Review: Bluesound Pulse Cinema Soundbar

If you’re looking for a top-notch Dolby Atmos soundbar, it’s hard to beat the Sonos Arc Ultra. But Sonos is still recovering from its self-imposed 2024 software fiasco, and many of its once-loyal customers have sought refuge with the company’s competitors. Chief among these is Bluesound, a wireless, multiroom audio ecosystem from the Great White North.

With a collection of speakers, subwoofers, and music streamers that closely mirrors Sonos’ lineup, Bluesound is especially popular with audiophiles who value the company’s support of lossless, hi-res audio formats and have been willing to pay a premium for it (Bluesound devices typically cost 30 to 50 percent more than their Sonos counterparts).

Like Sonos, Bluesound also does home theater audio, but in this department it has lagged, most notably in its discrete support for the height-channel sound effects that epitomize Dolby Atmos—until now. Bluesound’s $1,499 Pulse Cinema is a pricey new chapter for the Canadian company: its first Dolby Atmos soundbar with dedicated up-firing drivers and a center channel.

A Sonos-Like Footprint

Photograph: Chris Haslam

There’s a single HDMI-ARC/eARC port, and, like with most of Bluesound’s speakers, an analog input, a digital input, a USB port for external storage, two-way Bluetooth with aptX Adaptive, and your choice of Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi. There’s even a wired subwoofer output, which is far from standard on most soundbars. Except for the lack of any HDMI inputs, it’s a generous and versatile collection that leaves the Arc Ultra in the dust.

Size-wise, the two speakers are similar: The Pulse Cinema, at 47 inches, is just one inch wider than the Arc Ultra. Both will look right at home under 50- to 65-inch TVs, but the Pulse Cinema, with its wraparound fabric grille and soft curves, may appeal more to those who want a less high-tech look. If you’d prefer to wall-mount it, a bracket is included. (Sonos sells its wall mounts separately.)

Armed with a 500-watt, 3.0.2-channel, 12-driver array, the Pulse Cinema pumps out impressive levels of detail for both movies and music. It’s this commitment to both formats that helps it stand out. Most soundbars will be a big step up from your TV’s internal speakers for movies and TV shows, but few offer a similarly rewarding listening experience when it comes to music.

Great for Dialog

Photograph: Chris Haslam

For TV audio, dialog clarity is a standout feature, with voices that are both well-centered and easily understandable, even in scenes with lots of competing background and surround sounds.

The two built-in woofers and their four associated passive radiators do an excellent job of conveying low frequencies, while the left/center/right/height tweeter and midrange pairs produce a wide and tall soundstage that stretches well beyond the edges of the screen.

Bluesound’s processing rewards critical listening with details that other soundbars fail to communicate. This is especially noticeable in a scene from Dune where the sandworm makes its first appearance, devouring a stranded spice harvester. The sequence is awash in the constant thrum of ornithopter engines and the increasing rumble of the approaching sandworm. Nonetheless, crosstalk on the ‘thopter’s radio is clear, as are the ethereal, whispering voices that Paul Atreides hears as he experiences a heavy dose of airborne spice for the first time.

I found the same thing was true while watching all of my usual test clips from movies like Mad Max: Fury Road, Unbroken, and Ford v Ferrari: lots of detail, with excellent separation of soundtrack elements.

Almost Atmospheric

Photograph: Chris Haslam

To appreciate Dolby Atmos in all its glory, you need well-placed height and surround channel effects—the soundtrack elements that create Atmos’ distinctive hemisphere of sound. This is where the Pulse Cinema can’t quite compete with either the Arc Ultra or the more expensive Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Plus. There’s a scene in No Time To Die where James Bond sits placidly in his Aston Martin as machine gun fire pummels the car. As the camera transitions from outside the vehicle to the interior, the bullet impacts should become more pronounced and concussive, and a great Atmos speaker will put you in the virtual driver’s seat, with the sound of denting metal and shattering glass all coming from all around you. The Pulse Cinema doesn’t pull this off as convincingly as its competitors.

Soon, Bluesound will release a software update that lets you expand the Pulse Cinema into a 5.1.2 system via the company’s Pulse M or Pulse Flex 2i, plus its Pulse Sub+. This will likely help a lot with low-frequency and surround sound immersion. Around the same time, it expects to add true internal subwoofer low-frequency effects (LFE) processing, creating a 3.1.2-channel system. For better height channel effects, Bluesound tells me we’ll need to wait for a planned update that will add discrete channel level adjustments. It didn’t say when the update could be expected.

Hopefully, we’ll also get the ability to adjust EQ when these updates arrive. Currently, the Pulse Cinema doesn’t offer any real EQ tweaks. Other than the three optional listening modes (Music, Movie, and Late Night) and toggles for stereo upmixing and spatial virtualization, there’s no way to alter the sound signature. Unlike most soundbars at this price, there’s also no room correction function. Bluesound (and its sister brand, NAD) has an existing relationship with Dirac, a leading room-correction software company, and I’m told that Bluesound is actively looking for ways to add this feature to its home theater products.

A Musical Soundbar

Photograph: Chris Haslam

Music, as I mentioned earlier, is where the Pulse Cinema truly shines. The detail and clarity that give the speaker such accuracy for movie and TV show content translate beautifully into music reproduction. The upper mids and highs sparkle, while the bass exudes both resonance and musicality. The Pulse Cinema’s rendering of music (with stereo upmixing enabled) is more immersive than the Arc Ultra. The Cinema’s soundstage is wider, and it creates an astonishingly clear separation of elements.

The Pulse Cinema is held back once again only by its lack of EQ settings. The precision of the soundbar’s highs is remarkable, and yet, to my ears, it also comes across as slightly sharp. I find I get fatigued by the sound after a while. You may not be bothered by it, but that’s kind of the point: without even so much as basic treble/bass tone controls, there’s nothing you can do if Bluesound’s factory tuning isn’t a perfect match for your sensibilities. Hopefully this changes soon.

If Bluesound’s BluOS app is light on EQ settings, it makes up for it with an ultra-fast interface that’s easy and (mostly) intuitive to use. It’s ideal for managing multiple Bluesound speakers (and devices from NAD, PSB Speaker, and Dali, to name a few other BluOS-compatible brands). You can also use it to access streaming music services like Amazon Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and Deezer.

Just beware of some limitations that, depending on your chosen music services and your desire for lossless audio, could be a problem. For instance, the Pulse Cinema supports AirPlay, but it doesn’t have native access to Apple Music in the BluOS app. This means no lossless audio from Apple Music unless you use a third-party device (like an Apple TV 4K). You can’t use Google Cast (formerly Chromecast), so there’s no way to stream directly from Amazon Music (though there is a Bluesound skill for Alexa). YouTube Music users on Android are second-class citizens, relegated to Bluetooth.

For the moment, even though the Pulse Cinema works with Tidal Connect, there’s no native support for Dolby Atmos Music. If you want to hear this format, an Apple TV 4K running Apple Music or Tidal is once again your only option.

Bluesound’s Pulse Cinema is the company’s best soundbar to date and a killer choice for music lovers. But at $1,500, Sonos fans may want to wait before making the switch, as Bluesound is still working out some fairly significant software features. Besides, for the same price as Bluesound’s 3.0.2 system, you can get a Sonos Arc Ultra and two Era 100s, for a much more immersive 9.1.4-channel setup, or a massive system from Samsung that beats them all.