Soundbar Advice

Nikumba

Nikumba

Nikumba

Soldato
Joined
4 Dec 2002
Posts
3,981
Location
Bourne, Lincs
Will be moving into a new house in the next month or so, which means my current 5.1 system will need to be mothballed for a bit, as TV would be in the alcove and not on the chimney breast, I know some do but I do not have an issue with TV being on the chimney breast.

So until get round to sorting all of that out and being able to use my 5.1 want to look at getting a soundbar.

Looked at the Sonus Beam in JL yesterday and was impressed with the sound, and the fact you could add additional Sonos 1 speakers to it to build out the system, however reading some reviews there is no physical remote and Sonos want you to use their app, so not ideal, also only seems to support DD and not DTS or any of the other newer formats like Atmos etc.

So after recommendation for a sound bar that ideally has a physical remote, multi room audio support, alexa integration possibility to expand it with sub, extra speakers etc.

If it matters, will be paired with a 9 year old 50" LG Plasma

Thanks

Kimbie
 
Probably depends on your sources. What are you viewing? Blu-Ray, UHD discs, Sky/BT/Virgin, Freeview/Freesat, streaming services, media player.

Does your 9 year old TV have HDMI Arc? Are you needing more than Dolby Digital?
Do you have a player that converts DD to DTS?
Can you use the TV remote to control a soundbar?

Personally have a Sonos Beam on the 100 day trial. I can adjust the volume using my Sky Q remote (the majority of my viewing is via Sky). I already had 2 play 1s so the surround effects are good.

I like the Sony HT-ZF9 which is a 3.1 soundbar and sub which supports Dolby and DTS up to Atmos and X. You can expand with rear speakers. It has 2 HDMI inputs. Can be had for around £450 just now. It uses acoustic processing to imitate overhead speakers.

Depends what your budget is and what your needs are. The Samsung HW-N950 is their top end model with rear speakers. I like the older Sony HT-ST5000 as well which doesn’t have tears but is 7.1.2 channels (I think) from the bar.
 
Last edited:
I have the Sonos Beam paired with 2 Play:1 speakers. Sounds is great.

If your TV is HDMI ARC compatible, you can control the Sonos via an existing remote, for me its my Sky remote works pretty well.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the replies, it doesn't look like my tv has ARC on it, so guess would need to connect with optical, so would have to use the phone app to control it I am guessing?

We tend to watch Amazon Video / Netflix and Plex via FireTV stick currently plugged into my AV receiver

Kimbie
 
You can control the volume of the Sonos Beam with a remote even when connected via optical. I have Sky Q connected to TV by HDMI and by optical to Sonos Beam (to eliminate Sky Q lip sync issue). I have set-up my Sky remote to control the volume on the Beam.
 
CraigMcC11 said:
You can control the volume of the Sonos Beam with a remote even when connected via optical. I have Sky Q connected to TV by HDMI and by optical to Sonos Beam (to eliminate Sky Q lip sync issue). I have set-up my Sky remote to control the volume on the Beam.
Click to expand...

Cool thanks for that, will have to look at getting one once in the new house :)
 
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