sound bars

Posted by: fathings cat on 04 March 2012

Any sound bar  recommendations - is it as with good hifi i.e. you get what you pay for or are there any good solutions out there at a good price.

 

I am assuming Yamaha is a good place to start?

Gary

Posted on: 04 March 2012 by joerand

I have a Samsung 52” LCD tv so I bought a Samsung sound bar and wireless sub to go with it. Seems reliable enough, like other Samsung electronics I own. My purpose was not to get hifi quality, but to better the diminutive speakers these huge flatscreens come with. My wife was having to listen so loudly to the tv’s speakers to understand dialogue that everyone else in the house was complaining.

 

The sound bar is decent for around $250 US. Connects via Toslink with auto on/off. It has about seven settings for sound (cinema, sports, drama, news, music, etc). The subwoofer has independent adjustable volume and adds a lot of dimension to the sound.  On some settings, the soundbar can throw images surprisingly far into the room. My wife can find a setting that suits her ears to understand what actors are saying, and she doesn’t have to play the soundbar nearly as loud as she did the tv.

 

Mostly we just leave it set however my wife has it, but for some events (movies, Superbowl, Grammys, etc) we’ll adjust to get the best quality sound. So, I would say after spending $1500 on a tv, the extra for the sound bar is well worth it. The sub can be placed anywhere you have an electric outlet.

Posted on: 17 March 2012 by hungryhalibut
We have just bought a Panasonic 42" LED and the built in speakers are awful. So we bought a soundbar with wireless sub and it has made a massive improvement. It all links together with HDMI leads and the TV's remote operates everything. It cost £300 and is very good vfm for the extra enjoyment it gives.
Posted on: 18 March 2012 by fathings cat

Whichsounds bar did you opt for?

Thanks

Gary

Posted on: 18 March 2012 by hungryhalibut
It's a Panasonic HTB520. It really is excellent, and looks ok too with its shiny front.
Posted on: 18 March 2012 by hungryhalibut
The other thing worth mentioning is that it has a central speaker that somehow seems to project dialogue upwards so that it seems to come from the centre of the screen. It makes dialogue much easier to follow, which I find really useful. But I have no idea how well this bar would integrate with other brands of Tv, but if you have a Panasonic it is ideal.
Posted on: 19 March 2012 by fathings cat

Thanks, that's really helpful.

Gary

Posted on: 22 March 2012 by Neill Ferguson

Stupid suggestion but aren't you better just to link the Tv to an amp and watch in two channel stereo ?

Posted on: 22 March 2012 by hungryhalibut
That would not work for me, as the tv is not between the speakers.