For a typical living room, I recommend a pair of bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer. You get a wider sound field, pronounced upper bass/lower midrange (the frequency range that punches you in the chest), and the option to expand in the future. The biggest drawback to a soundbar is the further away you sit, the more smearing between channels you will have. What this does is portray a monaural sound, as you lose the stereo/surround effect. Some manufacturers try to address the issue by pointing the individual drivers in different directions, but this has an adverse effect as well. When the drivers are pointed in opposing directions, you lose what we call the "phantom" center channel effect that you get when using a stereo pair of speakers. Soundbars can be good for a small bedroom, but nothing much larger than that.
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