Bose has a new soundbar for the fall shopping season, and it includes a few neat tricks for owners of the company's clip-on earbuds. The Bose Smart Soundbar is a "small, sleek" model with AI Dialogue Mode and a Personal Surround feature for owners of the Ultra Open Earbuds. The Bose Smart Soundbar has five transducers, including two side-firing (racetrack-shaped) ones, a center tweeter and two up-firing transducers. This arrangement helps with Dolby Atmos content, with the side-facing ones focused on horizontally positioned audio and the upward-facing ones bouncing sound off the ceiling for an overhead illusion. The center tweeter handles dialog. If your content doesn't support Dolby Atmos for a spatial surround experience, the soundbar's TrueSpace feature can mix them in real time to create a faux surround effect.

You need sound that matches the picture you paid for. You could set up a full surround-sound system--even a wireless one--which can offer superlative audio quality but requires serious money and time. Or you could go the easier route and get a soundbar. Drop a long brick of speakers on your TV stand, plug it in, and revel in the new sound. Even stereo bars that cost around $100--such as Vizio's 29" Sound Bar and the AmazonBasics model with built-in subwoofer--will put your TV speakers to shame.