Another Soundbar Thread

Soldato
Joined
29 Sep 2004
Posts
3,167
Location
Wilt of the Shire
I'm looking to spend about £300 ish on a soundbar to go with my Panasonic TX-50EX750B TV. Due to hearing loss a 5.1 surround system is wasted on me so I think a soundbar would be better and my current setup does not support 4K.

I've had a look at the HW-MS650 and it seems to fit the bill. I missed out on the Sonos Beam offers as I thought that would have been good for me and don't want to pay £400 for it now. Are there any other soundbars in this price range I should be looking at?

The only 4k kit I have at the moment is a Fire TV but I'd also like something a bit futureproof if possible.
 
The Samsung is excellent, I've had mine since early last year along with the rear speaker kit and have been very happy with it.

I'm leaning towards this more after reading up on it and I can get it for £300.

Would I be able to control it with my Harmony One remote?
 
The more I look at soundbars the more obstacles I come across! My TV base is cross shaped and totally fills the unit. The only way to have a soundbar would be to place it across those feet but I'm not even sure if this is ideal as I'd be worried it could shake off if the volume is too loud.

My current Onkyo setup is an amp/sub combined so I might have to look at going down that route again.
 
it could be argued that due to hearing loss a 5.1 system may be better or just having rear 2.0 speakers.

as in a speaker directed into both ears.

let's say your hearing loss in your right hear is pretty bad and not so much on the left. you could then tweak the right speaker to be significantly louder than the left.

i would argue separates is therefore better than a soundbar. all you would need IMO is an AVR plus 2 bookshelf speakers. which is easily done for your budget especially if you buy second hand off members market or avforums. the sound quality will also be superior to a soundbar.

Complete loss of hearing in left ear but right ear is perfect (so far). I'm kinda talking myself out of surround sound as I cannot tell where sound comes from anymore. I'll take a look at the AVR solution you mentioned.
 
if it's a complete loss and there is no chance of you using hearing aids or anything?

then just get some 2.0 active speakers or a soundbar. whatever suits you.

AVR would be pointless if you are completely deaf in one ear. you wouldn't really appreciate the difference it makes but only you can test it and see if you can tell

Completely gone mate, too much artillery/gunfire!
 
I've picked up a Yamaha YAS-107 Soundbar cheap to try out. I have the following kit:

Panasonic TX-50EX750B with 4 x HDMI (1x ARC).
Freesat HDR1100
Fire TV (v2)
Panasonic Blu-Ray Player

Just checking this is the right way to connect it all. I have the Soundbar connected to the TV ARC HDMI and the other kit plugged into the TV in the remaining 3 HDMI sockets.

If I'm watching TV and decide to watch the Fire TV will it auto switch source or will I have to select the relevant HDMI on the TV?

Sounds pretty good to me so far and more importantly, the wife likes it.
 
The Yamaha went back as I didn't really like it although the Mrs loved it, she loved clear voice more than anything.

I'm still reading reviews etc but my budget is now up to £500. I've had a look at the following ones which seem to all fit the bill:

Yamaha MusicCast Bar 400
Sony HT-ZF9
Sony HTXF9000 2.1 & 3.1
Yamaha YSP2700

Reviews seem pretty good for all of these so just need to choose one. My current top pick out the bunch is the YSP2700.
 
Back
Top Bottom