Recommendations for a budget Soundbar? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Recommendations for a budget Soundbar?

Lightcycle said:
F-n ballers in this thread.
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The last TV I bought was ~2010. It's still going so no need to buy more. I kind of hoped it would die at some point so I could upgrade. Another one was owned by an acquaintance and had issues and was headed for the dump so I fixed it and one came with the house. Total I have spent on TV's in the last 11 years is zero. I guess technically I bought a couple 4K tv's to use as computer monitors but they are never used as tv's.
 
GreyGhost said:
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.
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Yuppers. See what's on Kijjiji or Facebook marketplace. Might be able to snag a nice 5.1 or 7.1 receiver and a nice pair of bookshelf or towers for $400 or under and have the ability to upgrade or add components later.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk
 
Sonos. go with the Arc w wireless sub

TV Soundbars, Subwoofers, & Speaker Sets | Sonos

Pair Sonos audio with your TV and get theatre-quality sound without the complicated wiring. Give your movies, TV, games, and sports the powerful sound they deserve. Shop our collection of speakers, subwoofers, soundbars, and sets to customize your surround sound system.
www.sonos.com www.sonos.com
 
Lightcycle said:
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.
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If you're noticing the phenomenon mostly while watching movies it's not you. The studios have changed the sound in them. Basically they're oversaturating all the extraneous sounds and many people are having issues with the dialogue
 
Anything will be better than the speakers in the TV . I’m using a sound bar and sub , it’s a Visio was clearance at the “source” , List price was $399, I paid $129 . It’s not theatre grade anything , but it’s been amazing .
It makes the vocals much easier to follow .

There is a new style of movie and TV production being used right now with big sweeping music and soaring volumes of effects , but if you adjust for the music so you don’t annoy the neighbours, the speaking is a whisper .
I don’t like it . Yes I’m old .


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I’m similar to you as I need great sound but don’t consider myself an audiophile. Couple years ago I tried to go the smaller soundbar, sub, rears over a receiver and wired speakers. Tried the Sonos Beam with their sub and a couple One’s for rears and I wasn’t happy.
I sold it all (actually I had done a Sonos setup in 5 different rooms of the house) and in the main tv room went back to a receiver and wired speakers and am happy.
I would highly suggest a used kijiji receiver or even a refurb online with a basic unit being cheap (or close to free if you don’t need modern Bluetooth, wifi, etc features) and a decent 2.1 setup.
A second alternative, if you find you really want to avoid the receiver option, is a pair of Amazon Echo (current Gen, not Dot) for L/R and a Echo Sub. It’ll sound as good or better than most soundbar setups, be MUCH cheaper, give you full voice automation, and give you the option to move it to a different room easily should you want to.
 
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IMO it comes down to formfactor vs performance. Yes many soundbars sound "good" but they will never be as good as proper speakers and audio gear. The problem is formfactor limits and the soundbar becomes the "better" option because usually someone does not want an ugly receiver and speakers in the room. For me, I always go with the proper audio gear, even if it is small good quality speakers and stereo only mode with a decent receiver....

The formfactor is why the sound from the modern TVs suck. In the quest to get thinner and thinner there is no space or cubic inches to get good sound.

Stereo receiver and a pair of decent small speakers new will be in the $600 starting range, #.1 much more. Sound bar can be more if you want to spend but will likely be half that price. Going used on the audio gear gets something really good stereo wise in the $300 total range (all in)....
 
FullMotoJacket said:
If you're noticing the phenomenon mostly while watching movies it's not you. The studios have changed the sound in them. Basically they're oversaturating all the extraneous sounds and many people are having issues with the dialogue
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Many times it is a dynamic range problem (difference from loudest to lightest sound). In real life explosions are way louder than talking.... in movies less so but sometimes still too much for casual home enjoyment (explosions are blowing back your hair while you strugle to hear dialogue). I actually find modern Disney content to be some of the "worse" these days.

If the receiver has a "night mode" it will compress the sound to reduce the difference. On my home theatre I always set the centre to roughly 3 dB louder than the totally equal setup to help a bit. In my living room (which is retro stereo gear) I went into my equipment vault and broke out one of my dbx compressors to solve the problem in analog just for Disney+.

Ironically I am a dynamics junky for music...
 
FullMotoJacket said:
If you're noticing the phenomenon mostly while watching movies it's not you. The studios have changed the sound in them. Basically they're oversaturating all the extraneous sounds and many people are having issues with the dialogue
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Well. Or the soundbar is a stereo one and not one with a dedicated centre speaker that can be used for dialogue. That is one advantage of a dedicated receiver. You can set the sensitivity/sound levels of each speaker so you can boost the centre if you wish. I am presently running 5.0 (I have Paradigm 11 SE mains which have great bass response) and seem to have my system nicely dialed in at the Zoodles' Mancave.

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Zoodles95 said:
That is one advantage of a dedicated receiver. You can set the sensitivity/sound levels of each speaker so you can boost the centre if you wish. I am presently running
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It's not the system reproducing the sound. I have a 6.2 system (front + rear centre speakers - dual subs). Old movies are fine. Recent movies, not so much. Here's an article explaining what Hollywood is doing to the sound in movies now, and why it's a problem.

www.slashfilm.com

Here's Why Movie Dialogue Has Gotten More Difficult To Understand (And Three Ways To Fix It) - SlashFilm

/Film spoke with several Oscar-winning sound designers, editors, and mixers to learn why it has become tougher to understand what characters are saying.
www.slashfilm.com www.slashfilm.com
 
FullMotoJacket said:
It's not the system reproducing the sound. I have a 6.2 system (front + rear centre speakers - dual subs). Old movies are fine. Recent movies, not so much. Here's an article explaining what Hollywood is doing to the sound in movies now, and why it's a problem.

www.slashfilm.com

Here's Why Movie Dialogue Has Gotten More Difficult To Understand (And Three Ways To Fix It) - SlashFilm

/Film spoke with several Oscar-winning sound designers, editors, and mixers to learn why it has become tougher to understand what characters are saying.
www.slashfilm.com www.slashfilm.com
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Thx for the article. Going to read now. I am a bit of a closet movie buff with a decent collection of physical media. That sort of thing interests me.

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I've never tried it, but I remember hearing really positive things about the performance of Apple Homepods (the original ones) as TV stereo speakers. Don't remember the specifics, but might be an option
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
I’m similar to you as I need great sound but don’t consider myself an audiophile. Couple years ago I tried to go the smaller soundbar, sub, rears over a receiver and wired speakers. Tried the Sonos Beam with their sub and a couple One’s for rears and I wasn’t happy.
I sold it all (actually I had done a Sonos setup in 5 different rooms of the house) and in the main tv room went back to a receiver and wired speakers and am happy.
I would highly suggest a used kijiji receiver or even a refurb online with a basic unit being cheap (or close to free if you don’t need modern Bluetooth, wifi, etc features) and a decent 2.1 setup.
A second alternative, if you find you really want to avoid the receiver option, is a pair of Amazon Echo (current Gen, not Dot) for L/R and a Echo Sub. It’ll sound as good or better than most soundbar setups, be MUCH cheaper, give you full voice automation, and give you the option to move it to a different room easily should you want to.
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Curious how you do this part? And whether it's possible with the Google Minis as I have a few, and they're not overly used for the most part.
 
mimico_polak said:
Curious how you do this part? And whether it's possible with the Google Minis as I have a few, and they're not overly used for the most part.
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Pair two speakers for stereo sound - Google Nest Help

For an immersive music and media experience, you can connect 2 speakers to set up stereo sound. Stereo sound pairing is available on Google Home, Google Nest Mini (2nd gen), Google Home Mini (1st gen)
support.google.com

Not perfect as this is for mobile devices but probably leads you on the right path.
 
Update!

Got the Samsung HW-A550 sound bar with sub today (good deal, well within my budget).

Watched Gravity and played some Far Cry 6. Honestly, surprised by the sound this bar makes. Even it’s fake surround is good for movies and games. Though awful for YouTube videos. Having a small room, they’re plenty loud even at low volume, and the sub gives that extra oomph of immersion without being over the top. Just had to up the Treble in the EQ of the bar a bit as it was a little muddy out of the box.

Also, I never really owned anything 4K, it’s scary how detailed it is… almost too detailed 😂
 
MaksTO said:
Also, I never really owned anything 4K, it’s scary how detailed it is… almost too detailed 😂
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Yeah, the entertainment industry has had to redevelop makeup techniques that can withstand the extra scrutiny that 4K (and now 8K) has given to the viewers at home with 75"+ screens. Every pore and wrinkle on the actor's face now has to be covered up with careful attention, and not just with thick pancake makeup, as that can also be detected with high-definition technology.
 
mimico_polak said:
Here you go @MaksTO Yamaha Soundbar (YAS-207) | Stereo Systems & Home Theatre | Mississauga / Peel Region | Kijiji

Thanks @GreyGhost not sure if that would work with a non-smart TV.

But now thanks to this thread I'm looking for a 'decent' surround sound system with BT speakers. I'll connect the soundbar this weekend to see how it is. And I think there may be a set of speakers I can buy to make it a BT surround sound...but need to confirm first.
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Not sure about the Google speakers but with the Echo’s (or Sonos) you just pair the two speakers in their app and choose one to be L and R. Works great.
You can make any speaker a BT speaker with a powered BT adaptor easily obtained from Amazon or elsewhere. If the speaker already has power you can use the cheaper BT only adaptor (I used the SVS one for my sub to move it to a more inconspicuous location without wires in my Livingroom).
 
MaksTO said:
Update!

Got the Samsung HW-A550 sound bar with sub today (good deal, well within my budget).

Watched Gravity and played some Far Cry 6. Honestly, surprised by the sound this bar makes. Even it’s fake surround is good for movies and games. Though awful for YouTube videos. Having a small room, they’re plenty loud even at low volume, and the sub gives that extra oomph of immersion without being over the top. Just had to up the Treble in the EQ of the bar a bit as it was a little muddy out of the box.

Also, I never really owned anything 4K, it’s scary how detailed it is… almost too detailed 😂
Click to expand...

I think that’s the one I have! I got the wireless surrounds open box from Best Buy. I like this set up a lot, no wires etc. Can stream music to it too from my phone etc.
 
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