Monoprice SB-300 2.0 Sound Bar Review

The Monoprice SB-300 2.0 Sound Bar delivers amazing audio performance for its size. With a low price of just $200, it’s an ideal alternative to a multi-component system. If you’re looking for a slim solution to your new flat-panels poor sound quality, this sound bar is a great choice. With two channels, virtual Dolby Atmos and 4K pass-through, it works with today’s high-end content from streaming or shiny disc.

In the beginning, there was home-theater-in-a-box. Buyers of flat-panel televisions wanted something better than the afterthought built-in speakers that had no bass and insufficient volume to fill even a small media room. So, they bought a kit that included a receiver, five small speakers, and a sub-woofer. It was an improvement for sure but running all that wiring and finding places for the speakers was impractical. Enter, the sound bar.

Initially, the sound bar was strictly a lifestyle component. It provided better sound than the TV speakers but wasn’t quite the same as a true surround system. Today though, sound bars have made tremendous performance gains with better amplifiers, virtual surround modes that actually work, and a simple setup.

Monoprice, ever the king of value, has also made tremendous performance gains with its huge line of AV components. They now offer high-end surround processors, premium speakers, and powerful amplifiers. And they have a line of sound bars that deliver amazing quality for the money.

I reviewed the SB-600, their flagship bar, a few months ago and found it provided superb sound and a super-easy setup with its wireless surround speakers and subwoofer for just $450. Today, I’m checking out the entry-level model SB-300. It’s a two-channel sound bar with Virtual Dolby Atmos, DSP processing, 4K video pass-through, and a surprisingly big sound. And it sells for a mere $200. Let’s take a look.

The SB-300 is one of the slimmest and most minimal sound bar designs I’ve seen. This doesn’t mean it won’t put out big sound. I was shocked in a good way when I first fired it up, but more on that later. It’s just under three inches high, a little over four inches deep, and a bit less than 40 inches wide. It’s perfect for mounting on a wall under your flat panel or set on a bench under the TV if it’s on a stand. It has rubber feet to keep your furniture scratch-free. Most panels will sit high enough to clear it so you can pass the cables underneath the screen and out of sight.

The SB-300 is a two-channel sound bar with racetrack-shaped drivers for the bass and midrange frequencies and soft dome tweeters. Two ports can also be seen in the front baffle behind the perforated metal grill which cannot be removed. With 50 watts per channel, there is plenty of power and distortion-free volume to fill any small to medium-sized room.

Format compatibility is pretty much universal. You can pass through 4K video up to 60Hz, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, as well as HDR10 and HDR10+. All audio signals can be processed by the four DSP modes, Movie, Sports, Voice, or Music. And Vertical Surround is turned on by default. This feature expands the sound envelope noticeably, mostly wider but a little higher too. I left it on for all content.

Getting content to the SB-300 couldn’t be easier. There are two HDMI 2.0 inputs plus a third eARC port that can serve as just an output or a single cable solution to an eARC-equipped smart TV. You also get optical and coax digital plus a 3.5mm jack for which a cable is included in the box. A high-speed HDMI cable is also bundled. In addition to physical sources, the SB-300 accepts Bluetooth v4.2 and USB. The only thing I wished for here was AirPlay, but I realize that would likely up the price tag. I also thought support for additional wireless speakers and/or a subwoofer would be nice but again, that would likely increase the cost.

A good sound bar must be easy to set up and the SB-300 checks that box. I always consider how easy or difficult a product is to figure out and Monoprice manages to make the process almost effortless. For my initial installation, I hooked up a small OLED monitor to the HDMI output and an Apple TV to one of the inputs. The total time from start to picture & sound was five minutes. I had no need to consult the manual.

The front display is extremely handy and easy to read from across the room. Once booted up, it shows the current input or volume level when you change it. I could cycle through the DSP modes, toggle the vertical surround, change inputs, and adjust volume while easily seeing and hearing the results.

Vertical Surround was the biggest surprise. It’s turned on by default and works with all sound codecs. It truly expands the sound both in width and height. It didn’t quite have me turning my head around but considering there are only two speakers in operation, the sense of immersion in a sound envelope was impressive.

I started the fun part of my review with some content from my favorite streaming services. Netflix has plenty of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content available like the latest season of Formula 1 Drive to Survive. This show makes great use of the extended color palette and has a very rich and dynamic Atmos soundtrack to go with it. I was surprised by the depth of the sound. There wasn’t a ton of bass, but the frequency range was so well balanced that I didn’t miss the pounding of the subwoofer as much as I expected to. The dialog was rich and full, with excellent balance from both men’s and women’s voices. The front ports help extend the bass to a claimed 40Hz. I’m not sure the SB-300 played quite that low, but I can’t say the bass was lacking.

On Amazon Prime Video, there is plenty of HDR10 content like The Grand Tour and Making the Cut. The SB-300 had no issues passing the video through unaltered. The sound was very dialog-focused with clear voices well separated from background effects. The car engine sounds in The Grand Tour had a nice throatiness with fine detail and no distortion when things got busy.

Watching more mundane fare like Tournament of Champions on Discovery+/Food Network was also a treat. Guy Fieri hosts this sports-like cooking competition, and he sings and calls like a seasoned announcer in a boxing ring. No matter how loud he spoke, the sound never broke or distorted. It was always clean and clear.

As a television enhancement, the SB-300 is a phenomenal upgrade from nearly all the built-in speakers I’ve heard, even in premium displays. The only thing that comes close in my memory is the Pioneer units that bolted onto the sides of an Elite plasma, a product that sadly hasn’t been available since 2009.

While I expect most users will be using the SB-300 for TV shows and movies, it is a very capable music playback device too. You could hook up a CD player to its coax or optical ports or use the Bluetooth streaming feature. I connected it that way to an iPhone 12 to listen to a few tracks from my library of lossless CD rips.

Classical music is a challenge for any small speaker system and the SB-300 was well up to the task. My old Chicago & Solti recordings of Brahms Symphonies sounded excellent. I could crank up the volume as high as I wanted and still hear balanced highs with clean bass and well-defined strings. The Vertical Surround feature made a real impact by extending the soundstage in both width and depth. I tried the different DSP modes and found little difference between them. Movie seemed the best choice for all content. I also checked out a few tracks from Idil Biret’s album, Chopin Piano Favorites. Her playing was delicate when necessary and strong in between with the piano’s percussive nature well-preserved. Here too, I could crank the volume and fill my room with a warm and textured piano sound.

The SB-300 is equally capable of rocking out when asked to. I expected some compression from the Bluetooth interface but heard none. I thought the sound stage was a little narrower but there was no less depth to the presentation. The detail was clear in Jimmy Page’s distorted guitar lines from Led Zeppelin’s Good Times, Bad Times with John Bonham’s drums keeping the groove. I also enjoyed some thrash metal from Metallica’s Hardwired…To Self-Destruct. Though this mix is somewhat compressed volume-wise, it is still clean with good instrument separation. Layered guitar lines never became mushy or undefined.

If you plan to entertain, the SB-300 is great at playing either background music for your guests or becoming the center of attention. It won’t crank out bass that flaps your clothing, but its balance and clean amplification mean you can fill a good-sized room with clean sound.

The Monoprice SB-300 is the best $200 sound bar I’ve yet heard. With balanced dynamics and an easy setup, it’s a no-brainer for those wanting better audio with their new flat panel.

It’s hard to find any fault with the SB-300 at its price of $200. AirPlay and the ability to add extra surround channels or a subwoofer would be nice but that is a minor point. It delivers amazingly rich and balanced sound for its size and price. I was able to set it up in just a few minutes and it handled every format I tried it with. It even did a solid job with both classical and popular music through its convenient Bluetooth interface. With a handy remote and included wall-mount brackets and HDMI cable, the Monoprice SB-300 2.0 Sound Bar is an easy and inexpensive solution to the built-in speakers found in most flat panels. If you’re spending money on good video, you don’t have to spend much more to get good audio. Highly Recommended.