Hi, 2 things I would suggest. Firstly consider what you want in a soundbar as soundbars these days come in all shapes and sizes with all manner of bells and whistles. A $200 Soundbar can sound quite reasonable but do remember that you get what you pay for so - if its good surround-sound you're looking for in a soundbar - then you'll most likely be disappointed as $200 won't most likely won't get you that kind of system, for that money you'll probably end up with a 2.1 channel stereo bar which might be good enough for you if you can get something that sounds reasonable. Then many soundbars have "add-ons" that you can add in the form of extra speakers to enhance the effect of the bar, add surround-sound and so on so my second suggestion is to do some research, hear as many soundbars as you can if at all possible and take your time before making that final decision. I have various Polk speakers here ahdn they're not too bad. It very well might be that you have to add an additional sub-woofer to that Soundbar you heard to enhance the bass. Okay so once you've sorted out the sound you then have to sort out the connectivity and - as Soundbars progress - the more the connectivity seems to become more of a nightmare. Many soundbar models these days connect to other speakers and components such as Televisions wirelessly but the problem with that system is that a Television or speaker from the same company who made the Soundbar has to be used thus limiting your options and the versatility of your system. Then Soundbars come with a limited range of connection ports, say 1 HDMI, 1 Digital input or - in a lot of cases - no connecting ports at all. You're going to need at least 1 HDMI port and possibly a Digital Audio in port for the Soundbar to connect to your Television. I will be getting a Soundbar for my Den later on this year. I've made my decision on the Denon Heosbar as it would fit in nicely to my network, isn't too expensive - around $800 - and can be added to but that's just me and Soundbars these days are made to fit all shapes and sizes, all budgets etc.
-----Original Message----- From: all-audio@groups.io <all-audio@groups.io> On Behalf Of Tom Kaufman Sent: Friday, 20 September 2019 6:59 AM To: all-audio@groups.io Subject: [all-audio] Sound Bars: Can I Really Get A Good-Sounding One Without Spending Way over A Hundred Dollars? Hello to all: I've toyed with the idea with getting a sound bar for the TV in my living room. Until this past weekend, I had never even seen one or heard one! But last Saturday, I had some new Satellite equipment put in from Dish Network. The tech told me that he had this sound bar along with him that they sold; he said I could have it for $200; he even said he'd bring it in and let me listen to it! After hearing him describing it to me, I kind of was expecting that it would just blow me away! Well he brought it in and hooked it up and then.when he turned it on, I thought , 'is that all there is?" I was expecting to hear a nice big full sound with some fairly deep base! He (the tech) explained that he liked "loud".well it was louder.but to my ear, that was about all it was! Now to be fair, I was sitting a little ways away from it, so I walked over to where he had it set up (in front of the TV) it didn't sound all that bad, but for two hundred bucks, I was expecting more! So I guess my question is, for two hundred dollars, what kind of sound bar can I expect to find? This one was a Polk (I hear they're supposed to be one of the best) now maybe it had some adjustments to make it have more "highs" or more "base"".but he didn't indicate this to me; it seemed like what I was hearing was exactly what it was! So I passed! But am thinking that I ought to be able to get a pretty decent sound bar for somewhere within the 100 to 3200 dollar range! I know we have some people on here who know a lot more about these things than I do; there are some who really know what sounds good and what doesn't! So what brands should I be looking at and what brands do I need to stay away from? BTW-and this surprised me: he told me to stay away from Viezeo! I had been under the impression that Visio made good quality products; the TV in the kitchen is a VidZeo! While it's okay 9just a 19-inch portable, it does what I need it to do and has been in there since probably 2010 (mom had gotten it to play while she was out there cooking supper or otherwise working in the kitchen! So will be interested in what you all think are good sound bars and what I should even be looking for in a sound bar! Thanks, Tom Kaufman -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#2835): https://groups.io/g/all-audio/message/2835 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/34204221/21656 Group Owner: all-audio+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/all-audio/leave/1074140/405281159/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
