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  • #1

    Soundbars

    Like, to add better sound to your flatscreen TV. Anyone using one? Which would you recommend?

    My parents are thinking about getting a new TV, but the speakers in flatscreens suck. Now I would go the whole home theater system setup, but that's a bit much for them. So i thought I'd buy a soundbar for them to go with the new TV. Now, i'm an audio snob, so I'm not looking at some cheap $30 RCA thing, but don't want to spend an arm and a leg either. Looking at maybe the Energy bar without a subwoofer, or one of the Boston Acoustics models with a sub.

    Now, if money wasn't a factor, I'd probably go for this in a heartbeat.

    http://paradigm.com/products-current.../page=overview
    What kind of cheese are you planning to put on top?
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  • #2
    Re: Soundbars

    I got a 40" Vizio with wireless subwoofer from Walmart for about $110. Good sound quality for a small to medium size room.
    Growing old is mandatory -- growing up is optional!

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    • #3
      Re: Soundbars

      http://www.klipsch.com/sb-120-tv-sound-system

      Recently bought one of these and I love it. I'm hearing impaired and have some trouble with TV sound that required using the CC regularly. This works great for me eliminating my reliance on closed captioning. It was what I wanted to spend...and the way I wanted to go, not wanting to go all out with multichannel home theater. I'm more of an audio guy than a movie sound freak. Manufacturers with nice sound bars I would recommend are Klipsch, Polk...Yamaha & Boston Acoustics has some nice units as noted. All of which I shopped before going with the Klipsch. My experience with both Klipsch and Polk Audio for sound system speakers is positive hence my shopping those sound bars. Not really the high end but very good quality for the $$$ IMO. The sound improvement over any TV speakers only will be very pleasing to anyone...I'm pretty confident.

      ...and I'm buying one for my elderly parents in hopes they will no longer need their TV volume set to approx. 120 decibels. They refuse to get the hearing aids they desperately need...and maybe I can visit them for more than five minutes and not have my ears bleeding when I leave.

      I'm happy with the Klipsch across the entire frequency band. Good bass kick and clear in the upper frequencies. My needs were primarily in the voice / mid range frequencies and like I said...I don't have to rely on CC with the sound bar.
      Minnesota Hockey

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      • #4
        Re: Soundbars

        Originally posted by brookyone View Post

        I'm happy with the Klipsch across the entire frequency band. Good bass kick and clear in the upper frequencies. My needs were primarily in the voice / mid range frequencies and like I said...I don't have to rely on CC with the sound bar.
        And Klipsch with their horns are perfect for that. Very prominent midrange. But that's quite a bit more than I'd like to spend.
        What kind of cheese are you planning to put on top?

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        • #5
          Re: Soundbars

          How are your parents with grasping new tech? Is this something where the more you can integrate the soundbar into the TV controls the better or does that not matter so much? I ask because it was a consideration for my mom, which is what determined a lot of the tech I had with her back in the day.
          "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." George Orwell, 1984

          "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." Boromir

          "Good news! We have a delivery." Professor Farnsworth

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          • #6
            Re: Soundbars

            Originally posted by brookyone View Post
            http://www.klipsch.com/sb-120-tv-sound-system

            Recently bought one of these and I love it. I'm hearing impaired and have some trouble with TV sound that required using the CC regularly. This works great for me eliminating my reliance on closed captioning. It was what I wanted to spend...and the way I wanted to go, not wanting to go all out with multichannel home theater. I'm more of an audio guy than a movie sound freak. Manufacturers with nice sound bars I would recommend are Klipsch, Polk...Yamaha & Boston Acoustics has some nice units as noted. All of which I shopped before going with the Klipsch. My experience with both Klipsch and Polk Audio for sound system speakers is positive hence my shopping those sound bars. Not really the high end but very good quality for the $$$ IMO. The sound improvement over any TV speakers only will be very pleasing to anyone...I'm pretty confident.

            ...and I'm buying one for my elderly parents in hopes they will no longer need their TV volume set to approx. 120 decibels. They refuse to get the hearing aids they desperately need...and maybe I can visit them for more than five minutes and not have my ears bleeding when I leave.

            I'm happy with the Klipsch across the entire frequency band. Good bass kick and clear in the upper frequencies. My needs were primarily in the voice / mid range frequencies and like I said...I don't have to rely on CC with the sound bar.
            Thank you for that breakdown. I use CC often, more because of the window A/C in my living room (1BR apt) or it's late night and I don't want to disturb the neighbors. If the sound were a bit more full (boisterous?) without being OMGLOUD!! I would love it.
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            • #7
              Re: Soundbars

              Originally posted by St. Clown View Post
              How are your parents with grasping new tech? Is this something where the more you can integrate the soundbar into the TV controls the better or does that not matter so much? I ask because it was a consideration for my mom, which is what determined a lot of the tech I had with her back in the day.
              Not great, which is why I think I'll be picking up the Boston Acoustics. It can learn the TV's remote, so you can control its volume just as if it was the tv speakers. Only downside is that to adjust the sub volume, you need to use the knob on the sub itself, it would be nicer and easier if the soundbar remote could do that. But I assume, once you find a decent workable level, it'll be one of those set it and forget it adjustments, so you won't need to be messing with it too much.
              What kind of cheese are you planning to put on top?

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              • #8
                Re: Soundbars

                Originally posted by rufus View Post
                Not great, which is why I think I'll be picking up the Boston Acoustics. It can learn the TV's remote, so you can control its volume just as if it was the tv speakers. Only downside is that to adjust the sub volume, you need to use the knob on the sub itself, it would be nicer and easier if the soundbar remote could do that. But I assume, once you find a decent workable level, it'll be one of those set it and forget it adjustments, so you won't need to be messing with it too much.
                Given that you're an audiophile, you probably won't like this, but I have a Sony soundbar connected to a Toshiba TV via HDMI, and it's really nice that once I turn on the soundbar, the volume is controlled using the TV remote, no setup required. The only downside for control is that the soundbar has to be turned on separately form the TV. I'm not much for big bass sound when watching TV, so I keep the subwoofer volume towards the lower end anyway. If your parents don't have the greatest talent for picking out notes or won't know that they're missing great quality at a certain range, something along the lines of what Sony offers might be right up their alley.
                "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." George Orwell, 1984

                "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." Boromir

                "Good news! We have a delivery." Professor Farnsworth

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                • #9
                  Re: Soundbars

                  Energy Take Classic 5.1.

                  Thank me later.

                  Edit: I realize you were looking for sound bars but man, this set of speakers is worth their weight in gold.
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                  • #10
                    Re: Soundbars

                    Rufus - can't really talk to soundbars from my own experience as I use a Mirage surround system. However, my brother-in-law recently renovated their house and had a new family room put in. They are not tech-savy and they chose to go with a Sonos soundbar and it does sound great. I have heard the Energy set up and it is great. A friend of mine, and former USCHO poster, has a Paradigm set up.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Soundbars

                      The Boston Acoustics bar arrived yesterday, and it seems like it's gonna do all that I wanted from it. I was initially a bit disappointed in it, sub cone is paper with paper surround, and the sub weighs next to nothing. But it sounded good, much fuller than the TV speakers, and the sub did a decent job of supplying the low end. Demo'ed it with some Blackhawk Down(the scene where they roll out the choppers and convoy to Hendrix' Voodoo Child), and the Bastogne shelling scene from Band of Brothers Breaking Point episode. Needless to say, the extra rumble is lost on my mom, who didn't care for it much, so the bass level is turned down to a much lower level. Hopefully she won't turn it down even more, cause as with any new thing, sometimes the change is more than you want to handle, but you get used to it and grow to like it with time.

                      It's not high end audio, there's only so much a pair of 5" full range speakers can do, it's biased toward more midrange, without a lot of top end sparkle, but they're old enough that they've lost pretty much all their top end hearing anyway. Voices had more depth and substance than with the TV speakers, which were fairly thin-sounding, and the sub added a bit of extra body to them, more natural sounding. Decent job with special effects, so all in all, a good addition to flesh out the sound of their new TV.

                      Easy enough for the TV's remote to learn the commands for the soundbar, so that makes it easy for them to operate it. Turns on and off with the TV, and adjusting its volume is just as if they would do with the TV speakers.
                      What kind of cheese are you planning to put on top?

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