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Hi, I'm after a surround sound system and I've looked at Soundbars but would prefer proper surround sound, must have wireless rear speakers as I don't want wires all over my bedroom, preferable a wireless sub if possible, budget £700-800
home cinema system
- Thread starter PAULRYAN52
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Wireless sub is easy and pretty much universal now with soundbars and all-in-one home cinema kits. However, the only sound system I know of that has truly wireless rear speakers is the Philips Fidelio B5. Pretty much everything else trades the two speaker wires for a powered rear speaker which then uses a single speaker wire to like to the other surround speaker.
The Philips system uses rechargeable batteries in the wireless rears. They dock to the main sound bar for charging. You then unplug them and place them at the back or sides or the room. It's claimed they'll run for 10 hours in surround mode from a single charge. There's a reasonably comprehensive review on the What Hi-Fi site.
The Philips system uses rechargeable batteries in the wireless rears. They dock to the main sound bar for charging. You then unplug them and place them at the back or sides or the room. It's claimed they'll run for 10 hours in surround mode from a single charge. There's a reasonably comprehensive review on the What Hi-Fi site.
is it any good and if I went with just the front what would be recommended
If by "proper surround sound" you mean the classic AV Receiver + speaker package, then I'm afraid that what you're seeking in the wireless rear speakers (and to a lesser extent the wireless sub) doesn't exist. There are just too many compromises such as the bandwidth limits of Bluetooth transmission. It's at odds with what a separates AV system is about; which is audio quality and flexibility.
A couple of companies have done (semi-)wireless high fidelity rear speakers, most notably KEF. The rub though was cost. Just the transmitter kit and two speaker system was as much as your entire AV budget. That's before you bought a compatible AV receiver, sub and front speakers.
All-in-one kits are a different proposition, as are soundbars. The priorities here are different. Usually it's about having something compact, and there's more focus on peripheral features such as built-in streaming, apps and maybe app control. Sound quality has been less of a priority. Some of that has changed though as people's expectations of what a soundbar might cost have been challenged by products such as Sonos. Suddenly a soundbar isn't £99 any more.
The Philips kit is decent by soundbar standards, but it can be bettered by more-focussed soundbar products where the emphasis is on fidelity. If you want equal or better sound without the wireless rears then you could spend £300-£400 and be very happy with a simple 2.1/3.1 non-surround sound bar. There are other solutions too.
For those with the right type of room layout, the YSP2700 is one of the latest in a line of reflected soundwave sound bars from Yamaha that stretches back over 15 years. It uses a multi-speaker array to focus beams of sound at reflective surfaces that then create virtual surround sound speakers in a room. They're cleverer than that too. They can run as a 2.1/3.1 system, or even as a "beam-the-sound-to-a-single-point" speaker which is something no-other system does. That means being able to listen late at night at volumes that won't disturb the rest of the house but that give you plenty of sound within a defined bubble. That's pretty cool. The YSP2700 comes with a wireless sub for around the £600-£700 mark. It also makes a good AV hub since the unit has multiple HDMI inputs and supports ARC, 4K UHD and the full gamut of HD audio decoding modes except for ATMOS.
To some extent, sound bars have overtaken the sort of disc-player-based all-in-one-box surround systems that the likes of Comet have been selling for the past 20+ years. The pendulum is swinging away from physical media. Once budgets rise above entry-level, folk are more likely to have a Netfix subscription than rely solely on playing physical media, so there's less call for an integrated disc player, and that gives the advantage to speaker-only solutions such as sound bars.
A couple of companies have done (semi-)wireless high fidelity rear speakers, most notably KEF. The rub though was cost. Just the transmitter kit and two speaker system was as much as your entire AV budget. That's before you bought a compatible AV receiver, sub and front speakers.
All-in-one kits are a different proposition, as are soundbars. The priorities here are different. Usually it's about having something compact, and there's more focus on peripheral features such as built-in streaming, apps and maybe app control. Sound quality has been less of a priority. Some of that has changed though as people's expectations of what a soundbar might cost have been challenged by products such as Sonos. Suddenly a soundbar isn't £99 any more.
The Philips kit is decent by soundbar standards, but it can be bettered by more-focussed soundbar products where the emphasis is on fidelity. If you want equal or better sound without the wireless rears then you could spend £300-£400 and be very happy with a simple 2.1/3.1 non-surround sound bar. There are other solutions too.
For those with the right type of room layout, the YSP2700 is one of the latest in a line of reflected soundwave sound bars from Yamaha that stretches back over 15 years. It uses a multi-speaker array to focus beams of sound at reflective surfaces that then create virtual surround sound speakers in a room. They're cleverer than that too. They can run as a 2.1/3.1 system, or even as a "beam-the-sound-to-a-single-point" speaker which is something no-other system does. That means being able to listen late at night at volumes that won't disturb the rest of the house but that give you plenty of sound within a defined bubble. That's pretty cool. The YSP2700 comes with a wireless sub for around the £600-£700 mark. It also makes a good AV hub since the unit has multiple HDMI inputs and supports ARC, 4K UHD and the full gamut of HD audio decoding modes except for ATMOS.
To some extent, sound bars have overtaken the sort of disc-player-based all-in-one-box surround systems that the likes of Comet have been selling for the past 20+ years. The pendulum is swinging away from physical media. Once budgets rise above entry-level, folk are more likely to have a Netfix subscription than rely solely on playing physical media, so there's less call for an integrated disc player, and that gives the advantage to speaker-only solutions such as sound bars.
Soldato
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Just wire in your system once it's down you don't notice it.
Nor like you're running cable for sub stations.
Avoid wireless. Also you'll be paying for that rather than getting better quality gear.
Checkout q acoustics 2000 series
Nor like you're running cable for sub stations.
Avoid wireless. Also you'll be paying for that rather than getting better quality gear.
Checkout q acoustics 2000 series
Soldato
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Also speaker cable is cheap a 25m reel is about £15
2.5mm cable should be fine
To get wireless speakers ontop of a passive speakers design is going to cost far more than. £15
Plus have to charge batteries use Bluetooth Signal and lose quality and won't have as much power.
For sub single RCA cable.
Stick with wired
2.5mm cable should be fine
To get wireless speakers ontop of a passive speakers design is going to cost far more than. £15
Plus have to charge batteries use Bluetooth Signal and lose quality and won't have as much power.
For sub single RCA cable.
Stick with wired
Think I'm going to go 3.1 and forget the rears
Soldato
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You could just wall mounted rears. Movies are better with rear speakers as hearing proper mix to downmixed.
However anithrr way to look at it by buying less speakers you'll get better quality speakers.
For example on a £500 budget I'd choose stereo over a £500 7.1 system .
Although the same could be said of £10000 system I think past a point you get little return.
Good pair of standmount speakersa center and a AV amplfier and sub is a good starter something like a q acoustics with bk xls200 or svs sb1000 or sb2000
However anithrr way to look at it by buying less speakers you'll get better quality speakers.
For example on a £500 budget I'd choose stereo over a £500 7.1 system .
Although the same could be said of £10000 system I think past a point you get little return.
Good pair of standmount speakersa center and a AV amplfier and sub is a good starter something like a q acoustics with bk xls200 or svs sb1000 or sb2000
I ran 3.1 for years before finally getting the rears I wanted. With good speakers it makes for a good soundstage and sounds way better than most soundbars ever could.
Rear speakers are a nice touch but certainly not the be all and end all
Soldato
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Little bit pointless having a avr and 5.1 movies and not having rears.
Don't need to spend a lot either.
Don't need to spend a lot either.
Certainly not pointless if you are in a situation where its not possible (space limitations) or want to buy better fronts and rears to match later on (what I did). Proper 3.1 is far superior to a soundbar, especially with a good sub.
Sonos Beam - £400
Sonos Play:1 - £150 x 2
Total: £700
Not necessarily the "best" solution but I'd argue it would make a dam fine setup.
Only thing I don't know is how well the Sonos Beam / Play One combo support various audio format (DTS/Dolby/whatever)
Saying that, the problem with something like a soundbar is it's not very expandable. You're putting a lot of money into a combination receiver and speaker that can't really be extended very easily.
Best off looking into getting a nice 5.1 AVR with a Left and Right speaker. Centre if the budget stretches.
Then add on rears and upgrade as you go. A good AVR at the moment (for not very much money) could easily last you 10 years.
As for recommendations for what specifically to get I hope others can help you there.
Oh yeah, as for wireless, forget it with a good AVR. Go wired, once you get past the hassle of setting it up you won't notice after day one.
Not to mention the fact that any decent wireless rear speakers are going to require power (read "cables") anyway.
Sonos Play:1 - £150 x 2
Total: £700
Not necessarily the "best" solution but I'd argue it would make a dam fine setup.
Only thing I don't know is how well the Sonos Beam / Play One combo support various audio format (DTS/Dolby/whatever)
Saying that, the problem with something like a soundbar is it's not very expandable. You're putting a lot of money into a combination receiver and speaker that can't really be extended very easily.
Best off looking into getting a nice 5.1 AVR with a Left and Right speaker. Centre if the budget stretches.
Then add on rears and upgrade as you go. A good AVR at the moment (for not very much money) could easily last you 10 years.
As for recommendations for what specifically to get I hope others can help you there.
Oh yeah, as for wireless, forget it with a good AVR. Go wired, once you get past the hassle of setting it up you won't notice after day one.
Not to mention the fact that any decent wireless rear speakers are going to require power (read "cables") anyway.
To be honest, I'd agree with @hornetstinger. If you're fine with only running 3.1 then I'd much rather find an extra £50 by not going out one weekend and buying a pair of cheap second hand bookshelf speakers and plonk them in the back of the room.
Yes it's not going to sound "legit amazing" but I do love me a bit of positional audio.
Caporegime
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you can get a samsung soundbar with wireless rears and a sub. just go look at their higher end stuff.
Are they truly wireless though? i.e. They have no mains cable and no speaker wire. Or is it that they're just trading the front to rear wires for an extra main cable and a side-to-side speaker wire?
Folk talk about wireless rear speakers and it creates the expection of something very different from what the manufacturers can actually deliver.
Soldato
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How about having a Tesla coil on your avr another on your rear speakers and the thousands of watts are sent from your avr to your rear speakers wirelessly via lightening.
Caporegime
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There will obviously be a wire somewhere usually for power and (or) speaker wire. But at least you don't have them travelling from the AVR or main centre soundbar or subwoofer, etc.
I know what you mean though. Wireless =/= wireless when it comes to home cinema there has to be a wire somewhere.