I think I've finally found a great solution to each of these questions, and it doesn't break the bank.

I bought a pair of these powered Edifier R1700BT Powered Speakers for use with a new turntable. But before they made it to the turntable, I hooked them up to my family room TV, and then to my desktop computer. All I can say is...Wow! The sound quality of these little speakers is terrific. They made the cheap soundbar I bought (and returned) a couple months ago for my TV sound like junk. I'll be buying another pair to use on the family room TV (since these are now serving duty on my turntable). And yes they come with both Bluetooth and a remote which is also very nice to have.

If you're a big time audiophile, then you'll likely find these lacking, as more capable (and expensive) options exist out there. But if you want something that sounds shockingly good, for a reasonable amount of coin, give these Edifiers a look before you pull the trigger on something else.

Consider the Elac Debut 6.2 for the bookshelf.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Consider the Elac Debut 6.2 for the bookshelf.

+1 or the older 6B

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Consider the Elac Debut 6.2 for the bookshelf.

Those aren't powered speakers, so amplification would be required which is not something I want to mess with. The Edifiers also include Bluetooth which makes streaming music from my phone or tablet simple. The Elac's are likely higher quality sound, but not quite what I was shopping for.

I think a center channel is the most important part of any TV/theater setup. In my mind, a soundbar with a discrete center channel would be better than a pair of bookshelf speakers.

A soundbar with a subwoofer that can handle a separate low frequency effects channel would also be good too

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I think a center channel is the most important part of any TV/theater setup. In my mind, a soundbar with a discrete center channel would be better than a pair of bookshelf speakers.

A soundbar with a subwoofer that can handle a separate low frequency effects channel would also be good too

All I can say is try these as your TV sound replacement. I had tried a cheap soundbar on my family room TV and found it very lacking in the quality of sound it provided. A SONOS solution was not in my price range, so I kept looking. These speakers on the other hand sounded terrific with very balanced, accurate, sound. It is also really cool to be able to throw some streaming music from my phone (or tablet) directly at them. If your goal is to rattle the windows with bass, then a separate subwoofer and higher dollar solution will likely be the ticket. But for all around sound quality, I think these little speakers are damn hard to beat, especially for the price.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I think a center channel is the most important part of any TV/theater setup. In my mind, a soundbar with a discrete center channel would be better than a pair of bookshelf speakers.

A soundbar with a subwoofer that can handle a separate low frequency effects channel would also be good too

All I can say is try these as your TV sound replacement. I had tried a cheap soundbar on my family room TV and found it very lacking in the quality of sound it provided. A SONOS solution was not in my price range, so I kept looking. These speakers on the other hand sounded terrific with very balanced, accurate, sound. It is also really cool to be able to throw some streaming music from my phone (or tablet) directly at them. If your goal is to rattle the windows with bass, then a separate subwoofer and higher dollar solution will likely be the ticket. But for all around sound quality, I think these little speakers are damn hard to beat, especially for the price.

These are a home run. For the price these are hard to beat. Bought a pair, the high range along with the low range ........ what's to say " sound value. "

But can you turn them up to 11?

Bose soundbar paired with a good powered subwoofer is the way to go. I’ve done the satellite speaker thing for years and trust me, you will not be disappointed.

I have amplified Edifiers in my office and they are great!

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I think a center channel is the most important part of any TV/theater setup. In my mind, a soundbar with a discrete center channel would be better than a pair of bookshelf speakers.

A soundbar with a subwoofer that can handle a separate low frequency effects channel would also be good too

All I can say is try these as your TV sound replacement. I had tried a cheap soundbar on my family room TV and found it very lacking in the quality of sound it provided. A SONOS solution was not in my price range, so I kept looking. These speakers on the other hand sounded terrific with very balanced, accurate, sound. It is also really cool to be able to throw some streaming music from my phone (or tablet) directly at them. If your goal is to rattle the windows with bass, then a separate subwoofer and higher dollar solution will likely be the ticket. But for all around sound quality, I think these little speakers are damn hard to beat, especially for the price.

Thanks for the heads up. I don't doubt that these speakers are a great value for the quality of sound they put out. I'm no snob, so if you want decent sound quality at a decent price, I bet these are definitely the ticket.

If you are watching movies or shows that have multi-channel sound (for example, 5.1 audio), you really owe it to yourself to add some sort of computer brain that can decode the signal and provide a center channel output. In most movies, the vast majority of the dialogue comes straight out of the center speaker. If you only have a left and a right speaker, you can see how you might be missing out on some of the experience if the dialogue is supposed to sound like it's coming out of the center of the screen.

Obviously, a cheap/dinky little soundbar may not have enough oomph to satisfy your quality concerns...but there are plenty of products out there that fit in on the price spectrum between a cheap soundbar and a Sonos.