appears fairly refined, encompassing its discrete, up-firing Dolby drivers. There are solely two onboard controls — microphone on/off and an motion button (activate assistant/play/pause).
You may choose to develop the soundbar will pair with exterior
peripherals
such because the Bose Encompass Audio system ($349) and the Bass Module 500 ($449) and 700 ($799). Be aware that whereas the 900 has a 3.5mm “bass” output, that is for bodily connecting the Bose fashions — the soundbar would not help third-party subs.
The non-obligatory Bose Bass Module 500 ($449)
The Sonos Arc, in the meantime, works with an even bigger choice of audio system together with the Sonos One ($200) and Ikea Symfonisk vary. In comparison with the Bose it is annoying that Sonos’ most cost-effective (and solely) sub is $799, however then you do not really want it with the Arc.
Bose additionally sports activities its personal music app however, in comparison with the handfuls of streaming apps on Sonos, the variety of streaming providers is restricted to Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn, Deezer, iHeartRadio and SiriusXM. The Bose app is comparatively pleasant but it surely’s not as simple to make use of as Sonos. As an illustration, including new providers includes tapping the small profile pic that seems whenever you faucet on the soundbar itself — you’ll be able to’t get there by hitting “settings” as you’d count on.
Setup of the unit itself was comparatively simple, though it does contain carrying a gaming-style microphone in your head, and in 5 of your favourite seating positions. It is definitely worth the effort going by means of the setup routine as a result of it allows a a lot better efficiency. My solely criticism is that after I calibrated the machine, the ensuing “Adaptiq” calibration wasn’t turned on by default.
Lastly, the Bose comes with a palm-sized distant management with a quantity rocker and a supply selector, and it is a nice-to-have if you cannot discover your TV distant (or telephone).
How does it sound?
The Bose Good Soundbar 900 appeared beautiful sitting on my TV stand, and it additionally performed music and films nicely. I in contrast it on to the Sonos Arc each with and with out the non-obligatory subwoofers. I calibrated the Arc utilizing the iOS-exclusive Trueplay function and used Bose’s Adaptiq calibration. Earlier than Adaptiq the Bose sounded skinny and boxy, however afterward it gained a weightier backside finish — somewhat an excessive amount of even, and I needed to again off the bass by about half.
I shortly discovered throughout my comparisons which you could’t actually ask both bar to create encompass sound. They each mission a way of peak and might sound as extensive because the room, however neither was capable of idiot me into trying over my shoulder.
With a Dolby Atmos mixture of Mad Max Fury Street, the Sonos Arc that was probably the most spectacular with the opening sequence — it made the disembodied voices swirl across the entrance of my listening room. It wasn’t all good for the Sonos, nonetheless. Tom Hardy’s voice sounded a bit phlegmatic, which made phrases like “the black matter of my mind” sound much more ridiculous. The Bose wasn’t as showy because the Sonos however his voice was pure and simpler to decipher. Each soundbars lacked the power to put the little woman’s voice as she says “The place are you”? immediately above my listening place. That is an impact I’ve solely heard devoted rear audio system obtain.
Subsequent I linked the subwoofers and watched the burnt-out metropolis scene from 1917 (1.07:54), the place I discovered the Bose higher capable of weave a cohesive soundstage. Town turned a big bubble of sound — the ricochet of bullets was sharper, the fizzing of the flares extra pressing as they arced overhead. Regardless of the Bose sub being half the scale of the Sonos sub, it was nonetheless capable of conjure up loads of backside finish for the reveal of the vista by means of the window. It was a weighty, disorienting crescendo of sound that accompanied the digicam’s “inconceivable” monitoring shot by means of the window because it descended into the ruins. The scene by means of the Sonos speaker gave me goosebumps as nicely however did not sound fairly as expressive.
Music efficiency was mainly a wash between the 2 audio system. The Bose sounded higher with Grouper’s haunting The Manner Her Hair Falls. The Arc dissected the easy people association and made it sound just like the singer’s voice was disembodied from the guitar, whereas the Bose rightly put each in the identical area.
Lastly I examined Bose’s Dialog mode. It is not as configurable as dialog mode on Zvox’s AV357, for instance — it is merely a matter of being on or off. Enabling the Bose’s mode did assist raise dialog by making sibilants and different articles of speech sound clearer.
Must you purchase it?
Bose’s Good Soundbar 900 does all the things you’d count on from a flagship soundbar. It seems nice, it sounds nice, and it affords a wealth of leisure choices. Its in depth vary of options as nicely, particularly Bluetooth headphone functionality, full a well-rounded package deal.
The Bose’s essential Achilles heel, in case you can name it that, is that Sonos affords a really related product with a barely higher app expertise and extra multiroom choices. In case you’re on the lookout for a full encompass system the Bose is cheaper to completely equipment out because of its more-affordable sub, however the Arc is my alternative by a nostril.
