Gone are the days of needing a bulky Surround Sound system to create a cinema style experience for your prize winners. Today we are taking a look at the top Soundbars on the market, which could make the perfect addition to your next Home Cinema Prize Bundle or gadget-focused staff incentive!

Far from being the most installation friendly devices, Surround Sound Systems can be quite a pain, especially if you don’t have a large space to work with. So for a user and space-friendly way to create incredible sound, Soundbars are a must! Small, hassle free and super clever here are the Top 5 that will transform your living room into a mini-cinema still that packs a real punch.

Yamaha YHT-S401

This versatile surround system from Yamaha offers Air Surround Xtreme to create a 7.1 surround sound effect without the need for rear speakers. This is clearly a system designed for performance as well as convenience as it is accompanied not just by a subwoofer, but also by an AV receiver with an iPod dock thrown in for good measure. Although speaker numbers are cut, sound quality certainly isn’t.

Pioneer HTP-SB510

This 3.1 system is all about convenience and arrives complete with a built-in subwoofer, HDMI and a USB connection to attach an iPod or iPhone. The multi-channel acoustic calibration system is amazing too, which uses a  microphone  to measure the dimensions and sound fields of your living room. The data from this  is used to calibrate and customise the HTP-SB510′s Front Stage Surround Advance function, meaning this Soundbar is very high tech, but also fuss free.

Boston Acoustics TVee Model 30

This TVee Soundbar from Boston Acoustics brings Bluetooth to the audio party. With its ability to stream music wirelessly from a PC or any smartphone, the Model 30 also features an aux input to wire-in an iPod and its special ‘stereo mode’ even promises concert-quality music reproduction.  What’s more, it can be wall-mounted for a sleek and professional appearance.

Phillips CSS2113

Philips’  Soundbar crams itself into a super slim device, which is actually the main cause for TV’s woeful sound. However, it does mean that this super-slim and 70cm-wide solution is low profile enough to sit in front of any TV. It has relatively good tech on board too with a separate wireless subwoofer, virtual surround sound tech that seeks to replicate a 5.1 home cinema, and wall mount accessories all included. It also promises to increase the sound quality of compressed music files from your iPod, iPhone or Laptop when linked up!

Panasonic SC-HTB520

Panasonic’s Soundbar is a  2.1-channel “home theatre” with a wireless subwoofer, capable of being mounted on a wall under a flat screen TV – which is where Soundbars look and work best. One massive plus of this offering is that it works with a 3D setup and supports 3D image signals. It comes with a wireless subwoofer as well as a Clear-mode Dialog that subtly projects the sound upwards to create the illusion that voices are coming from the centre of the screen – as obvious as this may seem to incorporate, in many it’s overlooked.