Did a Heritage Hi-Fi Manufacturer Just Create the Next Sonos Soundbar Rival?

Harman Kardon is a prominent American audio company with a history dating back to the 1950s. Early on, it was known for its high-end hi-fi components, such as stereo receivers and power amplifiers, but today it’s better associated with its home speakers and automotive sound systems.

Notably, in 2017, Samsung acquired Harman International — the parent company of Harman Kardon (as well as several other heritage hi-fi brands, including, most recently, Marantz, Bowers & Wilkins and Polk Audio). Thus, in recent years, Samsung has leveraged its audio team to bring the “Harman Kardon sound” to its soundbars.

(Note: Harman Kardon has partnered with a lot of other consumer electronics brands, such as Asus, Sharp, and Hisense, to bring its sound to their TVs, tablets, and laptops.)

Now, Harman Kardon is introducing a new Dolby Atmos soundbar and wireless system that appears poised to compete with Sonos’s new Arc Ultra. In fact, it even beats it in a few key ways.

Harman Kardon Enchant 1100

Harman Kardon

11 total drivers

Harman Kardon’s Enchant 1100 is the company’s new flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar, designed to compete with other wireless soundbar systems, including Sonos’s Arc Ultra ($1,099) and Bose’s Smart Ultra Soundbar ($999), in terms of sound, expandability, and price.

The Enchant 1100 is a 5.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos soundbar featuring 11 total drivers, including two up-firing drivers to create the virtual height channels needed for a truly immersive Dolby Atmos experience.

Harman Kardon

An expandable soundbar system

Like Sonos’s and Bose’s soundbar systems, Harman Kardon is giving you the build a truly immersive soundbar system around the Enchant 1100. Specifically, you can add a wireless subwoofer and rear-channel speakers in the Enchant Sub and Enchant Wireless Speakers.

The Enchant Sub is a 6.5-inch down-firing subwoofer, while each Enchant Wireless Speaker also has five drivers, including one that’s up-firing, promising to further enhance the Dolby Atmos experience.

In total, with the wireless sub and both rear-channel speakers, the Enchant 1100 can be elevated to a 7.1.4-channel surround sound system.

Harman Kardon

The advantages over Sonos

Harman Kardon’s Enchant 1100 has many similar features as today’s flagship Dolby Atmos soundbars, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming and room-tuning tech to ensure it sounds best for its room placement.

That said, it does have some key advantages over Sonos’s Arc Ultra. The most notable of which is support for DTS:X, which is another popular immersive audio format similar to Dolby Atmos. In fact, the lack of DTS:X support is probably the biggest complaint most people have with the Arc Ultra.

Additionally, the Enchant 1100 features a second HDMI port, whereas the Arc Ultra has only one. This is convenient for hooking up a game console or media player, especially if your TV has limited HDMI ports.

And lastly, there’s price.

Harman Kardon

Price and availability

Harman Kardon’s Enchant 1100 costs $1,000, which is similar to the price of most flagship Dolby Atmos soundbars and actually slightly more affordable than the $1,100 Arc Ultra.

The Enchant Sub and Enchant Wireless Speakers cost $450 and $350/ea, respectively. This is also significantly lower than their Sonos counterparts, the Sub 4 ($799) and Era 300 ($449/ea).

It’s worth noting that Harman Kardon has also introduced a smaller Dolby Atmos soundbar, the Enchant 900 ($550), for those who want the same capabilities but have a smaller TV or just want a more affordable option.

Harman Kardon’s new Enchant series is available now.

Harman Kardon

Harman Kardon Enchant 1100

• $1,000 at Audio Advice

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