This week we’ll answer the question, “What is a sound bar?”

Back when home theater systems with 5.1 speakers (that is two front speakers, two rear speakers and a “.1” subwoofer) became popular, sound bars emerged as a space- and clutter-saving alternative.

Not everyone wants to run speaker wire across their living room to hook up rear speakers or pay to have speakers installed more neatly. Sound bars are typically a single wide, short speaker centered above or slightly below an HDTV set that tries to mimic surround sound on its own, sometimes with the help of a subwoofer.

The surround sound effect wasn’t spectacular on early models, but sound bars have evolved. Newer ones, like a recent 42-inch sound bar released by Vizio, offer more options like a wireless subwoofer and additional satellite speakers which also don’t require speaker wiring.

That may defeat the purpose of having it all-in-one speaker, but at least the wiring is minimal.

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Collect candy, play carnival games for prizes and do more not-so-scary stuff at Boo at the Zoo at Zoo Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday. (Courtesy of Zoo Atlanta)

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com