New Delhi, Sept. 3 -- A soundbar is supposed to be a simple way to improve your TV's audio without building a full home theatre setup. But once you start looking at different models, you face another decision: should you get a soundbar with a dedicated subwoofer, or save money and space with a standalone soundbar?

I tested soundbars with and without a subwoofer to understand how much of a difference that extra box actually makes. While the answer is not as simple as saying one setup sounds better, the difference becomes quite noticeable with certain types of content.

The biggest difference is, unsurprisingly, bass. A standalone soundbar has to handle dialogue, music, sound effects and lower frequencies from the same enclosure. A dedicat...