The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.While every other sound bar I've tested has included multiplespeakers to recreate a multi-piece sound system in a scaled-down form, Q Acoustic's M3 sound bar takes a different approach.It's a single 2.1 sound bar, with a subwoofer built into the bar. It's compact, but delivers well-balanced sound regardless of how loud you have the volume.I experienced a couple of hiccups, but overall my experience of using the one they sent me to test has been positive.Q Acoustic knows that everyone's media setup is going to be different, so the M3's manual includes instructions for wall mounting the bar ' although you'll have to buy the screws and wall fixtures yourself.Setting up the M3should be easy, and in your case it may be, but I ran into some trouble. You can connect thesound bar to your TV three ways: via an HDMI cable, an optical cable, or RCA cables. Q Acoustics only includes an HDMI cable with the M3, which leads me to believe it's the preferred option.Unfortunately, that didn't work well. You need to plug the sound bar into a specific HDMI port on your TV designed for audio peripherals, but even so audio and video would cut out constantly.I reconnected the M3 to my TV withan optical cable and it worked flawless, but I wish Q Acoustics had included both in the box. That hiccup aside, setting up the sound bar was simple. I plugged it in, my TV recognized it, and I could go on with my testing.Both video games and TV shows sounded very good through the M3. Even the soundtrack of the 16-bit games I've been revisiting lately ' they're excellent, but are made up of lower-resolutionMIDItones ' were nice to hear.The bass impressed me the most; it's present without being overpowering, and I think I prefer it to the wireless subwoofers included with sound bars I've used in the past.My final thoughts are about the M3's remote: It's simple, which is nice, but I would have preferred its single "EQ" button was replaced by something less vague. Having a specific button for an extra bass mode, or vocal boost mode would have made it easier to know what to listen for when I cycled between the sound options.Overall, though, I really like Q Acoustic's sound bar. It manages to pack a substantial amount of audio quality into a relatively compact space.If youwant to upgrade your TV- and movie-watching experience without setting up multiple speakers around your living room, the M3 deserves your attention.QAcoustics M3 Sound Bar with Built-In Subwoofer, $349.99, available at AmazonDON'T MISS:How to choose the right 4K media streamer for youSEE ALSO:The best 4K TV for every type of personJoin the conversation about this story
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