Best for wireless sound

KEF KIT570W, £1,100
DVD and Blu-ray discs deliver far better audio quality than broadcast TV, making it possible to recreate in a living room the sort of enveloping film soundtrack you would hear at a cinema. The problem is the amount of cabling involved in setting up a surround-sound system incorporating as many as nine speakers. KEF’s 5.1 system — two front speakers, two rear ones, a central unit for dialogue and a subwoofer — cuts the clutter by using wireless rear speakers (although, being powered, they will still need to be plugged into the mains). KEF also includes a pretty decent DVD player: it will not spin high-definition Blu-ray discs but does upscale standard-definition DVDs, and has enough analogue and digital inputs to make it a versatile home entertainment hub through which you can route all your audio-visual gear, including a games console and hi-fi. The build quality is outstanding, while surround effects from film soundtracks are easily as good as a fully cabled surround-speaker setup.

Verdict Expensive, but excellent build and sound.

kef.com/gb

Best for wall mounting

Samsung HT-WS1G, £200
A single sound bar incorporating virtual surround-sound technology is a tidy alternative to a 5.1 system. This Samsung makes a good partner for a wall-mounted TV screen because it keeps its size and weight down by moving the heavy bass speaker into a separate, powered subwoofer, then connects to it wirelessly. The bar looks best under a 40in set, but can also be placed on a table top using the supplied cradles. The wireless subwoofer has a good range, meaning it can be placed anywhere in the room, and is well suited for action-movie soundtracks, although the fixed-level bass is overpowering. The Samsung does, however, pick out dialogue crisply.

Verdict Stylish, but too bass-laden and virtual surround ineffective.

www.samsung.co.uk

Best for atmospheric soundtracks

Onkyo HD Surround System One, £750
This home cinema setup, sold online only through Richer Sounds, includes a Blu-ray player, an AV receiver for processing the sound, a subwoofer and two front speakers, each of which has a second, small “height” speaker on top. The receiver, complete with five HDMI inputs, can handle HD audio and achieves surround effects by taking a soundtrack’s ambient sounds, such as wind and rain, and directing them to the height speakers to create a vertical soundstage as well as a simple stereo one. It is surprisingly atmospheric, and has the benefit of keeping all the speaker cables at the front of the room.

Verdict Sounds gimmicky but works well.

richersounds.com

Best for virtual surround effects

B&W Panorama, £1,500
B&W’s sound bar can be wall-mounted but it weighs more than the Samsung and needs substantial fixing screws. It can receive feeds from up to five sources, but there is no HDMI socket to take a high-def soundtrack from a Blu-ray player — a surprising omission on such an expensive piece of kit. Setup is complicated but is helped by three preset room modes. The hard work pays off when the virtual surround-sound effects kick in: despite emanating from what is in effect a single speaker, rear effects genuinely appear to come from around the room, albeit not from directly behind. It also sounds great as a stereo system for music, with bass levels packing a real punch.

Verdict The best virtual surround-sound bar, but at a high price.

bowers-wilkins.co.uk

Best for surround on a budget

Sony DAV-DZ680W, £390
Like the KEF, this is a 5.1 system with wireless rears and a built-in DVD player (again, no Blu-ray, but there is HDMI upscaling). It doesn’t have the style of its pricier rival, and it feels a bit plastic. Picture output from DVDs is of a high standard, but the audio is not up to scratch: dialogue can sound as though it is being spoken through cupped hands, while surround effects are tinny. On the upside, the compact subwoofer delivers plenty of bass, there is an iPod adaptor, and an auto-calibration facility is useful in the creation of a sonic “sweet spot”.

Verdict Makes wireless surround affordable, but sound is so-so.

sony.co.uk

JARGON BUSTER

Sound bar These bar-shaped speakers have less stereo separation — the gap between left and right speakers — than a more traditional setup; however, by using digital effects and cleverly bouncing sound off the walls they create an illusion of surround sound.

Subwoofer Bass is a problem for living-room systems because low frequencies need a large speaker housed in a heavy cabinet — the opposite of the sort of discreet setup most people want. Luckily, bass does not need to come through the same speakers as the higher frequencies, so can be pumped through a special speaker called a subwoofer, tucked away in a corner.

Wireless speaker Transmitting the two rear audio channels of a 5.1 soundtrack over the air rather than using wires is a tidy way to create surround sound. The wireless frequency used is similar to that employed by cordless home phones, which gives a good range but leaves speakers open to occasional interference from other household gadgetry.

Prices are the best found online at time of going to press

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