Soundbars

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After years of thinking about it my wife and i have decided to spend some money on the house,part of the deal is that i get shut of all my AV equipment from the living room,i was using a Denon AV amp running the 5.1 dvd ,TV stereo etc,now i have been told no speakers around the walls more so all the wires that came with it,i must admit i do like good audio equipment so i do know that without all the speakers i will miss out on the sound quality,my only solution i believe is a sound bar ,any sugestions on how much i would ned to fork out to get a decent mid level soundbar that can deal with a 6mx5m room .Thanks
 
Sonos = excellent but quite expensive. But compared to amp+speakers probably not so.
 
zlinuk said:
Sonos = excellent but quite expensive. But compared to amp+speakers probably not so.
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Also, for even more money you can add more speakers without wires and get true surround when you "need" it.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Also, for even more money you can add more speakers without wires and get true surround when you "need" it.
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I have been out of AV technology for a number of years and i have just not kept up with the alternatives,at the moment my music system would be priority as we dont watch as many dvds as we used to apart from my music ones ,so stereo would be a must ,i just need to spend some time looking around ..
 
den said:
I have been out of AV technology for a number of years and i have just not kept up with the alternatives,at the moment my music system would be priority as we dont watch as many dvds as we used to apart from my music ones ,so stereo would be a must ,i just need to spend some time looking around ..
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I'm really happy with the Sonos soundbar as a music device (though I'm heavily invested in their kit so I would say that). If you get the chance to listen to one in a demo room you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. It's a system that can grow with you - at a price.

Depends what your source for music is though - it won't play CDs.
 
den said:
I was waiting for that one .......she holds all the money ,thats why i dont own a 500mm ,she says she would rather pay for me to have a willy extension than pay £4/5 grand for a lens...but then i dont need one as it as already filled 5 prams
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The t-t-t-t-trouble with a w-w-w-w-willy extension is it m-m-m-m-m-makes you stutter.
 
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I did something similar at the begin of the year, although my sound system wasn't as impressive as your's
it was a sony 5.1, and it did the job.
You living space is approx. the same size as mine, and with an open staricase / landing.
I looked at a few and settled on THIS ONE
Although I see the price has gone up a bit.

I'm no connoisseur, but it does a nice job.
 
Cobra said:
I did something similar at the begin of the year, although my sound system wasn't as impressive as your's
it was a sony 5.1, and it did the job.
You living space is approx. the same size as mine, and with an open staricase / landing.
I looked at a few and settled on THIS ONE
Although I see the price has gone up a bit.

I'm no connoisseur, but it does a nice job.
Click to expand...
Looks decent enough ,but i must admit i am a bit of a snob when it comes to my sound systems,i do like the reviews from the sonos...i am limited to what i can view at the moment as my work pc is filtered
 
JonathanRyan said:
I'm really happy with the Sonos soundbar as a music device (though I'm heavily invested in their kit so I would say that). If you get the chance to listen to one in a demo room you may find yourself pleasantly surprised. It's a system that can grow with you - at a price.

Depends what your source for music is though - it won't play CDs.
Click to expand...
What i have to do is try and do some compromising,i may have to move the stereo CDsystem elsewere ,its just a case of her not wanting all the wires around the house and interconnects that go with it
 
den said:
Looks decent enough ,but i must admit i am a bit of a snob when it comes to my sound systems,i do like the reviews from the sonos...i am limited to what i can view at the moment as my work pc is filtered
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Have a wander into Curry's PC world richer sounds and the like,
they are more than happy to demo them for you :)
(Thats what I did)
 
Now if my wife new i was going to Richer sounds she would hide my wallet, i used to spend hours at the Prestwitch shop ,they even had a coffee machine and i am going back a good few years..
 
den said:
Now if my wife new i was going to Richer sounds she would hide my wallet, i used to spend hours at the Prestwitch shop ,they even had a coffee machine and i am going back a good few years..
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LOL just don't tell her :D

Curry's will do a demo too, but obviously in "open surroundings" with back ground noise,
actually that maybe the best bet, to hear it at its worse, if you see what I mean?
 
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den said:
Now if my wife new i was going to Richer sounds she would hide my wallet, i used to spend hours at the Prestwitch shop ,they even had a coffee machine and i am going back a good few years..
Click to expand...

Not been in the Prestwich one for a few years. Is it still there?

On a personal note, my son has had a few sound systems for his TV now. He's recently settled on the Sonos and is delighted with it. I have to say it does sound good.
 
The Prestwich one was still their last time I went to the pet shop just down the road a month or so ago...If I remember they have a small car park as well
 
Interesting thread, I have just moved, and I want to do away with the cables etc. I have read a lot of reviews and it seems you get what you pay for. I think the Sonos soundbar, and the wireless speakers are the way to go. They even do a wireless sub. Happy days.
 
I have the sub and would highly recommend it, however the system does have a couple of limitations and I would make sure that it fits your specific requirements before parting with any cash.
 
zlinuk said:
I have the sub and would highly recommend it, however the system does have a couple of limitations and I would make sure that it fits your specific requirements before parting with any cash.
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What are the limitations Paul ?
I an another person looking into getting a soundbar and as I already have a Sonos system it appeals, so can you enlighten me please ?
 
twist said:
Im using a LG NB4530A, got ARC, HDMI, optical, usb, bluetooth, wireless sub etc etc.

After reading a lot of reviews and listening to a lot of systems including some that were 100-150 more it clearly stood out as the best.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/lg-nb4530a-review

http://www.whathifi.com/lg/nb4530a/review

Do not go for anything without a sub.
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That's very similar to the one I linked too earlier,
And I agree the (Bluetooth) sub makes a huge difference,
although you don't have to have it on of course.
 
stevewestern said:
What are the limitations Paul ?
I an another person looking into getting a soundbar and as I already have a Sonos system it appeals, so can you enlighten me please ?
Click to expand...

It only has a single optical input which is intended to receive a signal from your TV's optical output. Your TV is supposed to act as the hub for all of your peripherals.

In my case I have a VM box, Apple TV and a Blueray player. Sonos suggests that all three are connected directly to the TV and the audio is passed through to the Playbar.

So you need plenty of Hdmi inputs on your tele and audio pass through with an optical output. Most TV's only pass through stereo (there are a few exceptions) so the Playbar looks at the signal and creates a faux 5.1 signal to send to the speakers. It also only supports DD and PCM natively so even if you feed it a signal straight from the BD player, if it's DTS you will get silence.

All of this only relates to the TV side of things, as a music player it is excellent and integrates seamlessly into an existing Sonos set up.
 
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Philips sell a soundbar with detachable, wireless satelite speakers, for when you want true surround.

It's quite expensive, for a soundbar, but gets great reviews.
 
Don't think it has any, I use optical. It has a bigger brother the DM75 now and that doesn't either. I think the company made the point that the HDMI licence is so expensive they'd rather pitch in with better quality than others at that price point and forego the HDMI. Real deal breaker for some I guess but I've always used optical.
 
Why not replace your front 3 speakers with an LCR speaker, and get smaller rears?
I replaced my full size 5.1 speakers with a kef system, and it's a good compromise.
The LCR speaker sits below the tv and provides left centre right channels.
I wasn't overly impressed with the all in one soundbars, but it depends on what you're used to.
This is similar to the one I have...
http://www.soundandvision.co.uk/hifi/speakers/av-speaker-packages/kef-kht7005-sys-black
 
den said:
What i have to do is try and do some compromising,i may have to move the stereo CDsystem elsewere ,its just a case of her not wanting all the wires around the house and interconnects that go with it
Click to expand...

If you're going to do that and do think there's Sonos in your future then take a look at the Sonos:Connect or the Sonos:Connect Amp. Both can take audio inputs so you could have (say) a CD player in the bedroom connected to a Connect and play the music through the Playbar in your living room.

Yeah, just give Sonos all your money ;)
 
JonathanRyan said:
If you're going to do that and do think there's Sonos in your future then take a look at the Sonos:Connect or the Sonos:Connect Amp. Both can take audio inputs so you could have (say) a CD player in the bedroom connected to a Connect and play the music through the Playbar in your living room.

Yeah, just give Sonos all your money ;)
Click to expand...
I am looking at the sonos set ups ,just need to get my head sorted and make sure i get the specs i need
 
Those LCR sound bars look great. How are they "mounted" exactly?
 
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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned OrbitSound. I bought their M12 soundbar from them and have to say it is one heck of a piece of kit. I certainly recommend it. They do sell their stuff in Currys (not the M12) and Costco (M12?) but look out for them at shopping centres or shows/exhibitions where they sell direct and are happy to do a quiet deal for you (I got £100 off following seeing them at the Caravan show at the NEC).
 
DorsetDude said:
So if yer tellys on a stand you're a bit bu99ered?
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I just made a little extension to the "stand" and the sound bar sits on that.
The Blue tooth sub, sits to the side and to the front.
Works for me :thumbs:
 
They are a definite improvement over the tv sound but I've never been convinced of soundbar surround sound credentials. Like someone mentioned above i would go with a setup that has wireless rear speakers you can get out when you need them for films etc then hide them away.
 
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