Last year was my first time ever purchasing a soundbar and I got it from Amazon for $75. It came with remote and setup instructions and I picked the optical. It's not necessarily for just louder sound but also for the background effects. I don't really blast mine.
I always share this story about when I first set mine up and didn't like the echo of the voices. Sounded like they were talking in a tunnel or a can. Then a friend told me to lower the TV remote volume and use mostly the sound bar remote volume. I said oh yeah my dad does that at his house.
