Nowadays, most TVs are produced and designed as thin as possible. This makes your TV more beautiful and compact, but their built-in speakers are also worse. If you want to experience a higher-quality sound of movies, games, and songs, invest in a soundbar.
However, in a large space with a high ceiling, everyone usually worries that the sound waves can bounce off the walls and the ceiling strangely to create a mess of audio. Here, you might appreciate the best soundbar for large rooms with ceilings. It can cover you with 3D surround sound no matter how large your room is. Check the list below to pick the most suitable one:
Here are the best soundbars for large rooms with high ceilings you can buy in 2024:
- Budget Option: VIZIO Premium Sound Bar
- Best For Home Theater: Bose Smart Soundbar
- Best For Powerful, Crystal-Clear Audio: JBL Bar 9.1-Channel Soundbar System
- Best For Apartments: Sonos Arc-The Premium Smart Soundbar
- Best For Console Gamers: Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos Sound Bar
- Best For 3D Sound Experience: Nakamichi Shockwafe Dolby Atmos/DTS:X Soundbar
| 6 Best Soundbars For Large Rooms With High Ceilings | ||
|---|---|---|
Budget Option | VIZIO Premium Sound Bar | |
Best For Home Theater | Bose Smart Soundbar | |
Best For Powerful, Crystal-Clear Audio | JBL Bar 9.1-Channel Soundbar System | |
Best For Apartments | Sonos Arc-The Premium Smart Soundbar | |
Best For Console Gamers | Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos Sound Bar | |
Best For 3D Sound Experience | Nakamichi Shockwafe Dolby Atmos/DTS:X Soundbar | |
Budget Option: VIZIO Premium Sound Bar
- Glorious sound
- Useful colored LEDs
- Easy to mount
- Not connected to Wifi
Is there any budget-friendly soundbar that works well in a large room with a high ceiling?
For a large home theater with a high ceiling, you might think that only expensive models can produce high-quality sound for this space. However, the cheap VIZIO premium sound bar features basic functions can meet this requirement.
This unit comes with Dolby Atmos surround-sound technology that can envelope the audience in a dome of sound around you and above your head even in a large your room.
In particular, its surround speakers come with 2 upward-firing speakers that will reflect the sound off your high ceiling towards your position to result in pseudo-overhead effect.
| VIZIO Premium Sound Bar Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 35.98 x 3.54 x 2.24 inches |
Connectivity Technology | Bluetooth, HDMI |
Subwoofer Diameter | 6 inches |
Highlight Features | Dolby Atmos and DTS:X - Cinematic 2 Upfiring Speakers Separate Tweeters and Woofers |
Although the VIZIO Premium Sound Bar is cheap, it is functional enough to use in a large space with a high ceiling.
Best For Home Theater: Bose Smart Soundbar
- Easy to set up even without no instruction
- Beautiful
- Quite heavy
The Bose Smart Soundbar can turn your room into a big home theater because it allows you to experience true movie sound like what you feel in a theater.
According to the manufacturer, the combination of the custom-engineered up firing dipole speakers and the Bose technologies can fill your large room with sound from every direction, even overhead. Thus, you can clearly hear even the smallest sound of the movie.
At home, you can control this soundbar with your voice through its built-in voice assistant. Its noise-rejecting microphones make sure that the soundbar can listen to your demands clearly even when having the music loudly. Of course, you can also turn off this function if essential.
| Bose Smart Soundbar Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 4.21 x 41.14 x 2.29 inches |
Amplifier Channels | 7 |
Connectivity Technology | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
Highlight Features | 2 custom-engineered upfiring dipole speakers Built-in voice assistants |
The Bose Smart Soundbar has many convenience features and functions to turn your big room into a home theater.
Best For Powerful, Crystal-Clear Audio: JBL Bar 9.1-Channel Soundbar System
- Easy to set up
- Beautiful
- Takes time to install
Are you looking for a soundbar that can produce powerful and crystal-clear audio?
If so, consider the JBL Bar 9.1 - Channel Soundbar System that has up to 820 watts output power.
Watts measure the power of a soundbar. The higher the watt is, the more powerful audio the machine can produce. Thus, this model can fill your room with the most powerful and crystal-clear sound.
| JBL Bar 9.1-Channel Soundbar System Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 34.8 x 34.8 x 2.4 inches |
Power | 820W Output power |
Amplifier Channels | 9.1 |
Connectivity Technology | Wi-Fi, Optical, HDMI |
Subwoofer Diameter | 10’’ |
Highlight Features | Built-in Dolby Atmos and DTS: X decoding |
Thanks to the high watt range, the JBL Bar 9.1 - Channel Soundbar System can produce powerful, crystal-clear audio.
Best For Apartments: Sonos Arc-The Premium Smart Soundbar
- Crystal clear audio
- Easy setup
- Expensive
If you live in an apartment, you should know that it is a part of one or many residential buildings. It’s very easy to disturb your neighbors when listening to music with amplified bass because it vibrates through your whole body instead of coming through your ears.
The Sonos Arc - The Premium Smart Soundbar can help you solve this problem thanks to its night mode that removes these unpleasant bass with the feeling of “BUM BUM”.
The lack of bass doesn't cause less high-quality listening experience. This unit still comes with Dolby Atmos 3D sound that gives you exact and immersive sound when watching movies and playing games.
| Sonos Arc-The Premium Smart Soundbar Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 3.4 x 45 x 4.5 inches |
Connectivity Technology | Wi-Fi, HDMI |
Highlight Features | 3D sound with Dolby Atmos |
The night mode of the Sonos Arc - The Premium Smart Soundbar can remove unpleasant sound, so it works best in sharing spaces.
Best For Console Gamers: Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos Sound Bar
- Amazing sound
- Easy to set up
- Expensive
Are you looking for the best soundbar for playing console games?
If so, the Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos Sound Bar can immerse you in the console game easily. This model can produce clear, wide open and immersive sound to make you feel like you are in the game's scene.
| Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos Sound Bar Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 53.5 x 7.75 x 8.81 inches |
Power | 500 watts |
Amplifier Channels | 7.1.2 |
Connectivity Technology | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi |
Highlight Features | Dolby Atmos and DTS:X |
The Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos Sound Bar produces amazing sound to feel you are in console game scenes.
Best For 3D Sound Experience: Nakamichi Shockwafe Dolby Atmos/DTS:X Soundbar
- Simple setup
- Easy to use
- Space-saving
- Low cost
- Not good to install on the wall because it’s pretty heavy
Unlike unrealistic and flattened sound, the 3D sound makes you feel immersed in the audio environment and become a part of the game, for example.
How?
The Nakamichi Shockwafe Dolby Atmos/DTS:X Soundbar gives you this 3D sound experience to hear from the left and right sides even above and underneath you thanks to its 4 2-way surround speakers. When setting up these units together, they can create surround effects no matter how big your room is.
| Nakamichi Shockwafe Dolby Atmos/DTS:X Soundbar Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 3 x 45.5 x 3.6 inches |
Power | 1000W |
Amplifier Channels | 9.2.4 |
Connectivity Technology | RCA, Optical, HDMI, Coaxial |
Subwoofer Diameter | 10 inches |
Highlight Features | Dual 10'' wireless subwoofers 4 2-way surround speakers SSE Technology |
The Nakamichi Shockwafe Dolby Atmos/DTS:X Soundbar can give you a 3D sound experience, but make sure that you install it properly.
How To Choose The Best Soundbar For Large Rooms With High Ceilings?
What Is The Best Soundbar For High Ceilings?
To answer this question, you need to determine the problem of a high ceiling. Although this type of ceiling is exquisite, it makes the sound waves bounce strangely, producing echoes to create a jumbled mess. Here, you can choose an upward-firing soundbar that bounces off the sound from the ceiling to give you a good surround sound experience.
What Is Your Budget For A Soundbar?
Although the price range of soundbars varies, you shouldn’t choose too cheap models. Even if they are good-quality soundbars, they usually have fewer speakers and features. A large room with a high ceiling requires a unit with more speakers or a great subwoofer and extra features to enhance the sound in a large room.
How Many Soundbar Channels Do You Need?
One channel is equivalent to a sound source or an individual speaker. The more channels the soundbar has, the better and more immersive sound you can experience in a large room. Below are the detailed information:
2-channel sound bar: a left speaker and a right speaker
3-channel sound bar: a center speaker, a right speaker, and a left speaker
5-channel sound bar: a center speaker, a right speaker, a left speaker and 2 back speakers
7-channel sound bar: a center speaker, a right speaker, a left speaker, 2 back speakers, and 2 extra rear channel surround sound speakers to get 7 channels in total.
Dolby Atmos sound bar: this is other versions of 5 and 7 channel sound bars. But, the difference is the latter is a combination of upward-firing speakers that will reflect the sound above you for a higher and three-dimensional soundstage. For this type, consider 5.1.2 or 7.1.2
3rd number (2) represents Dolby Atmos upward firing speakers
1st number (5 or 7) is traditional channels
2nd number represents subwoofer
They are good for rooms with high ceilings (up to 11 feet) and something that is made of hard and reflective material.
According to the information above, the 2.0 or 2.1 channel system (lack of subwoofer) just offers sound to the front of your room, so it works well for a small room. Even when adding a separate subwoofer, you will have a 2.1 system that has more dynamic sound only. For the best sound in a big home theater, you need a 3-channel sound system at a minimum. If you want to listen to a truer surround sound or immersive and real-world sound, at least you should choose a 5-channel sound system.
Why?
It has extra external speakers and a center channel speaker.
Note:
The 5.1-channel sound system is the most common solution for a big room because it has enough 3 channel speakers, 2 surround sound speakers and 1 subwoofer. However, it is just effective with high-quality speakers. If not, 5.1-channel systems with low-quality speakers like 2.1-channel systems with top-notch speakers.
For larger and better sound experience in a big room, choose a 7-channel system or a Dolby Atmos system. While the former comes with 2 extra rear channel surround sound speakers, the latter has additional upward firing speakers for higher sound experience. Thus, it can produce more sound in a large space. The sound will fill your whole big room instead of sound from an angle.
Which Brands Make The Best Soundbar For Large Rooms With High Ceilings?
Nakamichi
Nakamichi was founded in 1948 by Etsuro Nakamichi. They have over 70 years of experience in producing soundbars that can give you maximum theater experience at home.
FAQs
Do soundbars work in large rooms?
Yes, but make sure that the design of the soundbar suits to work well in a large room. So, what is the best soundbar for a large room? It should have a good subwoofer, many speakers and other features that can enhance the sound in a large room.
Normally, a 2-channel soundbar is good enough for a large room. However, if you want to turn your room into a theater with dynamic and immersive sounds, consider a 5-channel or 7-channel soundbar.
How do you determine the size of a soundbar for a room?
You might think that the size of the soundbar should be determined based on your room size, but it is not. A big room doesn’t require a large soundbar. A large soundbar doesn’t always give better audio in a big room. For example, a standard soundbar works well for a small and medium-sized room while a larger home theater requires a soundbar with a subwoofer.
In fact, the soundbar size is determined based on your television size. For instance, a 50-inch TV requires a 45-inch-wide soundbar while a 75-inch-wide model works well for a giant TV.
Are soundbars better than speakers?
This depends on your needs because each of them has their pros and cons.
Is the sound quality your top priority? If yes, the size of the speaker can produce better audio compared to a soundbar. You have to place a big speaker throughout your room, so this allows you to achieve genuine surround sound. It gives you an immersive experience when playing games or watching movies. However, this type of model is more expensive than soundbars.
However, if you want to keep your room as simple as possible, the soundbar is a better choice. It has a smaller and more compact design compared to the speakers, so you can install it under your television directly to save space for a small room. It just requires one wire to connect, so your room will look cleaner.
Do you need a soundbar with a smart TV?
No, you don’t need one. Although the soundbar can give you a better experience when using your smart TV, it’s not a must.
Does the sound bar have to match the TV size?
No. If your soundbar and TV have the same size, your room will have a perfect and even look. However, their functions aren’t affected technically.
Conclusion
Is the small-sized soundbar functional for a large room with a high ceiling?
Don’t be wrong on choosing a big speaker for an enormous space. Instead, a small soundbar with many channels can create 3D surround sound to cover you in an immersive listening experience. However, it’s difficult to choose the best soundbar for large rooms with high ceilings. Determine your needs before making any purchase.
