Yes, thank you. Honestly modern sound engineering has gotten us to a point where you can match the performance of a much larger system with a high quality smaller system. The Sonos soundbar and subwoofer (1500ish pound total) are exceptional and will reduce room clutter. No need for an amp.
If you want to go cheaper and stick with soundbars, Yamaha's mid and high end are more affordable and are very highly rated.
If you want to get a proper setup, get a high quality AV receiver, and pick up a 3.1 setup from a good speaker maker. Will this sound better than the sonos setup? That depends entirely on the room size and shape and what's in it as well as speaker positioning and your personal tastes.
There are also the "Home theater in a box" packages of which the low end are quite blurg and the high end is hit and miss. Totem (A Canadian make) produce the Totem Kin 2.1 home theater in a box (which is not so much of a home theater since its 2.1) but it sounds freaking amazing. Probably looking at 2000+ pound for that one, + receiver cost.
Something that would probably sound amazing is KEF LS50s and a sub, but mis-matching subs is a crime IMO and KEF subs are very meh in the grand scheme of things. Also LS50s demand a high quality amp to get the most out of them. That would not be a cheap setup. But you'd have british speakers.
I screwed around in the high end audio scene for awhile. I had a $3000 setup hooked up to my TV. Now I have a $600 Polk soundbar/sub and movies sound more exciting if perhaps lacking a tinge of fidelity comparatively speaking. The shape of the room and the obligatory (wife
) positioning of the setup did not lend itself to seperate av components.
Technically Necromancing and voodoo aren't dead either. The question is are they common and pushed to the consumer, and the answer is no. Nowhere will you find a 4.1 setup for sale these days. Can you do it? Yes. Should you? No, because adding the center channel really improves things. JM2C.
