The Best Soundbars in Canada of 2026

We’ve adored the compact-but-powerful Sonos Beam since it launched, and the Gen 2 upgrade brings even more to love. With this update, Sonos kept everything we liked about the original Beam—a minimalist form factor, powerfully tuned speakers, and versatile features—and added virtualized Dolby Atmos.

Despite lacking the upfiring drivers of most Dolby Atmos soundbars we test, the Beam Gen 2 is surprisingly adept at creating an immersive soundstage. The sounds of cars screeching around corners or footfalls onto rainy pavement boast a convincing level of aural placement. The clarity that Dolby Atmos brings to just about every sound effect and musical swell is well worth the price of admission here, even if the bar struggles to create the full overhead impact you’ll get from bars with dedicated height speakers.

But the value really comes in the overall package. Like all Sonos products, you’ll get more than just a standalone speaker here: the Beam Gen 2 connects over the Sonos app for access to the full ecosystem, which integrates excellent Wi-Fi connectivity, Sonos Radio, Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2, and more. Tasks like adding additional Sonos speakers for surround sound, or syncing up multi-room audio are a snap. Admittedly, starting with the Beam Gen 2 alone and upgrading with additional Sonos products is an expensive task, but the built-in flexibility is still a big boon—especially if you’ve already got a Sonos One smart speaker or other components.

The Beam Gen 2 isn’t perfect. It lacks a spare HDMI input, meaning it’ll hog your HDMI ARC or HDMI eARC port and may introduce some format-based headaches on older TVs. But ultimately, the list of pros handily outweigh the cons, and the new Beam stands out as one of the most fetching soundbar buys in its price range. It was a real triple-play even without Dolby Atmos compatibility: with it, it’s a home run.

Klipsch’s Cinema 400 has accomplished the deceptively tough task of doing a lot with a little. Dressed in a unique design representing a generous nod to Klipsch’s popular home theatre speakers, this 2.1-channel system delivers impressive sound for the admittedly limited number of drivers that it’s equipped with. It’s quality, not quantity with Klipsch’s construction and approach to this bar’s sound. A pair of 3-inch midrange woofers flanked by 1-inch horn tweeters work together to create wonderfully detailed sound that avoids the harsh higher frequencies that some bars introduce. The 8-inch ported subwoofer is the real star of the show, producing resonating low frequencies, unlike most other soundbar subwoofers in this class.

With a modest price, concessions had to be made somewhere along the way. For the Cinema 400, it’s in the features department. The bar does not have Wi-Fi or voice assistant support to speak of, nor does it have support for sought-after audio formats like Dolby Atmos or an expansive equalizer to tune its sound to your personal taste (though that’s not surprising at this price). Additionally, as pleasant as the overall sound of the Cinema 400 is, the lack of a dedicated center channel driver is noticeable when watching TV and movies with heavy effects that may mask dialogue a bit.

That being said, if a lack of features seems like a fair tradeoff for remarkable stereo audio quality, the Klipsch Cinema 400 makes for a very compelling option. It really is a suitable bar for anyone who wants great sound, but doesn’t need extras like Wi-Fi and virtual assistants. Of course, if you would prefer those kinds of features and don't want to lose out on sound quality, you can send a little more money on the excellent Yamaha YAS-209.

The Cinema 400 sidesteps those perks, however, delivering an old-school rendition of a new-age product. In other words, it looks classic and sounds stellar. There’s really not that much else to this bar, and for many, there doesn’t need to be: that's what makes the Cinema 400 such an excellent pick.

Vizio's 2.1-channel soundbar is an awesome choice if you want full-bodied sound and modern features without shelling out a ton of money. While a lot of entry-level soundbars don't offer up satisfying bass performance, we were very impressed with how deep and robust the V21-H8's wireless subwoofer is, delivering a balanced, blended soundscape that really ups the audio ante where movies, music, and video games are concerned.

This Vizio combo also checks off a lot of the right boxes for features. You're getting Bluetooth, WiFi, and HDMI (ARC) compatibility, making it easy to stream music from your phone and control the soundbar with your TV remote. Like most combo bars, the wireless sub and soundbar pair quickly and automatically, making it easy to just plug everything in and instantly upgrade your home theatre situation. Adjusting volume and jumping between sound modes is easy, too: in fact, the simplicity of this product is one of its strengths.

Premium, future-facing features like Dolby Atmos, HDMI eARC, or microphones for built-in voice assistant control are not a part of this package, but that's reflected in the easily digestible price point. If you just need a quick and effective audio upgrade, this entry-level Vizio combo is one of the most value-packed options around.

Vizio’s Elevate soundbar has a trick up its sleeve not shared by any other soundbar on this list: rollable speakers that “elevate” the sound upward to serve as height channels for 3D audio content, and roll back down again for any other content. This makes the height speakers quite versatile, allowing you to blast sound from all 13 speakers inside the bar at all times.

But apart from that, it’s the sheer amount of cinematic chutzpah this Dolby Atmos machine delivers that sets it apart from most other soundbars on the market. Simply put, you’ll have a hard time finding better (or even equivalent) surround sound might at this price in any other bar on our list.

With 18 speakers in total, including dual surround sound speakers and a thunderous subwoofer, the Elevate is a joy for action flicks. It's especially immersive when bouncing sound off your ceiling and walls when sourced with well-mixed Dolby Atmos content, from The Mandalorian streams to Blu-ray Atmos demos in full-resolution Dolby TrueHD. It also delivers premium detail and clear dialogue to enhance prestige dramas, alongside plenty of features like Chromecast streaming over WiFi, two spare HDMI inputs, and HDMI eARC for seamless, future-proof connection to the latest TVs.

Where the bar falters a bit is in its music delivery, which tends to go to extremes both in the bass and the upper midrange, resulting in less musicality than our top pick. In addition, the interface isn’t the best for novices, requiring manual tuning for best results.

Luckily, the simplified remote is relatively easy to use and the overall design is equal parts sleek and robust, thanks to plush materials like anodized aluminum and a striking overall design. If you’re looking for unadulterated Dolby Atmos might, without going full-on A/V enthusiast, this system is a fantastic choice.

Bose’s Smart Soundbar 900 offers clear sound, stylish design, and a slice of pristine Dolby Atmos in a minimalist package. Though this single-piece soundbar is fashioned very similarly to the Sonos Arc in both features and functionality, Bose’s solution is both smaller and sleeker, with a plush glass top that makes it among the most stylish bars on the market.

It’s not just about aesthetics, though. The 900 provides premium sound, especially for dialogue and effects, alongside expansive virtualized effects thanks to its laser-sharp upfiring drivers and beam speakers. It also offers all the network features you could ask for in a modern smart bar, from built-in Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to Wi-Fi streaming over Spotify Connect and Apple AirPlay 2 (with plenty more options in the Bose Music app).

As with rival bars from Sonos and others, the 900 makes it simple to build from a single speaker to a full surround system with a Bose wireless subwoofer and surround speakers (at a considerable cost), or you can create a whole-home sound system by linking Bose speakers through the home via the Bose Music app. The 900 also comes with some extras Sonos bars don’t include, such as a separate remote, Bluetooth streaming, and a built-in room calibration system to tailor the sound to your space (Sonos requires an iPhone).

Where the bar falls a bit short is in its overall power and bass response. Due to its small size, the 900 simply isn’t able to reproduce big and booming frequencies with much authority. Its soundstage also isn’t quite as expansive as larger Dolby Atmos bars, simply due to physical restrictions. It also offers no extra HDMI input or DTS decoding, so it won’t be the best choice for those with a large Blu-ray collection.

That said, though it’s not cheap, this bar offers impressive detail and precision for everything from your favourite playlist to an episode of Friends. If you value clear sound and minimalist design first and foremost, the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is a quality choice.

Sony’s HT-A7000 is a magician of a soundbar, offering some of the best virtual surround sound we’ve ever heard from a single bar in a slick and stylish design. The soundbar offers tons of drivers, including upfiring drivers for effective Dolby Atmos, but it’s the virtual immersion that really makes the bar sing, offering spooky accuracy that places sound all around, and even behind you, all from its position at the front of the room.

The bar also brings tons of features to bear, including a full on-screen interface and a clear front display to go along with multiple ways to connect over Wi-Fi (including Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2), and decoding for virtually every sound format under the sun. That includes Dolby Atmos in all its iterations, of course, alongside DTS:X, Dolby TrueHD, and everything in between.

The bar connects to your TV via HDMI eARC which allows for versatility and simplicity, especially with HDMI eARC-ready TVs. For those without newer TVs, it can also accept up to two devices directly and passthrough video at up to 8K thanks to HDMI 2.1 inputs, making this among the most future-proofed soundbars we’ve tested. It also offers Alexa and Google assistant support, though you’ll need a separate speaker to test it, as well as automated room calibration mode.

With impressive performance, tons of features, and among the best Dolby Atmos and surround sound you can get from a singular bar, the A7000 is tough to beat. But there is a catch, of course: it’s extremely expensive for a single bar, and if you want to add a subwoofer for richer, more authoritative bass, you’ll be paying nearly as much as competing bars with a subwoofer and surround sound speakers included, such as Samsung’s HW-Q950A.

That said, if you want incredible sound quality, brilliant Atmos immersion, and every home theatre feature under the sun in one giant bar, the HT-A7000 is tough to beat.

An iteration of the Q70 soundbar series before it, Samsung’s Q800T is a bit of an odd fit in Samsung’s lineup, but its diverse feature set and excellent sound—thanks in no small part to Samsung’s Acoustic Beam technology—make this a fun and effective way to jazz up your TV room.

The Q800T offers a powerful punch thanks to its large-and-in-charge, side-firing subwoofer, while the lean bar takes care of the upper register with clarity, poise, and impressive precision. The soundstage leans on the lighter side, but the fully perforated grill helps the smaller drivers breathe a bit, making the sound less closed and digitized than ultra-thin bars in its class like LG’s SP9YA.

The Acoustic Beam technology mentioned above helps spread the sound around nicely. The system uses multiple upfiring ports to create impressive placement of effects on both the horizontal and vertical planes, expanding the soundstage beyond the bar’s 38-inch width. This works great for content of all kinds (music included), and while the sound mostly stays at the front of the room, it's expansive and compelling for a two-piece system.

Where the soundbar has some limitations is in overhead sounds from Dolby Atmos content, as its smaller Beam drivers seem to have trouble bouncing sound off the ceiling and back down again. The result is less immersion than other pared-down Dolby Atmos setups on our list.

In addition, the Q800T's Alexa integration wasn’t as polished as you’d expect for a soundbar in this price category in our testing. As such, some may want to go with the more affordable Q70T, which offers a smaller subwoofer and Alexa-control that requires your own smart speaker, but also costs a fair bit less.

That said, the Q800T has plenty of features that make it worthy of consideration, including an extra HDMI input to plug in a gaming console or Blu-ray player directly, both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, HDR passthrough (including Dolby Vision), and both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming. Also, it just sounds dang good, making for a well-rounded package.

Sony’s HT-G700, doesn’t offer the height speakers generally associated with the format. Instead, this bar is designed to virtualize the height element, and while it doesn’t offer nearly the same immersion as a bar like the Sonos Arc, it does a pretty good job at faking it.

Perhaps more importantly, the G700 offers very musical sound from a thin profile, meaning it’s much easier to incorporate into most living rooms. And because its soundstage is powered in part by digital signal processing, it’s designed to work in places with vaulted ceilings where bouncing sound down from above isn’t an option.

There are two major downsides to the G700. First, the bar doesn’t offer Wi-Fi connection, meaning you’re stuck with Bluetooth streaming and there’s no way to add digital assistants. Second, it’s priced above most similarly appointed barsat $600 MSRP, though it can often be found for $500 on sale.

You can get a lot more features for your money from Yamaha’s YAS-209 and similarly loaded, mid-tier soundbars, but if you don’t mind spending a little extra, the HT-G700 offers among the most impressive audio performance for its size that we've encountered.