Samsung - HW-Q930C

I had samsung q930c which supports 9.1.4 just like you said, it was phenomenal for the price which you pay but bear in mind that it's performance directly related to the room size including ceiling height. If you're going to place it in a bigger room I suggest you to go for 990d series which is 11.1.4 configuration which I use now in my living room which is relatively big. I'm sorry I don't know about JBL but I heard their soundbars come with bigger subs comparing to samsung (8inch)

I got a Q930C with the proper space to set it up. I live in a condo, but I have a nice space for the Atmos speaker setup. And I love it! Really fills the space in proper sound. I use it primarily for gaming and secondary for movies. You can really tell the different channels when you hear sounds around you in a video game. People speaking next to you should like they are sitting next to you. It's incredible. But YMMV. Edit: I was planning on getting a HT setup and had the same deliberation as you. Mind you no speaker wires running around the room is a plus. The satellite speakers are practically plug and play.

I've got the Q930C, it doesn't compare to a real surround system. Sure it sounds good, but you'll still be missing a lot.

If you have room for a home theater: go home theater. If you, like me, share your house with your wife and kids, and livingroom aesthetics and clutter is an issue, go for a premium soundbar with rear speakers. I used to put my foot down and keep a 5.1 set in our living room, but honestly, when my amp died I decided to first try a soundbar. I ended up with the Q930C with rear speakers and never looked back. Sound is superb, clutter is non existent, ease of use is way better and the bass… my god, the bass.

I have had the q930c for about a year now and I love it. I imagine the 990c is a bit better but I doubt I’d be able to tell the difference. Bass definitely not a problem I always have to lower the sub volume because I’m scared it’ll piss off the neighbours. I also have a Samsung tv so i use the q-symphony mode which is nice. Impressed with how seamlessly the two devices work together.

I’ve had Sonos beam gen 2, sub mini and era 100’s and then moved to a Samsung 930C before moving onto an AVR + speaker setup. Soundbars are great but in my honest opinion, I’d go for an AVR + 2.0 setup initially if you’re in an apartment/flat. A 2.0 setup will give you a better experience imo than a soundbar will, plus if you’re listening to it for music as well as movies, you’ll get a proper soundstage with a 2.0 setup. If you move into a house at a later date, you’ve got the basic fundamentals of a brilliant 5.1 + setup already there and could then add subwoofer and surrounds. Hometheatre sub trashes soundbars except for when they’re genuinely the only solution available and where proper placement of speakers, even in a 2.0 setup isn’t possible. You can pick up older, higher end AVR’s such as Denon 3700 / 4700h that have Dolby Atmos and HDMI 2.1 for fairly cheap and 2nd hand floor standers or bookshelf speakers will run you under the soundbar cost and give you a better experience is my two cents 👍

I have the Samsung Q930C 9.1.4 myself. It is in my bedroom and it sounds incredible. It is paired up with my Samsung 65 QN90A with high end AudioQuest HDMI’s. I Pleasantly Surprised but my living room is where the Real Monster resides 😎

Something weird is going on. I have a q930c and a q990b. At the volume 10, I can barely hear it. YouTube through the firestick needs turning down to about 13, pretty much everything else I watch is at 16 - 18. Music needs to be played at around 20 to 25. Make sure you don't have any volume normalization switched on, has this will clip the dynamic range. Next, try resetting speaker volumes. Turn off the soundbar with the remote, then press and hold the left hand 'source' button on the soundbar until it says ON - about 6 seconds. Failing that, factory reset the system. Check your TV is set to eARC in the Advanced Audio settings (I think you said it is) and to Passthrough. Also, I once felt the need to factory reset the soundbar while I was developing the dcx tuning method, because the system sounded really quiet. Annoyingly at the time, it turned out that the problem was actually with the TV. Pulling the plug on the TV while it's switched on and waiting for three minutes fixed the issue. I'd definitely try that.

Just to add to this - it's not just number of speakers in the soundbar but also channels in general - 9.1.4 vs 11.1.4 The size difference is significant. Q930C top, Q990B bottom. https://preview.redd.it/3iyoaogsqxme1.jpeg?width=3125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bf640737b58540999227d986c914abd5c51bf8f

The point is that people think that because the shape is so similar, the soundbars of the q990 and q930 are the same size, when clearly they aren't. The difference in size is significant! Significant to how they sound versus each other, significant to whether they will fit on someone's AV unit. Nobody is comparing anything to a regular size speaker - that would be ridiculous!

The q990d is the best Samsung option for pretty much any room, as it is a better quality sounding system. Don't get fooled by this idea of it being overkill. At the same volume it will sound clearer and it's overall better. However, I didn't buy a second q990 for the bedroom. Instead I bought a q930c which is an excellent alternative for quite a bit less money. It's also significantly smaller. That's probably your best option. In the UK, you should be able to get one for around £550 - at which point it becomes a no brainer for your situation.

I followed some advice on here with my similar LG CS and bought a black lack shelf from IKEA to lift the TV. The black shelf blends in to the sound bar pretty well, and I think it actually looks okay. I'm using it with a q930c, but a q990 would hide it even more. [https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/lack-wall-shelf-black-brown-40103633/#content](https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/lack-wall-shelf-black-brown-40103633/#content) https://preview.redd.it/uv5glnmk7qnf1.jpeg?width=3344&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c54d665bd63ad6608537c7b7810438aa6f67c95

I have two Samsung Soundbars...a Q990B and a Q930C. Yes, I'd say they are the most popular, along with the Sony Bravia Theatre Quad. The Samsung soundbars are probably the most popular because they not only sound great but they are also often heavily discounted - and they retain the previous years model. For example, you can get a Q990D for $750 if you have access to EPP discounts.

Some good advice here. I also always liked to point out that it's not just two extra channels. It's five extra speakers in total. Also, someone else pointed out the drivers are larger all around and this means that even at the same volume, the q990 will sound slightly clearer/better. More importantly, I always like to emphasise the point that the soundbars are significantly different size wise. Here is a picture of both together. All that said, if you don't hear both of them together, you'll likely be more than happy with a q930, so to some extent it comes down to how much that difference in money is to you, and how much do you think you would notice marginal differences in sound quality. https://preview.redd.it/knk4jlc54o2g1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=38892953017ce84f990ba9e45465eddae5999471

I have q930c in the bedroom, and it's more than adequate. The 990 series does sound better but only when you are really listening for the differences. The 930 is still a great system. If you go 990, I'd probably stick to the d model. If you can get a C model then that's fine, but at the moment the choice is generally d or f.

The difference, contrary to appearances, is noticeable. I use a 930C and bought a Q990D for my parents, but before taking it to my family home I connected it and checked the sound and honestly - I would gladly exchange my 930C for a higher model. Difference maybe isn't big, but there is improvement in overal sound quality, and you can feel why you pay more for higher model.

The wife part is exactly why I did not get Q930C, I convinced her with rears the next year. 💪 Tbf I was not convinced myself as a young first time buyer in a new appartement. Q800C on a deal is great. Having the versatility to add rears for cheap make Q800 easy to recommend for a lot of people who are not sure about their room space or not going straight to Q930/990 for money/wife reason