Customer Ratings & Reviews

First and foremost, this thing rocks which I’ll get into later. Unboxing was very easy and the soundbar was packed beautifully. Once it turned it on and installed the app it connected almost immediately. I will add that it did take awhile to update the software but that is nothing surprising these days. The app is very easy to use and once you play around for awhile you will get the hang of it. Once I plugged it into my HDMI Arc and I was up and running. I did have to make some adjustments to tweak the sound. I think it’s important to note, that with this system you will need to either use your TV remote, set to Arc, or use your phone, as there is no actual remote. It does have touch controls on the top, which I’m not a fan of but first impressions were very good. It looks really modern, nice finishes, and feels built really solid. Sound- This is my second Bose soundbar. I have a smaller that I keep in my kids room and the bass and clarity is amazing! This one, takes that to another level. The sound is so immersive and fills the room. I have no idea how the bass, treble, dialogue and immersion comes out of this thing. It just doesn’t make sense to me how it works but it does. I have a premium sound system in another room that is 5x more than this yet this Bose soundbar keeps up. One of the big features I love is the dialogue for movies. Center channel speakers are so important in a good sound system and this bar crushes it with their proprietary dialogue feature. I also am used to Audyssey sound calibration systems in my big system and Bose answers by using your phone and app to help determine sound settings and levels. Overall, I think for the money this is truly worth it! I know it’s hard to justify spending this much on a soundbar but I promise you that for the money, you can’t buy good enough equipment to even compare to this. Again, however they make this work, it sounds like a whole array of surround speakers in your room and it all comes from one speaker. Absolutely amazing and I can’t be happier. Hats off to you Bose on this one.

I’ve been using the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar with my Samsung 85” QN85B Neo QLED TV and honestly I’ve been really impressed with it so far. Physical setup was extremely simple. It was basically one power cable and one HDMI eARC connection to the TV. The soundbar fit perfectly underneath my TV while using the factory TV stand, and I like that Bose also included mounting holes for people who want a cleaner wall-mounted setup. The design looks sleek but still premium. The glossy black finish almost gives it a piano-like look in person and it blends really well into a modern living room setup. The first thing I watched/listened to was a drum show from Twenty One Pilots on YouTube Music, followed by The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and the Dolby Atmos performance immediately stood out. Even before I connected the full home theater system, the soundbar by itself sounded huge. The Atmos effects and spatial audio are seriously impressive and make the room feel much larger than it is. Dialogue clarity is phenomenal especially with the SpeechClarity feature. It genuinely helps during movies and shows. Every channel on the soundbar sounds clean and detailed, and it gets very loud while still sounding controlled. My living room is a large open 20x20 space and this thing fills it easily. Music playback is awesome. You can play, pause, skip tracks, and control volume directly on the soundbar itself. The touch volume slider feels modern and responsive, and I really like that Bose used touch controls instead of bulky physical buttons. Once I added the wireless subwoofer and rear speakers, the immersion got even better. The upward-firing Atmos speakers really help bounce sound around the room and create a convincing surround effect. The only frustrating part for me was the initial app setup process. I had some connection issues at first that seemed related to my phone/account setup. Once I switched devices and logged directly into my Bose account instead of using Google sign-in, everything connected properly. Bose support was also very responsive and helpful during troubleshooting. Now that everything is connected, the system has been stable with no issues. Overall, I’d absolutely recommend this soundbar. It delivers premium sound quality, strong Atmos immersion, excellent dialogue clarity, and the ability to wirelessly expand into a full surround system. The price may be high for some people, but the performance definitely feels premium.

The Bose Soundbar Lifestyle Ultra is a real beast of a unit that produces sound not expected from a soundbar. From the updated contemporary styling to connected ecosystems with other Bose products, the soundbar is a solid allrounder for your home theater setup with room for adding accessories when you want to take the plunge. Design: This is not a small soundbar, and it shouldn’t be for the price and its intended performance. It measures roughly 47 inches wide which still makes it slightly smaller than some of its main competitors. One thing to note with a soundbar like this: It has upwards firing speakers for Dolby Atmos so keep in mind that you cannot place it underneath your TV. It needs to be slightly out in front so that it can have an unobstructed line of sight to your ceiling. This design is not unique to this Bose soundbar, but it’s important to note. The material choices are really modern feeling with some unique decisions. The majority of the soundbar is fabric with a glass top piece that has some of the controls physically present. The glass design on top is a really cool touch by Bose that gives it it’s own unique design language to stand out a bit from it’s competitors. Connectivity: There’s nothing technically missing on the connectivity side of things, but nothing really stands out either. You get the standard HDMI eARC and WiFi and Bluetooth. The optional accessories connect wirelessly with the Soundbar. Bose also includes an HDMI cable in the box which is a nice touch for a premium product like this. You also get Google Cast which I use religiously. Audio: The meat and potatoes of this soundbar are excellent. From what I can tell there are 9 speakers total on this soundbar. These 9 speakers help create a good Dolby Atmos sound experience. What I noticed is missing and I was able to confirm on the internet there’s no DTS support, so you are pretty much stuck with Atmos for a spatial listening experience. Not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion since Atmos can be really good, just something t note. The sound from this bar is right on par with other premium soundbars I’ve reviewed in the past. There is no letdown I experienced in terms of a sound experience from the soundbar on its own. However, keep in mind this soundbar is also designed to function with two satellite speakers and a subwoofer. So, while just the soundbar alone already creates a great experience, with its optional extras you will have an even more profound experience. Best part? You can add those later if you want when you are ready!

Bose is a household name synonymous with great sounding speakers. My own vehicle has a Bose sound system from factory that I love, so I was excited to finally have a sound bar that shares the name and quality. ><><>Pros<><>< - Bose signature sound. Forward, center, and upward firing speakers on the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar create an immersive experience. We love watching our favorite shows and movies to feel like we’re right in the scene, especially when you pick up on background sounds you don’t normally pick out. - You can use the EQ in the Bose app to dial in the sound. Although the EQ is limited, you can still adjust for bass, mids, and treble. Other adjustments are center, height, and surround, along with subwoofer volume (if you have one, I highly recommend to get one). The app will also use your smartphone to optimize the sound by calibrating the speakers to your sitting position. The Custom Tune process takes a few minutes and a quiet room, but will further customize the sound to your place in the room. - Multiple options for connectivity are a must as homes become smart homes. You can use airplay, google cast, or just connect Bluetooth for multiple wireless options. The best way to connect to your TV however is the included HDMI cable into your eARC HDMI port on your TV. This allows the device to come on with your TV (in most cases) and pass thru audio from other HDMI connected devices. - I like how there’s a glass top for the soundbar. It adds a bit of elegance to it that departs from the standard “nice plastic”. There are haptic touch buttons on the top to use Bluetooth, mute the microphone, or power the device. Since this will likely be front and center of your living room along with your TV, it’s nice to see a bit extra was done for design. This currently looks great on my TV stand but if you want to buy the mount kit, you have the option to mount the soundbar to the wall as well. - Small thing to celebrate, but the power cable was long enough as to not restrict placement. The included HDMI had plenty of room to reach my wall mounted TV from my short entertainment stand below. ><><>Cons<><>< - One thing I would have liked to have in the app is a description for the EQ settings Center, Height, and Surround. It’s not immediately obvious what these do if this is your first surround sound system. Descriptions in the menu in general would be useful. - I didn’t see a manual or online documentation that explains what the buttons do on the soundbar. While the app does a good job walking you through setup, some documentation either within the app or in the box would be helpful. - I would have loved to see the wall mount kit included for the sound bar. Bose does sell a kit so you can bundle that if you’re interested, but it’s sold separately. Not a deal breaker and likely not included to prevent waste, but I personally prefer to mount my sound bars. This sound bar is an easy recommend. It has elegance, great sound, full featured with wifi, Bluetooth, and wireless connectivity. No noticeable delay in the sound, and if there was, you can adjust it within the app. Bose has been around for a long time and is a trusted brand.

First off, I have to say that this new Bose Lifestyle Ultra soundbar is very impressive. Set up was very straight forward. You need to download the Bose app and connect the soundbar to your Wi-Fi network. Once connected you add the soundbar to the app to control the soundbar. The bar does not come with a physical remote. The app allows you to control the volume as well as adjust the bass, midrange, center, treble and height. The Bose app also allows you to adjust the AI processed Speech Clarity function. There are 3 levels of low, medium and high that significantly raises dialog presence. The app is also where you will add additional Lifestyle components to the system including the subwoofer and rear speakers. Bose has updated the calibration setup with their new CustomTune feature which uses your phone’s microphone to measure 3 seating positions in the room using test tone sweeps of the various speakers in the setup. I initially set up the soundbar as a stand-alone system to test just the soundbar. I immediately noticed how wide a soundstage this soundbar provided. I have this set up in a 14X16 foot room with a 9-foot ceiling. The soundstage fills the entire room side to side. The soundbar uses Phase Guide drivers on the front of the soundbar instead of side firing drivers like a lot of other soundbars. The effect is amazing. The soundbar sounds like it is 14 feet wide coming from a bar that is 43.5 inches wide. The bar also has up firing speakers for Dolby Atmos content. Bose uses what they call True Space processing which uses the up-firing speakers in non-Dolby Atmos content including 2 channel content for a more immersive effect. A couple of things about this processing. The app does not offer any sound modes such as music or movies and does not have a way to turn this processing off so if you want to listen to stereo music content you will still have the up-firing speakers in the mix. The app does allow you to turn off the subwoofer and rear speakers if you want. As a standalone soundbar it is very impressive. The bar provides solid bass on its own and vocal clarity is exceptional. Dolby Atmos content is handled surprisingly well. I do want to talk about the cosmetics of the bar. Bose made a significant change for the better in my opinion. The bar is now more rounded on the ends with knitted fabric covering the bar along with a glass top that covers the center section of the bar without covering the up-firing speakers. There is a capacitive control panel at one end of the bar for controlling the volume, setting up Bluetooth using Alexa and turning off the microphone. I received the black version, and I must say this is one of the best looking soundbars I have seen. I have a couple of other sound bars in this class to compare it to. I have the soundbar connected via eARC to my ultra short throw projector displaying a 120” image and the experience with this soundbar has taken it to a whole new level. The next step in the process was to add the subwoofer to the mix. Again, this was a simple process using the app. The subwoofer does not need to be connected to Wi-Fi in the app. It appears the soundbar finds the sub and connects. The soundbar has a 3.5mm sub output if you want to connect the subwoofer wired. Bose apparently has improved the radios in the subwoofer for better wireless connection. I have not had any issues with connectivity. I will be reviewing the subwoofer separately but let’s just say that this thing adds so much to the overall sound that I can’t imagine anyone not getting the subwoofer to go with the soundbar. I re-ran CustomTune and the sub blends seamlessly with the soundbar and adds a level of low-end support that is hard to imagine. This sub can go low and I mean really low without port chuffing or distortion. Bose uses what they call Quiet Port technology, and it sure seems to work. I want to suggest that if you make any changes in the app for volume of the sub or EQ or height of the soundbar that you reset all settings to zero before running CustomTune. You can make changes to these settings after calibration if you need to. The last phase of the process was to add the rear speakers to the mix. It is important to make sure you connect the speakers in the app to your Wi-Fi first using the same network as the soundbar before adding them to the soundbar in the app. I downloaded all the owner’s manuals from the Bose website and initially missed this step and was unable to pair the speakers with the soundbar. Once I corrected my error the speakers were added in the app and everything paired up as designed. Again, I will be reviewing the rear speakers separately. Bose has made a major improvement over their past iterations of rear speakers. The speakers, in addition to a front firing woofer and tweeter, now have up-firing speakers. They also use the Quiet Port technology to improve the bass. Bose also did away with the large outboard power bricks and now just use a power cable. I ordered the matching Bose speaker stands to raise the height of the speakers above my listening position and will be able to run the cables through the stands. These speakers are interesting as they can be used as stand-alone wireless speakers in separate rooms and can be paired in stereo mode. They along with the soundbar support Alexa, Casting, Air Play and Spotify Connect as well as Bluetooth. In the app you can increase the volume of the rear speakers but there is no separate height adjustment which I find kind of odd. Again, I re-ran a final CustomTune for the added speakers. Like the soundbar the speakers have capacitive controls on the top of the speakers and knitted fabric for the front of the speakers. The addition of the rear speakers with the up-firing speakers makes a huge difference in the overall sound of the system especially with Dolby Atmos content. In my opinion these are as much of a must have as the subwoofer. I have to say that this Bose system is the best system I have heard for music as well. A lot of sound bars put most of their focus on movies and not so much on music. Bose seems to have put as much effort into tuning this system for music as it did for movies. I listen to a lot of Dolby Atmos Blu Ray audio and applaud Bose for their effort. I still wish they had given us the option for stereo listening. The components of the Lifestyle collection are all sold separately so you can start with the soundbar and add components over time. This system is by no means inexpensive. At almost $2600 this system competes with the best of the sound bars on the market and from my experience it is well worth the cost and surpassed my expectations. I am giving the soundbar 4 stars only because of the lack of a remote, the lack of separate rear height adjustments and the inability to set a sound mode for stereo listening. As a total system though it is a solid 5-star product. I would highly recommend this system to anyone who considering a high end soundbar solution.

Review for Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar Amazing theater sound! More than 20 years ago we got a Bose home theater system that has stood the test of time. But when we replaced our TV recently with a bigger screen, it was time to say goodbye to all the wires. The new Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is an excellent addition to our home theater set up, but when coupled with the Lifestyle Ultra Speakers and Subwoofer, the integrated system really shines. And by coupled, I mean wirelessly! The sound bar, subwoofer, and speakers each require a power cord, of course, and the included HDMI cable connects the soundbar to the TV, but I no longer need all the cables that ran to the audio control unit, the speakers, and the subwoofer. Once I added all the components, I used the feature called CustomTune in the app to optimize the setup for my listening space. You get to choose three different listening locations within the space and the app creates the best listening experience for you considering those three points in the room. This is hefty soundbar - in all the best ways. It is long (43”) but low-profile enough to sit below most TVs on stands. It has simple controls on top for volume as well as music controls for play/pause etc. When you want to play audio from another source such as Airplay or Spotify, you can do it directly from the soundbar or by directly from your music source. You can also fine-tune and control the audio from the app, or, if you prefer, by using Alexa voice commands. Best of all, the system is designed to “just work” with your current TV setup. So the remote for your TV or streaming service also works to mute or adjust the volume. Setup is pretty straightforward using the Bose app. You start by using Bluetooth to add the soundbar, which then lets you connect to your home WiFi. After that you add each of the speakers and the subwoofer to the app. Finally, you combine them into a single home theater configuration.

This Bose speaker is part of a system designed for your TV entertainment system, and kicks butt. The system sounds amazing. Perfect highs and mids with no distortions whatsoever. Setup was easy from a hardware perspective but setting up the app was initially problematic until Bose pushed out an update that enabled more customization for sound however the default found was just about perfect for me. To see this thing is loud is an understatement. I had the windows and the walls rattling in my living room and I could hear it coming from this living room to the front of the house. He gives the perfect theater experience in your own home. The sound bar itself looks good as part of your home entertainment set up. As a center channel of your sound system it is perfect. And added bonus is other than connect to your TV you can connect via Bluetooth to your phone tablet or computer pro providing excellent sound for listening to music or audiobooks or podcast it’s ajack of all trades kind of system that will provide many hours of listening enjoyment. You really cannot go wrong with Bose.

So I have to say this first. I don't like that it appears you have to use an app to do the setup, to get the BEST experience, but that is just how it is today. Tech everywhere, even if you don't want it. Getting back to good old plug...well it just won't happen. However, the app is super easy to understand, and it does take it to the next level. So with that, you will need a phone, or a tablet to use the Bose app. Position of the soundbar: I have mine facing me in front of my TV, that is the BEST place for it get a complete sound from what I've tested using soundbars. This gives you lots of control as well. Sound Quality: All I can say is WOW, it's simply amazing how this soundbar sounds on its own. Then you add the Subwoofer, and the surround speakers they offer...it will complete the sound you are looking for. Simply put, you can't go wrong with just the soundbar, but I recommend getting them all. Overall: This is the start of something really nice for your upgraded home sound system, so do it right the first time with this setup.

The BOSE Lifestyle TV Sound System Bundle delivers a premium home theater experience that feels both powerful and refined. From movies and television to music streaming, the system creates immersive sound while still being simple enough for everyday use. The sleek design, smart features, and customizable audio settings make it feel like a complete entertainment upgrade rather than just another speaker system. Ease of Setup Setup was much easier than expected for a surround sound system. The app walks you through the process step-by-step, including speaker connections, TV integration, Wi-Fi setup, and calibration. Everything felt organized and straightforward, even without prior experience setting up a home theater system. The guided setup removes a lot of the frustration that usually comes with surround sound installations. Sound Quality Sound quality is where the system truly stands out. Dialogue is crisp and easy to hear, even during louder scenes, while the surround sound creates a cinematic atmosphere throughout the room. The bass is deep without overpowering the rest of the audio, and music playback sounds rich and balanced. Whether watching movies, sports, or streaming music, the sound feels detailed, immersive, and consistently high-end. App Performance The Bose app is clean, responsive, and very user-friendly. Switching between devices, adjusting settings, and controlling music streaming can all be done quickly from a phone or tablet. The app makes everyday use much more convenient and keeps the entire system easy to manage without constantly needing the remote. TV Sound Feature TV audio sounds dramatically better compared to standard television speakers. Voices are clearer, background sounds are more noticeable, and action scenes feel fuller and more immersive. Even regular TV viewing sounds upgraded with better depth and clarity. Music Streaming Music streaming is seamless and reliable. Streaming through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is quick to connect, and the audio quality remains excellent across different genres of music. Vocals sound clean, instruments are well balanced, and the system fills the room without distortion even at higher volumes. Alexa Integration Alexa integration adds a convenient hands-free experience. Voice commands work well for adjusting volume, controlling playback, and launching music. It’s a useful feature that blends naturally into everyday use without feeling overly complicated. Room Tuning Technology The room tuning feature makes a noticeable difference in overall sound performance. After calibration, the system automatically adjusts to the size and layout of the room, creating more balanced surround sound across different seating areas. The audio feels fuller and more natural instead of only sounding good in one spot. Equalizer Function The equalizer settings allow for a more personalized listening experience. Being able to adjust bass, treble, center channel, and surround levels makes it easy to fine-tune the sound depending on whether you’re watching movies, listening to music, or casually watching TV. The customization options help the system feel even more premium. Final Thoughts Overall, the BOSE Lifestyle TV Sound System Bundle combines outstanding sound quality, easy setup, smart streaming features, and customizable audio controls into a polished home entertainment system. It delivers a true theater-style experience while still being practical and user-friendly for everyday use.

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar has honestly been one of the best soundbars I’ve used. The sound quality is incredibly immersive and makes movies, gaming, and even regular TV sound so much fuller and more cinematic. Dialogue is clear, bass is strong even without the subwoofer, and the surround effects are surprisingly impressive for a soundbar setup. Music also sounds amazing on it. The design is sleek and premium looking, which is exactly what I expect from Bose. Setup itself was pretty simple, although I did have some connectivity issues with the Bose app initially. The app took a few tries to recognize everything correctly and there were a couple moments where I had to reconnect devices, but once everything updated and synced properly it has been working great. Overall, this soundbar completely upgraded my living room experience. It’s powerful, clean sounding, and easily one of the best premium soundbars I’ve owned. You can’t deny the quality and it goe well with the subwoofer and speaker

I continue to enjoy Bose products because they always seem to feel as aesthetically pleasing as their sound is well rounded. This Lifestyle Ultra soundbar is no different. It continues this trend. The soundbar is not huge but gives a high quality feel. The exterior is a blend of fabric, glass, and soft touch plastic that is the nicest presentation of a soundbar I’ve experienced. There are two up firing drivers that are apparent but the remaining drivers are behind the fabric on the front. A circular control panel on the top is the only other feature on the top. The back is pretty standard with one HDMI, the power inlet and an aux port. Two air ports are also there. And this is where I think sound comes in. In Bose fashion the ports are pointed toward the ends of the soundbar and this is intentional. They use these to help give the presence of stage. I’ve noticed over the years that soundbars try different things to do this but Bose seems to have a magic from their acoustimass days that just seems to beam the sound. This results in a really wide stage. For movies it is amazing. I will note that it works better in a room that has walls closer rather than farther. A very wide open room still needs more I believe. But even then there is a widening here that you notice. The app gives you the now Bose standard three band eq that you adapt to your taste. You also have a room calibration tool that works pretty well, especially when you pair a sub and the two lifestyle speakers Bose has also released. Overall the set with the sub and surround speakers is very nice. Perfect system to get that cinematic experience. Musically, I do get a pretty strong Atmos effect that elevates music especially tracks that are produced for it. So it is a really great system if you’re looking for a stereo experience as well.

Just for clarity this soundbar was combined with the Lifestyle Ultra speakers and subwoofer But this review will mostly just cover the Bose Life Ultra soundbar. Ive had quite a few soundbars in the past, and thought I had seen the best it was going to get with some other well known brands. But Bose has a reputation for excellent sound quality and they more then earn that here. First off the bar itself is very well made and more then thin enough to fit under most TVs. In my case this is under a Sony OLED. Just for clarity this is combined with the Lifestyle Sub and Ultra speakers as a combo. The app setup makes things so easy if you just follow step by step. Its very well thought out and makes what can be somewhat overwhelming to some a breeze. But just the soundbar alone will more then do for most people. The sound is something hard to explain in words, but all I can say its its basically perfect. Highs and lows are so crisp and accurate. The streaming is great as well. It all just works and works well. Doing all the adjustments and settings in the app works great. It also has Alexa but Im not part of that so I just use my music library from my phone when listening to music. So if you are looking for amazing sound, features, and quality Bose is the way to go. Combined with the Lifestyle woofer and speakers its almost like your in a theater. Couldnt recommend more!

I have to say, I am really loving the Bose Lifestyle Ultra products, specifically the Ultra Soundbar. I have used this to replace my apple home pods which was my Atmos sound. The Ultra Pro Atmos brings a whole other level of sound amplitude to my movie watching experience. Linking it together with the subwoofer and the speaker....OMG these things create a whole new dynamic for me. The design of the soundbar is really aesthetically pleasing. It is incredibly sleek and fits my space perfectly well. The spatial technology that is inside of this device is incredible and hearing blasts or gunfire in a war movie with the atmos cranked up, it is as if you are there. it is incredibly immersive. While i do not use it, it has Amazons Alexa smart feature built into the device which is useful for anyone who wants to turn it into a smarthome. I did however test apple airplay casting with the soundbar and both music and youtube sounded fantastic. Overall, i really couldnt be happier with this device(s) and I really recommend it. Bose to me is a top tear company.

With the Lifestyle naming Bose took a different approach with this sound bar. Its slightly bigger than the previous Bose ultra soundbar and has a new look. Its now wrapped in mesh with some glass on top which also matches their subwoofer design. I like that they kept the glass which I think gives that premium stylish look. Volume and touch controls are now on the right side. There is also a small led in the center under the Bose logo. Overall I think it looks great sitting in front of my TV. Setup was really easy. The soundbar seamlessly connected to the Bose app on my phone. It does connect to wifi using the old 2.4GHz which I thought was odd. The app said if you tried to use anything else it could cause issues so I went ahead did what it suggested. Again with this new Lifestyle model its only got 1 HDMI eARC port and no DTS support for older movies. They also dropped the remote so you will need to use the Bose app, touch control, or TV remote to adjust. I see this as a non-issue because I've never used the Bose remote anyway. It comes with Alexa+ voice assistant if you want to enable it but no others. I'm hopping that Bose and Google work together and bring Gemini to this thing as I would personally prefer that over Amazons Alexa. One really nice upgrade is that it comes with what Bose calls CustomTune which uses your phones mic to auto adjust the sound to your room instead of relying on a wired mic like they did with previous models. It makes a lot more sense sense and I found it easier to use than the traditional wired mic. It will ask you to sit in 3 different places in the the room while each speaker plays some tones. Takes about 5 min to complete depending on how many speakers you have connected to it. Once complete you can flip the tuning on or off (back to default) or run again. I highly suggest running this after setup. I've run it a few times now and during my testing I noticed it made a noticeable difference. Here is my take on the audio quality and I'm going to do some comparisons to the previous model. Out of the box the sound didn't immediately impress me, but running CustomTune after install fixed most of it. It has better bass and overall a deeper sound as you would expect with it being larger. Sounds sooo much better than my built in TV speakers. My one issue with this is that the speaker (I think the center speaker) that produces the audio for voice doesn't sound as good when watching TV shows/Movies. Everyone in my household made the same comment. I'm still tweaking eq but compared to the ultra/900, voice just sounds more hollow on this in comparison. There's a Speech Clarity feature designed to improve dialogue, but it addresses volume rather than tone, so it doesn't resolve the underlying quality issue. I'm still experimenting with EQ to see if I can dial it in. On the bright side Movies with Dolby Atmos sound phenomenal. The upward firing speakers earn their keep, and the app confirms it's genuinely rendering Atmos not just simulating it. We stream a lot of music through Spotify, and once the speaker is connected to Wi-Fi you are able send audio directly to it from the Spotify app. Music sounds clear and full-bodied, and it handles higher volumes well without any distortion. That said, I did need to tweak the center speaker again to get the balance right. Eventually I completed the setup by adding the rest of the Lifestyle speakers (the two rear speakers and the subwoofer) and the transformation was significant. The bass dropped noticeably deeper, and the surround sound went from implied to genuinely immersive. Overall I was extremely impressed. I don't think you will have any issues using this soundbar as a standalone unit for small to larger sized rooms. But I would suggest adding the optional speakers and subwoofer as well to take it to that next level. It a powerful, customizable system that requires a little tuning. Once fully set up, it delivers a truly immersive listening experience.

I've had multiple soundbars in the past and actually ended up switching to a receiver home theater setup a year or so ago so I could have a little more control over the sound delivery. I've got several Bose products (headphones and Bluetooth speakers) so I was anxious to get my hands on the new Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar from Bose. For review purposes I'm going to cover the 4 components as a system since the subwoofer and speakers are reliant on the soundbar for connectivity giving you a good 5.1 system. I received the following - - Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar - Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speakers (2) - Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer Out of the box it was really easy to use but I do have a complaint. Bose is pushing everything to phone apps and my wife doesn't really feel comfortable using apps. For the most part the setup went well, using the phone app on my phone I was able to get 2 of the 3 sound zones dialed in for listening levels about the room but for some reason the last one I could never get locked in. That really doesn't impact the performance of the soundbar, only the fine tuning for that zone. I also received the optional subwoofer and 2 surround speakers (all wireless except you do need a wall outlet for power). Linking everything in the app was painless, it recognized each speaker and the sub. You don't even need to worry which surround speaker is left or right because that swap is easily done via the app. Connecting is easy with a HDMI cable to the HDMI-ARC in/out on the TV to the HDMI-ARC in/out on the soundbar. You can also link via Bluetooth from a smart phone and it supports Airplay from Apple devices. I only wish it had an optical connection option. The app allows control of overall volume and an equalizer. We have DirecTV and using their remote I was able to add the soundbar to the remote via the DirecTV on TV settings. I have had issues with the soundbar not responding to the remote and sometimes even powering everything off and back on won't fix the issue so it's to the app to see if I can get the soundbar to respond to it. Unfortunately, my biggest gripe is that no remote is provided by Bose so if the TV provider remote isn't doesn't control and I'm not home at the time my wife will just have to do without and use the anemic TV speakers. I've scoured the internet to see if there is a better universal remote that I can use but haven't found one yet. Now on to the sound... paired with the Lifestyle speakers and subwoofer you get a really wonderful sound stage. I've had to knock down the subwoofer a bit due to it being a bit much for some shows, mainly action movies, rattle the windows but in a good way for my taste but not so much my wife's. The Lifestyle Ultra Speakers as surrounds provide very good response with very rich sound providing that really good engulfing sound. The only thing I can knock, besides no remote in the box, is the price. Individually purchased if you grab everything you are looking at around the $2500 mark. You could just get the soundbar now and then add the subwoofer if you really like the thump you get from them and you could get the surround speakers later unless you are good with just a 2.1 system (soundbar and subwoofer). Once I tackle the remote control issue I'll be 100% perfect but for the price a remote for convenience if nothing else should have been a no brainer.