Soundbar vs separates?

willhub · 30 Aug 2019 at 15:21

Considering the soundbar route, however, what is the quality like compared to separates? Will a quality soundbar eclipse the quality of my CEOL Piccolo DRAN5 amp and Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's with the BK Monolith plus?

Their speakers in these soundbars seem dinky in comparison?

willhub · 1 Sep 2019 at 20:07

My 9.1's are around 6 meters apart. They sound great but the one think I notice with these that I never did with my Logitech PC speakers is that songs on Spotify, some of them are horrendously crackly, and on Spotify Samsung TV app most songs have degraded quality. Perhaps I need a better amp?

I do keep umming and arring upgrading the amp for extra features like adjustable crossover and better quality.

willhub · 2 Sep 2019 at 14:47

The 9.1's have the ports front facing, so will the wall still help them?

Maybe it's not 6 meters I'll use the tape measure, the sound just seems clearer now, whilst they're not in the adequate position for the tidiness and organisation of my living room it's better where they are at the moment. But I can't get more optimal than already in my room (crap room for speakers I guess). They're a couple of meters away from me just they're 6ish meters apart from each other

I keep thinking of trying Tidal, but the cost is higher and then I'd be loosing all my saved songs/albums, really wish Spotify would come up with a lossless service.

I want good sound quality, I think I may be "outgrowing" the 9.1's and the amp, but at the same time, I want to avoid any more significant outlay as focus on life priorities such as mortgage and paying some CC debts off and try enjoy what I have more. If I can make some gains without much outlay then that'd be good.

Probably 30/60/10 (movies, music, games) split at the moment.

willhub · 2 Sep 2019 at 21:46

I'm going to get my tape measure out and check the length and possibly see if I can give Tidal a go.

Just checked, 2.2 to 2.7 meters away and about 3 meters between the speakers

So my estimates were way off, before they were 1.5 meters apart and the clarity does seem better now. I'm connecting it to my PC using the HDMi then optical to TV, not sure if it would be beat optical straight from PC to amp but both still a digital signal so difference would be negligible?

willhub · 5 Sep 2019 at 11:16

So I've got 30 day trial of Tidal. I use Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, the difference is there, there is more clarity, but for an extra 10 quid a month not sure, perhaps there is limitations with the connection or the amp?

The bass seems a bit more reduced on Tidal too, this was a Master so studio quality apparently better than "Hi-Fi" quality.

The library problem of having to start building again is a non issue because I can use online services I have found to move them across.

*Edit - Slightly more improved changing to 24bit - 48000Hz

willhub · 5 Sep 2019 at 21:05

lucid said:
When you first mentioned problems streaming, it was on Spotify via the app built in to your Samsung TV. Are you listening to Tidal the same way?

No via the app, quality wise best to worst Tidal -> Spotify -> Spotify TV

willhub · 6 Sep 2019 at 10:20

Well the difference is more noticable with Todal in light of the bass situation, songs that are bass heavier are clearer and puncher in Tidal.

I have up using Spotify on the CEOL because it's slow and leggy or fails to connect, it's been troublesome since I got it really.

My computer has been on using some site for about 26 hours so far duplicating my 66567 song library from Spotify to Tidal.

I might try optical I can increase the bit rate even higher than 24/48000 on HDMi

On another note I do agree that my XXLS400 was better for music than the Monolith Plus, but I think this sub needs more work with placement compared to the sealed sub, I've not tried blocking the port yet I may give that a go if I can find something.

I don't regret the monolith for movies it's excellent.