Sound Bar

Anyone use one, are they as good as surround sound etc?

I've got a Samsung one to go with my TV; no idea of the model number but its got a wireless subwoofer and bluetooth connectivity.

Nice crisp sound loud enough to annoy the neighbours, no wires to annoy the wife. Not sure you get the same effect as surround sound but its certainly 'cleaner', I would definatley recommend one.

Thanks Pete. I don't know anything about Sound Bars but I'm fed up with seeing speakers all over the place and I listen to quite a bit of music from the pc but the quality coming from the surround sound speakers is just crap, hence I'm tempted. That said, it could just be that I have a crap sound card but even so it should be a better sound than it is.

It's certainly decent for playing music on. I've got all my music on my ipad and phone so I just Bluetooth them up and away you go.

The lack of wires and extra speakers was the main reason I went for a sound bar and not surround sound system.

So this is a new kind of gramophone, yes?

That's it Peggy, it looks just like this..

If you were posh you had one of these!

GOB wrote:

If you were posh you had one of these!

So where does the record go?

A few questions. Firstly your budget. Secondly, what do you want it for - a percentage for each would be good - 20% tv, 30% films, 50% music? Thirdly, what do you have currently - I am assuming an AV Receiver and speakers but 'surround' could be an all-in-one DVD set-up. Fourthly, how big is your room? Fifthly, what outputs are using from your pc soundcard - I.e. is it a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to RCA?

There's some really good deals at the moment on amps as Yamaha and Denon have recently released their new ranges.

Hairy said,

Blah blahblahblah blahblahblah, blahblahblah ..................

hairy j wrote:

A few questions. Firstly your budget. Secondly, what do you want it for - a percentage for each would be good - 20% tv, 30% films, 50% music? Thirdly, what do you have currently - I am assuming an AV Receiver and speakers but 'surround' could be an all-in-one DVD set-up. Fourthly, how big is your room? Fifthly, what outputs are using from your pc soundcard - I.e. is it a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to RCA?

There's some really good deals at the moment on amps as Yamaha and Denon have recently released their new ranges.

Budget: depends what it takes to improve the system, would it mean a new sound card for the pc as well etc?

TV 20% - Films 5% - Music 75%

LG surround sound system (yes I know, LG!) DVD set up.

The fithy bit is...well I dunno! - I think it's just a scart lead?

The room is about 12 feet square.

I have the pc, TV, X-Box and Wii all in the mix.

Right.

If space is limited, you can get a slim-line AV Receiver. Pioneer do a decent option and it’s available at Richer Sounds for £209. http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/pioneer/vsxs300/pion-vsxs300-blk Pair this with a set of bookshelf speakers, I’d go for Dali Zensors… http://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/dali/zensor-1/dali-zensor-1-blk …and for just over £400 you’ll have something that’s far more versatile than a soundbar (in terms of connectivity with the AV Receiver) and will blow any soundbar out of the water for stereo music.

If you have a limited budget, Wharfdale do sub £100 speakers in their Diamond range and you can pick up an AV Receiver for under £100 at Richersounds now – so that’s below £200.

If you have a large budget – over £2,000, I’d look at Floorstanders like the Tannoy Revolutions http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/tannoy/revolution-dc6t-se/tannoy-revo-dc6t-se matched with a Yamaha RXA 3010 http://www.exceptional-av.co.uk/product.php?fdProductId=874

Is 5.1 out of the question?

If your heart is set on a soundbar though, have a look at the Sonos Playbar http://www.richersounds.com/product/soundbars/sonos/playbar/sono-play-bar Or the Yamaha YSP2200 http://www.richersounds.com/product/soundbars/yamaha/ysp2200/yama-ysp2200-blk They have decent ranges in the low and high frequencies but they’ll never beat traditional speakers by Kef, Dali, Roth, Monitor Audio, Castle, Tannoy etc. matched with an amp.

There’s a huge range of sub £200 soundbars available but all they are are a front and left speaker with a poor amp, limited connections and paper thin components – the Samsung, Panasonic, Phillips products aren’t made by those companies, they’re made and badged –none of those companies are dedicated audio manufacturers anyway. I think you’ll be disappointed with these as they’re basically designed to just improve on your TV speakers and they won’t give you decent music output – it’d be better to buy a hi-fi with stereo speakers with an ipod dock that has a line in for your PC.

Another option to improve what you have would be a DAC – it basically works as a pre-amp and sits between your output and your amp and improves sound quality but I doubt that’s the issue – it’s probably that your current speakers and amp aren’t that good.

It's unlikely to be your PC soundcard - it's your speakers and scart.

Cheers Hairy, I think you nailed it with the speakers and the amp is pretty crap quality really, it's fine for DVD's but that's about it. I'm not totally sold on a sound bar but I love the idea of not having the room full of wires and speakers, that said, I love my music so it maybe something that I have to live with.

Obviously for music, the sound would come from just two (stereo) speakers of a surround sound system?

An AV receiver will allow you to play pure stereo - you can play around with the settings too to suit your room and most come with set-up mics to optimise output. I watch tv on mine in stereo and I plug in my mp3 player via RCA and my tablet over hdmi to use stereo. You can also add a centre and rears at a later date if you want to go back to 5.1. You will still have wires with a soundbar but you'll have less. AV receivers are big though - multiply your xbox by four and that's how big they are - plus you need a good 30-40mm space for the air to get into its vents, they can get warm if you drive them hard.

Another option I forgot to add is an AV receiver and LCR speaker
http://www.avbristol.com/product.php/72/0
This is a very good speaker for the money.

If you can demo the Sonos soundbar somewhere, I think you'll be impressed.

And how about your X-Box Hairy, you play that over stereo as well?

Nah! 5.1 all the way. Games are astonishing in 5.1.

I've got a set of 300 watt floor standers and a 160 watt centre, bi-polar 130 watt rears and a sub. Wires everywhere in my front room. I've never gone past half way on the volume as it is actually painful if I crank it up. I bought my whole 5.1 speaker set-up second hand for £170 - my amp was only £250 so I've not spent a fortune. It's pretty impressive when I put something on with a HD audio track.

Xbox on stereo with good speakers is way better than your TV speakers though.

Now that's where I am confused, you have a set of 5.1 speakers and also another set of two, stereo speakers?

Hairy keeps saying, blah blah blah blah blah, but never said anything about GOB having an LG!

I kept it quiet!

You can plug in just two speakers into an av receiver leaving the rest of the speaker inputs empty. In essence, you're just feeding a front left and right with a signal. You don't have to plug in 5 speakers. The .1 in 5.1 refers to a sub-woofer - not needed either.... I hardly ever turn mine on.

I have 5.1 but when I select 'stereo', the amp powers just two speakers and the rest aren't active.

Most mid-range amps are 7.1 and the upper end amps are 7.2 - you can have a right and left sub on those.

There's a load of settings on an AV receiver and stereo or stereo enhance are what you'd select if you just have two speakers plugged in.

Hang on, an LG! feckin hell.

hairy j wrote:

You can plug in just two speakers into an av receiver leaving the rest of the speaker inputs empty. In essence, you're just feeding a front left and right with a signal. You don't have to plug in 5 speakers. The .1 in 5.1 refers to a sub-woofer - not needed either.... I hardly ever turn mine on.

I have 5.1 but when I select 'stereo', the amp powers just two speakers and the rest aren't active.

Most mid-range amps are 7.1 and the upper end amps are 7.2 - you can have a right and left sub on those.

There's a load of settings on an AV receiver and stereo or stereo enhance are what you'd select if you just have two speakers plugged in.

Then it's mind made up, an AV receiver it is!

Do LG make them?

They do actually. They make a budget one but it's actually over-priced and it's bundled with really crap speakers.
http://www.richersounds.com/product/1-box-home-cinema-systems/lg/sr906/lg-sr906

If you live near a richersounds, go down there as they have demo rooms - you'll get good service... if you do, do NOT buy any speaker wires or hdmi cables from them - get them elsewhere online or from Maplins.

I just spotted this, it's a great price but it is a 5.1 speaker set
http://www.richersounds.com/product/1-box-home-cinema-systems/yamaha/yht398/yama-yht398

There is so much choice, it's hard to recommend a perfect set-up.

I await the "I am confused about aV receivers" thread.

I will stick with HMV record player the only downsides are it's a pain having to wind it up and changing the needle

Vinyl's lovely. If I could, I'd have a record player over a CD player.