Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

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rockmastermike
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Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by rockmastermike » Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:39 pm

Family Christmas gift will be a soundbar or satellite speakers:

1) small den/living room (small house, hey I need watch money, lol)
2) not really audiophiles, we just want to be able to hear it and be a little better than the on-board tv speakers
3) also, if a soundbar, I need to it to mount from the top (beneath the fledge we have out TV on)

Give me suggestions, pros/cons, brands to research and brands to avoid

:scratch:

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hoppyjr
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by hoppyjr » Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm

I have Samsung TV’s and Samsung sound bars, each came with a subwoofer. These have been more than sufficient for me; providing more volume, clarity, and punch for movies. I’d do it all over again. I think each bar/woofer was maybe $200 max. The subwoofer uses Bluetooth to connect to the sound bar.

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rockmastermike
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by rockmastermike » Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:00 pm

hoppyjr wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm
I have Samsung TV’s and Samsung sound bars, each came with a subwoofer. These have been more than sufficient for me; providing more volume, clarity, and punch for movies. I’d do it all over again. I think each bar/woofer was maybe $200 max. The subwoofer uses Bluetooth to connect to the sound bar.
we have a Sumsung TV as well so that's good to know. Did you separate the soundbars to different areas of the room?
Thanks

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kfalk
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by kfalk » Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:06 pm

Sound bars here. Easy set-up and enough bass to satisfy even the most discriminating hip-hopper.
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hoppyjr
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by hoppyjr » Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:27 pm

rockmastermike wrote:
hoppyjr wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm
I have Samsung TV’s and Samsung sound bars, each came with a subwoofer. These have been more than sufficient for me; providing more volume, clarity, and punch for movies. I’d do it all over again. I think each bar/woofer was maybe $200 max. The subwoofer uses Bluetooth to connect to the sound bar.
we have a Sumsung TV as well so that's good to know. Did you separate the soundbars to different areas of the room?
Thanks
One sound bar + woofer per TV.

One in living room, one in my spare bedroom.

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aikiman44
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by aikiman44 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 3:08 pm

Sound bars are the way to go. Read some reviews then get what’s available at Costco, Best Buy, etc.
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by Torrid » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:03 pm

rockmastermike wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:00 pm
hoppyjr wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm
I have Samsung TV’s and Samsung sound bars, each came with a subwoofer. These have been more than sufficient for me; providing more volume, clarity, and punch for movies. I’d do it all over again. I think each bar/woofer was maybe $200 max. The subwoofer uses Bluetooth to connect to the sound bar.
we have a Sumsung TV as well so that's good to know. Did you separate the soundbars to different areas of the room?
Thanks
I have a similar setup, all LG but I would always lean to the same brand of TV because there are certain features that work on the same brands. Sound bar remotes tend to be more compact than a regular TV remote and will control most of the major functions you want on your TV. I still need my TV remote for advanced settings, but it's very rare I need to change anything. Luckily I'm able to control everything for my entertainment setup with two remotes, one for the TV/sound bar and the PS5 media remote since the PS5 handles all our media Netflix/Hulu/Prime/DVDs. The setup was the same with the PS4 but we just used the controller which wasn't as easy of a setup since it was easier to accidently hit buttons on a standard controller.

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rockmastermike
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by rockmastermike » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:05 pm

Very cool, thank you for the advice :love:

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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by jeckyll » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:24 pm

Full sized towers with the largest center speaker possible, plus a decent subwoofer and at least 2 rears with tweeters matching the fronts & center.

Go big or go home.

I know it's not what you asked, but hey, it's what's best :)

Also:
With soundbars it will be hard, but try to go listen to it in an environment that is similar. If possible. Nothing like actually trying it out in A/B testing to see real world differences.
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by 59yukon01 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:58 pm

^^^I went big a long time ago in our great room with complete 5.1 surround sound. Makes the walls shake.

For a sound bar I'd mount beneath and preferable at eye/hear level. Definitely get one with a wireless subwoofer. You'll regret it if not, and trust me it makes all the difference in watching TV and movies.

I set up a 55" Roku TV in a spare bedroom, then bought just a sound bar. Immediately regretted it, and exchanged it for the model that included the subwoofer.

You can even get them now with bluetooth, so you can stream music to them as well.

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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by andrema » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:37 pm

My suggestion is Sonos. Great speakers and you can get satellite, sound bar or a combo (even a subwoofer if you want).

We have a set and they’re awesome and super easy to setup.
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andrema
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by andrema » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:39 pm

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Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by Captdave » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:43 pm

Sound bar here. Daughter gave us a Bose one last year and it’s more than adequate. We have Sonos speakers too that are very good.


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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by matt.wu » Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:58 pm

For your setup, agreed with soundbar. Super easy setup and more than enough sound quality for everyday use, especially with the subwoofer.
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by gwells » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:00 pm

we switched to a soundbar with wireless sub and wireless rear speakers. VIZIO SB3651-F6. works pretty well, and it does a pretty good job of surround. paired with an amazon fire tv remote, all the basics are covered just fine for an older panasonic plasma TV, the fire TV, and the sound bar. i can do some of the settings on my phone, too.

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Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by SoCal C4S » Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:26 pm

I have a Klipsch sound bar and wireless sub in the living room, and the sound bar is mounted under a 65” Sony 4K tv on an independent bracket system, so it moves with the tv. Also have a Yamaha sound bar in our MBR. They are great for small to medium sized open or closed rooms, and the integrated multi range speakers and woofers make for great sound.

You could say that I’m a fan.

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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by gamecock111 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:02 pm

Center and sub are most important, but wife factor is too.
If you already have a receiver and want to make use of it, that takes you a one direction.

If not, sound bar handles processing.

My wife hates all that stuff and many years ago I had someone put surrounds and back surrounds in the ceiling.

My receiver can to do 9.2 so I have a nice set of reference bookshelves speakers and center, the 4 surrounds, sub, and copy cheap orbs for the front heights that are hidden in the book shelf.

I really like the sound even with stuff like football games, but it’s kinda silly. It was mostly done long ago so now just enjoy it, but I would probably just do soundbar with processing and a sub if I was doing it today.

My wife used to constantly put pictures and stuff in front of center/bookshelf speakers and it drives me nuts.


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Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by SoCal C4S » Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:13 pm

Last house, I did in-wall speakers, receiver, sub, center channel, the whole 9 yards. I like having the sound bar better, and saved several $K.

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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by Ryeguy » Fri Dec 11, 2020 3:41 am

Polk sound bar here which came with a wireless remote subwoofer. Bass is not directional so you can put the sub in a corner out of the way and it’ll work fine.

A couple features we like are:
- Bluetooth so you can also sync with your phone (or Alexa, etc.) for music. We use this feature quite a bit, especially now as my wife loves Christmas music.
- “Voice enhance” - a feature we use at night so movie dialogue is a bit louder but other noises are slightly muted (we have kids who go to bed early YMMV on this one)
- Preset equalizer modes for movies, sports, music (maybe a bit gimmicky, but you can tell a bit of difference between the modes)

I’ll second or third the suggestion to get the brackets to mount the sound bar under the TV. They work great and keep the sound bar at the right level and oriented with the TV.

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rockmastermike
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by rockmastermike » Fri Dec 11, 2020 4:57 am

Great suggestions, fam I really appreciate it

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Zidane
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Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by Zidane » Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:16 am

Another vote for Sonos Beam. Expensive but so worth it.

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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by BlueSky » Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:53 am

I'll always recommend, in your situation, a decent receiver and the best bookshelf speakers you can afford, for a myriad of reasons, always. Start with 2.0 and go from there.

Here's the Crutchfield sound bar offerings, as a reference, but keep in mind, that tech can only do so much. I would concentrate on the products from audio companies only.

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_316150/Sound-Bars.html

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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by unsub073 » Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:44 am

I had the soundbar set up for several years and it wasn't doing it for me. I took the simple approach of a receiver and book shelf speakers and I am much happier with that. Then again, I use that set up for about 90% music and maybe 10% movies/gaming.

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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by Bradystraps » Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:13 am

Sound bar/sub for television and movies. Amps/bookshelfs for music.
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Re: Soundbar vs Satellite speakers

Post by Torrid » Sat Dec 12, 2020 11:50 am

unsub073 wrote:
Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:44 am
I had the soundbar set up for several years and it wasn't doing it for me. I took the simple approach of a receiver and book shelf speakers and I am much happier with that. Then again, I use that set up for about 90% music and maybe 10% movies/gaming.
This is the perfect example of buy the setup that is right for what you’ll use them for most. The main reason for sound bars is now that the market is obsessed with slim TVs with small bezels, there’s just nowhere to put proper speakers in them so they don’t sound right. We really only use our setup for TV, movies, and gaming so the sound bar seems perfect for our setup. I have used the Bluetooth feature off of my phone to play music and it’s really not the greatest for that. Bass is good, but sound reproduction is a little hollow beyond that.

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