Recommend me a Soundbar

[streetster]

Hey Guys,

So my 37" Toshiba TV has fairly lacklustre sound... I used to have a friend's DVD/surround-sound kit hooked up to it which at least had a subwoofer to give a bit more kick to action films etc.

I've moved flats, and the TV is now in a room where I'm not going to be able to get away with running rear speakers, so a 2.1 (3.1?) solution seems best... and I've been looking at getting a Soundbar (sound bar?) as a simple all-in-one solution.

The TV is only used to watch TV Shows / Films from an HTPC which has either HDMI or Optical output... Can run HDMI straight into the TV and use optical for the soundbar, or potentially can get some 3.5mm <> RCA cables and power it that way, but would prefer HDMI/Optical.

Has anyone got a sound bar / any recommendations? I've had a look at reviews and looks like I can spend anywhere between £100 and £500... I'd be looking for somewhere south of £300, and won't be buying for a couple of months (saving my pennies).

Any thoughts?

[Giraffe]

I looked long and hard at the Yamaha YAS101 - then went for a mid-range AV Receiver but, in your situation I'd still go for the Yammy. Soundbars get very expensive very quickly and some actually need the sub to power the bar, so that's more bulk and, of course, boomy bits escaping into other flats.
http://www.richersounds.com/product/...01/yama-yas101

[streetster]

I started to think about going down the 'get a 2nd hand amp, a sub and some separates... 3.1-style' route. It's what I've done for my PC setup (got an old Sony STR-DB940 for £80 off ebay some 5 years ago), am thinking I'd get something newer (with enough HDMIs to handle ps3/xbox/pc/sky/etc) if I was going to do that...

HOWEVER... since writing that post at lunchtime, work-related news means that a Soundbar is on the backburner for a while

[KeyboardDemon]

HOWEVER... since writing that post at lunchtime, work-related news means that a Soundbar is on the backburner for a while

Oh... that doesn't sound too good. I hope it works itself out for you.