Looking for a low cost audio upgrade for TV around the £300 mark

Justnotsleeping

Justnotsleeping

Justnotsleeping

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Hi,

I’m looking to upgrade the audio on my TV, without spending too much. I currently have a Samsung HW-MS650 all in one soundbar which I’ve had a for a few years now.

I’m currently looking at the Sonos Beam 2 or the Sony HT-S2000 which are available for around the 300ish mark.

Are there any good budget suggestions that I could consider for around this price point. Are bookshelf speakers a viable option for using for a TV? I guess this would need a subwoofer, but I would think this not feasible for this price point.
 
look into a cheap avr second hand with optical in/arc in and spend rest on speakers.

£300 should you get 2.0 speakers and avr. Forget sub at this price, subwoofer will be £300 alone.

maybe wharfedale diamond 9.1 some stands
or 3020i can be had for cheaper

www.qacoustics.co.uk

Q Acoustics 3020i

The Q 3020i is a bookshelf or stand mount speaker from Q Acoustics core loudspeaker offering, designed to deliver beautiful sound into your home, using the latest technological enhancements applied to the full 3000i series.
www.qacoustics.co.uk www.qacoustics.co.uk

If you don't need 4K passthrough in a AVR, a old 1080p avr will be fine, look at what your TV has for audio out
 
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Thanks, I’ll take a look. Looking into av receivers looks to be a minefield but there seem to be lots of options on eBay. It’s an area I have very little knowledge about which is why I’d always gone with a soundbar.

I do have space concerns though, so will have to take that into consideration. At the moment the soundbar is on the fire surround under the wall mounted TV, so I might need to look at speaker stands if I go this way.
 
China Man said:
What is it that you are not happy with? I have a feeling another soundbar may not improve a lot of what you already have. Soundbar is good for space saving and better than TV built in, AMP and speakers are way better costing less IMO
Click to expand...
It’s mainly audio clarity during movies and TV I think. It’s ok for music, etc but I’ve never been very happy with voices and vocal stuff. I don’t need anything with massive amounts of bass. I’m not opposing to trying an amp and speakers option tho.

The soundbar is quite old now so I thought maybe a Sonos beam with virtual Atmos or similar may be better. I’m not an audiophile so it’s all new to me but I’m not opposed to trying an amp off EBay and getting some speakers.
There do seem to be lots of choices for 5.1/7.1 amps for not too much money and I guess this might give me the option to add speakers later.
 
MY PC speaker is the Bose Solo Soundbar Series 2, I don't watch a lot of TV now a days but when I tested it with my TV it has a function called More clarity, with the Dialogue Mode where it enhance the dialogue of actor voice in a movie. Not as loud as other Budget Chinese sound bars I have tested but quality of sounds definitely better.

If space is not an issue

Second hand

TV optical out to Amplifier

Denon AVR 7.1 £50
Mission floor stands x2 £100
Mission centre speaker £40

I am not a fan of surround sound and watching normal TV doesn't really fully utilised it anyway, you can always add it later. These items go for silly silly price now that most people will not trade space with sound quality.
 
Sonos Beam (on sale right now) or similar at this price.
Especially as it is just to improve your general TV audio.

I would suggest the AVR route if you wanted a full on home theatre though.
 
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From the reviews of yours, I think anything will be a side grade rather than a huge upgrade.

Is there any option for voice clarity within the amp, some of them can increase the centre speaker compared to the sides.

I went from a soundbar, which half the time I could barely tell I hadn't turned on to an amp with 5.1 and the sound is significantly better (even without the rears in use).
 
If you have the room for bookshelf speakers there's nothing I can think of for sub £300 that will be better in the soundbar arena.

Do factor in stands or wall mounted brackets, ideally you want them to be around ear level -- the SMSL A50 as an AMP (it supports HDMI/ARC) + Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 or whatever you aim for would be a really good quality bump over TV audio/soundbars under £300 and would cost you all of £200 (sans the stands/brackets).

If voice/conversations are an issue you might want to aim for a 3.0 + setup as voice will be cycled to the centre channel, it can make a big difference.
 
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I'd still go for a avr as that will have bass management, speaker level and distance, room EQ, DD/dts decoding, and option to add speakers later.

Then once you get you 5.1 system update the avr.

If you aren't using the avr to pass 4k then a old gen avr will do as you are using the TV as the hub then sending audio from the TV to the avr.

Normally you connect everything to the avr then to the TV but you would need a up-to-date avr at least 4k possibly one with hdmi 2.1 if you're gaming
 
Justnotsleeping said:
It’s mainly audio clarity during movies and TV I think. It’s ok for music, etc but I’ve never been very happy with voices and vocal stuff.
Click to expand...

I had the same issue, even with a decent Sony soundbar that had a centre channel and four levels of clarity.

So I went down the AVR route, centre speaker is essential, a few post calibration tweaks with the centre speaker EQ and now I have lovely clear dialogue.

I reckon used gear would be the best option. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to eBay on here but I found the following just as an example, which are pretty decent speakers but there's other brands out there:

Dali Zensor 1 bookshelf speakers £99
Dali Zensor Vokal centre speaker £115

This should leave enough for a used AVR and some cable. You would still need stands, but these left and right speakers can actually be wall mounted onto a screw head. Would need to be mindful that they are rear ported.
 
Justnotsleeping said:
I've been down a rabbit hole. I know what i'm like...I start with a strict budget in mind and now i'm looking at how I can build a system with options to add rear and surround speakers!:cry:
Click to expand...

Look into a Trinnov 9.4.4 av pre power system.

www.trinnov.com

Trinnov | 36-Channel Reference Immersive Sound AV Processor

Since 2014, Trinnov's Altitude32 leads the AV Processor market to higher levels of performance and sustainability with Dolby Atmos, DTS:X Pro and Auro-3D
www.trinnov.com www.trinnov.com

with these speakers

M9 — Magico Loudspeakers

Magico's Flagship Speaker. Shattering the boundaries of what's possible in ultra high-end audio reproduction.
www.magicoaudio.com www.magicoaudio.com


:cry:
 
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There's the Diamond packages, from stereo to. 7.1.4

"Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 HCP 7.1.2 Speaker Package, Walnut"

That's £835

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 5.1 Home Cinema Speaker Package, Black​


£559

You'll need a AVR also. The sub is ok, but not brilliant- but you could use it for now save up for a bigger better one then use that Wharfedale sub in a PC system, it'll be fine for that
 
Soundsystem is one of the only tech which I think 2nd hand make more sense than buying new, I cannot tell the difference after a certain budget like gold speaker cable and plugs. It is just a box with magnet and paper/composite cone and the amplifier last a long time if buying branded. My 2nd hand system is over 15 years old, could be older than that as I got it 2nd hand that long ago. Recently I have to replace the foam/rubber ring on my subwoofer which cost around £10. I have a 5.1 system which I got for around £150 15 years ago Sony non AV amp plus Mission speakers and a Sub lol

 
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