Soundbar with built in sub?

RumRat

JustAnotherSaver said:

RumRat said:

You can only go wrong if you buy a cheap one.

Definition of 'cheap'?

We have no local audio store here. I've only ever heard of Richer Sounds online. We had a Radioshack many many maaaaaaany moons ago and the shop was like a broom cupboard.

I could go the Beam unit. I actually saw user comments on it which didn't sell me too well. They seemed to rate the Arc though but that's obviously a million miles out of my budget. They didn't seem to say it was crap but just, disappointing.

I note it doesn't have Bluetooth. It would've been a preferential feature but it's not the be all and end all as we've done without this long. I probably wouldn't use the bluetooth feature for playing music but i'm sure my wife would. This one is a £100 stretch but not sure how it stacks up vs say the Beam mentioned or any other bar.

fred246 said:

Separate speakers are much better than a soundbar. You only get a soundbar when you want a compromise.

And a dedicated soundproofed cinema room with top of the range surround sound installation would be better than "separate speakers".

Where do you stop?

Your definition of cheap and mine would probably differ. However, in this instance I'd say anything sub £200, you can put your own figure in there.
No idea where you live, but look on Richer sounds site and find your nearest branch. Or, read some more reviews and just order one from the site.
People can only recommend what they have experience of, which, obviously, has limits.
Check out the What Hi-Fi website for some good reviews.

Sandtree

RumRat said:

Sandtree said:

RumRat said:

fred246 said:

Separate speakers are much better than a soundbar. You only get a soundbar when you want a compromise.

Or, when space, setup, aesthetics, or, Wife dictate otherwise.

Which they said... when you want a compromise

Wife - Compromise? ..... OK, if you say so...

ok, in that case I compromise rather than we compromising but still... I get a quiet life in return

JustAnotherSaver

RumRat said:

Sandtree said:

RumRat said:

fred246 said:

Separate speakers are much better than a soundbar. You only get a soundbar when you want a compromise.

Or, when space, setup, aesthetics, or, Wife dictate otherwise.

Which they said... when you want a compromise

Wife - Compromise? ..... OK, if you say so...

Luckily (or not, depending how you look at it), anything in the electrical department is "i'll leave that to you". Things like house design is generally left to the wife.

She did try to put her foot down on no bigger than 48" on the TV.

Then 58" turned up. She wasn't happy but it's only 10" and she learned to like it

debitcardmayhem

RumRat said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

RumRat said:

You can only go wrong if you buy a cheap one.

Definition of 'cheap'?

We have no local audio store here. I've only ever heard of Richer Sounds online. We had a Radioshack many many maaaaaaany moons ago and the shop was like a broom cupboard.

I could go the Beam unit. I actually saw user comments on it which didn't sell me too well. They seemed to rate the Arc though but that's obviously a million miles out of my budget. They didn't seem to say it was crap but just, disappointing.

I note it doesn't have Bluetooth. It would've been a preferential feature but it's not the be all and end all as we've done without this long. I probably wouldn't use the bluetooth feature for playing music but i'm sure my wife would. This one is a £100 stretch but not sure how it stacks up vs say the Beam mentioned or any other bar.

fred246 said:

Separate speakers are much better than a soundbar. You only get a soundbar when you want a compromise.

And a dedicated soundproofed cinema room with top of the range surround sound installation would be better than "separate speakers".

Where do you stop?

Your definition of cheap and mine would probably differ. However, in this instance I'd say anything sub £200, you can put your own figure in there.
No idea where you live, but look on Richer sounds site and find your nearest branch. Or, read some more reviews and just order one from the site.
People can only recommend what they have experience of, which, obviously, has limits.
Check out the What Hi-Fi website for some good reviews.

I suggested one in post#2 , with the caveat personal lugholes , for me it works, but for the other tv i use my hifi

JustAnotherSaver

RumRat said:

Look for a deal on a Sonos Beam and forget about the Sub.

Black Friday deal ... £299 down from £399.

Has been sat in the living room since it arrived. Finally got round to setting it up yesterday. Very impressed. Once it finally decided to connect to the home network (got a little worried for a second) it was a doddle. Watched a movie on it last night to test it out (Mission Impossible 5 FYI) and it was fantastic.

My one and ONLY gripe about it so far is that it changed the volume on the TV from being 0-100 when you hit up or down to being +/- when you hit up or down. I Googled this and it seems i'm not the only one to complain about this. It's pretty annoying as I like to have a number rather than a symbol but as it's the only thing i can complain about then it can't be that bad.

Also if i sit it just and so away from the TV, maybe a few inch, the remote will still control the TV. Ok i have to put my arm up in the air rather than point direct at the TV with say the remote on my leg or whatever but it's a workaround and means i don't need to buy a TV stand to raise the TV just for the remote.

swoodward89

Is the sub worth stretching for? Its almost as much as the arc

JustAnotherSaver

swoodward89 said:

Is the sub worth stretching for? Its almost as much as the arc

Well since you're over 12 months on after the last post when I don't think the Beam 2 was out at that point....

are you talking about the Gen 1 Beam that this thread was about or the Gen 2 Beam?

Looking at both Sonos website & also John Lewis, I'm curious as to where the beam is "almost as much as the arc" when the Beam is showing up as £450 on the sites I mentioned but the Arc is £900.

Bit like saying a 10year old Focus is almost as much as a 3 year old Lamborghini.

RumRat

I think he meant the sub alone was almost the price of an Arc....But, agree, it's a bit late now the OP is well happy and didn't need to get the sub.

JustAnotherSaver

RumRat said:

I think he meant the sub alone was almost the price of an Arc....But, agree, it's a bit late now the OP is well happy and didn't need to get the sub.

Yep. I'm still perfectly happy with the decision I made.

Maybe if i knew a bit more on the topic and was willing to spend a bit more then I'd have a different/better setup.

But it ticks my boxes which is all that matters. Was even able to play music via Bluetooth while I was off work the other month which was a nice feature.