the.com/soundbar
A long black slab that quietly admits your TV's built-in speakers were a crime.
means A long, narrow loudspeaker unit you place beneath or in front of a television to deliver fuller, clearer sound than the TV's tiny built-in speakers can manage.
from A transparent modern compound of 'sound' and 'bar' — 'bar' in the sense of a long rigid strip, the same shape-word behind crowbar and chocolate bar. The term emerged with the technology itself, as flat-panel TVs grew thinner in the 2000s and their speakers shrank to match; the slim horizontal speaker built to rescue them was named, simply and literally, for being a bar of sound.
- origin
- Emerged because flatscreens left no room for decent speakers
- fake surround
- Bounces sound off walls to fake rear channels
- the subwoofer
- Usually ships with a box you'll trip over
- naming
- Dolby Atmos firing sound at your ceiling on purpose
- irony
- Often louder and clearer than full speaker systems
sonos arc — premium soundbar with dolby atmos, launched 2020, best-selling premium model
samsung hw-q990b — flagship 11.1.4 channel soundbar with wireless rear speakers, 2022
bose smart soundbar 900 — dolby atmos soundbar with voice control, released 2023