Is it worth buying a soundbar to go with a new TV for the World Cup or is the TV speaker good enough

[ProperJobs50]

Getting a new TV for the tournament and wondering whether to add a soundbar at the same time. The TV is a 65 inch LG C5 OLED. The built-in speakers on modern OLEDs are often criticised as being too thin sounding for the kind of atmosphere you want from a football match. Budget for a soundbar would be around £150 to £300. Is it worth adding one or is the money better spent elsewhere?

[ShawnMichaels99]

Yes worth it specifically for football. The crowd atmosphere, the commentary depth and the impact of the ball being struck all benefit enormously from a soundbar with a proper bass driver. The LG C5's built-in speakers are decent for dialogue but they lack the low-end physicality that makes a stadium feel real

[DarkMatter23]

The honest budget answer: even a basic £100 Sony HT-S100F 2.0 soundbar is a meaningful upgrade over built-in TV speakers for football. The improvement is not subtle. Any dedicated speaker system with a wider physical separation than the TV's built-in units will produce a wider, more spacious sound

[Sienna74]

At £150 to £300 the Sonos Ray at around £229 is the cleanest integration with a modern smart TV and the sound quality is well ahead of anything in the built-in speaker category. It does not have a separate subwoofer at that price but the bass extension is adequate for most rooms

[Brad79]

The Samsung HW-Q600C at around £249 is worth considering if you want Dolby Atmos support and a slightly wider soundstage. The 3.1.2 configuration adds height channels that make commentary and crowd noise feel more expansive

[NeutrinoX54]

If you want genuine bass impact for that roar of the crowd feeling the Vizio V51x-J6 5.1 system at around £270 has a separate subwoofer and surround speakers. More setup involved but the improvement in atmosphere versus a single soundbar is noticeable

[WWFGareth98]

Check TopCashback and Quidco before buying a soundbar exactly as you would for the TV itself. Currys and AO both list soundbars under the same cashback terms as televisions. Buying the TV and soundbar from the same retailer in one transaction via a cashback site maximises the return on both