Soundbar thats actually good.

d0nkeyk0ng

I've got the Sonos Beam. If anything, I think it's a bit heavy on the bass. Much better than the tinny sounds from the TV speakers. The sub is huge. I have a relatively modest living room so the sub would take up too much space so I never went for it. You can always add on to the Sonos system so you could buy the satellites a bit later, and the sub next year, and it will all work together.



The issue about muted speech is common in some soundbars. I don't know why but it is something that has cropped up in both formal and user reviews for some soundbars. Others can be excellent. Read about the soundbar you wish to buy first.



The Sonos system is designed primarily for music and secondarily for TV. I love being able to load up spotify and play it through the TV speaker. This is quite easy to do using my iPhone. Disconnecting the iPhone and returning the speaker to source the sound takes more effort than it should. Sonos does not decode DTS and supports only DD5.1. There are some blu-rays that use DTS and rely on the blu-ray player or TV to decode to 5.1. If you stream movies instead of blu-rays, this won't be an issue.

googler

For the £900 you're thinking of dropping on Sonos, you could get a proper, quality HiFi system, which would allow music replay as well as being a functional TV audio system.

Yes, you have to switch it on separately from the TV
Yes, you have to control the volume on the HiFi, not on the TV
Yes, it takes up more room than a soundbar, but

It's more flexible
It will sound better
You can plug music sources into it easily

This will get you stereo sound, not surround sound

Find a HiFi that will take a digital input, and feed it from the digtial audio out on the TV. Find a HiFi with remote control for volume. I use the Quad Vena, which you can get with a matching pair of Quad speakers for slightly over your Sonos budget

https://www.hifix.co.uk/quad-vena-ii-system-pack?gclid=CjwKCAiA3abwBRBqEiwAKwICA4_l4FQCRjiGNKUtQYPSmg1q3F1J2zMCie_StT_wVLIRF87XniJjlBoCcZ0QAvD_BwE

Second-hand Venas can be got for between £300 - 400, leaving £500 - 600 for speakers

jamie_128

i dont mind compact speakers but them hifi speakers look a bit too big personally. Still has to go under tv (which is on wall about 15cm above the unit)

googler

Speakers go on stands, or you get a pair of floorstanding speakers to go with the amp.

jamie_128

so it seems an amp, a centre speaker and 2 other speakers are the best option.

How do i know what goes with what and what will sound good, its all new to me, ive seen tons of 5.1 systems but no 3.1 systems.

googler

No, I'm not suggesting you specifically get that which is pictured, I'm illustrating a sample setup for floorstanding stereo speakers.

DCFC79

jamie_128 wrote: »

so it seems an amp, a centre speaker and 2 other speakers are the best option.

How do i know what goes with what and what will sound good, its all new to me, ive seen tons of 5.1 systems but no 3.1 systems.

As suggested do you have a Richer Sounds local to you ?
Maybe they could suggest something.

custardy

We run a Kitsound sounbar upstairs and its pretty decent for what it cost.
Separate bluetooth sub
I dont hear a muffled vocals that you describe.

Downstairs I run a Panasonic speaker stand. Its getting on with regards to running 4K and newer sound formats.
however for a subtle install I still love it. We dont hjave the room/layout for 'proper' surround sound

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SC-HTR200-Plasma-Intergrated-Speaker/dp/B0013UI1YS

parking_question_chap

jamie_128 wrote: »

Ive been dissapointed with 2 soundbars now.

First one was sony but it was only 150 quid and the other one was a samsung harmon kardon q60r.

Both of them had a sub and a soundbar.

Both of them had the same problem, speech is muted and you could hardly hear what people were saying during movies, and you also felt like there was a lot of mid range noise you were missing out on, they sounded cold and tinny. Also during music it was all treble and bass, no mid range.

Ive been massively dissapointed with them so far and im trying to find a good soundbar that can deliver good bass as well as a good mid range and even treble, yes i did try equalizers on my soundbars but they didnt really help.

my room its in is quite big but we sit directly in front of the tv so position wise it sits in a good position.

That should be no great surprise just by looking at a soundbar. They are just not built for high quality audio reproduction. To produce good midrange frequencies you need a certain cone size and these are absent in soundbars. If you have a big room then a proper home cinema amp and suitably paired pair of floorstanding speakers will be a massive step up, even if they are second hand from Ebay.

Dont read too much into soundbar reviews either.

Edit, just seen you dont want big speakers. Strongly suggest though you get at least stand mounted hifi speakers. You need a certain size speaker to produce the sound you are lacking.