Stick with speakers/receiver or soundbar?

bagelnagel

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I have a pair of ARX A1B (I believe made by Chane) hooked up to a Yamaha RX-V473 Receiver. This was purchased back around 2013. No complaints, but was thinking of soundbars as I'm getting a new TV soon. Any thoughts as to why I should/shouldn't switch to a soundbar?
 
Should?

Aesthetics, maybe?

Shouldn't?

TINY DRIVERS

They're effective. I won't reach so far as good, but that's very relative. If it's possible, I'd recommend adding a center channel and a sub to what you have.
 
If it's a bedroom, soundbars work fine. I picked up a cheap Vizio this past fall for my master bedroom TV and am pretty content with it. (but I mated it to a leftover HTiB 6" subwoofer to make myself happy)
 
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Really depends on how much space your willing to use.

Speakers sound ~much~ better than a sound bar. And have a lot more versatility. But it costs you shelf space for the receiver plus floor / wall / shelf space for the speakers.

Sound bar sounds ~much~ better than the shit that comes built into the TV though. I use those where I have wall mounted TVs with no shelving or floor space.
 
I'd go with a new pair of bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer, if you have the space for them. Such a 2.1 system will blow away even the most expensive sound bars.
 
A dedicated sound system will be much better than a sound bar. We ended up going with a sound bar as 1) it was dirt cheap at an auction, and 2) my wife hated the 'inconvenience' of having to switch the stereo on and select the correct input. It didn't help that the pre-amp was an extremely old Tandberg and had issues with the volume control so it would make very loud scratchy sounds at the most inconvenient times.

We now have a completely new-to-us 5.1 speaker set with a receiver that will be placed in service once we find a house to move into (priorities, eh).
 
I think it depends on the size of the room, if you have plenty of room then the dedicated sounds system, if not I would go with the sound bar
 
Update: Even though the speakers sound great, the SO doesn't like the look of the speakers on pedestals, and having the wires go into the receiver. It's an aesthetics thing, she wants to have a simple bar (and sub out of sight). Since I strive to keep her happy (I get an office/PC area), and even though the consensus is that dedicated speakers are better than soundbars, I'm now hoping for guidance from [H] regarding soundbars.
 
While at the top of your range, An [H] member is selling a Sonos Playbar (No sub) for 475. Looks like they go for $650-$700 out in the wild. Hopefully others will chime in soon.
https://hardforum.com/threads/fs-sonos-playbar.1972523/#post-1043957330

For transparency-
I linked the FS post to potentially help [H] member/s.
I've never worked with the seller nor do I have any experience with Sonos. I have a friend who dumped a lot of money into the Sonos system for around his house and they do sound really good but he does have the subwoofer (Additional $700). I'm not sure if this would even compare to the soundbar even without the sub.
 
I was in a Fry's Electronics checking out all sorts of Amplifier + Speaker combinations and was ready to pull the trigger on a nice Onkyo Reciever and Klipsch or Polk Towers. Then I walked by a display unit with a Klipsch RSB-11 Soundbar and I am blown away at the sound quality. It is an amazing device! I really enjoy the fact that it has 3x 4k HDMI 2.0 inputs on it so now I can leave the TV on HDMI-1 input and plug in my PC, Xbox One X, and Roku Ultra into the soundbar and use the Soundbar as a Receiver get great sound and full 4k w/ HDR Video Support for my devices. I walked in the store knowing my old Vizio soundbar didnt sound all that great and was convinced that all soundbars must be shitty but I was wrong.
 
I was in a Fry's Electronics checking out all sorts of Amplifier + Speaker combinations and was ready to pull the trigger on a nice Onkyo Reciever and Klipsch or Polk Towers. Then I walked by a display unit with a Klipsch RSB-11 Soundbar and I am blown away at the sound quality. It is an amazing device! I really enjoy the fact that it has 3x 4k HDMI 2.0 inputs on it so now I can leave the TV on HDMI-1 input and plug in my PC, Xbox One X, and Roku Ultra into the soundbar and use the Soundbar as a Receiver get great sound and full 4k w/ HDR Video Support for my devices. I walked in the store knowing my old Vizio soundbar didnt sound all that great and was convinced that all soundbars must be shitty but I was wrong.

Be careful in the store. Observe how the sound system is set up. On the systems that they are trying to push, there is probably sound treatment, optimal space/layout of speakers, etc. The other speakers may be too close together, cramped space, hot spots where the sound will reflect. It may not always be this way but keep an eye out to make sure the listening environment is equal.
 
I was in a Fry's Electronics checking out all sorts of Amplifier + Speaker combinations and was ready to pull the trigger on a nice Onkyo Reciever and Klipsch or Polk Towers. Then I walked by a display unit with a Klipsch RSB-11 Soundbar and I am blown away at the sound quality. It is an amazing device! I really enjoy the fact that it has 3x 4k HDMI 2.0 inputs on it so now I can leave the TV on HDMI-1 input and plug in my PC, Xbox One X, and Roku Ultra into the soundbar and use the Soundbar as a Receiver get great sound and full 4k w/ HDR Video Support for my devices. I walked in the store knowing my old Vizio soundbar didnt sound all that great and was convinced that all soundbars must be shitty but I was wrong.
This doesnt read well, especially when you have only 4 posts.
I dont for one moment believe you that this is a worthy replacement for stereo speakers.
Can you give further evidence that this sound bar is capable of replacing decent stereo speakers?
The number of inputs has no bearing on this.
 
My wife and I picked up a Klipsch soundbar/sub at an auction. I can attest to a reasonable audio quality for the price (even if we paid MSRP) but it's no where near dedicated-component quality.

Also, 'movie sound' is mixed differently than music, at least to my ears. While I feel like the soundbar does a respectable job punching out an acceptable sound for movies, I don't listen to music on it as it sounds wrong to me, not the least of which is the lack of separation of the left and right channels which destroys any semblance of a decent soundstage.
 
I was having the same problem. My old home theater speakers sucked and needed an upgrade. Had a Yamaha Rx-v673 and Yamaha subwoofer and needed to complete the set. I went to bestbuy and picked up a few definitive technology speakers. Had to special order the bookshelf Pro-1000s but they had the Center Pro 1000 model in stock and that sounds pretty good if you ask me. Going for 3.1. Recommend them fairly easily.
 
This doesnt read well, especially when you have only 4 posts.
I dont for one moment believe you that this is a worthy replacement for stereo speakers.
Can you give further evidence that this sound bar is capable of replacing decent stereo speakers?
The number of inputs has no bearing on this.

I have been around these forums since the early 2000's... Different account back in my heavy PC Gaming nerd days. I just don't post on these forums because most questions have already been answered before. You dont have to believe anything I have to say. I am simply telling people that the TV that I purchased, a 2018 Vizio E65-F0, explicitly states that it has 4 HDMI Inputs and ALL of them are HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 compliant which is simply not true. Really is a huge dealbreaker without a way to connect all my devices to the single HDMI 1 Input on the TV which works perfectly. Using this soundbat, I can have three devices work perfectly with perfect 4K Pass-Thru.

Secondly, about the sound output. It is stunning FOR WHAT IT IS. Someone considering a Soundbar or Reciever is a different person that knows the difference and will not settle for anything else. I would never, ever say that a 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos system with Klipsch Towers is comparable to any sound bar ever made. For my living room setup, it is very clean looking, simplistic, fills the room with sound, and sounds quite amazing compared to every other soundbar I have used or listed to. The bass is not wall shaking, the midbass will not thrust you into an audio orgasm, the helicopter flying around in a movie will not sound like its hovering above your head. For its $449 price tag the system is however, it leaves a huge smile on my face and doesnt really make me feel I am missing out on anything. It simply is a great, powerful system for the price and pairs well with the uses I have encountered with it.
 
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The money you'd pay for a soundbar would be better spend on a sub or new speakers, IMO.

Agreed.

I have heard a few soundbars, but I have never heard one I like. If you want to spend money, spend it on upgading your real HT system instead of downgrading to a speaker-in-a-box setup.
 
I was in a Fry's Electronics checking out all sorts of Amplifier + Speaker combinations and was ready to pull the trigger on a nice Onkyo Reciever and Klipsch or Polk Towers. Then I walked by a display unit with a Klipsch RSB-11 Soundbar and I am blown away at the sound quality. It is an amazing device! I really enjoy the fact that it has 3x 4k HDMI 2.0 inputs on it so now I can leave the TV on HDMI-1 input and plug in my PC, Xbox One X, and Roku Ultra into the soundbar and use the Soundbar as a Receiver get great sound and full 4k w/ HDR Video Support for my devices. I walked in the store knowing my old Vizio soundbar didnt sound all that great and was convinced that all soundbars must be shitty but I was wrong.


Highly skeptical.

In general speaker-in-a-box systems sound like ass compared to even the lowest end real separates.

As has been mentioned above, the room speakers are in typically has a much larger impact on sound quality than the speakers themselves. This could explain your experience.
 
I've always stuck with receiver + speaker set-up. Soundbars are getting much better in the last couple of years, but a decent receiver + decent speakers should be much better. Add in a sub and it's over.
 
You can get a pair of amazing bookshelf speakers for, OK, well, how deep are your pockets... But seriously, a pair of Q Acoustics Concept 20 is pretty spectacular for not too much cash and can be driven by an el-cheapo Onkyo reciever, the advantage with the AV receiver being that you can easily add a sub to help them along. Also, if your room size is small a sub is unnecessary. I was running a pair of Definitive Technology SM45 off a $300 Onkyo in my reasonably large bedroom and could have sworn a sub was running when it was off.

Just be careful though, home theater and audio is a money pit. I just upgraded my front left and right to the Q Acoustics Concept 500 and to run them got a Micromega PW 400, wasn't happy with the bass because of my stupid open-plan house and ended up getting a 15" Jamo sub for a few thousand, decided to match the Concept 500 with a concept centre, then got my eye on an 82" 4k TV and my wife had to tell me to stop. Shit, next on the list was a new Yamaha reciever because Atmos isn't f***ing working....
 
I have a pair of ARX A1B (I believe made by Chane) hooked up to a Yamaha RX-V473 Receiver. This was purchased back around 2013. No complaints, but was thinking of soundbars as I'm getting a new TV soon. Any thoughts as to why I should/shouldn't switch to a soundbar?

Cost and space are the only reasons for a soundbar. I say cost in reference to the $300 and under bars just to get directional sound over TV built ins. Anything over that then your are in wasted money territory on soundbars.
 
You can get a pair of amazing bookshelf speakers for, OK, well, how deep are your pockets... But seriously, a pair of Q Acoustics Concept 20 is pretty spectacular for not too much cash and can be driven by an el-cheapo Onkyo reciever, the advantage with the AV receiver being that you can easily add a sub to help them along. Also, if your room size is small a sub is unnecessary. I was running a pair of Definitive Technology SM45 off a $300 Onkyo in my reasonably large bedroom and could have sworn a sub was running when it was off.

Just be careful though, home theater and audio is a money pit. I just upgraded my front left and right to the Q Acoustics Concept 500 and to run them got a Micromega PW 400, wasn't happy with the bass because of my stupid open-plan house and ended up getting a 15" Jamo sub for a few thousand, decided to match the Concept 500 with a concept centre, then got my eye on an 82" 4k TV and my wife had to tell me to stop. Shit, next on the list was a new Yamaha reciever because Atmos isn't f***ing working....

Tell me about it.

I've had to hold myself back. My latest purchase was a Parasound Halo A31 amp for my front three speakers, as I could swear there was some unwanted distortion there with my old amp.

And that's nowhere near the Q acoustics gear in price.
 
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