Recommendations for a budget Soundbar? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Recommendations for a budget Soundbar?

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MaksTO

Well-known member
Decided to try staving off the winter depression this year by getting a console for games and a TV to watch movies and shows. Netflix on a laptop in bed feels bad after a while..

Opted for a cheap 50” 4K TCL that seems to have decent enough reviews. Not really into Gaming or TV enough to spend real money on a tv frankly.

Re Sound though: I am a musician and have a studio with nice monitors etc so I’m pretty sensitive to audio quality (at least maybe a little more than a regular person? Though I don’t consider myself an Audiophile)

Been trying to research sound bars and seems getting something with a sub is necessary. Wondering if anyone here has tried some cheaper ones and found anything satisfactory? I’m OK going used as well if that’s the route I must take.

Seems Samsung is hit or miss, Bose tries to sell you on their ecosystem, Sony is pricy, I’ve heard OK things about some Polk systems like the React as a budget, but I don’t know much more than that thus far.

Would love any tips or starting points for my search! Or if anyone has any older stuff they aren’t using anymore?
 
Is this for a bedroom TV or a family/entertainment room?
 
MaksTO said:
Decided to try staving off the winter depression this year by getting a console for games and a TV to watch movies and shows. Netflix on a laptop in bed feels bad after a while..

Opted for a cheap 50” 4K TCL that seems to have decent enough reviews. Not really into Gaming or TV enough to spend real money on a tv frankly.

Re Sound though: I am a musician and have a studio with nice monitors etc so I’m pretty sensitive to audio quality (at least maybe a little more than a regular person? Though I don’t consider myself an Audiophile)

Been trying to research sound bars and seems getting something with a sub is necessary. Wondering if anyone here has tried some cheaper ones and found anything satisfactory? I’m OK going used as well if that’s the route I must take.

Seems Samsung is hit or miss, Bose tries to sell you on their ecosystem, Sony is pricy, I’ve heard OK things about some Polk systems like the React as a budget, but I don’t know much more than that thus far.

Would love any tips or starting points for my search! Or if anyone has any older stuff they aren’t using anymore?
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Sub makes a magical improvement to a soundbar.

Since you care about sound, Bose is not for you (also relatively expensive).

House came with a polk soundbar w sub. Meh. Blows TV speakers out of the water (and soundbars without a sub) but I have no love for it. I am extremely picky though. It is in a built-in. When the TV in the built-in dies, the plan is to substantially redo it to remove DVD storage (no DVD player on this floor, don't need room to store hundreds of them) to make room for bigger TV and remove more DVD storage to either fit floor speakers in the cabinet or build some in place. Not ideal but will be a huge improvement.

If you have the space, ime, bookshelf speakers will sound far better. I understand that they don't always fit. Some Tannoy reveals or KEF LS* destroy soundbars (although an added sub would be nice for both).

For gaming, real surround is a big improvement over pseudo-surround from a soundbar. We have the basement gaming TV on a stand so I used the VESA mount holes to attach a board and "wall-mounted" kefs to the board for the front channels and ran speaker wire under the couch to feed the rears. A little ghetto but it's the basement and running through the floor/wall/ceiling would be a giant project. You could place rears when you want to game and leave them near the TV most of the time.

What is budget? Size of room? Ability to run cables or are wireless sub and surround channels a necessity?
 
I got an LG sound bar with Bluetooth sub on sale a few years ago for ~250 or so and for my purposes (and ears) it’s more than enough. I find that the dialogue gets drowned out at times, but for games and general movies the price v performance can’t be beat.

I’m actually about to relocate it to the basement as that’s where I do 99% of my gaming, and Gran Turismo will sound great with a rumble behind me.

Lots of options on Kijiji and new they can be found for a decent price. Depending on your rush Boxing Day and Black Friday are coming up.
 
Gary said:
1) Sennheiser
2) Klipsch
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Sennheiser only makes one and it is $3300. I haven't listened to it. Since he didn't specify a dollar value, that does fit a budget. I suspect not the budget he wants for this project.

OP what brand are your monitors and do you like how they sound? Sound is subjective and you may not like what others like. Do you have headphones/IEM's you like? Make/model? Helps us narrow down what you prefer.
 
mimico_polak said:
Boxing Day and Black Friday are coming up.
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They're not what they used to be, especially after C-19.
Plus, they never really had anything of good quality on sale. Usually the mediocre stuff and often not much cheaper then other sales.
 
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oioioi said:
Is this for a bedroom TV or a family/entertainment room?
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It’s in my music studio, which is the second bedroom in our apartment (for size context).

I have studio laid out on the short wall shooting down the length, and a couch on one long wall which looks onto the other where TV will go. So viewing distance is pretty short (maybe 8 feet or something?) in a smallish room.
 
GreyGhost said:
Sennheiser only makes one and it is $3300. I haven't listened to it. Since he didn't specify a dollar value, that does fit a budget. I suspect not the budget he wants for this project.

OP what brand are your monitors and do you like how they sound? Sound is subjective and you may not like what others like. Do you have headphones/IEM's you like? Make/model? Helps us narrow down what you prefer.
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I’m running a pair of Genelec 8040b’s in my studio setup. Really really like them, but they are pretty specifically suited to production - though that doesn’t stop me from enjoying movies on them from time to time if I get distracted.

Budget is ideally under $400 I think. I’d love to splurge more, but buying a TV and Xbox has already set me back quite a bit 😬. Nicer sound may be an upgrade in a few years, but I have to recover from these purchases first, though don’t want to deal with built in sound on the TCL 🤢
 
As far as surround goes. Though cool, I don’t really have the space for it with my small room and it’s configuration.

Tower speakers would definitely be the best, but I’m trying to keep the “entertainment” section fairly subtle and not the main focus of the room. Attached a photo of the room from a while back, can’t see much of the long walls, but you can see couch on left, and TV will go on right wall. F823A8C1-0BF7-4B38-883E-104A55B1C3F9.jpeg
 
MaksTO said:
As far as surround goes. Though cool, I don’t really have the space for it with my small room and it’s configuration.

Tower speakers would definitely be the best, but I’m trying to keep the “entertainment” section fairly subtle and not the main focus of the room. Attached a photo of the room from a while back, can’t see much of the long walls, but you can see couch on left, and TV will go on right wall. View attachment 57675
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How about headphones? Minimize space, for $400 you can get something that blows soundbar out of the water (and may already have them so cost is zero), no sub required which can avoid annoying neighbours. You can also play games/movies as loud as you want 24 hours a day without pissing off signficant other/neighbours. I haven't listened to surround headphones so I have no comment. I normally like sennheisers. I picked up some B&W's (PX7) to see if I liked B&W sound better as I was getting older. Nope. They sound fine but I'm not in love. My wife hates them as they are closed back, active noise cancelling so with music in them, it is hard for her to get my attention. Imo, they sound a little better wired with an amp but the difference between that and bluetooth is not huge.
 
GreyGhost said:
How about headphones? Minimize space, for $400 you can get something that blows soundbar out of the water (and may already have them so cost is zero), no sub required which can avoid annoying neighbours. You can also play games/movies as loud as you want 24 hours a day without pissing off signficant other/neighbours. I haven't listened to surround headphones so I have no comment. I normally like sennheisers. I picked up some B&W's (PX7) to see if I liked B&W sound better as I was getting older. Nope. They sound fine but I'm not in love. My wife hates them as they are closed back, active noise cancelling so with music in them, it is hard for her to get my attention. Imo, they sound a little better wired with an amp but the difference between that and bluetooth is not huge.
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I’ve got a pair of cheaper Grados and Audio Technicas that I might use for a little bit. Though I generally prefer speakers for some reason. Helps with immersion or maybe just a more interesting stereo field for me that way.

Sounds like spending a little more on sound might be the way to go. Klipsch towers would be awesome but that’s a lot more auxiliary equipment that I need to buy as opposed to just a sound bar+sub.

Are there stores anymore where I can go test this sort of stuff out? I remember as a kid the Sony store had rooms where you could audition TV and Speakers in a deadened and darkened space. Not sure if that sort of thing exists anymore - or I guess if it does, probably only for higher end stuff?
 
MaksTO said:
I’ve got a pair of cheaper Grados and Audio Technicas that I might use for a little bit. Though I generally prefer speakers for some reason. Helps with immersion or maybe just a more interesting stereo field for me that way.

Sounds like spending a little more on sound might be the way to go. Klipsch towers would be awesome but that’s a lot more auxiliary equipment that I need to buy as opposed to just a sound bar+sub.

Are there stores anymore where I can go test this sort of stuff out? I remember as a kid the Sony store had rooms where you could audition TV and Speakers in a deadened and darkened space. Not sure if that sort of thing exists anymore - or I guess if it does, probably only for higher end stuff?
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I understand. I prefer speakers if I have the option. Headphones fill in when situations don't allow speakers.

It exists.

Bestbuy lets you try stuff and at least some still have a theater room.

I like Update TV & Stereo (shops at vaughan mills, owned by Trevor and Stacey) but not sure what they have in the listening room in your budget. Speakers they like and speakers I like are almost mutually exclusive but they are good people.

Bay Bloor radio lets you listen but I don't like them for many reasons.

Proper audio stores have listening rooms setup but I would be shocked if they had anything in your budget.
 
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I'd recommend spending a bit more on the sound system if you can afford it.

I don't watch a lot of TV, so I cheaped out and bought a Logitech Surround Sound system. Super cheap for a 5.1.

The audio for dialogue is terrible. It's muddled and gets drowned out by the musical soundtrack and ambient noise. I watch with subtitles on all the time.

At first, I just chalked it up to aging ears and hearing loss, but the dialogue is much clearer over headphones and even on my tinny computer speaker.

Tried everything - cranking up the middle channel, fiddling with the EQ. I'm convinced if I spent the dough to get a real sound system, I wouldn't have these issues. More expensive setups have dynamic EQ and volume control that will balance out the differences in volume between dialogue and background/soundtrack and can also boost the dialogue as well.

meh, whatever. I watch maybe less than 2-3 hours a week anyway. That may change over the winter though... :(

As far as soundbars go, I hear good things about the Sonos Beam.
 
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Lots of great info and thoughts, thanks!

Maybe going for a 2.0 or 3.0 system might be the way to go. If I can find cheap enough kit. I agree going very cheap on a low end soundbar might be wasting money, but I do have to keep a lid on it since this is far from my main focus/hobby money wise - just something to kill time in winter and when I’m totally dead from work. I will probably fake 1-2 times a week, and maybe watch a movie or two a week as well.

Might dig around for a cheap receiver and some speakers to start. Sub might even be overkill for my space. I think if I have large enough drivers on the mains I could be happy. Will see how much of my kallax the 50” takes up as that will determine if I have to get floor speakers or bookshelf speakers.
 
MaksTO said:
Might dig around for a cheap receiver and some speakers to start. Sub might even be overkill for my space. I think if I have large enough drivers on the mains I could be happy. Will see how much of my kallax the 50” takes up as that will determine if I have to get floor speakers or bookshelf speakers.
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As more people move to powered speakers or soundbars, receivers can be had for a song. A friend was re-organizing so he dropped off four paradigm towers and a receiver that were otherwise headed for the dump. They are now the garage system. Meh. Ok for a garage system but I don't love them.
 
I have three TVs in my house with different set ups. One is a fancy dancy receiver and posh 5.1 speaker set up and the other two are soundbars. One Vizio and one Samsung. Both the sound bars have subs and wireless surround speakers and cost a fraction of what the receiver set up cost….but…..they sound great! The Samsung one is from Costco and I got the surround speakers on an open box deal from Best Buy. Totally recommend the Samsung one and I think it was maybe $200 or so then add on the speakers at $100 or thereabouts.
 
jc100 said:
I have three TVs in my house with different set ups. One is a fancy dancy receiver and posh 5.1 speaker set up and the other two are soundbars. One Vizio and one Samsung. Both the sound bars have subs and wireless surround speakers and cost a fraction of what the receiver set up cost….but…..they sound great! The Samsung one is from Costco and I got the surround speakers on an open box deal from Best Buy. Totally recommend the Samsung one and I think it was maybe $200 or so then add on the speakers at $100 or thereabouts.
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Good to know!

As always everyone has their preferences and good points from the quick round of responses I got so far :)

I’m going to do more reading and sleep on it. Ultimately, if I want high quality audio I have my Genelec system. I’m ok with something a little more meh for this, as long as it’s passable.

Going to dig and see what I can find re receiver systems vs sound bars, and see what I can stretch my wallet to 😂
 
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