Talk to me about soundbars...

[R.C.Anderson]

In the past, I've always used an AV reciever, along with floorstanding speakers for my TV & It's been great. Now, however, with a mixture of moving house & having a toddler, it's not really feasible to continue with these & therefore I'm looking at getting a soundbar as an alternative.

As I've never really looked into them before, what is there that I need to look out for & what sort of price should I be looking to spend to get a reasonable replacement to my exisiting setup (Obviously it's not going to be as good as my floorstanders, but there we are).

 

[R.C.Anderson]

It all depends on your budget and whether you want a standalone soundbar or one that comes with a sub and rear speakers.

I'm not fussed about rear speakers (as due to the shape/layout of the room, it wouldn't be worth it), but I'd be keen on a sub.

Budget is fairly flexible, I don't want to spend £500 & it be pretty much the same as TV speakers, but if it's going to be almost as good as floorstanders, I could do.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

For reasonble replacement you'd be looking at top of the range soundbar, and even then it won't be as good as your seperates and speaker system (plus have lots of drawbacks of a all in one box)

It won't be as the floorstanders.

But it would be an upgrade over the TV speakers, pretty much anything will.

That's pretty much what I was expecting, but we get pretty much 0 time to watch anything serious (I think the last movie we actually watched was over a year ago)

 

[R.C.Anderson]

OP has already stated he knows it won't be as good as the floorstanders so we don't need to go down that route.

It's difficult to suggest anything without a rough budget as you have things like the Sennheiser Ambeo Max but it's nearly 2 grand.

OK, lets say a budget is around £200-£500, if it's going to be a lot better, I'm willing to go to the higher end, but if it's a minimal difference & still significantly better than built in speakers, I'd rather stick to the lower end.

And I'd be willing to look 2nd hand if it'll give a decent saving/better quality.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

I totally get ruling out floorstanders, but are bookshelf an option? Especially if you already have a receiver?

I've changed my config around for the kids, so I now have the TV on a big unit with doors to cover up most of the equipment, and then the bookshelf speakers sit either side of the TV with a hard grille on the front.

Hmm, I hadn't actually thought about that, and I've got a pair of bookshelves as part of the full system. Wonder if I could set it up with those (and maybe the centre) instead. Would probably be a better setup than a lot of soundbars & would be a lot cheaper. I was going to setup the bookshelves in my office/study for my PC, but I could find an alternative there.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

The bookshelf speakers I have can be wall mounted (and I have mounts for them), but the TV is going to be wall mounted on an arm towards the corner of the room (mainly so it can't be knocked onto the floor), but with a unit under it.

I'm going to try positioning my bookshelf speakers on the top of the unit & see how that looks & if the wife is happy as a compromise. If it's going to save £100s, I think she'll be more accepting!