Got a new house, everything is great, but the TV situation in the living room is limited to only above the fireplace mantel (previous owner did the same). Plan to hang a 55" Samsung QLED with a close-wall setup, tilting the screen downwards if we want. Only problem is using a traditional home theater audio system. The rule is NO WIRES flowing out of the side cabinets, along floorboards, etc. No place to put wired surrounds. So the soundbar setup became the logical choice for better sound. I'm resigned to the world of 2.1 sound with a wireless subwoofer. But so many choices, need some recommendations from owners, satisfied or not.

I have a couple Vizio 5.1 sound bars. They have been fine. Soundbar is wired to TV, sub is wireless and rear speakers are wired to sub. Only complaint is on one system there is to much bass, but it is in a room with all hard surfaces

Bose SoundTouch 300. You can get a wireless sub and wireless surrounds.

We offer the Polk bar and wireless sub here at work. Also just released the wireless (except for power) rear speakers as well. Makes for a pretty sweet setup for $500

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
Bose SoundTouch 300. You can get a wireless sub and wireless surrounds.

Looked into this setup and the surrounds won't work out. Hardwiring the speaker into a receiver which needs to be plugged into an AC outlet will not be "wireless" enough for our configuration.

Bought a Harmon-Kardon unit and as a audiophile, it really fits in when a full stereo is not need/wanted (normal shows or movies while the wife is asleep).

The bar receives the audio signal from the TV and it is wirelessly connected to the 6" sub (which only requires 115VAC for power).

For the full-blown movie when all are watching or are gone for the night, it's the 5.1 ch stereo.

Sonos play bar?

Just wanted to mention I bought a mount to go over the mantel, but then my wife asked if there wasn't something one could pull down so it wasn't so high. Turns out there is, and I ended up ordering a Mantel Mount from Amazon. Haven't mounted it yet, but the idea is there is a parallelogram that swings out and down so it is partly over the fireplace opening--that height can be determined within limits. If you read the reviews on Amazon, lots of people have been happy with the pull-down arrangement as you are not always looking up at the TV.

We have Sonos. It’s aw-iight

Which ever you choose, make sure you get one to match the size of your room

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
Bose SoundTouch 300. You can get a wireless sub and wireless surrounds.

Looked into this setup and the surrounds won't work out. Hardwiring the speaker into a receiver which needs to be plugged into an AC outlet will not be "wireless" enough for our configuration.

If you can't do rears at all, just do the bar and the sub. You won't get a true surround without rears, but it'll still be very good.

Bose guy here and very happy.

I picked up a Samsung HW-M360 a couple months ago.
Bluetooth wireless sub. Pairs with my Samsung tv seamlessly.
Can check it out here
Samsung HW-M360

Love Sonos. We have their speakers all over.

I've found they integrate better if you match the sound bar brand to the TV brand.

I have a LG TV in my family room and have a LG sound bar (it's the better of the two).

I have a Samsung TV in my bedroom and have a Samsung sound bar with it.

My Dad has a Vizio TV in his family room and I bought him a Vizio TV for it.

All 3 sound orders of magnitude better than the TV did, and none really sound better than the other. The differences really are how it integrates with the TV (e.g. hit TV power button and it comes on without having to hit 2nd button or program a macro).

All 3 have blue tooth subwoofers that are located in the corner of the room for better bass performance.

+1 on Sonos. Not cheap, but no wires (except power cords and, I believe, hdmi from TV to playbar/base). You can upgrade to 5.1 sound with a playbase / playbar, subwoofer and two play:1 speakers.

You also listen to music, radio, etc.

If you can afford it Sonos all the way. I say that because with Sonos everything is wireless, you can have speakers for every room in the house, and when it comes to movie time you just move the speakers from the other parts of the house to make it a 5.1. Not cheap, but extremely versatile.

On the cheap we bought an RCA 37" at wally's and it does pretty well. We have a 40" tv and it improved the audio a lot for us.

Sony NT5 with the SRSZR5 rear channels. It’s excellent. Shakes my previous Vizio, and these rear channels are actually full surround. Tested so far, Good Time, Dunkirk, and Blade Runner 2049 on a 4K disc. The sound bar is excellent.

Two thumbs up for Samsung!! Perfect pairing for our smart tv!! How did we watch without it? Great units!