Sound bar for TV?

[lewdog]

Need a decent sound bar for our TV. Anything that has ok sound without having to hookup multiple speakers. Low profile would help based on our setup but I suppose we could always elevate the TV on a box.


Thoughts?

[jamesincanada]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Last thing. If you get a system with many speakers, do most people put two of the speaker behind or to the side of the seating area? I don't really want to run or have a way to run speaker wire for that because we have openings on both sides of our living room and I sure as hell don't want wire being visible there. Does anyone put all 5 speakers in the front by the TV?

As you can tell, I am not the least bit tech savvy.

Yup that's correct. In a 5.1 system there are two speakers at the back of the room, left and right fronts, a center, and a sub. For my back speakers I used flat paintable speaker wire and you can't tell it's there at all. It's more expensive than regular speaker wire but my wife didn't want wires all over the wall lol. If you spend any amount of time in that room watching tv/gaming/music then I really think the extra effort is worth it for a 5.1 system. That's a big room for a sound bar.

[srvy]

I guess more importantly what is your budget? What is the price point you are willing to pay so get real sound into that room?

Are you willing to buy used. If u are people nearly give away awesome equipment to but the latest greatest. Keep eyes peeled for anything Dynaaudio or Paradigm, def tec, BW, SVS.

Look Craigslist or Audiogon.

[jamesincanada]

Originally Posted by srvy

I guess more importantly what is your budget? What is the price point you are willing to pay so get real sound into that room?

Are you willing to buy used. If u are people nearly give away awesome equipment to but the latest greatest. Keep eyes peeled for anything Dynaaudio or Paradigm, def tec, BW, SVS.

Look Craigslist or Audiogon.

Paradigm are some really nice bang for the buck speakers made up here in the great white north lol, my first home theatre setup had them and they rocked.

[arrowheadnation]

I bought this for my dad last christmas and he LOVES it. He despises complicated remotes. That was his big issue with his last surround system. He would screw up the remote and I would have to come over and fix it. This is so simple, he can't screw it up. The wireless subwoofer and back speakers (5.1 surround with a sound bar?!?!?!) are one of this biggest selling points of this system. No wires to run from the sound bar to the back of your living room. It sounds almost as good as my 7.1 surround system (which disappoints me a little bit). oh, and it also has bluetooth. He used to love the iPod dock on his old system, but he hated never being able to see what song he was on without getting up to look at the little iPod screen. Now he plays music with his iPad over bluetooth. He had to place a couple of old encyclopedias under his TV to raise it a bit, but the sound bar covers them. This is definitely worth a look.

http://youtu.be/h6NNnEDXGsY

[SAUTO]

I want a sound bar but I have a mount that lets the tv swing out too have my bed. What do I do then?
Posted via Mobile Device

[srvy]

Or you could dedicate a room like a friend on another forum.



His room made an episode of comic book men on AMC.

[Al Bundy]

Here is the one I bought.

[Third Eye]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Last thing. If you get a system with many speakers, do most people put two of the speaker behind or to the side of the seating area? I don't really want to run or have a way to run speaker wire for that because we have openings on both sides of our living room and I sure as hell don't want wire being visible there. Does anyone put all 5 speakers in the front by the TV?

As you can tell, I am not the least bit tech savvy.

Yes, if you run 5.1/7.1 you will have speakers to the side/rear of you seating position. You could feasibly just put all the speakers up front and just run a 5/7 channel stereo program, but if you wanted to do that you're really just best served with a 2.1 setup. Given your space in the pic, you would run the speaker wire under your carpet if you wanted a 5.1/7.1 setup.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Picture of setup.

Not a lot of room around the TV, hence my thinking sound bar is good so it won't block TV signal on right side of TV.

Here is the picture again for those that didn't see what I am dealing with. I don't think it is as big a space as the picture makes it, however.

Openings on both sides of this room and I really don't want to run wire under the carpet and I'm not really sure I would rip up the carpet, put the wire down and put the carpet back down. That's not my speed as I am not super handy.

2.1 setup might be my best bet for better sound than a sound bar but easier setup that surround sound as I don't want to mess with running wire under the carpet. The two speakers could go on the bottom two cutouts as I can run the wire down those columns. Wireless woofer could go on the side/back of the couch

Thoughts?

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by srvy

The picture may be deceiving but to me no sound bar is going to fill that room. Is this where you do most you tv watching?

If it were me id say f the soundbar and 5.1 or 7.1 system. Just get 2 floor staning speakers and a sub in that room.

If you have a entertainment room that is less open thats where I would go 5.1 or 7.1.

There are so many good speaker companies at much affordable prices than Bose. Dont fall for the marketing ploy. The put 1o cent speakers and hardware in those things then engineer the hell out of it to get some semblance of sound.

Yea I have eliminated Bose from contention. Much better options as seen in this thread from those who have made suggestions.

We do pretty much all our watching in this room.

The two speaker option might be easier for me to install to get good sound without having to run wire. However, I did see a 5.1 Sony system that has two wireless rear speakers which would alleviate that problem of wire for back speakers and still give me surround sound.

[lewdog]

Here's the Sony 5.1 with wireless rear speakers to avoid the mess of wires in this room.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDV-N7100...d+sound+system

[srvy]

I have no opinion on wireless speakers as I have not had any dealing with them. My concern is with all the things in the house useing wireless would there be issues of breaking up.

My Home theator I use Mackie HR824 studio Monitors they have dedicated amps. It is a 5:1 setup in my basement. I use a prepro as I do not need an amp the speakers have. But still have the wire issue. My sub is a DIY I got the parts from Partsexpress. For a little over 300 bucks it will out perform most any Sub costing 1000.00.

My Living room is just a 3:1 with some older Cambridge tower speaks and another DIY sub. I have a Onkyo receiver that has a setting that mimics surround sound. Works fine for me.

The Mackies are same as the video I posted in that guys batcave. The ones up high in the corners. They are legendary home theater performers for the buck.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Last thing. If you get a system with many speakers, do most people put two of the speaker behind or to the side of the seating area? I don't really want to run or have a way to run speaker wire for that because we have openings on both sides of our living room and I sure as hell don't want wire being visible there. Does anyone put all 5 speakers in the front by the TV?

As you can tell, I am not the least bit tech savvy.

If the speakers in back are still going to be near a wall, there are all sorts of wall plates, so you can route your surround wires through the wall and reconnect in back.



You want the center speaker as close as possible above or below the TV, it will carry the bulk of dialog.

You want the fronts moderately wide, the pillars left and right are a fairly ideal for mounting [black]. If you want a broader soundstage, it is a decent decision to mount them farther apart on up on the horizontal beam [red, center stays where the black center is above the TV].

You want the surrounds at least even with, preferably somewhat behind, the listening position.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

If the speakers in back are still going to be near a wall, there are all sorts of wall plates, so you can route your surround wires through the wall and reconnect in back.



You want the center speaker as close as possible above or below the TV, it will carry the bulk of dialog.

You want the fronts moderately wide, the pillars left and right are a fairly ideal for mounting.

You want the surrounds at least even with, preferably somewhat behind, the listening position.

Did I mention I am not super handy??? Routing wire through the wall....yikes!

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Did I mention I am not super handy??? Routing wire through the wall....yikes!

LMGTFY