Home audio: Soundbars vs. traditional speaker set-ups

[Fe 26]

Just buy one. You want it because it makes the room look nicer and you don't do enough to warrant a better setup. And ragardless of the cons, it will sound better than the 25 cent speaker they put in your tv.

[Dyne]

I'm pretty sure the CT-HT150 is the exact one I was looking at.

So, forgive the stupid question, but if I get one that has HDMI inputs, would I basically then go: Game System (or whatever) -> Soundbar -> HDTV? I guess I was thinking I would send the video into the HDTV, and then have the TV send audio out to the audio system, but I suppose it might make more sense the other way. That's also how I used to do it back in the old days when I had a component stereo system (if I'm remembering correctly).

HDMI carries the audio signal so there's two ways.

1. Plug all the systems into the sub and have one HDMI from the sub to the tv. Like I said earlier this will result in the systems being on one input thus having all the same calibration on the tv. This will also rely on the soundbar being the component switcher.

2. Plug them all into the tv and use your tv out to have one HDMI to the sub. This will let you have a different calibration for each console (something I feel is necessary, again just being anal) and you will rely on the tv for component switching.

If using a Wii that's a bit of an odd duck. You would use your component cables to hook it to the tv and use an optical cable from the tv to the sub. You would still need to manually switch to the Wii through the tv this way (and then switch the source on the sub to "tv") but it's the only way to add it to the soundbar.

Also remember to turn down the tv volume when the soundbar is on or you'll get an echo effect. Lots of tv's have an option to mute the set when an external audio source is detected. Iirc on the SONY series there's one kind of audio it won't play unless you use an optical cable, otherwise it just defaults down to regular stereo. I can't find the info right now but if I do I'll post it up.

There's also the issue of getting the consoles configured correctly so spend time at the AVS forums in their soundbar section.

[FirstBlood]

Remember that if you use the tv's optical out for the sound signal instead of just the hdmi it won't send dts or dolby, just downmixed stereo.

[Nei]

Remember that if you use the tv's optical out for the sound signal instead of just the hdmi it won't send dts or dolby, just downmixed stereo.

That depends on the TV make/model. For Samsung TV's (unless they have started to change it), all signals except the over the air ones are down mixed to stereo. The over the air signal keeps its encoding even when passed to the S/PDIF output. Check your TV's manual to make sure.

[The_Meach]

Rise from you grave!

We're buying a house and I'm looking at all the cool toys I've avoided purchasing until I had a permanent place/could get what I really wanted. Surround sound is one of those toys.

Living room is ~15x15ft. 42" LCD.

My requirements:
No wires showing;
Good sound for Netflix/Hulu;
Ease-of-use.

I like the idea of a soundbar, but don't know if that's best for my room. I'm not an audiophile and I won't be running a continuous screening of Terminator-class Blu-Rays turned up to 11. Just want it to sound better than the current set-up.

Cnet likes the Haier slim: http://m.cnet.com/reviews/haier-sbev40-slim/35151959

TNL?

[Diff-chan]

I was typing up a post but it's the same stuff I said in this thread.

A 5.1 setup is way better (I have one in my living room, with the rears built into the wall), but yea, it can get messy unless you are creative with wires. And it's more money.

Soundbars are cheap, a huge upgrade over TV speakers and are easy to set up. You're not getting the total sound immersion, but I don't think I would go back to TV speakers.

[MechDeus]

That review talks about how the soundbar is just stereo and won't give you surround sound, so that sounds like an odd choice when you're looking for surround sound.

Do you have a receiver and if so what is it? What's your budget? If you don't have a receiver: how many devices are you looking to hook up to this?

I know you said no wires but I've never trusted wireless speakers, so I usually use a large rug to cover the area between the TV and the couch.

[Josh]

Get studio monitors. I'm serious. You'll hear shit you didn't even know existed.

[Josh]

Also, wireless speakers introduce just enough lag to make me fucking insane.

[MechDeus]

Speaking of, I was looking at getting these in the next few months for my fronts until I can something nicer and then moving them to the rear. Any idea on their quality or better suggestions?