Recommend me a good surround bar?

[taemo]

Been running a HTPC with Logitech Z5500 for so long in our media room but looking to simplify our sound system to just a sound bar now.
We rarely watch movies in our media room and actually have been mostly watching in the living room where we only have a 2.1 sound system.

The less wires, the better.
Main criteria is good sound, 1 HDMI output and atleast 2 HDMI input. Subwoofer.
Budget below 800$ would be great.

This looks promising but slightly over my budget
https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...oofer/12399782

[jwslam]

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This looks promising but slightly over my budget
https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...oofer/12399782

Goes down to $700 once in a while on Amazon. Find a price tracker.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Do you want simulated Atmos capability or ultimately do you just want better sound than your TV?

Do you want physical wireless surrounds or are you OK with simulated surround?

Also the subs that come with these mainstream sound bars are honestly quite bad and unless you are in a 6ft square room or something tiny, you will barely feel anything. The one in your link has a 6" woofer getting 100w (it doesn't even say if that is RMS or not) and doesn't even have a level adjustment. I don't know if you care about that sort of thing or not, but even a cheap standalone sub would probably be a big improvement. In a movie, your center channel and sub do 80-90% of the work, so that is typically where you want your money to go. You might prefer just getting a better sound bar that also has decent bass output than paying for a sub that you will barely be able to feel, but I don't know how much of a priority that is for you. Or, you could get a 3.0 sound bar and buy a proper sub separately.

[taemo]

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Do you want simulated Atmos capability or ultimately do you just want better sound than your TV?

Do you want physical wireless surrounds or are you OK with simulated surround?

Also the subs that come with these mainstream sound bars are honestly quite bad and unless you are in a 6ft square room or something tiny, you will barely feel anything. The one in your link has a 6" woofer getting 100w (it doesn't even say if that is RMS or not) and doesn't even have a level adjustment. I don't know if you care about that sort of thing or not, but even a cheap standalone sub would probably be a big improvement. In a movie, your center channel and sub do 80-90% of the work, so that is typically where you want your money to go. You might prefer just getting a better sound bar that also has decent bass output than paying for a sub that you will barely be able to feel, but I don't know how much of a priority that is for you. Or, you could get a 3.0 sound bar and buy a proper sub separately.

Just want better sound than TV, ok with simulated surround sound as well and included sub is fine.

We are using a Bose Companion 3 Series II 2.1 speaker in our living room/kitchen and we are happy with the sound.
We are not audiophiles.

I was actually considering re-using the Z5500 in 2.1 stereo setup but since we are moving, might as well update and simplify the sound system.

[pheoxs]

The vizio ones at Costco are pretty nice and good bang for the buck and they go on sale pretty frequently. However they only have 1 hdmi in and 1 out. But I just run everything into my TV and then use a optical cable to the soundbar.

This is the one I have and I like it:
https://www.costco.ca/vizio-sb3651-e...100371529.html

This one has atmos for 600$:
https://www.costco.ca/vizio-sb36512-...100458439.html

[Asian_defender]

In the budget sector Vizio is my number one recommendation but once you go >500 mark I always lean towards Yamaha.
Currently rocking the older YSP 3300 and I love it. Been flawless and the sound is fuller IMO
Go to Visions and listen to the YAS 207, 209 and 408

Edit:
Full disclosure, all the remotes are ugly. Every Yamaha remote I've had has been that way.
My YSP3300 remote is huge and ugly. If are rocking a harmony remote then dont worry about it

[taemo]

thanks, I'll look into the Visio SB3651-E6, might do it for us.
Will also go to Vision later this week to check various sound bars

[msommers]

I had no idea that soundbars were over $1,000 these days. Might as well buy a regular speaker setup and receive for that kind of cash!

[Mitsu3000gt]

This is a good deal - and comes with Anthem Room Correction which is arguably the best available at any price point:

https://www.paradigm.com/en/soundbars/pw-soundbar

It even includes a wireless transmitter to make any sub you buy wireless.

If you don't need HDMI you can save $150 on the identical product as well.

That would be night & day better than anything you are likely to find at Best Buy or Visions.

If you want to add a sub this is about as cheap as they get for something that isn't garbage:

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...6700b80a1c0e10

OR

https://www.paradigm.com/en/ported/defiance-v8 (you can calibrate this with ARC mentioned above which makes a big difference). Can probably get this for $350-400 or so locally, but you will be slightly over budget.

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I had no idea that soundbars were over $1,000 these days. Might as well buy a regular speaker setup and receive for that kind of cash!

All the ones worth buying are around that or higher, at least in terms of MSRP. For some people, aesthetics trumps all else, or sometimes they just don't have the room for a proper setup.

If your only goal is better-than-TV sound though, then pretty much anything will suffice, but if you want a good soundbar with some wow factor, they are as much or more than a decent LCR setup.

[pheoxs]

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I had no idea that soundbars were over $1,000 these days. Might as well buy a regular speaker setup and receive for that kind of cash!

If you want a minimalist setup though a soundbar can look really clean

[HHURICANE1]

https://www.bowerswilkins.com/en-ca/formation/bar
I've heard this and it is pretty impressive. Pair it with the sub and it's a very nice sound.

[taemo]

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I had no idea that soundbars were over $1,000 these days. Might as well buy a regular speaker setup and receive for that kind of cash!

We are happy with the Bose Companion 3 in our living room and Z5500 upstairs, so you know our sound standard is pretty low
Have an old receiver with 2 speakers downstairs that I used to use when working out but it does not have HDMI.

My main goal is a clean looking setup with minimal cables running around and the soundbars that I've heard at Costco or Best Buy sound fine to me.
I think I'll just keep using the Z5500 for the time being in Stereo mode until someone buys it off me.

[danno]

I think I asked this somewhere else but can’t remember if there was a answer. I’m looking for a new sound bar that can play Apple Music from my phone, I want the ability to take over the sound bar with just the iPhone. It will be primarily be used for the tv.

Options?

[navdeep]

How do some of these recommended sound bars compare to the Sonos Play-bar with there sub-woofer and rear setup

[Asian_defender]

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This is a good deal - and comes with Anthem Room Correction which is arguably the best available at any price point:

https://www.paradigm.com/en/soundbars/pw-soundbar

It even includes a wireless transmitter to make any sub you buy wireless.

If you don't need HDMI you can save $150 on the identical product as well.

That would be night & day better than anything you are likely to find at Best Buy or Visions.

If you want to add a sub this is about as cheap as they get for something that isn't garbage:

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...6700b80a1c0e10

OR

https://www.paradigm.com/en/ported/defiance-v8 (you can calibrate this with ARC mentioned above which makes a big difference). Can probably get this for $350-400 or so locally, but you will be slightly over budget.




All the ones worth buying are around that or higher, at least in terms of MSRP. For some people, aesthetics trumps all else, or sometimes they just don't have the room for a proper setup.

If your only goal is better-than-TV sound though, then pretty much anything will suffice, but if you want a good soundbar with some wow factor, they are as much or more than a decent LCR setup.

For $750 that's a hell of a deal. Love Paradigm speakers
Instead of the dayton I'd go with the Bic F12 personally.
https://www.amazon.ca/BIC-America-F1...3341224&sr=8-3

[Mitsu3000gt]

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For $750 that's a hell of a deal. Love Paradigm speakers
Instead of the dayton I'd go with the Bic F12 personally.
https://www.amazon.ca/BIC-America-F1...3341224&sr=8-3

Yup, nothing will touch that sound bar for the price and the room correction is a big deal that a lot of people overlook, when in reality it will make a more noticeable difference than almost anything else.

I suggested the Dayton to stay as close to his budget as possible (I think it's within $100 for everything), but pretty much anything is going to be better than the junk that comes with the sound bars found in most big box stores. If he's going to spend ~$400 on a sub I would suggest getting one that has room EQ built in as that will probably be the most noticeable improvement.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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How do some of these recommended sound bars compare to the Sonos Play-bar with there sub-woofer and rear setup

The Sonos Playbar is now 7 years old and has no support for HDMI or DTS. It just badly needs a refresh and at the moment it's very overpriced.

I have demo'd the Sonos system a few times in various configurations and it costs more than $2,000 to get a 5.1 setup - if you put that money into a 'real' 5.1 setup it would be an order of magnitude better, but it wouldn't be wireless (you still need to plug them all into power though). The Playbar and sub alone are around $1,700 which is not worth it IMO. Sonos also doesn't publish power specs or driver sizes which should make any perspective buyer suspicious - every well regarded audio company is happy to tell you driver sizes, wattage, frequency response, etc. BOSE plays the same games as Sonos, which is part of the reason they have such a bad reputation. The value proposition of Sonos products isn't sound quality but rather ease of connectivity/streaming.

[taemo]

that Paradigm PW Soundbar is very tempting. I have an old no brand Subwoofer that I could get by for the time being as well.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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that Paradigm PW Soundbar is very tempting. I have an old no brand Subwoofer that I could get by for the time being as well.

If you don't need HDMI, they also offer the identical sound bar for $150 cheaper as well.

[taemo]

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If you don't need HDMI, they also offer the identical sound bar for $150 cheaper as well.

the Soundplay right?
might actually work as our TV is ancient (bought in 2013) and most likely does not have HDMI ARC. Right now TV is connected to my Z5500 via optical.

I could connect both TV and HTPC into the soundbar via optocal.
But for 150$ I would be more future proof with HDMI