Nakamichi Dragon vs Samsung Q990C vs Sony A9 vs Sonos Arc System

[gmoore23]

This guy always does really in depth reviews. A pretty good comparison here:



Confirming pretty much what I thought.
The Dragon is the best but not by far enough to justify the price. The Samsung is a damn good product and great value for money. The Sony is exciting new tech and with a few improvements could likely be top dog. Sonos setup is very good but let down by the outdated Arc and not great value in between the Samsung and Nakamichi.

 

[Snowfire]

Yep, then we have the Samsung Q990D out next year, so will be interesting to see what they do with that.

Sonos, will have the new subwoofer and soundbar which will hopefully allow the 300's to excel more.

Sony, radio silence from them at the moment, so will see if they announce anything.

Sennheiser, possible chance of rear speakers.

LG, S95TR will be their new model.

Sure others will popup with something like Bose, JBL etc but as Dragon isn't available this side of the world it doesn't really matter unless you are mad enough to import it.

 

[gmoore23]

Yep, then we have the Samsung Q990D out next year, so will be interesting to see what they do with that.

Sonos, will have the new subwoofer and soundbar which will hopefully allow the 300's to excel more.

Sony, radio silence from them at the moment, so will see if they announce anything.

Sennheiser, possible chance of rear speakers.

LG, S95TR will be their new model.

Sure others will popup with something like Bose, JBL etc but as Dragon isn't available this side of the world it doesn't really matter unless you are mad enough to import it.

I'd be all over an Ambeo Max with sub and rears for around £2500. Wishful thinking probably.

 

[garretts43]

I dont think arc is let down by the era 300’s. The era 300’s can be louder than the arc and thats the issue. Volume evenness can be an issue for some. The new arc should compensate for this, but the system works flawlessly and atmos is stellar when adding the era 300’s. Super impressed.

I got my arc for $680 so im gonna sell it once the new arc releases. Will probably get most of my money back.

 

[JSWolf]

Supposedly in June Sonos is going to release a new soundbar. Also, Samsung is going to be releasing the S990D. So for anyone looking for a soundbar now, I suggest waiting.

 

[Waynej]

The Nakamachi looks highly appealing but in terms of cost Samsung seems to be my preference for overall cost and performance.

The last few years the Samsung flagships always seem to have the same offer with £300 Samsung cashback, and when paired with a good price match offer, the general price can be £600-700 - around Oct-Dec. I think many of the rivals may cost double that figure, which wouldn’t be worth it to me, but others may feel differently.

 

[jdevil]

The Nakamachi looks highly appealing but in terms of cost Samsung seems to be my preference for overall cost and performance.

The last few years the Samsung flagships always seem to have the same offer with £300 Samsung cashback, and when paired with a good price match offer, the general price can be £600-700 - around Oct-Dec. I think many of the rivals may cost double that figure, which wouldn’t be worth it to me, but others may feel differently.

Samsung's knocked it out of the park with the pricing, there really is no competition. I had the Arc and it pales in comparison to my Q990C which cost me around £750 but also comes with rears and subwoofers.

 

[Rizvan]

Samsung's knocked it out of the park with the pricing, there really is no competition. I had the Arc and it pales in comparison to my Q990C which cost me around £750 but also comes with rears and subwoofers.

I have to agree, when you wait a little and take advantage of the Samsung offers, it’s a lot of soundbar for the money. Even buying the previous years models you can still end up with an impressive setup.

There is a good reason that the Samsung 990 series receives sound bar best buy nearly every year by many reviews… and that’s not even taking into consideration the discounted pricing etc.

I personally want Samsung to push their quality and design further as the updates between the Q990B, C and D are not big enough for me to want to upgrade.

 

[JSWolf]

I have to agree, when you wait a little and take advantage of the Samsung offers, it’s a lot of soundbar for the money. Even buying the previous years models you can still end up with an impressive setup.

There is a good reason that the Samsung 990 series receives sound bar best buy nearly every year by many reviews… and that’s not even taking into consideration the discounted pricing etc.

I personally want Samsung to push their quality and design further as the updates between the Q990B, C and D are not big enough for me to want to upgrade.

One reason to upgrade from the Q990D from any other previous version is if it's finally stable.

 

[Rizvan]

One reason to upgrade from the Q990D from any other previous version is if it's finally stable.

Mines been totally stable, but have seen reports of drop outs with the wireless sub / speakers from some members.
Not sure if it’s more to do with the soundbar or individual owners wireless household signals etc.

Imagine if Samsung brought out a dual-subwoofer or bigger PRO version, they could easily pitch it at £1999-£2499 for that niche segment like the Dragon.
Maybe an expandable system with the option to add additional wireless speakers and subs….

 

[JSWolf]

Mines been totally stable, but have seen reports of drop outs with the wireless sub / speakers from some members.
Not sure if it’s more to do with the soundbar or individual owners wireless household signals etc.

Imagine if Samsung brought out a dual-subwoofer or bigger PRO version, they could easily pitch it at £1999-£2499 for that niche segment like the Dragon.
Maybe an expandable system with the option to add additional wireless speakers and subs….

Maybe Sonos will give you what you want with their new soundbar later in the 2024. You can already go dual-sub with the ARC.