Sonos - Playbar
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Jan 28, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
534
148
"significantly worse object avoidance than than the Dreame x40 and L40 ... The best feature of the L40/X40/p10 pro ultra is that they have class leading object avoidance so you don't have to pick up your cat's toys or prep your house every time you want to run the robot meaning you can run it on a daily schedule which will keep your house cleaner. ... I run my X40s daily and they never get stuck on cables, cat toys and other random junk that ends up on the floor."
"I can basically always trust my X40 to finish a midnight cleaning session in the dark and wake up to find it sitting in its dock and have clean floors in the morning."
"I think its hands down the best all around option right now, especially once you hook it up to the water line and drain, i run it daily in our house and we got rid of our cleaning help because of it."
8
1
"$20"
"bought for 65 bucks! Such a super deal when these be costing like 200 brand new! For the price I got it I’m very satisfied ... got it soo cheap used in great condition for 65 bucks on eBay. ... I can’t complain for the price I got it for definitely saved more than 150+ bucks"
"They're also super cheap because everyone wants the self-emptying models now. ... I see the older ones pretty often at thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace for under $30."
51
3
"Now I get every feature that that my C3, XSX, ATV4K allow and it works perfectly."
"the speaker worked perfectly for the year or so I had it"
"What truly impressed me right off the bat was how effortless the setup was. ... It couldn't have been simpler—unbox the soundbar, surround speakers, and subwoofer, connect the power cables, and everything pairs automatically. ... the setup was quick and seamless."
19
4
"Sound became more powerful, present and the vocals became even more clear. Also there clearly was a sensation of the increased soundstage. ... However this time it produced the best music I've ever heard from this system."
"music indeed sounds noticeably better with rears turned off. ... I would say that it gives at least an extra 30% to the experience. ... Turning the side and wide channels all the way down (I perceive the loss of details when those are playing), while upping the center and top made it sound the best for my ears."
"the sound was 10x better than the Q930D is. ... Really disappointed I sold the Sonos set."
2
0
"I can always hear the dialog"
"To me it sounds fuller and the vocals especially mens voices sound way richer."
Disliked most:
1
1
"You lose out on Atmos and e-arc and some other modern features (Playbar is like decade old)"
"You lose out on Atmos and e-arc and some other modern features (Playbar is like decade old)"
0
1
"the soundbars have so many issues connecting that I don’t even want to use it anymore"
0
1
"the soundbars have so many issues connecting that I don’t even want to use it anymore"
"To this day the app is terrible"
6over6 1.0Are you paying for the Atmos and higher end audio from streaming services? If not, the Arc would never be the right buy. I’m pretty sure based on what you’ve said you may have liked the old Playbar. I just picked one up as a Goodwill used electronic for $100 through their online auctions. I had it before the first gen Arc, but always felt for general stereo content the Playbar was far better.
AccomplishedPop8786 1.0Still have a Playbar in my downstairs den paired with two Play:3s. I only replaced my upstairs Playbar to an Arc a few years ago because the little flapper door for the optical cable input broke and it would no longer hold the plug in place. Perfectly working otherwise, what shame to have to junk it. Sonos said they can't fix that so they gave us a nice deal for an update to Arc. While on this subject, is there any advantage to using an HDMI from eARC/ARC to the Playbar utilizing Sonos' HDMI to Optical adapter? Or is there nothing to gain over using an Optical cable?
adayinalife 1.0Playbar is a great piece of kit but a little limited if you want latest tech, it still uses optical input and does not support newer formats like Atmos.
Alightbourne 1.0Still enjoying my Playbar with Sub1
Altruistic-Win-8272 1.0I can confirm. I used to use Sonos, for non critical listening it sounds great. The reason is because it doesn’t fail at anything audio wise, nor does it do anything mind blowing. It kinda just merges into the background and lets the TV or visuals take center stage. This is how it should be for movies imo, the audio immersive but not doing too much. For music I found this quality to make the Sonos feel dry and boring
AspectIcy173 1.0My playbar is coming up on 8 years and it’s just as good as when I got it (just a little more dust on that cloth top). Wish it supported airplay but otherwise there’s no need to upgrade.
Away_Bag_2080 1.0Clearly….. the first sound bars still sell very easily for 200-250€ even though they are 12 years old…. (playbar) and they are still clearly up to date in terms of audio quality! Well above some Samsungs which are not even 2 years old…. Then as you say, no one buys Samsung systems that are already 4-5 years old
bonedaddy333 1.0I've had the playbar for 7 years. I also have the Sonos sub and ones. It definitely is behind on almost everything the new soundbars can do. However, last year I bought a Samsung 990 with sub and surrounds and was very excited to hear how much better it is than my playbar. Well after 2 weeks I returned the Samsung and am still using the playbar. To me it sounds fuller and the vocals especially mens voices sound way richer. It may be my room dimensions and high ceiling I don't know, but my advice would be to get the Samsung and keep the playbar until your sure you like the new setup better.
cblguy82 1.0You can pick up Playbars on places like FB marketplace etc.. for a decent price. That will be much better for a surround set up. I’d look for the play bar and sub/sub mini on the marketplace to shave a few bucks.
Charming-Set-7262 1.0The playbar is far better than the original Sonos arc. These are a steal.
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