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Thread: Soundbar or speakers?

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    mush-mushroom b0redom's Avatar
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    Soundbar or speakers?

    Hi All,
    I'm upgrading my TV and amp (the amp is likely to be a Denon x2300w). I currently have a pair of Q-Acoustic 1020i as left and rights, and a pretty rubbish Harmon Kardon centre (originally from a HKTS-7 setup).

    I need to lose the speakers (in their current orientation) as part of the TV upgrade due to space, so I can either:

    1) Turn the Q-Acoustics on their side and replace the centre with something similar (if I can find a single Q-Acoustic 1020i).
    2) Turn the Q-Acoustics on their side and replace the centre with a 'proper' centre. Ideally it would have to be a similar height as the Mrs has mild OCD
    3) Scrap all the existing front speakers and buy a passive soundbar such as the Monitor Audio SB-2

    In any of the above cases I'm going to have to raise the TV up on something behind the speaker(s).

    What's the opinion of the Hexus hive mind please?

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    opti sound bar and subwoofer
    What does it matter now if men believe or no?
    What is to come will come. And soon you too will stand aside,
    To murmur in pity that my words were true
    (Cassandra, in Agamemnon by Aeschylus)

    To see the wizard one must look behind the curtain ....

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    I read somewhere that putting speakers on their side depending on their design can negatively affect the sound. It was for some really technical reason that went way over my head but it sounded reasonable. I'd personally go for a soundbar and sub because they sound pretty good and look tidy.

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    I think if you've had speakers, you will find soundbars an unreconcilable loss.

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    HEXUS.timelord. Zak33's Avatar
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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post
    I think if you've had speakers, you will find soundbars an unreconcilable loss.
    this

    keep the speakers

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
    "The second you aren't paying attention to the tool you're using, it will take your fingers from you. It does not know sympathy." |
    "If you don't gaffer it, it will gaffer you" | "Belt and braces"

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Soundbars are clever, but know plenty of people who weren't happy with them in the end and went to speakers. Photos or diagram of the room, perhaps we can come up with some clever positioning ideas.

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post
    I think if you've had speakers, you will find soundbars an unreconcilable loss.
    What's the difference? Genuine question. I would have thought a decent passive soundbar (which will provide only the L C R channels) would be pretty much the same thing no?

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Quote Originally Posted by b0redom View Post
    What's the difference? Genuine question. I would have thought a decent passive soundbar (which will provide only the L C R channels) would be pretty much the same thing no?
    Mostly the size of the cones/resonating space and the quality of the drivers. Soundbars have to compromise on these to fit the form factor/budget.

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    HEXUS.timelord. Zak33's Avatar
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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    size and longevity of value for money

    Speakers and Amps, on the whole, keep their value for a looooong time because they are multi use multi faceted.

    TV... yes
    Music ....yes
    Cinema... yes

    Squeezing good quality sound and the amp into a long thin thing is clearly different to having custom made speakers that just do that one job.

    you CAN get good sound bars.. and you can also get good speakers


    hey.. you're maybe decided on a sound bar anyway so find one you like and buy it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
    "The second you aren't paying attention to the tool you're using, it will take your fingers from you. It does not know sympathy." |
    "If you don't gaffer it, it will gaffer you" | "Belt and braces"

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    mush-mushroom b0redom's Avatar
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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Havent decided anything for definite. Tempted to buy another Q Acoustic, turn them all on their sides and have a ghetto soundbar. Any reason I couldn't/shouldn't do that?

    If I have to buy a pair, is there any reason I shouldn't/can't wire them both to the center outputs?

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    no point....either you wire them in series and they have double impedance/resistance and they're half as loud each...
    or you wire them in parallel lowering the impedance/resistance to the amp by a half and either it blows up or it's twice as loud.

    neither works well

    use one

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
    "The second you aren't paying attention to the tool you're using, it will take your fingers from you. It does not know sympathy." |
    "If you don't gaffer it, it will gaffer you" | "Belt and braces"

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Are you running two rears as well and a bass for 5.1?

    if not....why do you feel the need for a center?

    Personally I've given up with center's for just front audio... I prefer the sound stage of stereo

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
    "The second you aren't paying attention to the tool you're using, it will take your fingers from you. It does not know sympathy." |
    "If you don't gaffer it, it will gaffer you" | "Belt and braces"

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Yeah, I have 2 rears. I don't use a sub though as I kept getting shouted at. I guess I'm just trying to work out what will look and sound best.

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Quote Originally Posted by b0redom View Post
    Yeah, I have 2 rears. I don't use a sub though as I kept getting shouted at. I guess I'm just trying to work out what will look and sound best.
    Headphones

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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    If you can't turn it up, yeah, decent headphones, lot cheaper than speakers too! But it's not the same as louds speakers

    I've found a centre speaker a must for TV and films, speech is far easier to hear - and that's even more important these days with some terrible mixing on movies.

    Stereo speakers are all that is needed for music, centre tends to make things worse (unless you have discrete channel source audio) as they aren't tailored for music.

    The big problem with speakers is placement - it's all very well having them, but if you shove them in the wrong place then it's going to sound pretty naff. They need to be about head-height and securely attached to whatever they are placed on. As a starting point, they should be placed in the corners of an equilateral triangle, with the final position being your primary seating position. Put them too close and you loose the sound-stage that stereo provides, put them too far and you lose cohesion of the sound.

    Finally they shouldn't be crammed up close to anything. Keeping them a couple of feet away from back walls (including the centre speaker) helps with reflections which muddle the sounds.

    If you don't have floor-standers, then you'll want a sub-woofer to reinforce the low end but it doesn't need to be turned up loud, it just needs to fill in the frequencies that the speakers can't provide punch for. Low frequencies aren't really directional, so you can shove your sub anywhere - but if you shove it into a corner you'll get boomier base (may or may not want). Your room will also have natural points where the bass sounds lounder and quieter. Position your sub so that your seating position falls into one of the loud points - that way you can keep the sub volume as low as possible.

    If you can't give any consideration to the above points then you will be stifling what your speakers can do. As a result, the benefits over a sound-bar will be limited.

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    HEXUS.timelord. Zak33's Avatar
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    Re: Soundbar or speakers?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dashers View Post

    Finally they shouldn't be crammed up close to anything. Keeping them a couple of feet away from back walls (including the centre speaker) helps with reflections which muddle the sounds.
    there's an exception to that

    Corner loading. Every speaker is worth experimentation...

    choose media to test with

    place speakers in front of you away from corner. play media

    move speaker to corner and jam it in at 45 degrees so it's pushed against walls.

    play media

    them move speaker in and out, away from the wall and determine how it best sounds to you.

    Corner loading.

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
    "The second you aren't paying attention to the tool you're using, it will take your fingers from you. It does not know sympathy." |
    "If you don't gaffer it, it will gaffer you" | "Belt and braces"

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