Soundbar recommendation

Dream on mate, if you want 5.1 do it, or don't. End of story.

Sound bar! Ha.

Silklee,
While I have a satisfying 5.1 system, I too have been considering getting a soundbar for a different TV. For the TV in question, my wife has no interest in a surround setup, but I have a strong urge to upgrade the TV's speakers.

Wondering if any Naim forum folks have one that they like (regardless of whether it is Naim-ish)?

I don't know much about them and have never really considered one seriously, although I could see their use in a 2nd TV/bedroom etc...

Not sure about the 'Naim-ish' aspect, but two probable musical soundbars I would look at are the new B&W Panorama and I believe Marantz have a fairly top end 'surround' bar....

Yamaha's range seems to be particularly respected with regards to pseudo surround effects...

Steve

If the function of the intended soundbar is to upgrade the built in speakers in the TV then why not get two small bookshelves with a small integrated amp? Especially since surround is of minimal importance and function?

Regards...

Bought a Denon DHT FS5 soundbar yesterday to use with my Samsung 46" LCD... the tv has great picture, but absolutely appalling sound.

Just wanted a very, very unobtrusive plug-and-play solution that would let me follow dialogue clearly and have some semblance of bass (not worried about surround sound at all) -- the Denon seems to work quite well, even without the optional sub (which I did not end up buying). Preferred it to some of the other options I heard (yamaha, sonodyne, polk), though never tried the B&W one, which is pretty awesome by all reports, but way too expensive.

Integrated very well with my Harmony universal remote control, so setup / operation of the whole thing is pretty quick and seamless.

Kartic,
I have the same TV. This was one purchase that I have absolutely no regrets about. I still smile and marvel when viewing HD content. The sound of the TV drive me nuts as well. My wife and kids actually prefer watching a movie on this TV, relative to one that has the surround setup! Sometimse I fantasize about running away from home..

Thanks for the tip on the Denon soundbar.

JBGood

quote:

Originally posted by Kartik:
Bought a Denon DHT FS5 soundbar yesterday to use with my Samsung 46" LCD... the tv has great picture, but absolutely appalling sound.

Just wanted a very, very unobtrusive plug-and-play solution that would let me follow dialogue clearly and have some semblance of bass (not worried about surround sound at all) -- the Denon seems to work quite well, even without the optional sub (which I did not end up buying). Preferred it to some of the other options I heard (yamaha, sonodyne, polk), though never tried the B&W one, which is pretty awesome by all reports, but way too expensive.

Integrated very well with my Harmony universal remote control, so setup / operation of the whole thing is pretty quick and seamless.

quote:

Thanks for the tip on the Denon soundbar.

Not at all. Obviously not a real substitute for proper 5.1, but does the job I want!

I was watching a DVD movie the other day (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang -- loved it) where one of the scenes has two people having a conversation with each other in the middle of a noisy party. I was really impressed by how I could hear the background noise of the party all around my room, and clear dialogue of the main conversation coming through the center of the soundstage. Very cool.

The Denon doesn't require any real setup (no microphones to measure the room etc) - just plug-and-play and select the right presets based on room size etc. I don't know if I got lucky with my room or have fairly low quality standards for surround sound (probably a combination of both!), but so far very happy with the purchase.

Note that using the digital inputs on the soundbar is critical -- apart from losing the 5.1 processing, it sounds pretty awful through the analog inputs, even when watching regular tv -- I guess the soundbar has a decent dac/processor, while my dvd player and cable box don't!