Hi I RETURNED my Sonos Arc with one surround and base module for the Q990b and I couldn’t be happier. Sonos lacked the detailed sounds in movies and I found myself adjusting the settings all the time and having to adjust the volume to hear people talk and decreasing volume during action scenes, with the Q990b I don’t have to do that, great sound, clear vocals very happy with it.
It sadly won't fit on my TV cabinet. I have a 65 inch Sony Z9F TV and there is about 116 cm space between the legs at the largest distance, but it's diagonal and closes inwards so even if there was enough space it still wouldn't fit. Something else I could do is put the TV backwards as much as possible, but that leaves about 8 centimeters open on the front. The Samsung requires almost 14 cm depth, so it would stick out in front by about 6 cm. It's a shame, but I'm not willing to buy a new TV cabinet just to fit this soundbar (or a bigger TV so it does fit between the legs).
In Malaysia, the Sonos with this configuration goes for USD 2378 (as of today) and the Samsung Q990B goes for USD 892! This HUGE price difference and close enough performance as reviewed here, made choosing the Q990B a no brainer. A lot one can do with almost USD1500 saved. Just highlighting how much some Samsung AV products varies in price worldwide.
Sonos is very good. The problem is the cost. Biggest factor in deciding what to buy. I would go for Samsung system, especially if you have a Samsung TV.
It's nice getting a in my opinion this sounds better then this one and I asked my Father in Law so must be right. I have the Samsung Q990B after I looked at a host of SOundbars set up at an Audio retailer, I didn't buy the SOundbar from the store as it was a retail store and I never pay retail. After listening and having three other customers also listening as they were also looking at sound bars. Out of all the under $2000AU Soundbars, guess which was 100% the best as far as the four of us standing in a large media room, this Company had four media rooms all set up for different Sound and Picture systems, Laser TV as well as projectors and multi speaker systems and Soundbars. Was lots to listen to as well as watch in as close to real world scenarios. Now considering I ended up getting the Samsung for $1350 delivered and the closest the Sonos could get was over $2000, which not only put it so far out of contention that it couldn't be even considered to be on par to the Samsung. Now if even one or two of the people listening to the Atmos demo had mentioned the Arc I would have listened more and tried some other tests, but the only system that anyone mentioned as all of us did was one way more expensive and so I would expect it to sound better. Since the Sonos really didn't sound any better on the same demo disc and possibly had we used what you listened to, then maybe we would have agreed with you. I have had my Samsung now for a month and can say I am very pleased with my choice and considering it replaced a 5.1 Yamaha system that cost over three times the price, even my Wife was happy :). The one other very nice push towards the Samsung was the fact that I had a Samsung 85inch Qled that I had only bought one month earlier and the advantages of the remote as well as working in conjunction with the TV speakers and other benefits, there really was nothing that gave the Sonos even the slightest chance of being a sensible choice. Now had I had a different model TV and the sound bars had been near the same price, I still would have bought the Samsung as it had much better connections and it's ability to work with my Smart home was just another tick. But thank you for your Video as I am sure it will still help others to have a better idea of which to buy once they look at pricing as $700 buys an Xbox or Playstation to connect to the Soundbar ;)
In my country in Romania, i have bought the Samsung Q930B for only 380 american dollars. Such an amazing price for this incredible audio system. The Q990B was 805$. Could not justify the price difference between them because I don’t think it’s a lot of difference in terms of bass/audio quality.
I bought the Samsung Q990 soundbar because of the good reviews. This is my first surround soundbar but the surround is stunning and very balanced. Beautiful bass, clear voices and sparkling background sounds. I do have the impression that the soundbar should be used with a (recent) Samsung TV. I am thinking, for example, of some extra functionalities (Wifi, QSymphony) that come with the Soundbar. The supplied manuals are rather concise, it is better to consult the online manuals for a detailed explanation. It is not suitable for use with my TV (Sony Bravia KDL 42WXXXX ). I run into too many latency issues with the sound for that. As long as everything runs via the ARC-eARC HDMI cable, everything seems to run nicely synchronously. Every time I try to play with my Telenet digicorder via the HDMI port (in) of the TV or the soundbar, sync problems arise with the sound. Especially when fast forwarding Telenet recordings or skipping from watching TV to recordings. The problem can then only be solved by deactivating/reactivating HDMI ports.
Particularly Sony TVs don't work well with Samsung soundbars or any other soundbar. They also have a big problem with reading hard drives. When you plug in a hard drive, it can take 20mins to read. Sony has very good OLED panels but that's not good enough. In fact, Hisense interacts with other devices far much better than Sony
@@yvanokuba1649 tvs arent the things thatvprocess sound...they process picture??? Hookup your soundbar correctly to the media center and not TV..that point you made was completely moot and maybe..def... dont know what you are doing. Try again the right way.
@@dosomestuff1949 so i DID exactly that comparison a couple weeks ago when I saw john wick 4 in a well respected city theater. Ummm, my q950a sounded better if not the same..i was ready to be blown away by the theater as now I spent almost the 2gs on a soundbar system and another $2,000 on a great 65' TV...sooooo...I had an eye and ear for quality..buuuttttt..I was not impressed...this sound system in a persons living room is the same if not better than a theater at a mall etc....Inwas sooo blown away at the move thinking this sounds idwnticslnif not worse at times than my freaking middle class loving room system. I also have a real full year 2000 DTS 5.1 surround sound homentheater set up w reciever in man cave and it is garbage next to this. Wish another man gave me advice that I tell you now years ago
Thanks for your reviews. Overall the 990 and arc sound amazing either way you go. Now that I have owned both I can compare the sound quality from both. The Base on the 990 actually made my walls and fireplace glass cover rattle. This did not happen on the arc (maybe I needed to turn the volume up). Testing the sound of the arc seems to project better than the 990 even though I did not purchase the one sl for the arc. Also audio from people talking is a bit more clear. My living room is about 17ft x 15ft x 12ft. I ended up returning the 990 for the arc due to a few weird issues I was having. The first one may be only related to ios users but I am an iPhone user and notice the Smartthings app crashes a lot. This is annoying and made it that I rather adjust the settings, eq and etc via the remote than the app. The second issue was that with Bluetooth or airplay through my phone to the 990, it would say that it's playing music but no audio would come out. The app setup was really easy on the Sonos but the Samsung Smartthings app wasn't hard. I did have trouble using the Smartthings app to update the 990 as it would update after multiple attempts.
I tried the qb990b and started having the rear left speaker issue after 3 days. They sound great when they work but the disconnect issue is terrible. Samsung support is very bad too and I got no help from them and landed up returning it. Sonos just works and sounds great. Music is better and and it is a bit more expensive ($200 more during Black Friday) but worth the lesser hassles I think
You based you surround sound on your cell phone..this is what is wrong nowadays...too many indoor cats...phones have 0 to do w watching movies ins surround sound!!! Holy sh#@..are you for real..live in LA or NYC???
I replaced my Nakamichi 7.2.4 with the Sonos Arc, dual Gen 3 subs, and Sonos Fives are rear surrounds for my LG OLED 77C1. I was already invested into the Sonos ecosystem with two Beam Gen 1s, two Gen 3 subs, and One SLs or Symfonisks bookshelf for rears for my Office and master bedroom OLEDs. I like the ease of use, whole house audio, ability to add additional speakers when watching TV, sound quality, and being able to upgrade and repurpose individual components.
I got the Q990B a few weeks ago from VideoOnly here in California for $999. It's awesome, I haven't had any disconnect issues that has been mentioned a few times.
Alright. I’ve felt compelled to go back and make comment on my Samsung 990c. I’ve owned it for a couple of months now and wondered what the hype was about. Movies sound pretty good. I’ve often found myself looking around the room with rear/side noise. I’m at home now and audioslave like a stone came on my TH-cam account so I gave it a bit of a fistful. I dialed it all the way up and I must say it’s fucking loud and pretty clear. It seemed to do it reasonably comfortable too. My ears a still ringing slightly so that’s a pretty fine effort out of a soundbar.
I’m actually baffled how no one is reviewing the 930b considering it’s price point and performance, this is by far the best bar you can currently buy imo.
@@keesdekoning4878 The price! You can find the whole Q930B bar + sub + rears on sale for around 350 USD! And that sound bar performs within 95% of the Q990B! Same build quality and materials too.
I just bought the 990C for $756 through an EPP discount direct with Samsung. Essentially 1/3 of the Sonos Arc setup. I own the Arc with sub in our living room and love it. The Samsung will be in my finished basement.
Sonos really needs the upfiring rears to compete with the Samsung. I swapped my Sonos for the Samsung as got fed up with them not adding DTS:HD/X or new rears. I also had the Sony HT-A9 but that went back as the center was far too weak. In your review you say to whack the Samsung up to +6 on all the channels. I can tell everyone don't do this, it will make the soundbar far worse and you will lose so many details, especially on the phantom sides. If you can get a SPL meter and tune the channels to the same volume, this bar really performs miles better and you will hear a lot more virtual sound than before.
Yup (are you DJ Simmz on avsforums?) I calibrated it with a $25 SPL and holy cow, the sound stage goes from very good to absolutely amazing. Immersion. Detail. That one feature of being able to adjust the channels manually is maybe the best reason in its favor over other premium soundbar products.
@@ernied3050 will they cost more than the One SL? Because right now the Samsung costs 1000€ and full Arc setup 1600€. Then the Sonos setup would be more expensive
@@Milan-cf1xe I think it will cost. To be honest ...if you are worried about price buy something at your budget. ..I am recommending people cheaper alternatives in general lol unless they have so much flexibility in the pocket
I have both the Q990B and the Arc with two surrounds. Im currently torn something rotten which to keep. the Sonos when playing audio is by far the best in class, when you crank out sound via the app the full range of audio from the Sonos and its surrounds is incredible and of course it integrates with the existing sonos setup perfectly. The Samsung sounds a little flatter but what is driving me up the wall is the lack of audio from the rear speakers. considering it has three of them per unit its a shame that it wont utilise them to fill the room. Instead you get some pseudo channel splitting jiggery pokery which if im honest simply isnt what i want to hear. If i wanted that id find Atmos Music. But that being said, the Samsung does produce better TV/Movie audio, i dont find myself fiddling with the audio anywhere near as much as the Sonos which was a constant battle to keep right. The other thing that annoyed me with Sonos is that their blatant disregard of Android users and worse, even if you do buy a cheap Apple iphone to set it up, they then deprecate support for older phones literally forcing me to continue to purchase iphones every year or so as they cut support, its literally a subscription service to Apple at this point, I think I am going to keep the Samsung but i do so reluctantly. Sonos has the potential to fix its issues (iphone, DTS-X and EQ / audio setup) but given that its been years since its release i expect its not going to change any time soon. Now i just need to add more speakers to the room for listening to music....
With the 990b, if you use the phone app, you can set the system to adaptive sound and space fit sound. This will make the system utilize all of the speakers to fill the room. It sounds amazing. It's not like a multi channel stereo, so you will still get your dolby atmos effects.
when you use the sonos app to play audio, the rear speakers are LOUD they operate as seperate speakers, the audio would be just as loud in the rear as the soundbar. Ive setup the 990b to to adaptive but the level of audio is what id call supportive of the overall soundbar as opposed to fully fledged sound in its own right. if i play audio from the TV via the sonos then the effect is similar to the samsung, full audio from the SB but the rears are quieter and more supportive. its just when you use the Sonos app the rears will turn it up to 11.
Amazing video. I enjoy watching your TH-cam channel. I own the Sonos Arc with dual Gen 3 subs and play ones for rears speakers (5.2.2)I’m truly happy with my setup. I went with Sonos because you can add a second subwoofer. Both soundbars are amazing but I feel you have more opportunity to upgrade with the Sonos. For example, you can use different Sonos surround speakers (like the Sonos 5s) with the Sonos or use 3rd party surround speakers (need to purchase the Sonos amp to hook them up). So if you have ceiling speakers and want to hook it up to a sound bar…. Then Sonos is the best way to go.
Not to mention the upcoming "Optimo" range SONOS speakers which will replace the Five and One. They'll have upward firing Atmos. Easy upgrade opportunity for a lot of set ups. Plus you can still keep/use the Ones and expand the set up through your home
@@Milan-cf1xe if you google sonos optimo you'll see sonos have already registered patents for new designs of rear speakers that have upward firing Atmos ability
I have the 990B and am super happy with it. Dolby Atmos through Apple TV 4k and Spatial Audio via apple Music are phenomenal. I have no problem at all with the rear speakers disconnecting.
Hy bro,I watched your video about samsung q990 before buying the soundbar and after watching I really make sure that I will definitely buy this product. Now almost one month has gone and i really happy with this 😊. Thanks for deeply view .
Take a look at the Q930b guys, it's definitely like 95% of a Q990b for 65% of the price and I have had zero connectivity issues with mine with about 20 feet spacing between the units.
The Q930b has the same subwoofer as last years Q950a so is no where near as good as the Q990B sub. I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there like yourself that are super happy with the performance of the Q930b and would be worth saving the money for them. Thanks for pointing that out James.
@@archwaytech q930b is a wise choice, the new subwoofer is not worth the price. Even website rtings mentions that there is a small difference in q990b and q930b but the price says otherwise. I myself got the q930b and Dolby Atmos is amazing, so guys if you pick q930b trust me, it s the best price for what you get.
@@haisitir Yeah it's a pretty amazing value. Right now @ Best Buy the Q990b is $1900 USD, the Q930b is $1100 USD. I realize the Q930b is a Best Buy exclusive so this may not be applicable to all geographies. But it's totally worth the savings. You are not getting $800 USD more performance with the Q990b. Don't take my word for it. Look at the reviews. It's not about saving money. I could have bought the Q990b. But it wasn't worth the extra money. If it was the reviews would reflect that. Samsung really changed the game this year where the one-step-down Q930b is not a compromise like the 2021 models. Let's be honest, at $1900 I could buy a discreet system with AVR, stacked Atmos speakers and dual subs.
If you want to connect Apple TV 4K to the soundbar for Atmos music, you can be sure the Samsung Q990B is king in the market. Classical music sounds like being played in a concert hall with Alac Atmos. The videos are sharp pass through. Go for the Samsung for having more HDMI inputs, Wifi and Bt.
I got the Sonos arc and I loved it was the best system I ever had. The only complaint I had with it was the back speakers were just so quiet or just didn’t really give off the sound or quality. I want it. I ended up with turning it because I heard the Samsung is better. I will be getting a Samsung and a week delivered to me. I hope it’s as good as the Sonos ark.
I am on the same boat waiting for Q990B to arrive next week while I pack my Sonos Arc and try to sell it. Btw I got mine for 1099 new how much did you pay?
I recently bought the sonos arc with sub and ones. I did not realize till today that I was playing only stereo pcm 2.0 output. I googled and checked few TH-cam videos to make changes to my samsung frame settings and streaming content. Now the sonos plays Dolby atmos and the output is amazing. The rear speakers are not quiet. Also make sure it is not in ambient mode and use the true play for calibration
I had aQ990b, rear right would not connect at all, spent an age with Samsung and eventually they decided to exchange but as the call centre is abroad and they had me with no box, spent lots of emails and calls going back and forth, never buy direct, they are a nightmare Supposedly a new one will come in around a week but I wonder if they will happen without a chase, the front and sub sounded good, impressive considering they replaced a dali Ikon Mk2 5.1 setup. Samsung have no idea how far the speakers can be from the soundbar, ideal mounting heights and as is said on whre, they don't have or recommend brackets but luckily fairly standard ones work fine. Powet Leads with the rears are short, longer replacements are easily available, if you need more than about 1.5 metres length to the plug, get them ordered up (one for each rear), same with the sub Disappointing that when connected to the TV via hdmi, the spundbar does not give a picture output, seems a good way to let you toggle the settings and see what speakers are connected, the pioneer AV receiver I ran did this and it was 10 years old, the LED screen on the spundbar is woeful and this would have been an easy win Connect wireless for atmos with some tvs to include Samsung BUT thats dolby digital atmos, not Dolby True HD atmos, if you are using TV and streaming you'll only get the digital version so the WiFi setup is OK, but blurays have dolby true HD so use the HDMI to TV to get the extra bitrate The Samsung when paired with a higher end Samsung TV offers a function that uses the TV and soundbar together but its a bit of a marketing ploy, if you set it up like that and then pull the power from the soundbar, you'll hear some very quiet muffled audio from the TV and in truth, I can't imagine its noticeable when the spundbar is playing, thats just my opinion based on the S95b
You do realize Samsung has an app that lets you do all of that correct ? All of the top tier sound bars utilize apps for settings . Sonos Samsung Sony etc …. Also like you said “wireless atmost” is stupid and to use the tv as a centre channel is also stupid doesn’t give u an advantage at all .
@@sinjb6206 samsung app is fairly basic, does not show if rears are not connected or set up the sound test. Suprised they don't use the phone mic for sound test to allow them to have a mic in rhe listening position
A year later, I think you really have to consider upgrading the surrounds to the Era 300's they are expensive but add a whole new dimension to the sound. Both the Samsung and Sonos are very good, but in terms of listening to music, particularly the better Atmos mixes, Sonos is the better choice. Probably the choice will depend on whether you prefer either Music or movies.
Hi! Is Samsung Q990b suitable for listening music, i mean can deliver hi-fi quality via Wi-Fi or optical (Tidal Hi-fi?). And the satelites can play în the same time with the bar? I want stereo music, with clear sound and very low and meaty bass. Can Q990b deliver that?
Does it matter that the Q990B is only HDMI 2.0 and not 2.1? I want to pair this with my 2022 LG C2 with my Xbox series X. Will I still get all the bells and whistles? (Dolby vision/Atmos 4k 120fps)?
So, how is the bass and sound with no sub or rear speakers? My current system has both. It isn’t the quality of the Sonos, but will I be missing a lot without them?
With the Samsung non existent it uses the sub for all mid and lows mostly it seems but it supposed to used as a whole unit. Haven't tried Sonos but the store demo seemed to have ok bass without the sub.
Just FYI: Samsung uses 5.8 GHz Wifi and NOT Bluetooth to connect the speakers to the main unit. Indeed, the q990b suffers from disconnection issues though - same as q950t (2020 model). The only bar which seems stable, is 2021 q950a. So I would go for that over q990b or sonos!:)
The 2021 model Samsung bars have that horrible cloth cover and top facing status indicator which is horrible. The 2022 models definitely solved those issues. Only caveat is if you press the button to disable the mic there's a persistent red led staring at you, but most people I would think would want to leave the mic on for Space Fit +. Have been rocking the Q930b for a month now and not a single issue at all. Been solid since first pairing. Approximately 20 feet between surrounds and sub/bar at opposite end of area.
Thanks Clemi for pointing that out. I tested 3 Q950a units last year and they all had connection issues but that may have been fixed by now. Samsung really need to get that issue sorted asap. It shouldn't be happening with a product of that price tag.
I have the Q950A and reading all these comments on the Q990B’s connection issues, I was surprised that I didn’t have a problem (touchwood) However the Smarthings App does fail occasionally.
@@spaceodds1985 when screening through forums like AVforums or reddit, I never read of disconnection issues with the q950a. However they are full of reports about q950t and q990b! Be happy that you made a good choice and picked the 950a. How long have you been using it so far?
I used JBL 9.1 more than two years now I bought samsung Q990B and found that it is an amazing soundbar. Really Dolby Atmos is perfect with big sub woofer produse heavy and deep bass. I would say that it is best soundbar in this world in that price..
@@archwaytech Nice answer, thanx for the honest truth. There definitely is something appealing about sonos and building up a whole home system, which I'm definitely going to do if I ever finally get to move house 🤞🏽 Your channel's brilliant by the way, I always look forward to new videos 😉👍🏽
Hello. What wireless setup do you recomend for a small living room(18m2)in a flat (with neighbours) . The prices are Sonos arc : 600 $ ,one sl: 180$ or era100: 280$ Sonos beam 2: 400$, sub mini : 450$, one sl: 180$ or era100: 280$ Q930b : 550$ Q990b: 750$ I want to use it for streaming music, movies from platforms, xbox. What to you recomend for that money. Thank you
I have the full SONOS set up. The larger sound stage and audio processing is what puts it above the 990 for me. No doubt the 990 is more powerful but having the ability to upgrade the Sonos with bigger/better rears in future and expand the set up throughout the home means the Sonos won't become redundant in 12 months like the 990 will.
@@sinjb6206 I have to confess I was seriously considering buying one of the two but was lucky enough to win the Sonos complete set up through my employer.
One thing I hate about the 990b is that the soundbar itself has no midrange or bass without the sub. I mean my oled tv has more bass. It make the sound seem hollow when you have a boomy sub and no midrange.
The main soundbar unit isn’t designed to give you low frequencies… that’s the subwoofer’s job. I found the mids and highs on my Q990b to be really good but this soundbar isn’t for everyone.
Yeah it's pretty noticable during certain things. The bar itself has no mids really at all, I know it's not supposed to but it's pretty off putting. I have the sub behind the couch maybe that's why but can't use under the tv.
With the ongoing issues with Sonos and the Samsung 990c currently on sale for $949 (as of August 29), is it time to sell my Sonos Arc, a pair of Era 300s, and Sonos Sub Mini?
You can get the Samsung 990b set in Germany with corperate benefits (your company must obviously offer that benefit) for 811€ - whereas it’s very difficult to get the Sonos system under 2000€….
The comparison is a bit silly, no? The Q990B is 930 euro here and the Sonos Arc + 2x Era 300 + Sub g3 is 2449 euro. Obviously I would go for the Q990B or the Q990C
I wasn't looking at anything in particular just gathering my thoughts. I bullet pointed the Sound Quality section and scripted the rest of the video. I'm trying to get better with my presentation skills. 😀
Hi Archway Tech, I have the complete Bose 900 Setup with Bass and rears. Now i bought a New Samsung TV with Q Synphony. Do you think the New Samsung Q995B Soundbar fits and sounds better then the bose System?
Hi Patrik. I like the Q990B more than the Bose 900. I think the Q990B is more well rounded and will work really good with a new Samsung TV. I haven't tried this years implementation of Q-Symphony but hopfully that's been improved over previous generations.
Hey guys, I would like to upgrade my soundbar to LG C2. The current model is an olded samsung and since I upgraded my TV, the Samsung soundbar is just not communicating well with my LG TV. Often the bass is too loud, even if I manually lower, room is shaking but barely can hear people talking. On my previous QLED the samsung was wokring well, but with LG just cannot get in line. My question is, can I go for Q990C for my C2 or better option is SONOS ARC ?
My only gripe with the q990b is that it always defaults to adaptive sound. I’m constantly selecting surround. I do this every time I put on my tv. Other than that, I like it so far. Tomorrow I’ll be receiving a few 4k UHD movies.
@@Milan-cf1xe I’m not really feeling the hype for this soundbar. It’s okay. I did play some 4k Blu-rays. The sound was better, but still not impressive. I moved my 4k player to my 5.1 system that are separates and I’ll be leaving it there. Maybe change my av processor to Atmos and add front height speakers in the near future. For a soundbar in my bedroom, I like it fine though. For my main viewing I’ll take my 5.1 always.
I would totally buy a real 5.1 setup but I have a really small bedroom without the space for the left front and right speakers, so it has to be a soundbar
@@Milan-cf1xe My bedroom is pretty big, actually very big and probably would sound better than my home theater since my family room is in an open concept, but I also have a music room with a lot of gear and can’t justify the cost of separates, hence the Q990b in bedroom.
In my country now it is sale for hw-q800b with 450€, hw-q930b with 603€ and hw-q990b for 803€. What you recommended? I buy lg G2 and want good audio for movies and music also
I find dialogue kind of hard to hear on 990b when I have to watch movies / shows on lower volume. Action and music is too loud and dialogue seems muffled. Any channel setting recommendations without using the voice enhancement feature? Not sure why, don’t like it
There seems like a little bias towards sonos. I have had both. Sonos in my theatre room and samsung q950a in my living room with open layout. I just sold the sonos system for a dedicated system and upgraded samsung to 990b. Apart from the disconnection issue in the beginning I found the samsung to be better sound quality. Samsung was much better with atmos even with an open layout. This was q950a. Q990b is only better and with more refined bass. Where I live it's a nobrainer to go with samsung because sonos it 2.5x to 3x the cost when bought with rears and sub.
Thanks for your comment. I was going to get a sonos when i saw this review, but their price was too high compared with the Q990B which I just got for AUD$1200! - (cosmetic damaged carton factory second)
I finally heard the HTA9 in person: Excellent 360 sound but was overall underwhelmed, max loudness was too low and lacked the soundstage. Good idea but maybe the HTA11 or 12 might be the one to buy when it comes out and is more refined...it didn't seem worth spending the extra money for it. Ended up getting the 990b and so far very impressive 10/10
I havent heard the samsung yet but I love the BEAM gen2. My TV only has a standard ARC connection (Sony XBR-65x900F). When I use my sonos Beam Gen 2, I get an audio lag when I play my Xbox using the ARC. I am worried that this will be the issue if I buy and ARC/Sub/SL1's etc. Is an EARC connection required to keep this audio lag from happening? My current fix is plugging the xbox directly into my current soundbar which I am looking to replace (LG SK10Y)
At the moment the 990b is on sale in the Netherlands for just 788euro. That is lots cheaper then the sonos system. The design of the samsung keeps me away from buying... if they only had a white version... 😅
Very dissatisfied with the Q990B, did a bass test and returned it the following day, I'm glad I did not sell the Q950B as it sounds fantastic. The bass from the Q990B sub is extremely boomy, and my listening area is acoustically treated so I can imagine how bad it must sound in an untreated room. The Q950B sub sounds tight and punchy, with or without acoustic treatment. Will be keeping an eye out for the newly announced JBL 1000 bar, hoping it sounds more refined than the 9.1 bar.
@@clemensrausch23 2020 model actually, I started truly enjoying it in 2021 since the firmware updates released till that time patched most of the loose ends, in my case it was the rears randomly disconnecting, never had another issue since the final firmware release.
@@Braconara1981 also had the q950t. Mine still had drop outs after the 2021 update and also the rears or sub would play dead every once in a while… no issues with q950a whatsoever
No comparison in my opinion. The Samsung is way ahead of the Sonus, more connections, decoding formats, and everything is included and it's less. I think using music for audio comparison isn't a great idea as most buying soundbars are using them for movies. I'm picking up a 990 this weekend as my 950T had some issues so the store I purchased from is giving me a straight up swap. The 950 blew away my Pioneer/Polk 7.1 system, by a huge margin, I was surprised actually and I've been involved in audio professionally and as a consumer for 30 years.
Hi Why Sonos speakers and sound bars have too many connection issues? This is a very common complain with these speakers. I’ve read many threads in the Sonos community that there are many unhappy customers who bought this Arc or any other Sonos device and the sistem gets so unstable that there is nothing that works to address these issues, and that the Sonos technical support is not helpful. Which troubleshooting steps for Sonos issues are the ones that effectively work for everyone? I’m experiencing most of these issues like the music cutting out with my Sonos Roam and I’m not able to address them, but especially, the Sonos Arc, for its price, it should be errors free, maybe we don’t have enough patience to deal with Sonos networking issues and Wireless interference, that’s stressful! We buy our Sonos speakers to enjoy the content, not to be dealing with Wireless interference
Thank you for your sound test files. Bought bouth of them and now I know for certain which one I like better. If you could make a sound test file for the Sony HT-A7000 + SW5 + SA-RS3/5 I would buy it on the spot! Right now I'm debating between Sony and the winner from your sound test files :D
Heard both in store and at home and the q990b is way better in sound quality and specialy with atmos the q990b sounds like a cinema all the details 💥💯💥 the total price of the arc with rears and sub is just crazy 🥸
I recently bought q990b , so far never got disconnected even once but I see in reviews some people mentioned about it . May be they fixed with firmware ? . So far it never got disconnected, well I bought it pretty recently
You’re paying for the name with Sonos. Q990D can be found for as low as $900 and often lower for previous year models. Unless you already have a Sonos ecosystem, I really see no reason to shell out more than double what you can get with the q990 series.
I like bass, which the Samsung lacks at...but in terms of Atmos performance, the Samsung wins hands down it's not even close. I have the Sonos system, and it sounds great just wish the Atmos actually worked.
"Premium PLASTICS" LOL. Q700B is the best bang for the buck. Sounded great in the store. Much better than the Q600. No worse than the Q800 at nearly half the price. You reach a point of diminishing returns with these things. If I were going to drop a grand or more, I would just buy an AV with real speakers.
Saying that Sonos Arc's rears are better than Samsung just proves how much of a Sonos fanboy you are it really is dependant on the room and speaker placement but 9 out of 10 Samsung will beat Sonos 1v1 on any comparisson sonos only gets points for the more tight and controlled Bass everything else Samsung does much much better Dolby Atmos is uncomparable between the 2 Samsung is ages ahead.
Hey Team, If you wanted to grab the Sound Test File I put together you can do so here: geni.us/SamsungVSSonos
Please include Nakamichi Dragon.
Hi I RETURNED my Sonos Arc with one surround and base module for the Q990b and I couldn’t be happier. Sonos lacked the detailed sounds in movies and I found myself adjusting the settings all the time and having to adjust the volume to hear people talk and decreasing volume during action scenes, with the Q990b I don’t have to do that, great sound, clear vocals very happy with it.
Before their last firmware update my Sonos arc was excellent....
@@WRX2001 agree, latest update has made sonos worse and I've dual subs yet bass is way lower!
Same here, I sold my #Sonos Arc for Q990B I'm happy 😊
Guys, Q990 really good? Please advice..
how is the sound quality compared to the Sonos in the field of music
I've recently bought the Samsung q990b and its absolutely amazing, go for it won't regret.
It sadly won't fit on my TV cabinet. I have a 65 inch Sony Z9F TV and there is about 116 cm space between the legs at the largest distance, but it's diagonal and closes inwards so even if there was enough space it still wouldn't fit. Something else I could do is put the TV backwards as much as possible, but that leaves about 8 centimeters open on the front. The Samsung requires almost 14 cm depth, so it would stick out in front by about 6 cm. It's a shame, but I'm not willing to buy a new TV cabinet just to fit this soundbar (or a bigger TV so it does fit between the legs).
Hi bro how's the bass my tv hall is very big.
In Malaysia, the Sonos with this configuration goes for USD 2378 (as of today) and the Samsung Q990B goes for USD 892! This HUGE price difference and close enough performance as reviewed here, made choosing the Q990B a no brainer. A lot one can do with almost USD1500 saved.
Just highlighting how much some Samsung AV products varies in price worldwide.
Yeah, the price varies hugely depending on where you live. Good choice!
Indeed. That’s a shockingly low price for the Samsung Q990B, compared to what it sells for in the US.
Right in Thailand Samsung Q980B goes for 689 USD; amazing sound with this price
Might have to fly to Malaysia now
In India also Q990b is much cheaper
Sonos is very good. The problem is the cost. Biggest factor in deciding what to buy. I would go for Samsung system, especially if you have a Samsung TV.
It's nice getting a in my opinion this sounds better then this one and I asked my Father in Law so must be right.
I have the Samsung Q990B after I looked at a host of SOundbars set up at an Audio retailer, I didn't buy the SOundbar from the store as it was a retail store and I never pay retail.
After listening and having three other customers also listening as they were also looking at sound bars.
Out of all the under $2000AU Soundbars, guess which was 100% the best as far as the four of us standing in a large media room, this Company had four media rooms all set up for different Sound and Picture systems, Laser TV as well as projectors and multi speaker systems and Soundbars.
Was lots to listen to as well as watch in as close to real world scenarios.
Now considering I ended up getting the Samsung for $1350 delivered and the closest the Sonos could get was over $2000, which not only put it so far out of contention that it couldn't be even considered to be on par to the Samsung.
Now if even one or two of the people listening to the Atmos demo had mentioned the Arc I would have listened more and tried some other tests, but the only system that anyone mentioned as all of us did was one way more expensive and so I would expect it to sound better.
Since the Sonos really didn't sound any better on the same demo disc and possibly had we used what you listened to, then maybe we would have agreed with you.
I have had my Samsung now for a month and can say I am very pleased with my choice and considering it replaced a 5.1 Yamaha system that cost over three times the price, even my Wife was happy :).
The one other very nice push towards the Samsung was the fact that I had a Samsung 85inch Qled that I had only bought one month earlier and the advantages of the remote as well as working in conjunction with the TV speakers and other benefits, there really was nothing that gave the Sonos even the slightest chance of being a sensible choice.
Now had I had a different model TV and the sound bars had been near the same price, I still would have bought the Samsung as it had much better connections and it's ability to work with my Smart home was just another tick.
But thank you for your Video as I am sure it will still help others to have a better idea of which to buy once they look at pricing as $700 buys an Xbox or Playstation to connect to the Soundbar ;)
I just sold my SONOS Arc, for Samsung Q990B and I'm really Happy because it supports DTS-X
Just bought 990b and its awesome. Believe me you wont regret it.
When changing the volume do you get the volume indicator on the TV? I've got the Bose 900 and it doesn't and that's super annoying 🤦.
I have the q800b Samsung. Amazing sound quality 👌 pure home cinema sound. Lots of features. The bass is totally beautiful 😍 🤩
In my country in Romania, i have bought the Samsung Q930B for only 380 american dollars. Such an amazing price for this incredible audio system. The Q990B was 805$. Could not justify the price difference between them because I don’t think it’s a lot of difference in terms of bass/audio quality.
I bought the Samsung Q990 soundbar because of the good reviews. This is my first surround soundbar but the surround is stunning and very balanced. Beautiful bass, clear voices and sparkling background sounds. I do have the impression that the soundbar should be used with a (recent) Samsung TV. I am thinking, for example, of some extra functionalities (Wifi, QSymphony) that come with the Soundbar. The supplied manuals are rather concise, it is better to consult the online manuals for a detailed explanation. It is not suitable for use with my TV (Sony Bravia KDL 42WXXXX ). I run into too many latency issues with the sound for that. As long as everything runs via the ARC-eARC HDMI cable, everything seems to run nicely synchronously. Every time I try to play with my Telenet digicorder via the HDMI port (in) of the TV or the soundbar, sync problems arise with the sound. Especially when fast forwarding Telenet recordings or skipping from watching TV to recordings. The problem can then only be solved by deactivating/reactivating HDMI ports.
Is it still working ok? I am considering the Q700B. It is only $377- any thoughts? If I use my DVD player, will I have sync issues?
Particularly Sony TVs don't work well with Samsung soundbars or any other soundbar. They also have a big problem with reading hard drives. When you plug in a hard drive, it can take 20mins to read. Sony has very good OLED panels but that's not good enough. In fact, Hisense interacts with other devices far much better than Sony
@@yvanokuba1649 tvs arent the things thatvprocess sound...they process picture??? Hookup your soundbar correctly to the media center and not TV..that point you made was completely moot and maybe..def... dont know what you are doing. Try again the right way.
How does it compare with being in a theater
@@dosomestuff1949 so i DID exactly that comparison a couple weeks ago when I saw john wick 4 in a well respected city theater. Ummm, my q950a sounded better if not the same..i was ready to be blown away by the theater as now I spent almost the 2gs on a soundbar system and another $2,000 on a great 65' TV...sooooo...I had an eye and ear for quality..buuuttttt..I was not impressed...this sound system in a persons living room is the same if not better than a theater at a mall etc....Inwas sooo blown away at the move thinking this sounds idwnticslnif not worse at times than my freaking middle class loving room system. I also have a real full year 2000 DTS 5.1 surround sound homentheater set up w reciever in man cave and it is garbage next to this. Wish another man gave me advice that I tell you now years ago
Thanks for your reviews. Overall the 990 and arc sound amazing either way you go. Now that I have owned both I can compare the sound quality from both. The Base on the 990 actually made my walls and fireplace glass cover rattle. This did not happen on the arc (maybe I needed to turn the volume up). Testing the sound of the arc seems to project better than the 990 even though I did not purchase the one sl for the arc. Also audio from people talking is a bit more clear. My living room is about 17ft x 15ft x 12ft. I ended up returning the 990 for the arc due to a few weird issues I was having. The first one may be only related to ios users but I am an iPhone user and notice the Smartthings app crashes a lot. This is annoying and made it that I rather adjust the settings, eq and etc via the remote than the app. The second issue was that with Bluetooth or airplay through my phone to the 990, it would say that it's playing music but no audio would come out. The app setup was really easy on the Sonos but the Samsung Smartthings app wasn't hard. I did have trouble using the Smartthings app to update the 990 as it would update after multiple attempts.
I tried the qb990b and started having the rear left speaker issue after 3 days. They sound great when they work but the disconnect issue is terrible. Samsung support is very bad too and I got no help from them and landed up returning it. Sonos just works and sounds great. Music is better and and it is a bit more expensive ($200 more during Black Friday) but worth the lesser hassles I think
You based you surround sound on your cell phone..this is what is wrong nowadays...too many indoor cats...phones have 0 to do w watching movies ins surround sound!!! Holy sh#@..are you for real..live in LA or NYC???
If you have big QLED Samsung the Q symphony make the difference because you use speakers from the TV too and the sound is crazy....
Just bought the Samsung Q99B for 900 bucks from their sale. Can't beat that price to be honest
I replaced my Nakamichi 7.2.4 with the Sonos Arc, dual Gen 3 subs, and Sonos Fives are rear surrounds for my LG OLED 77C1. I was already invested into the Sonos ecosystem with two Beam Gen 1s, two Gen 3 subs, and One SLs or Symfonisks bookshelf for rears for my Office and master bedroom OLEDs. I like the ease of use, whole house audio, ability to add additional speakers when watching TV, sound quality, and being able to upgrade and repurpose individual components.
I got the Q990B a few weeks ago from VideoOnly here in California for $999. It's awesome, I haven't had any disconnect issues that has been mentioned a few times.
Great choice! and for an awesome price too!!
HI IS VIDEO ONLY HERE IN CALIFORNIA A STORE OR ONLINE STORE?
What is the manufacture date?
Alright.
I’ve felt compelled to go back and make comment on my Samsung 990c.
I’ve owned it for a couple of months now and wondered what the hype was about.
Movies sound pretty good.
I’ve often found myself looking around the room with rear/side noise.
I’m at home now and audioslave like a stone came on my TH-cam account so I gave it a bit of a fistful.
I dialed it all the way up and I must say it’s fucking loud and pretty clear.
It seemed to do it reasonably comfortable too.
My ears a still ringing slightly so that’s a pretty fine effort out of a soundbar.
I’m actually baffled how no one is reviewing the 930b considering it’s price point and performance, this is by far the best bar you can currently buy imo.
Expect for the Q990B wich is a better one then the Q930B since it’s more extensive then it
@@keesdekoning4878 The price! You can find the whole Q930B bar + sub + rears on sale for around 350 USD! And that sound bar performs within 95% of the Q990B! Same build quality and materials too.
@@happychappy2014 yeah where you finding the 930B for 350 US?
@@ilanstylz I have the same question... they are ~ $1100 + everywhere I've looked??
I just bought the 990C for $756 through an EPP discount direct with Samsung. Essentially 1/3 of the Sonos Arc setup. I own the Arc with sub in our living room and love it. The Samsung will be in my finished basement.
Send me link where did you buy because it not available
This really wonderfully done. Thank you! I have sonos everywhere - buying the Samsung Sound bar for my mom because of this video!
Sonos really needs the upfiring rears to compete with the Samsung. I swapped my Sonos for the Samsung as got fed up with them not adding DTS:HD/X or new rears. I also had the Sony HT-A9 but that went back as the center was far too weak.
In your review you say to whack the Samsung up to +6 on all the channels. I can tell everyone don't do this, it will make the soundbar far worse and you will lose so many details, especially on the phantom sides. If you can get a SPL meter and tune the channels to the same volume, this bar really performs miles better and you will hear a lot more virtual sound than before.
Yup (are you DJ Simmz on avsforums?) I calibrated it with a $25 SPL and holy cow, the sound stage goes from very good to absolutely amazing. Immersion. Detail. That one feature of being able to adjust the channels manually is maybe the best reason in its favor over other premium soundbar products.
Hi this sounds like great advice, could you advise on what volume I should calibrate too?
well sonos is releasing upfiring rears soon
@@ernied3050 will they cost more than the One SL? Because right now the Samsung costs 1000€ and full Arc setup 1600€. Then the Sonos setup would be more expensive
@@Milan-cf1xe I think it will cost. To be honest ...if you are worried about price buy something at your budget. ..I am recommending people cheaper alternatives in general lol unless they have so much flexibility in the pocket
I have both the Q990B and the Arc with two surrounds. Im currently torn something rotten which to keep. the Sonos when playing audio is by far the best in class, when you crank out sound via the app the full range of audio from the Sonos and its surrounds is incredible and of course it integrates with the existing sonos setup perfectly.
The Samsung sounds a little flatter but what is driving me up the wall is the lack of audio from the rear speakers. considering it has three of them per unit its a shame that it wont utilise them to fill the room. Instead you get some pseudo channel splitting jiggery pokery which if im honest simply isnt what i want to hear. If i wanted that id find Atmos Music.
But that being said, the Samsung does produce better TV/Movie audio, i dont find myself fiddling with the audio anywhere near as much as the Sonos which was a constant battle to keep right.
The other thing that annoyed me with Sonos is that their blatant disregard of Android users and worse, even if you do buy a cheap Apple iphone to set it up, they then deprecate support for older phones literally forcing me to continue to purchase iphones every year or so as they cut support, its literally a subscription service to Apple at this point,
I think I am going to keep the Samsung but i do so reluctantly. Sonos has the potential to fix its issues (iphone, DTS-X and EQ / audio setup) but given that its been years since its release i expect its not going to change any time soon.
Now i just need to add more speakers to the room for listening to music....
You can adjust the rear speakers to output more volume.
With the 990b, if you use the phone app, you can set the system to adaptive sound and space fit sound. This will make the system utilize all of the speakers to fill the room. It sounds amazing. It's not like a multi channel stereo, so you will still get your dolby atmos effects.
when you use the sonos app to play audio, the rear speakers are LOUD they operate as seperate speakers, the audio would be just as loud in the rear as the soundbar. Ive setup the 990b to to adaptive but the level of audio is what id call supportive of the overall soundbar as opposed to fully fledged sound in its own right. if i play audio from the TV via the sonos then the effect is similar to the samsung, full audio from the SB but the rears are quieter and more supportive. its just when you use the Sonos app the rears will turn it up to 11.
Considering (at least where I am) the Sonos arc full system is more than double the 990b, it is a no-brainer.
Man, I just got my Q990b a few days ago for $1050 AUD!
So happy with it
Where did you buy it for that price?
Amazing video. I enjoy watching your TH-cam channel. I own the Sonos Arc with dual Gen 3 subs and play ones for rears speakers (5.2.2)I’m truly happy with my setup. I went with Sonos because you can add a second subwoofer. Both soundbars are amazing but I feel you have more opportunity to upgrade with the Sonos. For example, you can use different Sonos surround speakers (like the Sonos 5s) with the Sonos or use 3rd party surround speakers (need to purchase the Sonos amp to hook them up). So if you have ceiling speakers and want to hook it up to a sound bar…. Then Sonos is the best way to go.
Cheers Jamie 😄 Yeah, Sonos gives you more flexibility as to which speakers you pair together to fit your room and listening preference.
Not to mention the upcoming "Optimo" range SONOS speakers which will replace the Five and One. They'll have upward firing Atmos. Easy upgrade opportunity for a lot of set ups. Plus you can still keep/use the Ones and expand the set up through your home
@@elliotstjohn6109 where did you get that Info from?
@@Milan-cf1xe if you google sonos optimo you'll see sonos have already registered patents for new designs of rear speakers that have upward firing Atmos ability
@@elliotstjohn6109 yes I checked it in the meantime. They gonna be expensive right? Whats your guess 600 bucks?
14.12 update on Sonos app was a huge mess and so was 14.14, patience is wearing thin...I'll def switch if they don't fix things by next update
Hey Team, If price didn’t matter which of these Soundbars would you get?
Plz review the LG s95qr. Thanks
@@AnimeWorld-dd2tm It's coming 😀
I have the 990B and am super happy with it. Dolby Atmos through Apple TV 4k and Spatial Audio via apple Music are phenomenal. I have no problem at all with the rear speakers disconnecting.
Hy bro,I watched your video about samsung q990 before buying the soundbar and after watching I really make sure that I will definitely buy this product. Now almost one month has gone and i really happy with this 😊. Thanks for deeply view .
Samsung since it doesnt dependant on having an iphone to use it
Take a look at the Q930b guys, it's definitely like 95% of a Q990b for 65% of the price and I have had zero connectivity issues with mine with about 20 feet spacing between the units.
The Q930b has the same subwoofer as last years Q950a so is no where near as good as the Q990B sub. I'm sure there will be plenty of people out there like yourself that are super happy with the performance of the Q930b and would be worth saving the money for them. Thanks for pointing that out James.
@@archwaytech q930b is a wise choice, the new subwoofer is not worth the price. Even website rtings mentions that there is a small difference in q990b and q930b but the price says otherwise. I myself got the q930b and Dolby Atmos is amazing, so guys if you pick q930b trust me, it s the best price for what you get.
@@haisitir Yeah it's a pretty amazing value. Right now @ Best Buy the Q990b is $1900 USD, the Q930b is $1100 USD. I realize the Q930b is a Best Buy exclusive so this may not be applicable to all geographies. But it's totally worth the savings. You are not getting $800 USD more performance with the Q990b. Don't take my word for it. Look at the reviews. It's not about saving money. I could have bought the Q990b. But it wasn't worth the extra money. If it was the reviews would reflect that. Samsung really changed the game this year where the one-step-down Q930b is not a compromise like the 2021 models. Let's be honest, at $1900 I could buy a discreet system with AVR, stacked Atmos speakers and dual subs.
I got my 930b for £670 well worth the price, and atmos is very good on this bar.
I just got the q990b for 1200 on amazon
In my country I can find the Samsung Q990C at the equivalent of 900$. Now I know which one to get 🙌
If you want to connect Apple TV 4K to the soundbar for Atmos music, you can be sure the Samsung Q990B is king in the market. Classical music sounds like being played in a concert hall with Alac Atmos. The videos are sharp pass through. Go for the Samsung for having more HDMI inputs, Wifi and Bt.
I want the Samsung sound bar but I am too worried about the rear speakers disconnecting
I recently bought q990 , so far didn't had issue of disconnecting , it didn't disconnect not even once so far
@@KarthikKesiraju i bought it a couple months ago and it has been amazing!! Totally recommend it
I got the Sonos arc and I loved it was the best system I ever had. The only complaint I had with it was the back speakers were just so quiet or just didn’t really give off the sound or quality. I want it. I ended up with turning it because I heard the Samsung is better. I will be getting a Samsung and a week delivered to me. I hope it’s as good as the Sonos ark.
I am on the same boat waiting for Q990B to arrive next week while I pack my Sonos Arc and try to sell it. Btw I got mine for 1099 new how much did you pay?
rears are not quiet , depends on content ...Also if you dont want it to be subtle increase the volume.
I recently bought the sonos arc with sub and ones. I did not realize till today that I was playing only stereo pcm 2.0 output. I googled and checked few TH-cam videos to make changes to my samsung frame settings and streaming content. Now the sonos plays Dolby atmos and the output is amazing. The rear speakers are not quiet. Also make sure it is not in ambient mode and use the true play for calibration
@kaivitipower I saw that same deal from ebay and I'm really considering replacing my full sonos setup.
@@ddkim619 it’s a good deal but if you wait past January it may be lower since it’ll be a 2021 product
I had aQ990b, rear right would not connect at all, spent an age with Samsung and eventually they decided to exchange but as the call centre is abroad and they had me with no box, spent lots of emails and calls going back and forth, never buy direct, they are a nightmare
Supposedly a new one will come in around a week but I wonder if they will happen without a chase, the front and sub sounded good, impressive considering they replaced a dali Ikon Mk2 5.1 setup.
Samsung have no idea how far the speakers can be from the soundbar, ideal mounting heights and as is said on whre, they don't have or recommend brackets but luckily fairly standard ones work fine. Powet Leads with the rears are short, longer replacements are easily available, if you need more than about 1.5 metres length to the plug, get them ordered up (one for each rear), same with the sub
Disappointing that when connected to the TV via hdmi, the spundbar does not give a picture output, seems a good way to let you toggle the settings and see what speakers are connected, the pioneer AV receiver I ran did this and it was 10 years old, the LED screen on the spundbar is woeful and this would have been an easy win
Connect wireless for atmos with some tvs to include Samsung BUT thats dolby digital atmos, not Dolby True HD atmos, if you are using TV and streaming you'll only get the digital version so the WiFi setup is OK, but blurays have dolby true HD so use the HDMI to TV to get the extra bitrate
The Samsung when paired with a higher end Samsung TV offers a function that uses the TV and soundbar together but its a bit of a marketing ploy, if you set it up like that and then pull the power from the soundbar, you'll hear some very quiet muffled audio from the TV and in truth, I can't imagine its noticeable when the spundbar is playing, thats just my opinion based on the S95b
You do realize Samsung has an app that lets you do all of that correct ? All of the top tier sound bars utilize apps for settings . Sonos Samsung Sony etc …. Also like you said “wireless atmost” is stupid and to use the tv as a centre channel is also stupid doesn’t give u an advantage at all .
@@sinjb6206 samsung app is fairly basic, does not show if rears are not connected or set up the sound test. Suprised they don't use the phone mic for sound test to allow them to have a mic in rhe listening position
Happy we went with the Q990B! Also got the rear speaker stands that you recommended. Thanks!
Awesome! That's a great setup!!
which stands are these? i'm in australia and we have to import shit through amazon.
A year later, I think you really have to consider upgrading the surrounds to the Era 300's they are expensive but add a whole new dimension to the sound. Both the Samsung and Sonos are very good, but in terms of listening to music, particularly the better Atmos mixes, Sonos is the better choice. Probably the choice will depend on whether you prefer either Music or movies.
Hi! Is Samsung Q990b suitable for listening music, i mean can deliver hi-fi quality via Wi-Fi or optical (Tidal Hi-fi?). And the satelites can play în the same time with the bar? I want stereo music, with clear sound and very low and meaty bass. Can Q990b deliver that?
Does it matter that the Q990B is only HDMI 2.0 and not 2.1? I want to pair this with my 2022 LG C2 with my Xbox series X. Will I still get all the bells and whistles? (Dolby vision/Atmos 4k 120fps)?
You don’t get eARC, so you don’t get the lossless audio and all their formats
Am with Sonos Arc+ surrounds+ 2Subs... 👌👌👌.
Please help Me.. looking for Sound Bar for Movie and Ps5.. should i consider this? My TV support EArc and have Atmos..
Look bro, bottom line, I want to know which one will play Forgot About Dre better. Sonos or Q990B?
Thank you. As I mentioned before, I'm waiting for the Sonos Arc 2. :)
So, how is the bass and sound with no sub or rear speakers? My current system has both. It isn’t the quality of the Sonos, but will I be missing a lot without them?
With the Samsung non existent it uses the sub for all mid and lows mostly it seems but it supposed to used as a whole unit. Haven't tried Sonos but the store demo seemed to have ok bass without the sub.
Just FYI: Samsung uses 5.8 GHz Wifi and NOT Bluetooth to connect the speakers to the main unit. Indeed, the q990b suffers from disconnection issues though - same as q950t (2020 model). The only bar which seems stable, is 2021 q950a. So I would go for that over q990b or sonos!:)
The 2021 model Samsung bars have that horrible cloth cover and top facing status indicator which is horrible. The 2022 models definitely solved those issues. Only caveat is if you press the button to disable the mic there's a persistent red led staring at you, but most people I would think would want to leave the mic on for Space Fit +. Have been rocking the Q930b for a month now and not a single issue at all. Been solid since first pairing. Approximately 20 feet between surrounds and sub/bar at opposite end of area.
Thanks Clemi for pointing that out. I tested 3 Q950a units last year and they all had connection issues but that may have been fixed by now. Samsung really need to get that issue sorted asap. It shouldn't be happening with a product of that price tag.
I have the Q950A and reading all these comments on the Q990B’s connection issues, I was surprised that I didn’t have a problem (touchwood) However the Smarthings App does fail occasionally.
@@spaceodds1985 when screening through forums like AVforums or reddit, I never read of disconnection issues with the q950a. However they are full of reports about q950t and q990b!
Be happy that you made a good choice and picked the 950a. How long have you been using it so far?
I used JBL 9.1 more than two years now I bought samsung Q990B and found that it is an amazing soundbar. Really Dolby Atmos is perfect with big sub woofer produse heavy and deep bass. I would say that it is best soundbar in this world in that price..
Did you have any issues with the disconnection of rear speakers?
@@duveral No not at all. I using since August and didn't have any issue with rear speakers
He's sonos lover for sure :)
Any recommendations for wireless speakers to add for multi room listening?
At this price it looks like the Samsung Q990B is similarly priced as its Klipsche competitor! Which would you go for or advice anyone to go for?🤔🤷🏾♂️
The best question is always though Josh, which will you be using for personal use in the future and why?
I’m sticking with the Sonos for my personal setup as I use the multi room feature and I like the Sonos App better.
@@archwaytech Nice answer, thanx for the honest truth. There definitely is something appealing about sonos and building up a whole home system, which I'm definitely going to do if I ever finally get to move house 🤞🏽
Your channel's brilliant by the way, I always look forward to new videos
😉👍🏽
Thanks Elric for the kind words. 😊
great review! how would you compare 990b with bose 900? just the bar alone
I've heard that the Samsung sound bar is a room rocker. True or false?
Hello. What wireless setup do you recomend for a small living room(18m2)in a flat (with neighbours) . The prices are
Sonos arc : 600 $ ,one sl: 180$ or era100: 280$
Sonos beam 2: 400$, sub mini : 450$, one sl: 180$ or era100: 280$
Q930b : 550$
Q990b: 750$
I want to use it for streaming music, movies from platforms, xbox. What to you recomend for that money. Thank you
Thank you for posting this helpful video
Hi Bro, thanks for your review. You really keep your words to do the comparison. 👍🏼😃
Cheers Terry 😄 Glad you liked it
My TV does not have earc , only arc.
; Can I get Dolby Atmos if connect my fire stick TV Max directly to the soundbar?
Bro plz advice shud i go with BOSE 500 BUNDLE OR SAMSUNG Q990B AS BOTH AT SAME COST IN UAE .PLZ REPLY
I have the full SONOS set up. The larger sound stage and audio processing is what puts it above the 990 for me. No doubt the 990 is more powerful but having the ability to upgrade the Sonos with bigger/better rears in future and expand the set up throughout the home means the Sonos won't become redundant in 12 months like the 990 will.
Value for money though, 990 is definitely where it's at.
Considering that the Samsung goes as low as 1000 dollars and 2 Sonos speakers cost up to 400 is not a big deal
@@sinjb6206 I have to confess I was seriously considering buying one of the two but was lucky enough to win the Sonos complete set up through my employer.
So in a way that compromises my opinion because I actually didn't have to pay anything extra for the SONOS
@@Jean-Luc99 I honestly doubt it.
Is there any way to mount the Samsung under a Wall Mount TV?
Need to test the Sonos again in the new software and truetone
Purchased q990b for 700$ sounds the best out when compared to bose and sonos
What stands do you use for the rears please?
One thing I hate about the 990b is that the soundbar itself has no midrange or bass without the sub. I mean my oled tv has more bass. It make the sound seem hollow when you have a boomy sub and no midrange.
The main soundbar unit isn’t designed to give you low frequencies… that’s the subwoofer’s job. I found the mids and highs on my Q990b to be really good but this soundbar isn’t for everyone.
Yeah it's pretty noticable during certain things. The bar itself has no mids really at all, I know it's not supposed to but it's pretty off putting. I have the sub behind the couch maybe that's why but can't use under the tv.
With the ongoing issues with Sonos and the Samsung 990c currently on sale for $949 (as of August 29), is it time to sell my Sonos Arc, a pair of Era 300s, and Sonos Sub Mini?
What is better sonos arc or sonos beam 2?
You can get the Samsung 990b set in Germany with corperate benefits (your company must obviously offer that benefit) for 811€ - whereas it’s very difficult to get the Sonos system under 2000€….
Just swapped my q990b for the sonos arc due to the Samsung disconnect issue. Samsung internals are faulty...
I should add that their firmware update doesn't solve this issue. Tested it thoroughly these past 3 days
Im surprised you said the sonos rears sounded better considering the samsung rears have upfiring and sidefiring drivers.
This channel rocks!
Thanks man 😊😊
I tested both and buyed at least the Sennheiser Ambeo Max. Not the same price, but whos buying cheap ist buying double
excellent review sir! Helped me make up my mind or sure.
Thanks Keith for the feedback. Happy to help
The comparison is a bit silly, no? The Q990B is 930 euro here and the Sonos Arc + 2x Era 300 + Sub g3 is 2449 euro.
Obviously I would go for the Q990B or the Q990C
There is no Chromecast Audio support for the Q990b.
Once I can control my arc distance and center I would be 100 satisfied. Just sucks Bose allow those features but not Sonos
What’s to the side of the room that you keep looking away at?
I wasn't looking at anything in particular just gathering my thoughts. I bullet pointed the Sound Quality section and scripted the rest of the video. I'm trying to get better with my presentation skills. 😀
Great video 🍻
Hi Archway Tech,
I have the complete Bose 900 Setup with Bass and rears. Now i bought a New Samsung TV with Q Synphony. Do you think the New Samsung Q995B Soundbar fits and sounds better then the bose System?
Hi Patrik. I like the Q990B more than the Bose 900. I think the Q990B is more well rounded and will work really good with a new Samsung TV. I haven't tried this years implementation of Q-Symphony but hopfully that's been improved over previous generations.
@Archway Tech It's hard for me to believe that Samsung should sound better than Bose
@@patrikbiermann3801 Harman Kardon
Had a good listen to a full Sonos system at a friend's, wasnt very impressed, maybe it wasn't setup properly?
Hey guys, I would like to upgrade my soundbar to LG C2. The current model is an olded samsung and since I upgraded my TV, the Samsung soundbar is just not communicating well with my LG TV. Often the bass is too loud, even if I manually lower, room is shaking but barely can hear people talking.
On my previous QLED the samsung was wokring well, but with LG just cannot get in line.
My question is, can I go for Q990C for my C2 or better option is SONOS ARC ?
My only gripe with the q990b is that it always defaults to adaptive sound. I’m constantly selecting surround. I do this every time I put on my tv. Other than that, I like it so far. Tomorrow I’ll be receiving a few 4k UHD movies.
Did you have any issues yet? And how are the 4k movies?
@@Milan-cf1xe I’m not really feeling the hype for this soundbar. It’s okay. I did play some 4k Blu-rays. The sound was better, but still not impressive. I moved my 4k player to my 5.1 system that are separates and I’ll be leaving it there. Maybe change my av processor to Atmos and add front height speakers in the near future. For a soundbar in my bedroom, I like it fine though. For my main viewing I’ll take my 5.1 always.
I would totally buy a real 5.1 setup but I have a really small bedroom without the space for the left front and right speakers, so it has to be a soundbar
@@Milan-cf1xe My bedroom is pretty big, actually very big and probably would sound better than my home theater since my family room is in an open concept, but I also have a music room with a lot of gear and can’t justify the cost of separates, hence the Q990b in bedroom.
In my country now it is sale for hw-q800b with 450€, hw-q930b with 603€ and hw-q990b for 803€. What you recommended? I buy lg G2 and want good audio for movies and music also
I find dialogue kind of hard to hear on 990b when I have to watch movies / shows on lower volume. Action and music is too loud and dialogue seems muffled. Any channel setting recommendations without using the voice enhancement feature? Not sure why, don’t like it
There seems like a little bias towards sonos. I have had both. Sonos in my theatre room and samsung q950a in my living room with open layout. I just sold the sonos system for a dedicated system and upgraded samsung to 990b.
Apart from the disconnection issue in the beginning I found the samsung to be better sound quality. Samsung was much better with atmos even with an open layout. This was q950a. Q990b is only better and with more refined bass.
Where I live it's a nobrainer to go with samsung because sonos it 2.5x to 3x the cost when bought with rears and sub.
In what country do you live?
@@aartstrong Australia
I see. You guys are lucky to be able to buy it at this price! I’m in the US.
Thanks for your comment. I was going to get a sonos when i saw this review, but their price was too high compared with the Q990B which I just got for AUD$1200! - (cosmetic damaged carton factory second)
Dude review HT-A9 pleaseee... We need the real low down
Archway tech, does a 'like' mean you might do one?
i have purchased the HTa9 and sent it back because i could not understand the dialogue from the speakers shame eveything else was top
I finally heard the HTA9 in person:
Excellent 360 sound but was overall underwhelmed, max loudness was too low and lacked the soundstage. Good idea but maybe the HTA11 or 12 might be the one to buy when it comes out and is more refined...it didn't seem worth spending the extra money for it.
Ended up getting the 990b and so far very impressive 10/10
sonos is crazy expansive well samsung q990b is selling 800usd worth to buy?
Awesome video
I havent heard the samsung yet but I love the BEAM gen2. My TV only has a standard ARC connection (Sony XBR-65x900F). When I use my sonos Beam Gen 2, I get an audio lag when I play my Xbox using the ARC. I am worried that this will be the issue if I buy and ARC/Sub/SL1's etc. Is an EARC connection required to keep this audio lag from happening? My current fix is plugging the xbox directly into my current soundbar which I am looking to replace (LG SK10Y)
most recent model have no issues ,,,i had beam gen 2 with sony X85k no issues
At the moment the 990b is on sale in the Netherlands for just 788euro. That is lots cheaper then the sonos system. The design of the samsung keeps me away from buying... if they only had a white version... 😅
Which one has stronger bass?
sonos
Very dissatisfied with the Q990B, did a bass test and returned it the following day, I'm glad I did not sell the Q950B as it sounds fantastic. The bass from the Q990B sub is extremely boomy, and my listening area is acoustically treated so I can imagine how bad it must sound in an untreated room. The Q950B sub sounds tight and punchy, with or without acoustic treatment. Will be keeping an eye out for the newly announced JBL 1000 bar, hoping it sounds more refined than the 9.1 bar.
With q950b you mean q950a (2021 model) right?
@@clemensrausch23 2020 model actually, I started truly enjoying it in 2021 since the firmware updates released till that time patched most of the loose ends, in my case it was the rears randomly disconnecting, never had another issue since the final firmware release.
@@Braconara1981 also had the q950t. Mine still had drop outs after the 2021 update and also the rears or sub would play dead every once in a while… no issues with q950a whatsoever
@@clemensrausch23 my bad, it's the Q950T in fact.
Is the q990b subwoofer better than the jbl 9.1 subwoofer?
No comparison in my opinion. The Samsung is way ahead of the Sonus, more connections, decoding formats, and everything is included and it's less. I think using music for audio comparison isn't a great idea as most buying soundbars are using them for movies. I'm picking up a 990 this weekend as my 950T had some issues so the store I purchased from is giving me a straight up swap. The 950 blew away my Pioneer/Polk 7.1 system, by a huge margin, I was surprised actually and I've been involved in audio professionally and as a consumer for 30 years.
Hi
Why Sonos speakers and sound bars have too many connection issues? This is a very common complain with these speakers. I’ve read many threads in the Sonos community that there are many unhappy customers who bought this Arc or any other Sonos device and the sistem gets so unstable that there is nothing that works to address these issues, and that the Sonos technical support is not helpful. Which troubleshooting steps for Sonos issues are the ones that effectively work for everyone? I’m experiencing most of these issues like the music cutting out with my Sonos Roam and I’m not able to address them, but especially, the Sonos Arc, for its price, it should be errors free, maybe we don’t have enough patience to deal with Sonos networking issues and Wireless interference, that’s stressful! We buy our Sonos speakers to enjoy the content, not to be dealing with Wireless interference
Thank you for your sound test files. Bought bouth of them and now I know for certain which one I like better.
If you could make a sound test file for the Sony HT-A7000 + SW5 + SA-RS3/5 I would buy it on the spot!
Right now I'm debating between Sony and the winner from your sound test files :D
Who was the winner in sound test?
@@abhayrajput2203 it was quit close
For me the Samsung sounded better, but I can see why people would opt for Sonos as it sounds very awesome too
Heard both in store and at home and the q990b is way better in sound quality and specialy with atmos the q990b sounds like a cinema all the details 💥💯💥 the total price of the arc with rears and sub is just crazy 🥸
im afraid of the issue with the samsung surrounds disconnecting frequently, and I'm a current sonos user so I'm heavily leaning towards the sonos.
I recently bought q990b , so far never got disconnected even once but I see in reviews some people mentioned about it . May be they fixed with firmware ? . So far it never got disconnected, well I bought it pretty recently
You’re paying for the name with Sonos. Q990D can be found for as low as $900 and often lower for previous year models. Unless you already have a Sonos ecosystem, I really see no reason to shell out more than double what you can get with the q990 series.
I like bass, which the Samsung lacks at...but in terms of Atmos performance, the Samsung wins hands down it's not even close.
I have the Sonos system, and it sounds great just wish the Atmos actually worked.
"Premium PLASTICS" LOL. Q700B is the best bang for the buck. Sounded great in the store. Much better than the Q600. No worse than the Q800 at nearly half the price. You reach a point of diminishing returns with these things. If I were going to drop a grand or more, I would just buy an AV with real speakers.
The real question is the Samsung Q990. Vs Sony HT-A9 with sw5 sub
9:06
Saying that Sonos Arc's rears are better than Samsung just proves how much of a Sonos fanboy you are
it really is dependant on the room and speaker placement but 9 out of 10 Samsung will beat Sonos 1v1 on any comparisson
sonos only gets points for the more tight and controlled Bass everything else Samsung does much much better
Dolby Atmos is uncomparable between the 2 Samsung is ages ahead.
Bose 900 or Q990B please advise ?
990B specially if you get in on sale u won’t regret it . Also don’t forget holiday sales are coming up Samsung tends to go big on discounts ☝️.
Q990b would be my pick over the Bose 900. Way cheaper, better quality of sound and has HDMI inputs.
990
useless doesn't really say what's better, just that either will make you happy.