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Are Soundbars the future of speakers for the home?

S

SoundG159

New Member
I'm interested to hear your thoughts about the benefits of modern day soundbars compared to the days of surround sound speakers and other inventions.

For me personally, growing up in the surround sound era, it was a neat little thing to have surround sound to show off to people when they came round to watch a movie or tv show. However, I think nowadays soundbars are my personal preference purely because of a lot less clutter and also multi functionality with the fact a lot of them can also play music etc through bluetooth.

What do you guys think? Do soundbars create enough of a room filling audio for your tastes?
 
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I use sound bar/sub combos on all of my TVs--not a big TV/movie guy, so I am not running wires for 7.1 surround. However, they will NEVER replace my "traditional" 2-channel audio systems.
 
savatage1973 said:
I use sound bar/sub combos on all of my TVs--not a big TV/movie guy, so I am not running wires for 7.1 surround. However, they will NEVER replace my "traditional" 2-channel audio systems.
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Same here. Another thing is the WAF is off the charts with all the associated wiring, speakers and electronics gone. For sure the sound isn't as good and for some of the movie buffs among us soundbars and a bluetooth sub probably won't cut it.
For me though the convenience of just turning it all on with the one button on the remote and having the clutter gone makes the soundbar a huge upgrade.
 
I primarily watch sports on tv, so,never felt the urge for a full blown surround sound system. I have been using a Zvox sound base with the tv for years now. I am very happy with it, but never use it for music. I will always have a dedicated system(s) for that.
 
A good sounding soundbar is a sensible thing; there's no reason a soundbar can't have excellent tone and clarity and decent dynamics. I used a UE bluetooth speaker as a soundbar with a small TV in my front room and often played music through it; it sounded good. It was a stereo device but in effect it was mono, the speakers being so close together. And that was fine.
 
Haven't gone there yet..... main tv still has a 5.1 surround system that I installed when we built the house. The other 2 sets have newer Sony 2 channel receivers on them with small Sony speakers. Works well, that way I can grab a radio station for sports on a local game if I want to follow along that way.
 
Is the sound bar better then the TV's sound,Yes.
Is it better then surround sound,Hell No,not even close.
For movies or music it wouldn't even be an option for me.
 
I've heard sound bars that sound OK, but I'll be sticking with more traditional surround sound systems for the foreseeable future.
 
Tom Brennan said:
A good sounding soundbar is a sensible thing; there's no reason a soundbar can't have excellent tone and clarity and decent dynamics. I used a UE bluetooth speaker as a soundbar with a small TV in my front room and often played music through it; it sounded good. It was a stereo device but in effect it was mono, the speakers being so close together. And that was fine.
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There is a very good reason it cant have tone, it's called physics. The speakers are too small, the box is too small and the distance between isn't great enough. For any decent quality they are thousands of dollars. They are "ok" for very small rooms, or rooms where music and theater are just casual background.
 
This was my solution for a sound bar .

KlipschForte.jpg


It up graded the sound from my TV quite well .
 
Soundbars/bases have their place, but as a product category, they are quite compromised...which is not to say there are no good sounding ones. We use a soundbase in the front living room because the Queen of the manor has decreed that there shall be no speakers and wires in that room! :whip:So I actually kind of snuck (Is that a word?) one in on her just to get the sound to a tolerable level of fullness compared to the naked sound of the Vizio LCD.

To the OP's question, I'm afraid that yes, soundbars are already cutting into AVR sales. And I blame the AVR makers for this to a large degree: Built-in obsolescence and ever proliferating channel counts and increasing complexity. Most folks are saying "screw that!", and I don't blame them. Maybe we'll eventually get back to quality five-channel receivers with big power for the front L & R and maybe half that for the surrounds and center. That would make sense...at least to me. :beatnik:
 
Ghonk said:
Is the sound bar better then the TV's sound,Yes.
Is it better then surround sound,Hell No,not even close.
For movies or music it wouldn't even be an option for me.
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Bingo. Soundbars sure sound better than the speakers that come in a television, and the subwoofer that goes with most is a nice addition. I like a full surround system with a couple of subs that dig real deep and make my beverages pulse along to the programing. By no means does this have to cost a lot of money, I live off the scraps of people who stay on the cutting edge.
 
I consider the soundbars as an upgrade from the tiny afterthought speakers found in most TV's.

I often wonder if there's a niche market for a product that starts out as soundbar, preferably with a wireless sub, but can be converted to a center speaker and has connections for adding extra speakers to allow one to expand it to 2.1 or 5.1 or.... This would work especially well with wireless speakers.
 
Ghonk said:
Is the sound bar better then the TV's sound,Yes.
Is it better then surround sound,Hell No,not even close.
For movies or music it wouldn't even be an option for me.
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I have no aspirations that a soundbar/sub combo is going to "blow away" any true surround sound set-up. But with my TVs being used pretty much exclusively for news, weather and sports, I don't need/want everything that a true surround sound rig can offer. They are simply an "upgrade" over the crappy speakers in my flat screen TVs, and suffice for my needs. I am not tearing up my house, or cluttering a room to install a 7.1 system (or God forbid) the new ATMOS systems--CNN would not be that much more impressive with one of those systems.
 
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