Replacing soundbar

Dave85

Dave85

Dave85

Soldato
Joined
18 Jan 2004
Posts
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Location
Sunny Scotland
Hi all, I currently have a Samsung wireless soundbar and sub with hdmi passthrough. It no longer meets my needs due to the amount of devices I want to connect to my projector. Can someone suggest some speakers and a AV Receiver if that is what I need?

I want to connect the following to my projector. PS4, Virgin Tivo,PC,Nvida Shield TV.

Would something like this work and be good value http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/pioneer/htp072/pion-htp072

Or would you suggest getting the Av receiver separate and then speakers. Budget is MAX £250 but would prefer closer to £200
 
you won't get a half decent seperates system for £250 not even second hand.

we have had this discussion before a decent AVR costs £1-£1.5K. a mid range one about £500-£1000. a budget one will be around £200-£500.

which leaves you £50 for speakers.

these are rough numbers but you get the point.

buy a package deal from richer sounds but you would be better off doubling your budget. the difference in sound would be HUGE.

I need a subwoofer for my system and I'm looking at cheap starter level ones and for just a sub it's around £250 for entry level. I'm thinking of spending around £400 on just a sub. Even then that is still mid range a high end one costs around £1-£2K.
 
Psycho Sonny: I think the point here is to compare what he could buy against the Samsung soundbar he already owns.

Dave85: Unless you spent £400-£500 on the soundbar then I think it would be safe to say that the Pioneer kit would offer better sound and of course more convincing surround effects too. Without wishing to put words in to Psycho Sonny's mouth though I think the point he was alluding to is that the Pioneer represents the very shallowest of shallow end AV receiver/speaker package kits. So while it meets your needs now, are you going to face a similar dilemma sometime in the not too distant future.

The Pioneer probably has more inputs-, and it will almost certainly offer more comprehensive audio decoding than the soundbar so you can take full advantage of HD audio. I think it supports 4K pass-thru too. All that is good.

People tend to fall in to one of two camps when starting down the AV Receiver/speaker package road. The majority are looking for a starter system that gives them a base from which to upgrade in steps as budget allows. The second group are those who just want a better quality solution than their current sound system but aren't interested in upgrading further. If this second group sounds like you then either the Pioneer or the Yamaha YHT1810 is right up your street. The £50 extra on the Yamaha goes in to speakers.

The main caveat with both the Pioneer and the Yamaha is the speakers; more specifically the sub. It connects via normal speaker wires which means it draws power from the main unit. That's not an immediate issue other than it does limit the depth and slam that's possible compared to a powered sub, but I bet the bass is still more tuneful and accurate than the Samsung. The longer term limitation is if you want to upgrade. The Pioneer and Yamaha kits can be thought of as complete systems. You'd sell the whole lot and upgrade rather than paying the premium for an AV sub that takes speaker level inputs.
 
If its a valid option it may be worth buying an Amp and some floorstanding or bookshelf speakers and going for a 2.0 setup until you can afford to buy the rest.

QAcoustics 2020i are pretty decent and would more than likely be better than your soundbar set up
 
If he doubles his budget he can get a mid range AVR and a mid range set of floorstanders no bother second hand.

He can then add to it every year. e.g. after a year add a centre speaker. after 2 years add a sub. after 3 years add some surround speakers.

My point was £250 doesn't go very far. I have headphones worth more than that never mind a full 5.1 setup.
 
Tyrone1Wils said:
If its a valid option it may be worth buying an Amp and some floorstanding or bookshelf speakers and going for a 2.0 setup until you can afford to buy the rest.

QAcoustics 2020i are pretty decent and would more than likely be better than your soundbar set up
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£200-£250 for an AV receiver plus either floorstanders or bookshelf speakers plus the stands. IMO that's trying to stretch the budget too far.

Psycho Sonny said:
If he doubles his budget he can get a mid range AVR and a mid range set of floorstanders no bother second hand.
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Hey, why stop there? Sell the car and then do without those little luxuries such as heating and food and then voila!! They could have an absolutely stunning system. :rolleyes:

Psycho Sonny said:
My point was £250 doesn't go very far. I have headphones worth more than that never mind a full 5.1 setup.
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Wow... If I was Dave85 I wonder how patronised I'd be feeling after reading such an elitist comment.

Yes, there's always something better further up the price scale. The real point is that £250 goes just far enough to buy the Pioneer system and have £50 change, thank you very much. Seems far enough to me if it ticks all his boxes.
 
Thanks for the opinions folks. I currently live in a flat and watch films maybe once or twice a week on the Projector and the Samsung soundbar was not a bad one at just over 100 quid. Specs here http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/tv-audio-video/audio-video/wireless-soundbars/HW-F450/XU

We find the bass good but the soundbar really struggles to provide a decent amount of voice clarity and is a bit muddled when people are talking in loud situations. So as I live in a top floor flat at the moment I just want something that will give me a bit better audio than the soundbar and allow me to connect all my stuff to it. So we thinking so far the Pioneer will meet my needs compared the soundbar specs.

Don't worry when I get a proper house investment will be made in to a proper setup I just think it would be wasted in a flat. Thanks again for all your opinions.

If the guys thinking im better going for a AV receiver and two speakers either side can give some examples for the budget it would be fine.
 
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So I decided to go down a bit more of a custom route but still on a budget. I got some proper speakers according to the reviews they are good and a bargain on the AV receiver. I have the matching center channel on the way as well and will maybe add a decent sub next month.

AV%20rec.jpg

20160130_101743.jpg
 
welcome to the world of seperates.

finding a cheap sub isn't easy. especially if you don't live in a overpopulated area. so second hand options are limited as most won't post due to weight, etc.

i still only have a AVR 2 floorstanders and a centre speaker.

the wait for a sub continues
 
Large bump but seemed better than opening a new thread. So the above system has worked flawless for years but I'm now after something a little smaller for the fronts instead of floor standing due to a placement of a couch blocking the left bottom part of a speaker.

Any ideas on something of similar performance to the M3 floor standing speaker either side that could sit on stands. Ideally nothing extortionate.
 
Dave85 said:
Large bump but seemed better than opening a new thread. So the above system has worked flawless for years but I'm now after something a little smaller for the fronts instead of floor standing due to a placement of a couch blocking the left bottom part of a speaker.

Any ideas on something of similar performance to the M3 floor standing speaker either side that could sit on stands. Ideally nothing extortionate.
Click to expand...

Monoprice? Good value for money offer at the moment on the standmount from rainforest.
 
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