“For the best sound quality, use the HDMI eARC connection to go from your TV to the soundbar. This will allow your soundbar to decode all of the different multi-channel audio codecs used these days. If you have a simple soundbar, we’d always suggest using the optical connection, as this is an ‘always on’ connection and is the simplest to set up.

“Some TVs have problems correctly passing through multi-channel audio from connected devices like Blu-ray players to soundbars. If that’s an issue, look for soundbars fitted with additional HDMI ‘pass-though’ inputs. These allow the direct playback of surround sound audio before sending high definition pictures on to your TV.”

Absolutely, maintains expert Paul Murray. “On most occasions a soundbar will give far superior audio than just a TV used on its own,” he says. There are some “honourable exceptions” including Sony, which “has some very clever sound tech in its TVs”.