Made all the more difficult to avoid, once wives are made aware how easy it was for Cyndi next door to get one.
I have a Sonos soundbar that is really only used for TV and Sonos listening to radio streaming shows, podcasts. As far as music, as someone mentioned above, casual background. When it's serious sound, and specific with a movie that I have physical copy of, I run it thorough my stereo setup. I don't have surround setup, but I do have a receiver/amp, and extra speakers lying around that I could hook up and do the 5.1 thing. In any case, I like the Sonos soundbar due to it's wireless integration with speakers in other rooms around the house, and it's sound. It's not bad at all.
There's without a doubt a lot of positives when it comes to soundbar use. They have their place. However, to date, none of those places have been in any of my HTs. I'll probably eventually get around to posting about it in more detail, but when it came time, a few months ago, to turn part of my basement into a workout area, I knew I wanted a HT set-up there as well, so that I could do my stationary bike workouts as penance for watching schlocky TV shows at the same time. I cobbled together a used Pioneer AVR, three pairs of Minimus 7 speakers, a cast-off Energy centre from a TAKE 5.1 system, and a used Yamaha YST sub. Threw in a new 4k flatscreen and Sony BD player, and I've been happy ever since. There's no way a soundbar could have ever taken the place of the full suite of speakers (nor would I expect it to) especially with the layout / placement constraints that I faced. The key was using the Pioneer AVR's Advanced MCACC system to dial everything in. It sounds so good (for what it is) that I even enjoy throwing on multichannel SACDs when I get to the weights part of my workouts. Jeff
I have Fluance AB40 and Zvox 440 soundbars that fit nicely under TVs, and they're fine for that. They are OK for the most casual kind of background audio—the Fluance does relatively well with BT from my Android phone—but that's about it. My somewhat soundbar-like Kanto SYD (with sub), which is used exclusively for audio, is a step up from both of them.
I have heard a few sound bars that aren't bad, within that frame of reference. And I believe that's the key phrase, "frame of reference".
Soundbars make today's very thin TVs sound much better. They are pretty sad without the help. However, still does not come close sonically to a good stereo. My den, where I watch TV, is about 12x13, not a great fit for a 42" TV, an A/V unit, and a bunch of speakers. If I want the sonic experience that accompanies an over the top movie, I am heading for the theatre.
I have a small tv in our bedroom, and the best solution for space/value/sound was a ZVox sound base. I also hooked an Airport express digital output to it for streaming lossless music.Also can play CDs though the DVD player. I can see how someone with limited space and limited money could use it as a primary system. The smaller the space, the better they sound.
A pair of active speakers both sides of the TV is just as plug and play and will give much better sound than a soundbar. If you can put a soundbar under the TV, you can just as well put a pair of actives beside the TV.
I have a good 11.1 surround system, my problem is room size. The way furniture is distributed and positioning of the TV, my good surround sounds like crap, a sound bar projecting from up front would get the rear surrounds out of your ear when sitting in certain chairs and make it sound full, although still far from optimal. I can guarantee my wife is not going to reposition furniture based on my stereo needs.
I bought a small Vizio sound bar, for a very small cabin and love it for that application. It only has two drivers and no sub. It matches the 40 inch tv, and makes it much easier to hear when the heat or air is on. Just what I needed.
"What do you guys think? Do soundbars create enough of a room filling audio for your tastes?" I vote no. No doubt they are fine for others.
This is called WIF ("Wife Insistence Factor"). Bowels of decorative glass marbles sitting on top of subwoofers Chairs placed in front of rear surrounds "to hide them" Imposing coffeetables situated in front of the center speaker TV's mounted above fireplaces Sound absorbtion panels replaced with "art" behind glass frames Carefully-situated speakers suddenly moved flat against the wall "for more room" All the remotes in one stylish, handy basket...placed waaaaay over there...where nobody sits
I have just had a two week holiday... ...first week we visited my parents in the South West seaside town of Minehead. It was my father's birthday - I bought him a JBL soundbar. My dad no longer has a Hi-Fi - at least this present meant I could listen to tunes during our stay via my Fiio DAP. It wasn't completely awful but in no way a substitute for a proper system (especially in my parent's enormous lounge). The second week of the holiday we went to a Southwold holiday cottage that had a Samsung soundbar... ...it was OK for background music. My wife wondered why I had brought my desktop DAC, headphone amplifier and Sennheiser HD650s with me on holiday. I installed this setup in the bedroom - so at least I could fall asleep to good sound!
Movies I don't care about, so yes. For music ?! A big no-no, but again, it depends on how much you care. If you're seriously into watching movies in surround, with the best possible sound, a soundbar will just don't cut it. Now from a convenience standpoint, the rock !
Got a big old heavy Zvox Z-Base 580 stashed away somewhere. Maybe I should slip it between my Klipschorns for a great musical centre fill. I wonder……
I’m fortunate to have a dedicated 5.1 home theatre setup with projector and screen. I use this for most of my movie, bing watching of series, and big sporting events. My family room has a 43 inch tv in an old oak corner cabinet designed for a larger CRT tv. It has a shelf above in that fits a Yamaha integrated amp and a pair of 5 inch two way Linn Tukan speakers. I went this route because the Tukans were not being used and fit neatly on the shelf. The sound quality is good enough for the content we watch on that tv. My three season porch has similarly sized but better speakers setup on stands and properly spaced. In that room we listen to music 75 percent of the time vs. tv watching on a 32 inch tv. In our bedroom we have a 32 inch tv that sits on a Cambridge sound bar. It all fit neatly into an armoire designed for a tv that size. It sounds good enough and the soundbar sounds significantly better than the speakers in the tv. Soundbars have gotten very good and make sense in a lot of rooms. Sonos, Bose, LG, Samsung and JBL make some nice soundbars that I have heard. The better ones have dedicated center channels, subwoofers and surround speakers for a better 5.1 sound experience.
I guess you could say that my Sonos Playbar/Sub combo is wife driven, but when I was all tubes it saved my tubes from excess wear while the wife watched NCIS. Made it so much easier and even for casual music it does an amazing job. I used to care about surround sound, but as I’ve gotten older it’s more distracting than necessary.
Smaller soundbars could be stomachable as a "nearfield" PC speaker substitute...(might give you some level of immersion/envelopment etc akin to a full scale atmos setup) For large rooms? Might as well forget about it...though it seems to be marketed to noobs for the latter use case. Sony seems to be headed in the right direction with this item however.
Ha! However a Belle Klipsch anchoring your Klipschorns, playing a native 3.0 SACD, would be some kind of wonderful. (I'm only guessing: try it and let us know. ) Jeff
Not true in my case, as there isn't room beside either soundbased TV for speakers. Even if there were, that would mean a sub and more wires. I agree about the "better sound," though.
I don't think a soundbar can compare to speakers soundwise but some of us have no choice due to space constraints. Also you can't beat the convenience of a soundbar.
