Finally, I found a room-filling soundbar that makes a subwoofer unnecessary for me

"When it comes to watching TV or playing games, I prefer my sound to fill a room with rich, dynamic, and accurate sound. To date, my favorite soundbar has been the JBL Bar 1000, and no other has come even close to topping that device. My bar has been set very high. Also: The coolest audio gear I listened to at CES 2026 (including brain-reading headphones) When I received the Bluesound Pulse Cinema , I was certain it would fall short of the JBL's sound. After all, this soundbar didn't include a subwoofer (although it does have a single RCA output for one), so how could it possibly compare to the bass produced by the Bar 1000?"

"I connected the Pulse Cinema to my TV via HDMI eARC, which was significantly nicer than connecting via Bluetooth (with less delay and more codec support). HDMI also meant connectivity was easier and instantaneous. I would always prefer a wired connection for my soundbars over Bluetooth. In other words, connecting the Pluse Cinema soundbar was simple."

"I don't know about you, but I am so over everything requiring an app. I get it: It's probably cheaper for manufacturers to rely on consumers for installing apps and using their phones as remotes (instead of having to build and ship a physical remote with the device). Sometimes, these apps aren't bad. In the case of the Bluesound Pulse Cinema, the app is bad. The UI is subpar, the controls are inadequate, and the overall experience is confusing. On top of that, the ability to alter the sound is, well, not there. There's no EQ, which would be highly beneficial for this speaker. Additionally, you should be able to connect the soundbar to services like Spotify. Try as I might, the connection could not be made (even with my phone connected to my Spotify account)."

The Bluesound Pulse Cinema connects to TVs via HDMI eARC, delivering lower latency, better codec support, and instant, simpler setup than Bluetooth. It lacks a built-in subwoofer but provides a single RCA subwoofer output. Despite the missing subwoofer, the Pulse Cinema produces room‑filling, dynamic, and accurate sound that rivals high-performing models like the JBL Bar 1000. The companion app offers a poor user interface, limited controls, no EQ, and unreliable Spotify connectivity. Users must rely on external devices for streaming account access. Overall, audio performance is impressive while software and streaming integration are major weaknesses.

Read at ZDNET