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Home Audio

DeacWatcher

DeacWatcher

Ricky Peral
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The volume coming out of my flat panel is minimal due to the thinness of the TV and even at high volume the background music (when it plays) tends to garble out the dialogue.

I am looking into a sound and sub woofer but know almost no one that has one yet. I don't want to spend a ton but don't want to go cheap either.

Can the Pit offer any advice/recs?
 
I recently got this soundbar that comes with a wireless subwoofer. Has Dolby DTS-X, which tries to give the surround sound some height -- sounds good to me. You could go with an Atmos soundbar, but it wouldn't work for me because I have a high ceiling that is pitched. I got it on sale, so cheaper than listed in the link below.

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/yamaha-yas-207-review/
 
I had a Vizio soundbar a while back that I thought sounded really good (especially for the price) with it's matched wireless subwoofer. No wires is nice. I upgraded to a Sonos soundbar and Sonos subwoofer that of course sound much better, but they are much more expensive.
 
I spent a bit of time doing this for a living. If you just want something to make your tv sound not suck, then I definitely wouldn't spend more than $250. Almost any brand with a sub-soundbar combo will sound better than your tv, but with some of the cheaper brands you will want to be wary of the input/output options because they may not be compatible with your tv.
 
DeacsATS said:
Yeah, I just bought the Vizio 36" 2.1 that CNET says is the best cheap option. Have really liked it... It's not great, but for basement office / playroom TV it works well. Was like $109.99 at Costco. I am sure you could do better for like $500, but the price was right.

https://www.cnet.com/topics/speakers/best-speakers/sound-bars/
https://www.cnet.com/reviews/vizio-sb3621n-e8-review/
Click to expand...

That's the one I have been looking at. They make a 5.1 that is a little more. Would you be able to tell a difference?
 
I've got a bose soundtouch and sub in my living room and really like they way it looks and sounds. However, like the rec for the sonos above, it's not the cheapest option.
 
DeacWatcher said:
That's the one I have been looking at. They make a 5.1 that is a little more. Would you be able to tell a difference?
Click to expand...

No idea.

Upstairs in the living room I have speakers in the ceiling, subwoofer, Onkyo receiver, etc... Sounds great, but it also cost well over $1000. Not sure the soundbar/subwoofer is ~$1000 worse than the upstairs setup.

The thing that deterred me from the 5.1 in the basement was having to run audio wire for the other 2 speakers from the subwoofer... Kind of defeated the purpose of the soundbar and bluetooth subwoofer for me. We also don't have a ton of space to work with, so the soundbar was fine. YMMV
 
spiffylubes said:
I had a Vizio soundbar a while back that I thought sounded really good (especially for the price) with it's matched wireless subwoofer. No wires is nice. I upgraded to a Sonos soundbar and Sonos subwoofer that of course sound much better, but they are much more expensive.
Click to expand...

I have a pretty decent Vizio and wireless sub combo that I have enjoyed. I think I'm about to upgrade to the Sonos. We already have two Sonos 1 speakers that we really like.

In my first house I had the living room all pimped with surround sound - and then I had kids and never used it because I didn't want the roaring T-rex to wake up the baby. Current house does not have any rooms that lend themselves to that set up, and I've been plenty happy with the soundbar. It's simpler and easy for the wife and kids to operate compared to dealing with a surround sound receiver etc. If you have a vizio TV the soundbars integrate really easily (I imagine most do).
 
Man, I thought I was going to be able to geek out on this thread, but as Spiffy & 923 pointed out, Vizio makes the best bang for the buck, and Sonos is a step up without getting into stupid money for a soundbar system.

I have the Vizio 5.1 setup in the bedroom with the wireless sub and rear speakers that plug into it. Sounds great with TV and bluetooth music. My only gripe is that the remote is asinine, and the app that has much better controls won't always work because the soundbar won't stay connected to my network. It seems to have the weakest wifi antenna of any of my devices.
 
I have the Vizio 36" 2.1 system and for what it cost, it's pretty nice.

It doesn't touch my HT setup, for for minimal cost and footprint, it's pretty decent.
 
DeacWatcher said:
That's the one I have been looking at. They make a 5.1 that is a little more. Would you be able to tell a difference?
Click to expand...

I have the 5.1 version. Love it for the price, but can't say the two satellites add all that much.

I also have a Polk MagniFi Mini in our bedroom and a Polk component 7.1 system in our main viewing area. All three systems work well for us - obviously, the component system kills the other two.
 
What would be a good system for a dorm room?

Maybe that VIZIO SB3651?

Any other suggestions for small rooms?
 
Well that Vizio SB3651 made it 5.5 years before crapping out the other night. Does that sound about right?

What kind of dough are we talking about for next level up?
 
Another vote for Sonos. Such great tech, and it just works.
 
Yeah, we put a Sonos in the basement that's loud enough to shake the whole house. We're probably going to expand a little at a time.
 
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