Review: Bluesound Pulse Cinema Soundbar

If you’re looking for a top-notch Dolby Atmos soundbar, it’s hard to beat the Sonos Arc Ultra. But Sonos is still recovering from its self-imposed 2024 software fiasco, and many of its once-loyal customers have sought refuge with the company’s competitors. Chief among these is Bluesound, a wireless, multiroom audio ecosystem from the Great White North.

With a collection of speakers, subwoofers, and music streamers that closely mirrors Sonos’ lineup, Bluesound is especially popular with audiophiles who value the company’s support of lossless, hi-res audio formats and have been willing to pay a premium for it (Bluesound devices typically cost 30 to 50 percent more than their Sonos counterparts).

Like Sonos, Bluesound also does home theater audio, but in this department it has lagged, most notably in its discrete support for the height-channel sound effects that epitomize Dolby Atmos—until now. Bluesound’s ...