soundbar for music and tv?

olb81

hi just looking at ideas, whether a soundbar is suitable for both music (streamed from phone) and also as the tv speaker (due to poor internal tv speakers)

it would be nice to just have one device but i dont want to compromise on the music audio quality, welcome any opinions!

ButterCheese

I have only owned 1 for reference; an Amazon Fire Soundbar. Integrates well with a firestick (supposedly). It was good for music compared to a much smaller BT speaker. It was ok for TV but the volume increments were silly; 1-4 were far to quiet, 5 was a bit too loud, and 6+ was way too loud. But if you like it loud then it was a good quality loud.

The failures are that you are still getting stereo sound from a largely central position, unless you get a really big one or a really expensive one. My favourite was still a cheap used stereo Amp, hooked up to some middle of the road floor standing speakers. But that means more space and wires.

In any case, a £100+ soundbar will be better than TV speakers but don't set your expectations too high. It's also personal preference, so what sounds cheap and terrible to one, might sound very much better to another, compared to your TV speakers. An easy way to replicate what you might get, is to use/borrow an Anker Soundcore BT speaker and pair the TV to that. It does a good job and will give you an idea of what can be achieved. My Anker was pretty much on a par with the Fire soundbar, albeit a slightly smaller sound stage

flaneurs_lobster

If you are not trying to replace a decent hi-fi setup then a soundbar with Bluetooth as well as the usual HDMI connection to the TV is a pretty good solution.

Always subjective but I'd be thinking a soundbar much like this one might be suitable

https://www.richersounds.com/samsung-hw-s60d-black/

Unashamed bias here, this is the one I bought.

I've got an OK but aged Hi-fi, I use the soundbar for listening to things like BBC Sounds when I can't be bothered using a separate Chromecast hooked up to the Hi-fi.

debitcardmayhem

I bought a Majority Naga 60 for my kitchen tv from Amazon , not as good as my lounge setup but well pleased with it and my much younger friend was impressed. It has HDMI and BT and works for me. c£120 but it was reduced tp £80 briefly.

EssexExile

I use a Denon mini hi-fi for the TV and for playing the music on my phone via a Bluetooth box. The Denon is a few years old and I suspect nowadays it would have Bluetooth built in.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6678088/soundbar-for-music-and-tv

No matter the marketing claims there is a reality that a small speaker box is going to impact the sound it can produce. Going from an ultra thin TV to a soundbar is often a big step up if for nothing of the physics of having a larger driver inside a larger box

If you dont want any compromise on music audio quality you wouldnt be using bluetooth to start with, in good conditions its can manage 1.2Mbps streaming speeds whereas top music services like Tidal can stream up to 4.6Mbps and CDs are 1.4Mbps

So what are you using today for music? You may be able to equal or better it with a sound bar or it may be a step down if you have a good hifi. Personally have read good things about the Sonos options and Sennheiser in relation to music.

Mentioning a budget is always helpful

olb81

thanks for the replies, that anker one looks a bargain going by the reviews. the samsung is probably a bit too high for me.

to me i find an echo dot reasonably good sound although i do appreciate that hifi sound makes a difference to the music experience

on another note, are there any tvs that already have a reasonably good speaker built in?

my friend mentioned a sony he had which had good sound

flaneurs_lobster

on another note, are there any tvs that already have a reasonably good speaker built in?

Again, can only be specific but the Panasonic 65Z80AEY I bought last year has stand-alone sound that's close to the soundbar I mentioned upthread.

Partner's convinced I'm going deaf so probably not the best objective measure.

wwfwilla

I purchased an expensive Sonos soundbar for about £600 a few years ago.

Its main selling point to me was that as i'm a bit of a night owl that from the app I could activate a nighttime feature. This equalised the volume. Instead of having really quiet dialogue for a film and then getting blown away with sound by the action parts and having to turn it up and down constantly (because it was late) I could use nighttime mode and it'd make the dialogue louder and 'explosions' quieter and thus a happy medium.

I'm not expecting you pick the same item as me. It was more to highlight to look for any features that might suit your individual set-up.

Stubod

I got a mid range Samsung soundbar, and no longer use my amplifier. As long as you get a decent soundbar with a sub-woofer, (and ideally 2 separate speakers??).

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82091689#Comment_82091689

Panasonic have always had a good reputation for their TV speakers, all the way back to their early iterations of flat screen LCDs. Certainly worth auditioning.