Please spec me an entry level sound bar

Goose

Goose

Goose

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
Kent
The first thing I’d like to say is that I really I don’t know much about audio technology so please bear that in mind and my absolute max budget is £350.

The room it will be going in is fairly small, we only sit about 2.3 metres from the TV which is only a 40 incher, floor to ceiling is around 3 metres.

The only things it will be connected to is my Virgin Tv box and an Nvidia shield. Usage is pretty typical being Movies and Tv shows from a combination of Virgin Tv, Plex, Youtube and Netflix.

The main issue I’m hoping to solve with a soundbar (aside from just wanting a general improvement in audio quality) is the volume of dialogue in movies and tv compared to the rest of the audio. At the moment I have to crank the volume on my Tv’s built in speakers to insane levels in order to hear the dialogue which of course makes all the sound effects unbearably loud.

Ive done some googling and I have my eye on the Sony HT-G700 for £350 but I don’t want to go ahead and buy it without asking people who know more than i do on the subject of audio.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks.
 
The Sonos Ray might be worth looking at. While only optical, the sound quality will be really good for the price of it, otherwise a refurbished Beam is in the price range. If not a fan of Sonos then go with either the Sony, Denon DHT-S416 or a JBl bar 5.0.
 
Goose said:
The main issue I’m hoping to solve with a soundbar (aside from just wanting a general improvement in audio quality) is the volume of dialogue in movies and tv compared to the rest of the audio. At the moment I have to crank the volume on my Tv’s built in speakers to insane levels in order to hear the dialogue which of course makes all the sound effects unbearably loud.
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Goose, I'd be very interested in your opinion once you have tried the Sonos Beam. I also find music and sound effects are way too loud when viewing films, telly etc. I've searched previously for solutions to this. None have been very succesful.
Thank you.
 
Baldbloke said:
Goose, I'd be very interested in your opinion once you have tried the Sonos Beam. I also find music and sound effects are way too loud when viewing films, telly etc. I've searched previously for solutions to this. None have been very succesful.
Thank you.
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I’ll let you know at some point next week.
 
Baldbloke said:
Goose, I'd be very interested in your opinion once you have tried the Sonos Beam. I also find music and sound effects are way too loud when viewing films, telly etc. I've searched previously for solutions to this. None have been very succesful.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Been using the Beam for about a week now and I have mixed feelings. Overall the sound quality is very good but it doesn't address my main issue of dialogue being to quiet. The 'Speech Enhancement' feature is a bit rubbish because it doesn't work at all watching content via my Shield TV and while the 'Night Mode' setting does what it says on the tin it always dramatically lowers the overall sound quality.

Haven't decided whether or not to keep it yet.
 
If you do send it back, I’d thoroughly recommend this..

Sound Blaster Katana V2

Improved with even more power and more refined details, Sound Blaster Katana V2 sports the familiar tri-amplified design for clean and impactful audio from all types of sources, and is upgraded with a host of gaming tools and connectivity options.
uk.creative.com

I got one a couple of months ago and can’t fault it with films, TV etc.
It works well at low volumes, and its plenty loud enough to fill a decent sized room, and the sub is a lot lot better than I was expecting.
I mainly use it for gaming, which is where it excels.
 
Goose said:
Been using the Beam for about a week now and I have mixed feelings. Overall the sound quality is very good but it doesn't address my main issue of dialogue being to quiet. The 'Speech Enhancement' feature is a bit rubbish because it doesn't work at all watching content via my Shield TV and while the 'Night Mode' setting does what it says on the tin it always dramatically lowers the overall sound quality.

Haven't decided whether or not to keep it yet.
Click to expand...

You should give the Samsung HW-S60A a try. No Dolby Atmos though.
 
So i'm going to return the Sonos Beam as it doesn't play nicely with my 2017 Shield because the Beam does not have an HDMI In port and my TV cant passthrough the audio properly via ARC. It means i'm now looking for a soundbar that has the following features;

HDMI IN with 4k Passthrough
Dolby Digital Plus
Absolute max budget is £350

I've found these three that all have good reviews and bad reviews depending on where you look - LG SN7CY, Denon DHT-S517, JBL Bar 5.0, Yamaha YAS-209.
 
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