Best Home Theater Systems of 2024

CNET follows a rigorous, unbiased evaluation process for all of its sound bar and AV system tests, from simple stereo speakers to Dolby Atmos systems. In the CNET AV Lab, I conduct comparison tests, putting similar systems side by side.

I evaluate each system’s performance with a variety of content, including movies, music, TV shows, and games. I use a number of test scenes, including the opening of Mad Max: Fury Road for playback of the Dolby Atmos spatial audio standard for systems and soundbars that support it. I also use Avatar’s Thanator Attack scene (26:53) to test a product’s dynamics and detail retrieval.

When it comes to music, I use some CNET test tracks which you can find here here in a tidal area or Spotify playlist. Songs like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Red Right Hand, with its deep bass and tenor vocals, help determine whether a system can track male voices in particular without sounding overloaded. The song also helps reveal hidden details and the relative dynamics of which a speaker system is capable. Using both types of content – movies and music – I then evaluate the sound quality of each product. I evaluate characteristics such as speech clarity, dynamics/volume, bass response, and music reproduction.

CNET’s dedicated audio lab in downtown New York City includes a selection of TVs (with HDMI eARC), plus Apple TV 4K and Roku Ultra streamers, a Microsoft Xbox Series X, and an Oppo UDP-205 4K Blu-ray player. I’m also using Roon music software to stream to individual devices or the Oppo player if needed.