SIGforum
Are soundbars worth buying?

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/9290039844

October 29, 2018, 06:05 PM
KevinCW
Are soundbars worth buying?
Mark,

I got my Samsung off woot.com

It was 99.99 for a 300.dollar sound bar. Highly recommend.





Strive to live your life so when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor, the devil says "Oh crap, he's up."
October 29, 2018, 06:12 PM
Minnow
I added an LG soundbar with a wireless subwoofer about 6 months after purchasing the TV. That was 6 months too late. The sound quality is much better.




"Prepared in mind and resources"
October 29, 2018, 06:24 PM
NavyGuy
I've got one of these. A big difference from the TV speakers. Spoken word comes through very clearly. It's not true surround sound but it fills the room. Easy set up.

And yes, music, explosions and the like come out extra loud.

https://www.bose.com/en_us/pro....html#v=solo_5_black



Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

-D.H. Lawrence
October 29, 2018, 06:26 PM
mark123
quote:
Originally posted by KevinCW:
Mark,

I got my Samsung off woot.com

It was 99.99 for a 300.dollar sound bar. Highly recommend.
Thanks! I'll check it out.
October 29, 2018, 06:30 PM
KevinCW
quote:
Originally posted by mark123:
quote:
Originally posted by KevinCW:
Mark,

I got my Samsung off woot.com

It was 99.99 for a 300.dollar sound bar. Highly recommend.
Thanks! I'll check it out.



It is a "daily deal" site, but they have had them on and off over the past months





Strive to live your life so when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor, the devil says "Oh crap, he's up."
October 29, 2018, 06:45 PM
smschulz
With speakers it a all about the sound obviously so if you don't like it then do something else.
I have installed PC Powered speakers on my TV quite successfully.
They are the Klipsch 2.1 Multi-Media setup and sound great.
YMMV
October 29, 2018, 10:12 PM
copaup
They are light years better than TV speakers. They will never sound as good as a good set of properly amplified speakers. I personally don’t like the sound of the “surround sound” sound bars. I wouldn’t t mind getting a decent sound bar and sub for the upstairs bedroom TV. I’d buy my current setup again for the main TV even if the sound bar was a quarter the cost, which on reflection it is. Of course your needs and preferences have nothing to do with mine and you may love them and find them a great balance of performance and price. Go listen to some and see what you think.
October 30, 2018, 12:01 AM
RNshooter
Sony with the wireless subwoofer. Amazon or Walmart.

Bruce






"The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams

“It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free."
-Niccolo Machiavelli

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken
October 30, 2018, 01:30 AM
blueye
I got my Samsung soundbar off of Woot also about 6 months ago. Great sound for the price.
October 30, 2018, 05:30 AM
mark123
Ok, Sony and Samsung seem to be the top suggestions. I'll either have to find a store that carries them or just take a leap of faith and order one or the other online.
October 30, 2018, 06:28 AM
RogueJSK
quote:
Originally posted by copaup:
They are light years better than TV speakers. They will never sound as good as a good set of properly amplified speakers.


This.

They're a decent middle ground for those who don't want a real set of surround sound speakers, for whatever reason (space, price, complexity, wires, etc.)
October 30, 2018, 07:37 AM
rbert0005
We were looking for something to enhance the speech part of watching TV. The center channel on the surround sound we have didn't do it at all.

Wound up with a unit from Bose that was strictly for dialog. Perfect! I got it on sale for about $180.

Just what the doctor ordered.

Bob


I am no expert, but think I am sometimes.
October 30, 2018, 07:58 AM
sadlerbw
I have a simple one in the bedroom. It is better than the built in TV speakers, but not as good as a receiver/amp and separate speakers. I can only speak to the cheaper ones with two drivers in the main unit and a sub. I’ve never heard one of the fancier ones with a larger number of drivers in the main unit.

Anyway, mine isn’t perfect, speech could be more clear, but it is compact and an better than nothing but the TV speakers.

- Bret
October 30, 2018, 08:51 AM
UTsig
quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd:
The best improvement was my Dad's Vizio. His speakers were on the rear of the TV and it was loud if you were at an angle to the TV but not if you were directly in line with the TV. Even worse, the office/computer room right behind the TV it was louder coming through the drywall than it was in the TV room. I bought my Dad a Vizio sound bar with wireless subwoofers, and the sound is much clearer and best of all it's quieter throughout the house.


I just bought a Vizio for my viewing area, the sound is terrible. I get a real hollow sound, blaming it on the fact that there's a large cavity behind the TV and it's causing this. I might have to pick up a soundbar to see if it solves my problem. I'd probably have to attach it under the shelf the TV is on, is this possible?


________________________________

"Nature scares me" a quote by my friend Bob after a rough day at sea.
October 30, 2018, 08:57 AM
Censored
I have a Definitive Technology sound bar and sub. They really sound good together (we can play music through them and they sound good). They were pretty pricey, luckily I found an open box special at Newegg. Keep in mind that sound bar placement is important with respect to sound. I mounted ours directly under the TV and it sounds okay. I then switched it to the table thing under the TV and closer to the wall and it sounded great.
October 30, 2018, 09:27 AM
BB61
quote:
Originally posted by Black92LX:
quote:
Originally posted by BB61:
We have a Yamaha sound bar that we really like. We bought it at Costco for about $150.


I have a Yamaha with subwoofer in the workout room and it is great for music but shows it is just OK.

Father in Law has the Sonos bar, sub, and a few 5s I think.
The sound and ease of use is stunning.


I wonder if we have the same model? My Yamaha has a “clear speach” mode that enhances the speach - makes it easier to hear. I use it all the time.


__________________________

October 30, 2018, 09:32 AM
smschulz
quote:
Originally posted by mark123:
Ok, Sony and Samsung seem to be the top suggestions. I'll either have to find a store that carries them or just take a leap of faith and order one or the other online.


No leap necessary when you listen to your ears, buy what sounds good to you. Eek
October 30, 2018, 09:48 AM
Steve Collins
A few years ago I bought a Boston Acoustics sound bar and wireless bass speaker from Best Buy. They had several other sound bars set up where you could hear each one but this one blew all the others away! Absolutely outstanding sound!

This one:

http://www.bostonacoustics.com...el25(BostonAcoustics)
October 30, 2018, 09:50 AM
PASig
Yes, absolutely.

Stock speakers are shit in most TV's

Sound bars put out some great sound.


October 30, 2018, 09:53 AM
jhe888
I got one and it is much better than the TV speakers. Mine is nothing special, but the speakers in the TV are so bad that almost anything would be better.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.