Thinking of simplfying down from a 5.1 AV amp to a 3.1 soundbar

[NeilF]

Most of the time my amp is off, only being turned on for feature movies every now and then, or music.

I'm thinking on my next TV upgrade to simplify the setup and lose the amplifier which is basically not used for anything other than the ARC from the TV, and get a soundbar, possibly a 3.1 one (two rears and a woofer).

Has anyone else gone down this route? Thoughts on it for film and music?

Note: I'm no super audiophile. And one thing I do notice is as much as I like the amplifier, (1) I've never felt its centre channel is as locked on as the dialog directly out of the TV, (2) I've always found music a fit flat out of it.

 

[the shadow]

At the moment most of my bits are packed away oled subwoofer port
svs combo is what i am using .

 

[NeilF]

I'm really sorry but I don't know what than means?

 

[hornetstinger]

Most of the time my amp is off, only being turned on for feature movies every now and then, or music.

I'm thinking on my next TV upgrade to simplify the setup and lose the amplifier which is basically not used for anything other than the ARC from the TV, and get a soundbar, possibly a 3.1 one (two rears and a woofer).

Has anyone else gone down this route? Thoughts on it for film and music?

Note: I'm no super audiophile. And one thing I do notice is as much as I like the amplifier, (1) I've never felt its centre channel is as locked on as the dialog directly out of the TV, (2) I've always found music a fit flat out of it.

And a soundbar will be even worse for music.

No way would I consider changing from my AV system to a soundbar, not for music, not for movies.

As for the center, I guess since TV's are so big now the center has to be either way above or below the TV ,compared to the old 28" TV's where the center was more in line with the mains.

Also with soundbar route you run into that DTS issue.

I have no such issue with any codec as I go source----> AV pre amp----> TV

 

[heeeed]

I’ve a projector and 5.4.1 system for gaming and movies in a separate room. I’ve a 65” TV with a 3.1 soundbar system for living room daily use like you’re considering.

If I had just TV I’d personally not bother with the AVR tbh.

If you’re not an audiophile that enjoys having the gear I just don’t believe it offers enough extra and has significant downsides of cost, aesthetics etc for your daily living space for most people. I like it in my cinema/gaming space, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a different experience than daily TV

 

[NeilF]

And a soundbar will be even worse for music.

No way would I consider changing from my AV system to a soundbar, not for music, not for movies.

As for the center, I guess since TV's are so big now the center has to be either way above or below the TV ,compared to the old 28" TV's where the center was more in line with the mains.

Also with soundbar route you run into that DTS issue.

I have no such issue with any codec as I go source----> AV pre amp----> TV

So music will sound better on my existing 10yr old AV amp (which you don't know), and 20yr old speakers (which you don't know) than say a Sonos Arc Ultra with a Sub 4 and two Eros 300s? While I'm sure a good modern premium AV and modern speakers will out perform a premium soundbar, if I can upgrade to a soundbar all in one solution and it is generally better than my current system, bingo.

I tried placing the centre once right infront of the TV, I even replaced it with a model up, and spent a lot of time configuring it, and I'll swear the TV's centre/dialogue output is generally better.

Finally the DTS issue? I run my TV for ease of use TV --> ARC --> Amp, so a soundbar would be wired identically. Reason being my TV is the source for almost all my audio (Plex, Sky, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify etc). So any TV I get will have to have DTS support. Silly LG for ditching it

 

[hornetstinger]

Not at TV's support ARC, so by using ARC, or E-ARC you're risking not getting all sound formats. But if you go source--->AVR--->TV, it doesn't matter if the TV is even a monitor (with no sound out) as you won't be using the sound from the TV back to the AVR. Unless you use the built in freeview/sat/media functions/apps.

I don't know what AVR or speakers you have, but any half decent AVR/5.1 system will outclass a soundbar- and have the benefit of changing as needed.
Sub not enough? Have duals or quads. Want to upgrade from 10" to dual 18"? No problem
Not stuck with specific sub or rears that pair with that specific soundbar. You can mix and match speakers and sub.
AVR goes out of date, doesn't support 4K, 120hz VRR, Atmos? Change AVR to a modern one
Upgrade speakers? Change at will
Want to add a stereo integrated amp? No problem as long as AVR has multi channel pre outs
Speaker, amp or subwoofer blows up? Change with any off the shelf

ARC doesn't pass HD audio, so all you get is DD/DTS. No Atmos, DTS:, DTS Master HD, Dolby HD - none of those wil work. Then if your TV doesn't output DTS, then you lose DTS 5.1, DTS X, DTS Master Audio

It's like comparing PC's versus Consoles.

I do get the appeal of soundbars and tbh they offer "decent enough sound" but they are very limited. Plus build quality is generally poor, plastic casing etc, until you step up on the higher end ones.

 

[NeilF]

Not at TV's support ARC, so by using ARC, or E-ARC you're risking not getting all sound formats. But if you go source--->AVR--->TV, it doesn't matter if the TV is even a monitor (with no sound out) as you won't be using the sound from the TV back to the AVR. Unless you use the built in freeview/sat/media functions/apps.

I don't know what AVR or speakers you have, but any half decent AVR/5.1 system will outclass a soundbar- and have the benefit of changing as needed.
Sub not enough? Have duals or quads. Want to upgrade from 10" to dual 18"? No problem
Not stuck with specific sub or rears that pair with that specific soundbar. You can mix and match speakers and sub.
AVR goes out of date, doesn't support 4K, 120hz VRR, Atmos? Change AVR to a modern one
Upgrade speakers? Change at will
Want to add a stereo integrated amp? No problem as long as AVR has multi channel pre outs
Speaker, amp or subwoofer blows up? Change with any off the shelf

ARC doesn't pass HD audio, so all you get is DD/DTS. No Atmos, DTS:, DTS Master HD, Dolby HD - none of those wil work. Then if your TV doesn't output DTS, then you lose DTS 5.1, DTS X, DTS Master Audio

It's like comparing PC's versus Consoles.

I do get the appeal of soundbars and tbh they offer "decent enough sound" but they are very limited. Plus build quality is generally poor, plastic casing etc, until you step up on the higher end ones.

Yeh, I will only go TV --> eArc --> Audio device wiring wise. I use the TV as the source for almost everything I watch, so that configuration is the simplest. It's what I use now and is perfect, albeit it doesn't currently support the more exotic formats because I'm on Arc not eArc.


I don't want the (continued) clutter of two speakers around my TV, hence the attraction of just a soundbar, with a woofer and rear surrounds sort of out of sight.

 

[hornetstinger]

Yeh, I will only go TV --> eArc --> Audio device wiring wise. I use the TV as the source for almost everything I watch, so that configuration is the simplest. It's what I use now and is perfect, albeit it doesn't currently support the more exotic formats because I'm on Arc not eArc.


I don't want the (continued) clutter of two speakers around my TV, hence the attraction of just a soundbar, with a woofer and rear surrounds sort of out of sight.

But you have to ensure the TV passes all formats. If your TV doesn't support DTS, you will lose all DTS, from stereo to DTS Master, it'll just be two channel stereo PCM. So that means losing discrete multi channels, and the LFE bass track.

What about wall mounting speakers, XTZ Spirit 6?

 

[ninjag]

So music will sound better on my existing 10yr old AV amp (which you don't know), and 20yr old speakers (which you don't know) than say a Sonos Arc Ultra with a Sub 4 and two Eros 300s? While I'm sure a good modern premium AV and modern speakers will out perform a premium soundbar, if I can upgrade to a soundbar all in one solution and it is generally better than my current system, bingo.

I tried placing the centre once right infront of the TV, I even replaced it with a model up, and spent a lot of time configuring it, and I'll swear the TV's centre/dialogue output is generally better.

Finally the DTS issue? I run my TV for ease of use TV --> ARC --> Amp, so a soundbar would be wired identically. Reason being my TV is the source for almost all my audio (Plex, Sky, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify etc). So any TV I get will have to have DTS support. Silly LG for ditching it

Does your current amp have one of those calibration setup mics like Audyssey for Denon? I only ask because I've always struggled with dialogue in films, even with a decent soundbar with fancy dialogue enhancers etc, so I shifted to AVR and it made the world of difference - but only after running Audyssey and doing some other tweaks. It's all quite modern as well, so perhaps that has helped.

If aesthetics is important then fair enough, I often hear the Samsung Q990D being touted as a very good soundbar. I think (would need to verify) an Nvidia Shield Pro can be connected directly to the Samsung Q990D via HDMI for audio and then the soundbar can use eARC to the TV for the video. This way you can use all the apps within the Shield so it's all in one place and also get all the audio types (DTS, Atmos etc) to play through the soundbar.

 

[chaparral]

Has anyone else gone down this route? Thoughts on it for film and music?

Am also been thinking of ditching my AV amp & Kef speakers (pioneer VSX-924 & Kef 5005.2 speaker/sub ) and going for something like the Sony theatre 9 sound bar and maybe the sony SA-SW5 sub mainly for a much cleaner setup.

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