Hey guys and occasional girl,
As much as I adore this hobby and the gains that can be made from slapping big woofers on big baffles I do wonder about these new all singing and dancing soundbars?
I'm seeing some good reviews out there. It's inevitable that our hobby will change over time and much loved technologies/techniques will be superseded.
All that said.....anyone have opinions on decent sounbars vs decent "traditional" speakers?
As much as I adore this hobby and the gains that can be made from slapping big woofers on big baffles I do wonder about these new all singing and dancing soundbars?
I'm seeing some good reviews out there. It's inevitable that our hobby will change over time and much loved technologies/techniques will be superseded.
All that said.....anyone have opinions on decent sounbars vs decent "traditional" speakers?
Integrated box with amp and speakers fed from external source.
Not much different than boom boxes and ghetto blasters in that sense.
Same concept coming back after many years.
Not much different than boom boxes and ghetto blasters in that sense.
Same concept coming back after many years.
They're certainly better than ghetto blasters. Massive dsp in new models. Not small change either. I feel like soundbars are the new arms race in audio
Small drivers just don't move air in the same way larger ones do.
I made a sound bar for my HT that has 3 integrated channels with each channel having 1 - 10", 4 - 4", and 1 - 1.5", and it's open-baffle, dipole, and radial, and it makes use of the the 100 Hz high-pass filter from my HT receiver (along with DSP Eq.).
It's also about 17 feet wide, 1.5 feet deep, and only about 1.5 feet high.
But it is big - so soundbars don't have to be small. 😉
(..though I also use commercial soundbar's for my TV's, and all have that sub/sat sound that Bose pioneered in the '90's.)
It's also about 17 feet wide, 1.5 feet deep, and only about 1.5 feet high.
But it is big - so soundbars don't have to be small. 😉
(..though I also use commercial soundbar's for my TV's, and all have that sub/sat sound that Bose pioneered in the '90's.)
Soundbars aren't the future, they're the present. Perhaps you're asking if they're the future if high fidelity. I would say no. They are small footprint convenience appliances for the masses. And will therefore remain low-fi devices.
For music listening? No way.
For serious home theater? No way.
For ‘lifestyle’ living room home theater, which most are. I think, yes.
For serious home theater? No way.
For ‘lifestyle’ living room home theater, which most are. I think, yes.
.........and here to stay as housing construction continues to shrink in available max room size for all but the (near) wealthiest. 🙁
Big speakers are a thing of the past and few people care about true sound quality anymore. They care about appearance, size and cost. I'm guessing a sound bar, even with fancy DSP, won't compare to my Heresies for output level and intelligibility with movies.
Proper steered array sound bars can give very wide stereo with a solid center. They can have good frequency response and adequate bass extension (adequate for most people).
You can certainly do better with discrete speakers, but for most the small footprint and having a good step up from the TV internal speakers is all they are looking for.
You can certainly do better with discrete speakers, but for most the small footprint and having a good step up from the TV internal speakers is all they are looking for.
Thanks for the input guys. I think my faith in monstrously large speakers was starting to waiver for a moment!
That's not necessarily true or inevitable at all. The basic technologies for making speakers haven't changed in well over a hundred years. Improvements and refinements have certainly been made, but the basics are much the same.
And certainly, today's soundbars do not employ any new technologies or techniques that could account for them to sound better than, or even necessarily as good as, conventional separate box speakers. If anything, they compromise sound quality just to get a small and compact form factor.
So, if you want to listen to music and enjoy it to its fullest forget about soundbars. On the other hand, if you just want something compact and convenient for watching television then a soundbar might be all that you need.
I put a speaker near the sofa so that people in the house acn watch TV at reasonable volume without disturbing the others.
A soundbar near the sitting position makes more sense, maybe one speaker on each side of the head, and center sub.
Or turn it around, sub under recliner, or whatever used as seat.
The cushions might muffle the sound, but you will get a nice massage as a bonus.
But as noted above, they are a lot clearer than the internal TV speakers, and some may have the option to use sources like DAC, reducing the distortion from source.
A soundbar near the sitting position makes more sense, maybe one speaker on each side of the head, and center sub.
Or turn it around, sub under recliner, or whatever used as seat.
The cushions might muffle the sound, but you will get a nice massage as a bonus.
But as noted above, they are a lot clearer than the internal TV speakers, and some may have the option to use sources like DAC, reducing the distortion from source.
This is a good "soundbar"
Fits perfect under the TV
Fits perfect under the TV
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All good and comical points. TV's are a necessary evil in many homes and they are very thin so awful sound quality. I think the next generation won't have speakers at all but a necessary soundbar that should be bought with it like USB cables should be bought with a printer 🙂
Since quality is way less important than functionality and looks in the eyes of many I think soundbars will be disguised as furniture like Ikea and Salora try to sell. No doubt that the soundbar furniture also can be operated and used for music playback with the smart phone. Since many laymen have a different understanding of technical items many soundbars are discarded when a new TV is bought with a new soundbar (green consumerism 😀). It is surprising to see the low prices of used high quality soundbars. You get an awful lot of nice electronics for a very low price.
Candles in front of the screen would not last 5 seconds here.
Since quality is way less important than functionality and looks in the eyes of many I think soundbars will be disguised as furniture like Ikea and Salora try to sell. No doubt that the soundbar furniture also can be operated and used for music playback with the smart phone. Since many laymen have a different understanding of technical items many soundbars are discarded when a new TV is bought with a new soundbar (green consumerism 😀). It is surprising to see the low prices of used high quality soundbars. You get an awful lot of nice electronics for a very low price.
Candles in front of the screen would not last 5 seconds here.
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If those two are truly decent, then the rest of the equation yet to be solved is the family one lives with or not.
Does anyone remember what JohnK, not so long ago, said what his latest prefered way of listening to music was?
It was neither of the two. 😉
I am glad to have on our side lads like this gentleman, speakerdave and others as well, to straighten us out in our hifi aspirations.
I suppose your own preferences come into it too? The best speaker for you is the one you're going to listen to the most.
For instance I much prefer my horribly built OBs to the (on paper) far better engineered conventional floorstanders I had previously. Although I did appreciate how well they were made, nice KRIX units.
Some of the new Samsung soundbars can actually mate up with the tvs own speakers to augment performance, some nifty ideas out there.
For instance I much prefer my horribly built OBs to the (on paper) far better engineered conventional floorstanders I had previously. Although I did appreciate how well they were made, nice KRIX units.
Some of the new Samsung soundbars can actually mate up with the tvs own speakers to augment performance, some nifty ideas out there.
In many homes you, the person of the male persuasion, are not the decisive factor nor the one that can do things according preferences. This is one of the reasons soundbars exist.