This time last year we were ready to write off sound bases: most TVs didn’t fit on them anymore, and sound bars let you upgrade with a subwoofer, a path seemingly closed to their larger siblings.
Then, along came Sonos Playbase ($699.00 at Amazon.com), which sounds better than many sound bars and ‘bases. With a renewed appreciation for the “speaker you can plop a TV on” category comes products like the Q Acoustics M2. While it’s not as “fancy” as the Sonos product it manages to be both a whole lot cheaper and able to offer one important feature the Playbase can’t: HDMI. But how does the Q Acoustics compare against products its own size, like the affordable Fluance A40?
At $349, the M2 is firmly in the midrange of TV speakers, and is fairly likable for the price. Like the company’s similarly priced M4 before it, the M2 eschews good looks for performance, but the M4 sounds a bit better. If you’re set on a sound base though, our favorite non-Sonos choice is the cheaper Fluance AB40, which offers even better sonic capabilities.
