Help with the purchase of a new soundbar

Damien.

Damien.

Damien.

Soldato
Joined
20 Nov 2006
Posts
6,881
Afternoon all, hope everyone had a great Christmas. Anyway, I am in the market for a new sound bar and subwoofer setup. Due to the nature of my lounge/dining area I am limited to a bar mounted under the TV and do not have scope to adopt a full 5.1, wired system.

I currently have an entry level 2.1 Sony bar which was thrown in with the purchase of the TV as a deal sweetener. Although its a massive improvement over the TV's standard speakers, its features are limited and we usually find we have to have it at nearly full volume to hear everything.

Now I've managed to narrow down my options but I need some opinions and maybe suggestions before I decide and click buy. They are;

Sonos Playbar
- Great reviews, right price but doesn't come with a subwoofer, has no Bluetooth and no ARC. Can be expanded with Play 1 speakers.

Bose SoundTouch 300
- Contradicting reviews, a fan of the brand, right price but again no subwoofer. Can be expended with wireless speakers if we moved/had a dedicated TV/cinema room.

Yamaha YPS 2700
- Now this one keeps popping up in reviews and is highly thought of. Right price, apparently effective surround sound simulation, comes with sub, has ARC + 3 HDMI inputs, wifi, Bluetooth etc. Only problem is around me I'm struggling to locate a store where I can look/listen to it so would be buying blind.

Please help.

Thanks in advance.
 
A bit of a no brainer to be honest. The YPS 2700 just blows the rest out of the water..................once you run the setup routine it just works. It also has more imputs than most soundbars so will take a 4k bluray player, skyq box and a chromecast or whatever combination you want.
If you can get to Cardiff, Richer sounds sells them and you could have a listen before walking out with one tucked under your arm.
 
Arrived yesterday and setup.

Incredibly impressed with the build quality and feel. Will be testing out out properly after work this afternoon.
 
Well spent abit more time with this bar and after running calibration/setting up I was rather underwhelmed. I found the sound quite hollow and tinny, music playback didn’t impress me atall. Was left really disappointed so packed the bar up and returned it.

This time I walked out with the Bose bar/sub combo. Wow, that’s all I can say. What a difference. I’m really surprised, maybe the Yamaha just wasn’t what i was after or maybe my room didn’t suit it but Christ this bose is impressive.
 
Damien. said:
Well spent abit more time with this bar and after running calibration/setting up I was rather underwhelmed. I found the sound quite hollow and tinny, music playback didn’t impress me atall. Was left really disappointed so packed the bar up and returned it.

This time I walked out with the Bose bar/sub combo. Wow, that’s all I can say. What a difference. I’m really surprised, maybe the Yamaha just wasn’t what i was after or maybe my room didn’t suit it but Christ this bose is impressive.
Click to expand...

lol.

tbh with soundbars I found the SRS, fake surround or similar modes to be worse. They sound best in straight "no bloody messing with the sound" DSP.
 
I had a Yamaha YSP-1600 and similarly wasn't very impressed with it. In certain situations it sounded great, other times it sounded awful. Due to a weird issue it had with my TV (audio stuttering in Netflix and Amazon Video), I returned it and eventually ended up with the Samsung HW-MS650 instead, which is superb.

Not sure I'd have gone for a Bose over a Yamaha though...
 
TheVoice said:
Not sure I'd have gone for a Bose over a Yamaha though...
Click to expand...

I must admit that I’m abit of a Bose fan boy. I had considered Yamaha because I’m well aware that you pay over the odds for the name but honestly the difference between the two systems in regards to raw output is night and day. The Yamaha was really disappointing, for a £900 (rrp) system. The Bose on the other hand sounds great and when cranked up is enough to make the house shake. I mean it’s not practical to watch movies at that volume but when paying that price I wanted something that would wow me. I tried sitting infront of the yam to listen to music and really wasn’t inspired, the bose, well I’ve been sat here all night flicking through my favourite tunes.

My father in law popped over when the yam was set up, I switched between that and my bose soundlink mini 2. He preferred the latter.

Anyway I guess it’s all personal preference and I’m finally 110 percent happy with the amount of money I parted with for what’s now sat in front of my TV.
 
Damien. said:
I must admit that I’m abit of a Bose fan boy. I had considered Yamaha because I’m well aware that you pay over the odds for the name but honestly the difference between the two systems in regards to raw output is night and day. The Yamaha was really disappointing, for a £900 (rrp) system. The Bose on the other hand sounds great and when cranked up is enough to make the house shake. I mean it’s not practical to watch movies at that volume but when paying that price I wanted something that would wow me. I tried sitting infront of the yam to listen to music and really wasn’t inspired, the bose, well I’ve been sat here all night flicking through my favourite tunes.

My father in law popped over when the yam was set up, I switched between that and my bose soundlink mini 2. He preferred the latter.

Anyway I guess it’s all personal preference and I’m finally 110 percent happy with the amount of money I parted with for what’s now sat in front of my TV.
Click to expand...

I doubt that very much. It's only a 10"driver, 180W.
 
Damien. said:
Have you heard one?

I’m not over exajurating, the bose is incredibly loud compared to the yam and even the Sony 2.1 system it replaced.
Click to expand...

You would have got more for your money with a BK Monolith +. Same price, 12", 500W, and will totally destroy the Bose "sub"

http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/sub_woofers/monolith-df_plus.htm

FYI the sub I'm using now is a SVS SB Ultra 13. It's in a totally different league to Bose subs.
 
hornetstinger said:
yeah but the BK Monolith + is actually cheaper than the Bose sub. Bigger sub, 300W more power, higher quality driver and real wood veneer, quality power supply and amplifier and natively tuned lower.
Click to expand...

I mean its too late for me to change my mind now and am happy with the Bose but out of interest would that sub work with a soundbar/do they have a soundbar?

My room configuration doesn't allow for a proper 5.1 system with AV receiver etc, only live in a poxy 3 bed semi.
 
If your sound bar has sub out or sub pre our (same thing) line level preamp controlled then yes. Or you can use full range left/right pre outs into sub then use subs crossover at around where the sound bar low frequency drops off.

But highly likely being Bose can't do any of that.
 
I believe the Bose combo is the same price as the Sonos stuff.

£599 a piece.

The Sonos Playbar is a good piece of equipment on its own, but the sub is poor. Paired with the lack of ARC and it's quite an overpriced set.

I think you'd have been happier with the Demon Heos range. The Bose stuff is okay. Yamaha equipment has often sounded bright to me, and bass light, so if you're a fan of a bassier sound signature, I'm not surprised you preferred the Bose.

Ideally you would have tried out some stuff.

I actually went to the richer sounds Cardiff (which is where I got the Sonos stuff from) and tried out some stuff. Monitor Audio Bronze 2, which were recommended by many, didn't impress me all that much. I found they also sounded rather hollow. That's when I asked him to demo the Sonos stuff, and for movies, it was incredible.
 
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