The wife’s looking for birthday prezzies for me, and raised the idea of a sound bar for under the TV..

It seems the LG nb3520a gets high ratings, but is that simply the ‘best of a bad bunch’, or can sound bars really add to the tv/movie experience?
I like the idea of a wireless sub, so can hide that away behind the sofa….

Any others one should consider? For £200, the LG does look good value.

(I’ve an aged amp, and nice bookshelf speakers on stands, but they rarely get used as, with the room setup, the soundstage is just far toooo wide to be ‘any good’)

DrP

*watches thread with interest*

I just got a Yamaha bar – think it was less than £200 from Amazon – it’s not bad but not life changing – much better than the TV speakers but nowhere near a full surround system

*Sits with IHN*

(Especially as I am about to buy the same one as the OP is looking at – I especially like the Bluetooth compatibility)

What TV do you have?

Mine’s a Samsung plasma and the bass is almost non-existent without the bar

*moves johndoh’s hand off his thigh*

Cool your jet their fella, you’ve not even bought me a drink.

Most I’ve heard aren’t that cracking compared to surround sound. Still better than nothing.
One that was pretty good was a Yamaha when run with a seperate sub. Without the sub it was still had no depth to the sound.

We’ve got the Samsung HW-E450. Ok, it’s not close to the sound of a proper home cinema setup (got one of those in another room so didn’t need it) but it’s way better than the sound from the TV alone (Samsung ES8000 in our case). Quite unobtrusive as well:

(The speakers are part of a seperate hi-fi config and aren’t generally used when watching tv – although they can be).

I went and listened to a few in Ritcher Sounds and was not impressed. I bought a relatively cheap £100 pioneer 5.1 system and it blows it away, running the cables was fiddley but worth it.

A proper 5.1 or 7.1 system over sound bars

A proper 5.1 or 7.1 system over sound bars

Don’t think anyone is disputing that – however soundbars are a lot better than the TV sound if you don’t want to go down the full home cinema route.

From what I’ve read the only ones really worth bothering with if you want anything resembeling surround sound are the higher end Yam ones, starting with the 2200. Quite tempted myself but still thinking a 5.1 package would be a better bet.

@soma_rich
Which set was that, please?

OP, I have the LG soundbar that you mention.

Had it for 3 or 4 months now and really pleased with it for the money. Huge improvement on my Samsung TV’s standard speakers and the wireless sub is a great feature if like me, you hate trailing wires. In fact my hifi seperates rarely get used now as I bluetooth music from phone/iPad to the LG and to me thats where this bar really comes alive, I only have a small lounge but the depth of sound and 300 watts are more than enough for my needs. So all in all really impressed, great VFM IMO 8)

Did I read somewhere that you can’t control the volume on the LG one with your TV remote?

I’ve got a samsung one, I think it’s the same as above, micro bits and nano bits would destroy the speakers I really want so it does for now. It’s not as good as a real 5.1 system, but it’s a world better than the samsung tv speakers! I like the Bluetooth and the wireless sub, it sounds ok but won’t blow you out the sofa.

The speakers are part of a seperate hi-fi config and aren’t generally used when watching tv – although they can be).

still don’t understand this – why don’t you swap the position of the hifi rack and left hand speaker and have the speakers equi-distance either side of the TV screen and then always use the hifi?

forget a sound bar, either get a decent stereo setup or a half decent 5.1 speaker system.
£200 can get you some great stereo speakers and £300 some decent 5.1, bare in mind the £200 stereo speakers will be better for music that the £300 5.1.
if you get a decent amp with zones then you can hook up both setups.
a bar is too middle of the road and not great for either imo, great space saver though.

Just got a yas-201 Yamaha soundbar and wireless subwoofer it’s to replace a full 5.1 system that used good quality products, but we rarely used it and felt we could simplify and tidy the lounge with a soundbar and wireless subwoofer, it’s spot on for what we need, has two optical ins one for appletv and one for the freesat box. Got it from Richer Sounds who priced matched a web price and then best it by £5. Very pleased so far and the sound is lovely.

forget a sound bar, either get a decent stereo setup or a half decent 5.1 speaker system.

Thing is, I’ve some nice speakers, and was toying with replacing the amp, but TBH the current lounge set-up means the speakers are placed far too far apart for a decent soundstage, so don’t use them.

I’d keep the speakers for when we move, and can set that up better.

I think, with the awareness a soundbar isn’t a full 7.1 set up, it should be ‘good enough’ for my needs…

DrP

I just turn the volume up on the telly.
Watched stuff round my mates with a 5.1 system all around the room and it’s still watching the telly. Can’t say it improved the experience much.

I like the idea of simplicity.

But if I want to hang on the wall, am I right in thinking I need to channel two power sockets in: one for the telly and one for the soundbar?
And then channel the other leads separately?

I just turn the volume up on the telly.

Dez – you could just turn the hearing aid up and save the neighbours from hearing the Corrie theme tune…..

DrP

(I see you’re in the QECP enduro – nice!)

😀

Yep, better learn to ride my MTB again 🙂

Can’t say it improved the experience much.

your mate must have a pretty poor setup.

The watching experience is vastly improved in most instances from a decent sound system – that is why they put so much effort into the incidental music that accompanies the scene and use large orchestras for some soundtracks (Simpson opening theme for example – 35 piece orchestra I think – the Alf Clausen Orchestra).

I would say the soundtrack is often 50% of a movie experience, maybe even more sometimes.

your mate must have a pretty poor setup.

Yeah, that was the point I was making 🙄

I look at sound bars before xmas, but wasn’t convinced by the reviews. I bought this instead and it is sounds great: http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/mini-hi-fi-system-deals/pah01881

I invested in a Yamaha one last year

only use it for films or attenborough programmes

Generally it is rather good depending on the film source – SE7EN blueray is paticularly good.

I find sitting further away from the TV than I normally would really improved the percieved seperation

oops

I bought this instead and it is sounds great:

I bet it probably does.

Thomas Heinitz in London used to sell an LS3/5a system based on a Denon Lifestyle system and an AudioPro subwoofer.

He would demonstrate some Quad ELS63s/Quad amps playing some drum and piano solos, and then play the Denon/LS3/5a/Audiopro system, and then people would get their chequebooks out…

The little Denon obviously had a fairly capable amp in it.

Update….
Picked it up from currys today, and although the ol’ b’day isn’t for another few weeks, I had to unpack and install…!!

Very impressed thus far, TBH 😀

Massive diffence between the inbuilt speakers and this set up.
I’ve put the sub woofer behind the sofa, and the BT connection is perfect (albeit at about 4m).
It’s a lovely punchy bass, and the sound stage is perfect for our set up. It comes with a wall mount bracket, which I’ll store until we, erm, wall mount the tv….

Granted, it may not be as good as a ‘proper’ set up, but the absolute lack of wires is a blessing!

If you’re not keen to have wires trailing from the tv, and masasively want to improve the sound quality of your flat screen, I can recommend a sound bar!

DrP

A sounding bar eh? Could prove painful. I’d do some proper research before deciding whether to go through with this or not.

The Renthal Fatbar is pretty sound 😛

DrP – is the wall bracket only for mounting from the rear or does it swivel so it can mount from above?

(on this model) you can only mount it from the rear (oi oi) against a flat wall.
Why would you mount it from above?
Depending on your situation, you could fashion some ‘L’ shaped brackets, and use those? Despite being 100cm wide, the wall mount fixings are only about 20cm apart.

DrP

Did I read somewhere that you can’t control the volume on the LG one with your TV remote?

We’ve a Humax HDR box thingy, aNd the controller from that controls tv, free view box, and now the soundbar….
Just a case of finding the right code for your controller.

DrP

Why would you mount it from above?

We have a ‘floating’ shelf above the TV (in an alcove) and it would look neat hanging from there (and it would be a 5 minute job to fit it). No problem though, I can mout it from behind but I will just need to get my big hammer action out (fnarr fnarr)