Recommend me an all-in-one sound bar

I’ve got a second hand on of these https://www.whathifi.com/onkyo/ls-t10/review

Very good condition.

Sonos Ray. I like Sonos' stuff. Save a little more and get the much better Beam

I've had a Sonos Beam in a large room (with a pair of play 1s as surround speakers) for about 5 years - really like it.
But if you're not into Sonos then maybe not right for you.

Beam is all you need it's one of those products that just do what they do well.
I mean it's not hard to make something that just works like a sound bar but so many fail.

I’ve had a Sonos Beam in a large room (with a pair of play 1s as surround speakers) for about 5 years – really like it.

I also have this setup, albeit in a small to medium room. Works really really well.

Got a Beam 2 before Xmas. It is over budget but is one of the best sub £700 sound bars out there.
I’m very impressed having just come from a full 5.1 set up.

Not answering your question, but I like the looks of these... I'm half tempted to get one to replace my mahoosive ugly 90's Kenwood AV amp

https://tangent-audio.com/products/9-electronics/162-tangent-ampster-bt-ii/

Thanks all, I'll have a look into the Sonos range. Need to get the amp repaired so I'll take that to richers and hopefully listen to some sound bars.

Richer have a Yamaha soundbar with wireless sub for a smidge over your budget. I'd buy that if I were you. I've had Yamaha AV kit for years and they can do no wrong in my eyes.

https://www.richersounds.com/yamaha-yas209-black.html

Thanks all, I’ll have a look into the Sonos range.

Nice thing is that you can buy from Sonos direct and I'd you don't like it you can send it back for a refund!
Can't remember how long you get but it's a long time maybe 100 days or something.

Hmm I can get 15% off direct with Sonos with blue light discount.

That Yamaha package is well reviewed and only £280 at Amazon. Maybe I do want a sub!

Bear in mind, just because you have a sub doesn't mean you have to turn it up to 11. It can be quite subtle, just filling in a gap.

(Apologies if I'm telling you how to suck eggs.)

Also keep an eye on Sonos refund site  https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/certified-refurbished

i have a couple of ones from it and they were basically new. The beam gen 1 is on there for £239 at the moment.

Bookmarking for later

I'm also a Sonos fan. I have a Ray under my wide-screen PC monitor and steam all day then watch content or game in the evening.

The Ray is good but for TV I'd stretch to the Beam due to the arc input being more future proof over optical.

If you want to add surround sound, or more rooms, this if where Sonos really starts to win.

A lower price alternative is the IKEA Symfonisk range. Great for surrounds or adding another room.

The Sonos sub is very expensive but really makes your system come alive!

Why not just replace the amp? Unless your speakers are rubbish the Soundbar could be disappointing.

If you are intent on replacing I would be looking at active speakers instead, Q Acoustic M20 is £330 from Richer sounds. I think they would be far better than most sound-bars.

Active speakers don't have a centre channel or voice boosting function though. Didn't realise just how useful that is till we recently bought a beam. Prior to that I put Sonos in the overpriced never buying that category.

I'll be getting the amp repaired as it's decent and worth keeping (Cambridge audio 540). But I have to turn the bass almost all the way down otherwise it's too much for watching films. And it needs to be fairly loud to hear dialogue. Plus the speakers are old rather tatty due to the bloody cat clawing the cones! I did consider replacing the speakers with some bookshelf types that would be easier to position in the room but the simplicity of a sound bar is appealing.

1st job is to get rid of the cat😉

Sounds like a soundbar is a good choice for you then.

I mentioned active speakers as they are often better value and many people don’t miss the centre channel, depending on where they sit.

Also have a beam. I had left it on the 'night time' setting for ages without remembering. It turns down the louder effects and turn up speech. Turned it off a couple of weeks ago and forgot how good this little thing is, has made films etc so much better for it. I only have a 42in TV in a small lounge so might not work if you have a big 65in monster

Sonos Beam is excellent. If you did want more bass and/or surrounds then easy to add later on without needing wires running all over the place.

Sonos Ray doesn't do HDMI-ARC, which is what lets your TV do all the control (so your TV remote up/down controls the soundbar) and saves a lot of faff.

I love my Sonos Beam. It makes watching TV and movies so much more immersive and interesting to me. I’m not an audiophile, but love music. It lets you hear things going on in the audio that you just wouldn’t hear without, and it just works. No idea if another soundbar would be as good – I had some other Sonos stuff already so a Beam seemed like a logical step. The only negative is that you might find yourself adding a sub and surrounds at a later date – the Beam is great without them but even better with! Night mode is great for watching movies after the kids are in bed. Even though you’re not bothered about Atmos, it’s worth considering a gen 2 beam over a gen 1. The gen 1 has a cloth speaker grille but I think the gen 2 is plastic, so there’s nothing for the cat to tear! There’s the Sonos reconditioned avenue and CEX do a 24 month warranty on secondhand audio stuff.

I had left it on the ‘night time’ setting for ages without remembering. It turns down the louder effects and turn up speech. Turned it off a couple of weeks ago and forgot how good this little thing is, has made films etc so much better for it.

Having not used the Sonos app for the Beam in a very long time, I'd forgotten about this! Just tried it and Night mode has been on for, probably, years!!!
(it's off now 😉 )

Has anyone with a Sonos Beam (and possibly surrounds) added a sub to it? I'm curious but also they're very expensive so don't want to spend all that on something that won't make a huge difference in a small/medium space.

Another Beam user here got one for Christmas. On its own it is very good. I added a sub mini too this month for my birthday that improved it massively. This am my 2 sonos SL arrived. Holy crap Atmos is unbelievable.

Message is the beam is well worth it on they’re own.

I'm Beam curious.

I see it has Apple Airplay but we are a non Apple household. How would I stream audio to the Beam?

Would I be able to stream Spotify to it for example?

Beam plus sub is a great setup. If I was doing it again would probably get a sub mini which would I’m sure be quite sufficient.

@soundninjauk I started with a Beam gen 1 then added a sub then added surrounds. The Beam on its own was great. The sub is probably, in my heart of hearts, overkill as I live in a terraced house and it doesn’t get turned up that much, but even at low volumes it adds a lot of weight to the sound. It’s really good for ‘action’. I bought the sub as I was curious. It was expensive but I wouldn’t be without it now. The surrounds added another level of immersion again. I’m sort of tempted to see what a gen 2 beam and Atmos would add!

Getting seriously tempted to beam myself up.

Scottie…

Would I be able to stream Spotify to it for example?

Absolutely.... it's like any other Sonos speaker.
One nice feature is that it will 'play' differently depending upon what the sound source is. So music streamed from [anything] will/can be played 'full', but as soon as you switch the TV on it will change all settings back to however you have it set up for the TV.

Cheers SB

This would be our first Sonos product in the house.

This would be our first Sonos product in the house.

[looks for a 'slippery slope' gif!]

I started with a Beam gen 1 then added a sub then added surrounds. The Beam on its own was great. The sub is probably, in my heart of hearts, overkill as I live in a terraced house and it doesn’t get turned up that much, but even at low volumes it adds a lot of weight to the sound. It’s really good for ‘action’. I bought the sub as I was curious. It was expensive but I wouldn’t be without it now. The surrounds added another level of immersion again. I’m sort of tempted to see what a gen 2 beam and Atmos would add!

Thanks, that's useful to hear. I have the surrounds and absolutely wouldn't be without them now, but I've never been sure if the sub adds enough to justify the cost. Maybe I'll keep an eye and see if a Sub Mini ends up on sale at any point.

I went to my local Sevenoaks Hifi Store with the intention of buying the Sonos in that pricepoint. Ended up walking out with a Bluesound Pulse - which was a chunk more than I intended on parting with but the audio quality hike made it seem well worth it.

I would suggest demoing a few rather than just buying based on recommendation and What Hi fi reviews (although these will certainly help shape your shortlist.

FWIW - I found the sonos a little too shrill for my type of room which has a hard floor and a lot of glass. A friend does have one in his room with lots of soft furnishings - and it seems much more at home.

We have a gen 1 beam and 2 ones as surround, as many have said its great for movies

We also have an arc which even on its own is mind blowing

In our near future i'm seeing a sub mini and gen 2 beam for atmos in the back room

So, if budget wasn't an issue, would an Arc be a significant improvement over a Beam2? Would either (by themselves) be a significant improvement over my LG soundbar with separate sub-woofer?

So, if budget wasn’t an issue, would an Arc be a significant improvement over a Beam2?

Can't speak for audio quality but one thing to note is that the Arc is absolutely huge! So just keep that in mind if your TV is 50" or less.

I found the sonos a little too shrill for my type of room which has a hard floor and a lot of glass.

Did you alter the sound using the EQ?

Can’t speak for audio quality but one thing to note is that the Arc is absolutely huge!

Very much this!
BIL has an Arc (plus surrounds and sub) and it sounds good but I don't think I could justify the extra cost of an Arc and a Sub

Did you alter the sound using the EQ?

Yeah... spent ages trying to hit the sweet spot!

Did pretty much the same last year, wandered in to Richer Sounds with the same sort of budget thinking about a Sonos but the manager of the shop steered me in the direction of this:

Denon DHT-S416

Very happy I am with it too.

In the same way that DC rainmaker is the goto for Garmin and other cycling tech ive found this guy, Peter Pee, on youtube to be quite informative

 for sonos stuff and settings.

In my living room I have Arc + Sub + 2x Ones as Surrounds.
In my kitchen/snug area I have Beam2 + Mini Sub + 2x Ones as Surrounds (the mini sub was added to this system later)

Based on my experience;
- Arc is probably not worth the extra cost over the Beam - certainly the Beam is better bang for buck.
- Likewise, hard to justify the cost of sub over Mini Sub
- If I had to choose between either surrounds or subs I would pick the surrounds every time. In my experience the surrounds make a huge difference, whereas the sub(s) are more 'nice to have'.

I would buy a Beam and then add to it as budget allows (starting with surrounds).

Other notes;
- Make sure you are aware of Sonos' upgrade program. This allows you to get 30% off new kit if your trade in your qualifying old kit. Where "old kit" = stuff you may or may not have just bought off eBay for peanuts.
- I find Apple Airplay works better with Sonos speakers than it does with Apple's own HomePod speakers. Not sure why, but they are way more responsive.

Although I recommend the beam I've actually got a Yamaha unit but it was out of the price range for the op.
I'd get the beam if I had the opportunity