A bar with Atmos: Majority Sierra Plus Soundbar and Subwoofer review

If the idea of setting up a surround sound system with half a dozen speakers or more seems like overkill, one of the best soundbars might just do the trick. The next time you hit the play button you could be greeted with explosions, hails of bullets and the roar of jets overhead as they turn your living room into part of the Director’s stage. With the Majority Sierra Plus Soundbar, the UK audio company aim to deliver better sound than your TV speakers can plus a lot more besides - and all at an affordable price. How? Well, it’s clearly aimed at movie and music fans, thanks to the inclusion of Dolby Atmos.

To achieve those awe-inspiring cinematic moments, soundbars normally come packing a serious number of speakers and an equally sobering price tag. However, cramming a lot of directional speakers into something the length of a cricket bat doesn’t normally come cheap. They need to project sound into the room to give the illusion of a three-dimensional soundscape - so, the more speakers inside the better. But, the Sierra Plus takes a different approach while still claiming to deliver an audio-visual experience worthy of the Dolby Atmos tag.

Dolby Atmos is a tall order when choosing a soundbar, but can the Sierra Plus actually achieve this feat with only two channels plus a couple of upward-firing speakers and a separate subwoofer? Our AV expert and lifelong movie geek Chris Duffill has set up the Sierra Plus, grabbed some popcorn and put it to the test. Was it a premiere worth turning up for, or should the red carpet be quietly rolled up and put away?

While I'm unboxing…

I covered what this surround sound technology does in my article on Dolby Atmos. But, in short, it uses an array of speakers to more accurately place sound effects and dialogue in three-dimensional space. So, whatever you’re watching comes to life with room-filling directional audio.

It’s known as spatial audio, as it uses coordinates to project numerous sounds at once into the room. As with all surround sound tech, the effect gets better the more speakers you have at your disposal. This is also why any soundbar claiming to deliver Atmos has its work cut out for it. I was seriously intrigued to find out what the Sierra Plus could do with its relatively low speaker count.

Design and build

Lifting the soundbar from the box, I immediately noted its weight - but also how sturdy the build is. It’s a world away from Majority’s budget offering, the Teton Plus soundbar that I reviewed a few months ago. This is really noticeable in the black metal grilles that make up the front and top surfaces of the bar. There was no give in these when I handled it, making the Sierra Plus a reassuringly solid item to unpack and set up.

Opposite the Majority badge sits the chrome Dolby Atmos logo - signalling that this feature is anything but an afterthought. Overall, it's a refreshingly simple and refined design with little in the way of unnecessary bling to distract my eye from the TV screen. It comes with a pair of all-mount brackets too. But, as I’ll be putting this onto an AV unit, I was glad to see a pair of chunky rubber feet underneath, promising good sound isolation.

Speakers

One thing I can’t readily see though are the speakers themselves - and that’s a good thing. Backing away from the soundbar I couldn’t see the telltale shine of cones or domes through the grille. What is evident, though, are the sizable bass ports on either end. As passive as ports are, I’m not expecting these to add much to the surround feel - but I’m happy to be proven wrong if they really can add some width to the soundstage.

Controls

Unlike the cheaper Teton Plus that crowds everything onto the side, the main controls here are restricted to four buttons in the centre of the top panel. They’re rubberised and low-profile - which I think blends in very well with its clean lines and overall high-end aesthetic. In this regard, it’s very similar to designs from premium brands - such as the Denon DHT-S216 Soundbar we reviewed. The Sierra Plus does, of course, come with a remote - but those buttons still provide a handy way of adjusting the input source, volume and power if you need to. There’s no discreet Bluetooth button to be found though, as I discovered that it’s selected as one of the input sources.

Inputs

If there’s one thing I dislike in AV kit it’s cable clutter. Thankfully, I turned this soundbar around to discover a neat inset panel in the centre for all of them. There’s an ARC-enabled HDMI port for connection to a compatible TV - so I hooked this up to my Samsung QN90A. The ARC connection would hopefully support surround audio from anything I chose to watch, including Atmos soundtracks. Two extra HDMI inputs are also a welcome addition, allowing me to plug in a game console or other playback devices.

Given that this soundbar is also built with music in mind, I was happy to see the inclusion of a USB port, optical input and an aux jack.

Subwoofer

Next out of the box was the subwoofer. Despite being chunkier than the sub on the Teton Plus that I tested, I was thankful to see that the design is simple - allowing it to blend in at the side of my AV setup. Part of that simplicity is the fact that it’s wireless - connecting to the bar via Bluetooth. It’s a typical mid-sheen black with the Majority badge plus a bass port to the front, and a fabric grille to the side for the sizable 5.25-inch driver behind. I had high hopes for this given the size and weight.

Setup and first use

One thing I did notice when placing the soundbar is the protrusion of the cables. Despite being slightly inset, the cables add an extra one to two inches to the depth of the unit. The power cable input isn’t inset at all, so in terms of placing this flush to the wall or (in my case) the back of an AV unit is a no-go. Given that this soundbar is around eight centimetres tall and almost a metre in length, it’s not a compact option - but adding to a depth that’s already over ten centimetres is a little frustrating. I routed my cables and positioned the bar underneath my 50-inch TV - despite having to place it slightly more forward than I wanted, I have to admit it looks great.

I plugged both the soundbar and the sub in and switched on. A welcome message scrolled across the front of the Sierra, revealing a well-disguised yet sizable LED display set behind the grille. As for the sub, there was no tricky pairing to do - it did that automatically. I turned on the TV and changed the audio output device to the HDMI ARC port. As hoped, I found that the TV’s own volume control would then control the soundbar volume.

Display and modes

Not only does the display report when the soundbar is on, but it’ll also display the input selection (in my case, ARC) and whether the source is Surround Sound or Atmos. I was particularly thankful that this disappeared after a few seconds too, as earlier versions had a distracting issue with the display staying on.

Remote control

As glad as I was to see minimal controls on the soundbar itself, I was equally happy to see that the included remote had a few more functions. Still ticking the box for an uncomplicated remote for volume, muting and changing inputs, it adds tone controls and four EQ presets. I played around with these while watching Mad Max: Fury Road. While the Music preset did seem to usefully adjust the mid-range, I found the news and 3D modes were a bit superfluous for me. As I like to watch TV shows and movies with surround sound, I decided to select movie mode and tweak the bass and treble to suit.

Performance and sound

I should really start by explaining my expectations for this system. On paper, this is a two-channel setup plus the sub - but what makes this Atmos-capable is the addition of two angled speakers on the top. The front-firing speakers are actually four speakers arranged in two pairs. All in all, that makes this a 2.1.2 surround sound system - plus those additional height channels.

So, I’m expecting the bulk of the Dolby Atmos effect to come from some accurate and well-defined front speakers with those two height channels doing a lot of the heavy lifting where surround effects are concerned. It’s worth mentioning though, that the Sierra Plus doesn’t have an eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) HDMI input. The standard ARC won’t support lossless audio formats like some Blu-Ray players can output, but as this is a mid-budget Atmos product it’s not too much of a sacrifice. Lossless surround would really be the sort of audio best experienced over a traditional multi-speaker surround setup anyway.

In terms of power, there are 400 watts of combined speaker power on offer here, so it should compete with the average dedicated home cinema amp for sheer loudness. As long as the speakers are well-defined and the subwoofer delivers the bass to match, I’m expecting a respectable Dolby Atmos experience at a sensible price.

Movies

With Atmos testing at the top of my list, I fired up The Batman and the Penguin chase sequence. Anyone who has seen this movie will know how good the audio mix is during this nighttime white-knuckle race through Gotham City. The spatial effect that the soundbar brought to this was impressive, with much more room to the left and right of the screen than I was expecting. I suspect those side-facing ports were helping with that, too. Cars weaving, explosions and subtle effects were all well-placed in the scene.

Top gun for Atmos?

Again with Dolby Atmos, I watched Top Gun: Maverick and yes - the dogfights were spectacular, with some of that upward-firing audio really making the jets fly through the room at times. But, surprisingly, it was the scene on a yacht that really stood out, with the Sierra Plus being particularly well-defined. The scene has dialogue throughout, plus background ocean waves as natural white noise fairly high in the mix, with other waves and splashes as discreet effects. Those effects made the best use of the Atmos system, being well-placed without interfering with the dialogue. And that speech was equally well-placed. All in all, it was a real test of the soundstage and precision of the system.

A truly super test

Finally, a scene from Superman: Man of Steel in glorious Dolby Atmos really tested the Sierra Plus - especially that subwoofer. The battle in the streets of Smallville has it all - machine guns, jets, helicopters, fist fights and overall mass-scale destruction. And this is where the volume and definition of the sound really did shine - resisting all of the movie’s attempts to muddy the frequencies. But, it also did result in the sub struggling to match that definition at times. As a subwoofer, it is going to treat those lower frequencies as one mass of noise - but one or twice it was a little boomy, even for my taste. A quick tweak of my bass settings was enough to tune this to suit, and I’d recommend any user to test their favourite action movies as a way of calibrating the Sierra Plus and its subwoofer.

TV and standard sound

To test the Majority Sierra Plus with a non-Atmos soundtrack, I streamed RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop on Amazon Prime. Without resorting to those EQ presets, I actually found my custom movie settings worked brilliantly, bringing full-bodied room-filling audio to the five-part series. So, the technical wizardry of Atmos aside, I found myself loving the sound quality on offer here.

As for non-surround stereo content like broadcast TV or YouTube, I found the 3D EQ present did a fair job of making sound pop just a little more - using those up-firing drivers to good effect even without any true surround soundtracks to work from.

Music

But, it’s not all about movies. I put on some music videos with a Dolby Atmos mix - namely live concerts from KISS and Guns ‘n Roses, and Hans Zimmer in concert with the Pirates of The Caribbean soundtrack. I expected the mixes here to be tuned for the live concert acoustic, and they didn’t disappoint. However, it has to be said that I prefer live concert recordings over a system with genuine rear speakers rather than virtual surround, as it brings the live crowd atmosphere to life. That said, the musicality of the Sierra Plus isn’t lacking and it’s certainly a system that works well for your favourite tunes.

As for regular listening, I hooked my iPhone up to it via Bluetooth and played a range of genres via the music streaming service Spotify Premium. As Bluetooth speakers go, it’s got a ton of power and would make for a great party speaker if you had nothing else to use.

Games

Star Wars Battlefront II is just one of a growing catalogue of games that support Dolby Atmos, and - as you’d expect - it’s used to great effect. I can heartily recommend the Sierra Plus to anyone who has their TV connected to a compatible console (or even a PC) if they have any games with Atmos sound.

I also connected a retro mini console, the Nintendo SNES Mini, to the soundbar via the extra HDMI input. Not only did this pass through to the TV without a hitch, but the standard stereo sound from those older games was also amplified perfectly and made for a real upgrade over the in-TV speakers I’d been using.

Any downsides?

As I mentioned earlier, the fact that the Majority Sierra Plus only has ARC HDMI connectivity rather than the more advanced eARC is a small downside. But, given that this product is intended to be an affordable yet effective way of enjoying Dolby Atmos without needing an array of speakers dotted around your room, foregoing the lossless surround formats is an acceptable and wise choice for this product.

That said, I did find the bass from the sub to be loosely defined. It was excellent for adding that boom and resonance when needed for the vast majority of content. But, there were moments when the bass frequency was uncontrolled and boomy. Still not a deal-breaker though, as the quality of the sound and overall experience was satisfying.

For a soundbar this chunky, though, I do wish the rear power input and ports were all inset, which would allow the bar to be wall-mounted or placed flush to the rear of a unit. As it is, it needs to protrude a couple of inches further forward than I’d have liked.

Price and competition

Majority has a knack for designing products that fill an unexplored gap in the market. It’s not the first time that I’ve reviewed one of its audio products and found that it over-delivers in some areas for the price. For that reason, an Atmos soundbar for a similar price is a slightly tall order, but if you want a premium device then the Sony HT-S2000 Dolby Atmos Soundbar is a good option. It’s a 3.1-based system that can achieve Dolby Atmos, and it currently costs just under £300, but it is just a starting point for a bigger system. If you want a subwoofer or even some separate rear speakers, you’ll need to buy those separately.

Alternatively, the next closest one-stop shop for an Atmos soundbar is the Denon DHT-S517 Soundbar with Subwoofer. It shares most of the features of the Sierra Plus but is slightly more expensive.

Verdict

As a soundbar that’s certified for Dolby Atmos at under £300, the Majority Sierra Plus is a brilliant low-cost way of bringing a respectable Dolby Atmos experience to your viewing. It has the weight and presence of a far more costly soundbar and sub setup with very few performance downsides - other than a slightly ill-defined subwoofer during some thankfully rare moments.

The 3D surround experience that this system can deliver exceeded my expectations, given the physical speaker arrangement inside. It’s both a testament to the ingenuity of the Dolby Atmos system and the build of the Sierra Plus. I genuinely marvelled at the sounds of rain, breaking glass and helicopters overhead - many of which were reflected above or behind my viewing position. It even fooled my dog several times, which was a little bit of added entertainment. That said, those stand-out moments were just that - momentary, with the bulk of the experience being typical general surround sound. That’s probably simply because this is, at heart, a 2.1 system with extra up-firing speakers to achieve the illusion of a much fuller 3D soundscape.

As a straightforward speaker system, it was easy to connect to via Bluetooth or the auxiliary jack. Everything I put through it was obviously a step up from what my TV could have provided. But, it also delivered more than many budget home cinema amps that I’ve tried.

In my opinion, if you want a better Dolby Atmos experience you’re either going to have to spend a lot more money on a soundbar with more internal speakers, or go the whole hog and invest in separate speakers and an AV amp. The Majority Sierra Plus is worth every penny. For a meaningful Dolby Atmos experience at this price point, there’s no better option.

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How this product was tested

The Majority Sierra Plus Soundbar was tested with a 50-inch Samsung QN90A Neo QLED TV via HDMI ARC port. It was placed on a Blok AV unit in front of the TV, in a room around 12’ x 10’. The subwoofer was placed on the floor next to the unit and on the unit itself next to the soundbar. Sources tested included streaming and locally played movies with surround sound and Dolby Atmos soundtracks; also a games console, and music with Dolby Atmos. Standard stereo sound was tested via Spotify Premium over Bluetooth.

Chris Duffill is a Tech Product Writer for What's The Best and Yours. His background includes writing, editorial, marketing, design, video production and photography.

He specialises in home entertainment and audiovisual tech, including speakers, amplifiers, turntables, streaming media players, and TVs. He is also one of our resident experts in computing (PCs, tablets, smartphones, smartwatches), DSLR photography and all kinds of digital cameras. He also writes about retro gaming, game consoles and various electronic gadgets. If it plugs in, lights up or makes a noise, he’ll write about it.

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