Sound bars

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

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Joined
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Does anyone have any decent recommendations?

I currently have a Sony STR-DH810 (here) with a set of TANNOY SFX5.1 which although superb, they are sadly too impractical for us since my wife's a childminder, and the speakers and sub-woof have to be packed away when not in use so they don't get used.

Is there anything of similar sound quality from a soundbar? A wireless Sub would be ideal too.

The Yamaha YAS-201 7.1 Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer looks ok at a respectable £350

up market a bit is the Yamaha YSP-2200 7.1 Sound Bar with Subwoofer which retails around £638 but not sure what the difference is and if the sub is wireless.

Thanks
 
a lot of the £300 ones have a wireless sub, sony, panasonic, samsung and lg, etc but i doubt they have as good SQ as your setup.

sonos make everything wireless but very expensive - £600 for a soundbar and then another £600 for a sub.

sonos is the best wireless solution because you can then add wireless surround sound speakers whenever you want.

you can also buy and add anything whenever you want. so you could buy the soundbar now. the subwoofer in 6 months time. then 2 surround sound speakers in 12 months time.

depends on your budget tbh.

yamaha and pioneer make very good ones but as you can see they retail at £600+.

sonos comes highly recommended but it's only worth spending that type of money if you are going to use it's unique wireless features. you can install speakers throughout your home and create zones or play content through all of them simultaneously, etc.
 
I got the YSP-2200 for the same reason as you are looking at it, kids plus living in a rented house meant i couldn't be bothered with spending time and money on doing a multi speaker set up properly with cable management etc out of the reach of prying fingers.

I'm not going to lie and say it is as good as my old NAD 5.1 amp and Mission floor standing set up, but given the size/shape of the room and horrible mix of surfaces it's trying to bounce sound off it does a pretty impressive job.

The sub isn't wireless BTW, but that doesn't really impact me at all, i just have it next to the TV stand anyway. It fits nicely under my 37" TV without looking too big and out of place.

Go to Richer Sounds and ask them to listen to one in action versus a traditional set up, though bear in mind that YMMV given the specifics of your own room due to the way it creates the surround sound effect.
 
I know its maybe not going to be of any help, but Asda (Harlow store) have some sound bars in stock - LG and Philips, £75 & £70 respectively. Might be a cheaper alternative. I was half asleep so cant give any more info than that :o

Like I said, it might not help you :p
 
Ok I've had a demo on the YSP 2200 and the YSP 3300


Wasn't impressed with the 2200 at all. Wired sub, no blue tooth and not really that great sound. The 3300 was more impressive but at £995, its too expensive.

I was thinking, is there a decent soundbar with wireless sub that i could still hook up rear speakers too.

It's only the front clutter i want removed.
 
£995 for a soundbar and a sub !?!

Is space that critical? My 5.1 system cost me about that much and I spent £450 on the sub alone.
 
A true 5.1 doesn't really work for me Raymond. Too many kids round the house that the front speakers and sub have to be put away.

Ideally, I'd still like an amp.. but not the massive big things you see everywhere.
 
How about mount them on the wall?

The sub could be a BK XLS400, put it against the wall, down firing, it looks like a small coffee table in the corner, and a really heavy one too.
 
They are but you can build up the collection I guess. I don't get the one optical input though. What if you want to connect Blu-Ray, XBox and VM box?
 
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