Sound bars primarily for Music?

[divuk83]

I have currently got a Naim Uniti, Naim N-Sats on N-Stands (shown in the picture below) and a REL Stampede sub. I say I have, as although I own them, they have been living at my friends house for about the last 5 years as I was concerned my daughter would pull them over onto herself and get injured. She is now old enough to know better (she might knock them over while playing but not get crushed which I could live with) however we now have a large greyhound that has no concept of his size and would easily knock them over. I would really like to re-claim my hifi, but the speakers just wouldn't work in my current living room (not pictured as that's my old house). I really know nothing about soundbars at all so need some info.

1. Could I run my hifi into them like a set of active speakers?
2. Could I keep my sub? I have an RCA line out and a DIN pre-amp out on my hifi as well as RCA sub outputs.
3. Would music actually sound any good on them? Obviously I'm bypassing the amp part of my Uniti so I'm reliant on the quality of the sound bar amp. I'm very much a hifi geek with little interest in the AV side of things. The Uniti was my compromise system, I used to have a NAC82/PSC/HiCAP/NAP200/CDX2/NAT02 so want something that sounds reasonable!

Other suggestions are welcome on speaker alternatives. I would love to wall mount them, but I don't think that would really work either in my current living room. Getting rid of the dog is a great idea, but my wife is quite attached to him so no really an option!

Thanks

Dave

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

I just don’t see any soundbar getting close.
Options that spring to mind:
- wallmount, Will come to the key issue shortly
- really heavy stands. If had a pair custom made for me a long time ago using rolled steel tubing and steel plates. But the time I’d sand filled them, they weighed circa 40kg each
- replace the Ns with a heavy pair of floorstanders, which certainly isn’t going to be cheap and would be more prone to being knocked over that your Ns on heavy stands.

Whatever you do with, I’d argue that you’ll have issues with the room, the only question being how much and the frequency of the room node.
As such, my personal preference would be to use:
- N-Sats on wall mounts (nice and cheap solution and clearly you like them)
- cut your music to something that can act as a music server (eg old laptop)
- run a server application that includes room correction capability. Personally I love Roon, but it’s not cheap
- build yourself a Pi3 as an “end point” that can run a digital connection into your Unity
The above should allow your system to work with the room.

 

[divuk83]

Thanks for that. Currently all my music in FLAC (CD-rips) stored on a Synology using Minim UPnP. I rarely play CD's or the radio so keeping the Uniti seems daft if I'm only going to use the streaming part of it and nothing else!

I do really like my N-sats, wall mounting might be possible and I have had them this way in the past, though there isn't masses of wall space to do it on so I'm not quite sure where I would put them. I did think about floorstanders or heavy stands. I think they would come out too far into the room so anything on the floor wouldn't be ideal.

I really need to have a good think about this before buying/selling anything. There is definitely going to have to be some compromises!

Thanks again.

Dave

 

[wesimmo]

I've got what was a reasonably expensive (when I bought it) Yamaha YSP-2200. It does the job I ask of it brilliantly, but that is to be a compromise between absolute quality and convenience of cable free pseudo-surround sound for my casual TV and gaming needs.

If i want to listen to music, I'll sit at my desk and listen through a dedicated fairly cheap Cambridge Amp and some Mission book end speakers using my PC as the source, it's just so much better with dedicated stereo equipment, IMO, for music.

I'd look at wall mounting as mentioned above.

 

[lucid]

Naim Mu-So springs to mind.

Nothing in a sound bar is going to match up to the Naim separates system, but in your heart you already know this. The real question then is how much of a compromise in sound is acceptable in order to get some decent audio gear back in the room. We can throw ideas around, but until you actually hear the gear first hand then you'll never really get the full picture.

Go to a Naim dealer. Explain the situation, then ask to arrange a demo of the Mu-So versus the closest thing to what you have. Remember to replicate the way your speakers will need to be installed, or as close as you can. Then judge for yourself.

 

[divuk83]

Naim Mu-So looks interesting. Yeah, anything other the what I have now is a compromise and even mounting the speakers on the wall is a compromise! When it first came out I remember being impressed by the B&W Zepplin, so these small speakers can produce decent sound. That said I'm not a fan of Bose stuff so it's something I'm going to have to demo first anyway.

Thanks for all the ideas.

Dave

 

[jpaul]

... naim site seems to confirm eg https://www.naimaudio.com/product/uniti-atom
the uniti streamer already has roon, hdmi arc ... so unclear why you'd consider soundbars that would poorly duplicate that functionality ? no - dfferent model ?

 

[hornetstinger]

Get massive speakers?

 

[lucid]

Naim Mu-So looks interesting. Yeah, anything other the what I have now is a compromise and even mounting the speakers on the wall is a compromise! When it first came out I remember being impressed by the B&W Zepplin, so these small speakers can produce decent sound. That said I'm not a fan of Bose stuff so it's something I'm going to have to demo first anyway.

Thanks for all the ideas.

Dave

I really wouldn't class Bose as Hi-Fi. That's not me being elitist. It's simply a statement of fact IMO. They're a well oiled marketing machine.

B&W knows a thing or two about acoustic engineering. The Zeppelin came out in a world populated by mediocre iPod-docking speakers. It changed people's opinions about what was possible. Bass played notes rather than just thumping (take note, Bose).

What Bose did with its sub/sat systems in the 80s was innovative. I think they were the first mass-market consumer brand to push the idea of separating the mid-bass from the treble units. The problem was they used cheap components.

The 2.5" or 3" HF unit in the small modules is a $3.00 driver; or at least that's all you need spend when replacing them to get equivalent performance. The twin 5" or 6" bass drivers sit in a sub cabinet purposely designed to play at a frequency point that we most closely associate with bass presence, but there's no subtlety or texture to the sound.

Back in the late 80s I was working in the Hi-Fi trade. The Bose rep came in to demo the Acoustimass speakers. I borrowed a set and tried them against my original Tannoy Mercury speakers. The £150 Tannoys wiped the floor with the £500 Acoustimass speakers.

Naim's Mu-So is, IMO, a cut above the Zeppelin.

 

[divuk83]

I was trying to be polite about Bose! Hifi is a very subjective thing so I don't want to starting any debates on things like that! The Zeppelin I head was the mk1 from 2008, again not much of a comparison with more modern stuff.

I don't have a Uniti Atom. I have a mark 1 Naim Uniti from 2010. While the room is big, it's quite narrow where I want to put the speakers (in front of the sofa either side of the TV) so big speakers or even small speakers on stands (what I already have) are something I'm wondering if I can get away without. I think a decent soundbase is never going to touch what I own at the moment, though it will be better than my current setup which is nothing. I was just wondering how much of a compromise it would be to have a soundbar and if I could live with it.

 

[hornetstinger]

I suppose you could call this a soundbar

 

[wesimmo]

I was trying to be polite about Bose! Hifi is a very subjective thing so I don't want to starting any debates on things like that! The Zeppelin I head was the mk1 from 2008, again not much of a comparison with more modern stuff.

I don't have a Uniti Atom. I have a mark 1 Naim Uniti from 2010. While the room is big, it's quite narrow where I want to put the speakers (in front of the sofa either side of the TV) so big speakers or even small speakers on stands (what I already have) are something I'm wondering if I can get away without. I think a decent soundbase is never going to touch what I own at the moment, though it will be better than my current setup which is nothing. I was just wondering how much of a compromise it would be to have a soundbar and if I could live with it.

Go test one out, but given the level of effort people are talking about in here to shape the sound for the room, I suspect you'll be disappointed by any soundbar in comparison to proper hifi, especially since the room shape/size issues aren't going to go away whatever you do.

 

[kitfit1]

@divuk83, if i'm reading what you have posted so far correctly, the biggest and main issue you have is the N-Sats ? The perceived problem is the greyhound knocking them over. Is that the only reason you think they wouldn't work in your current room?
If it is the only reason, the following may be an answer.
Go to a local Granite supplier (funeral directors can point you towards them locally) and order up some 40mm thick slabs about 100mm oversized for the N-Sats base. Remove the spikes and then Epoxy Resin the stands onto the Granite. One done it will need to one hell of a heavy dog, or person for that matter to knock them over.
I'll lay odds on it that the speakers will actually sound better as well.

 

[Ste]

The dali soundbar is supposed to be really good with music. Lots of good advice above but as much as I love my hifi the new order of convenience has won me over for now. I have dali mentor menuets and audiolab mdac and monos sat doing nothing because of the two year old.

 

[dowie]

I'd look at just stabilising your existing kit in some way, if you like it and have spent money on it for a reason then it would seem to be a bit of a shame to then go and get a soundbar which is clearly compromised to some extent regardless of who manufactured it.

I was going to suggest just wall mounting them too but if you've got limited wall space then maybe that is a no go. I'd not necessarily go for heavy stands, they can still get knocked over and potentially cause more of an issue for the dog or kid if/when they do - the idea above about a wide/heft grant base might be worth considering though.

Something you could perhaps consider along with that is to have some sort of metal wire attached to the speakers or stands too... say you have some sort of base that would take some effort to tip over, why not make sure that isn't going to happen at all - connect wire to back of speakers and wall... even if you were to physically push the speakers/stands over the wire stops it as soon as tilted.

 

[Martynt74]

Could you consider a wider tv cabinet and sit the N-Sats on that either side of the tv?

Again it's a compromise in sound quality but then you don't have the risk of them being knocked over and you could make some stands to get them to the right height.

 

[Grim5]

Compared to those speakers you have a soundbar would sound inferior for music.

If you are happy with that, go for something like a Bose or Sonos bar as they are some of the best music focused bars.

Maybe you can look at wall mounting the speakers

 

[kidloco]

Dont do it.

I went from a pretty decent 2.0 strictly music setup.

I got into AV and added a second AV amp and 5.1. I kept my music system but it was speaker and wire central.

I got rid of both systems and purchased a really good AV only setup. Movies were awesome, but music was very lacking.

Then when I moved to a nice new house, I wanted a minimal clean living room. Tried loads of soundbars. Used a Monitor Audio ASB-2 for around 9-12 months. It was OK, but sounded like sound was coming from a box under the TV which it was. It was a huge downgrade.

I recently have gone back to the beginning again. Decent stereo amp, with bookshelf speakers on stands, but this time ive add a REL T5 sub. Music is great again, and movies are surprisingly good.

I dare not add up how much money ive wasted on this audio journey only to return to where I started.

 

[TALON1973]

Naim Mu-So springs to mind.

Nothing in a sound bar is going to match up to the Naim separates system, but in your heart you already know this. The real question then is how much of a compromise in sound is acceptable in order to get some decent audio gear back in the room. We can throw ideas around, but until you actually hear the gear first hand then you'll never really get the full picture.

Go to a Naim dealer. Explain the situation, then ask to arrange a demo of the Mu-So versus the closest thing to what you have. Remember to replicate the way your speakers will need to be installed, or as close as you can. Then judge for yourself.

I owned the muso briefly. I loved the unit. But I couldn't find a middle ground for the bass . Sent it back. Whether the new version fixes that problem I don't know.

 

[TALON1973]

Having gone back and forth between av and hifi I say spilt it. I've got a soundbar for my TV. My main hifi set-up is in the opposite corner with headphone amp / headphones.