Soundbar recommendations?

[AzrealNoctis]

I currently have a 300w lg soundbar (I don't remember the exact name off the top of my head). But I'm looking at getting a better one, perhaps one that's louder than this one at an equivalent volume, im thinking my budget will be 300-400 dollars us.

[OfficialTechSpace]

Tech tip #1 - If you want a good soundbar, the trick is to not buy one. Get a good set of monitors, join the rebellion. 

 

Something like the Swan D1090's are a good starting point (widely considered the best monitors under $1000).

[AzrealNoctis]

18 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

Tech tip #1 - If you want a good soundbar, the trick is to not buy one. Get a good set of monitors, join the rebellion. 

 

Something like the Swan D1090's are a good starting point (widely considered the best monitors under $1000).

Ngl, never heard of speakers being called monitors so for a second I thought you meant like a display monitor but thanks, I'll keep these in mind. Also, can they be wall mounted? Gotta save as much space in my room since it's smaller than my old one

[OfficialTechSpace]

1 hour ago, AzrealNoctis said:

Also, can they be wall mounted? Gotta save as much space in my room since it's smaller than my old one

They can be wall-mounted, although it is typically recommended that you use speaker stands instead. There's not a good sense of stereo imaging/detail when your speakers aren't at a 60-degree angle to you and sitting at ear-level. That's also why audiophiles hate soundbars. 

 

This would be good: Atlantic Adjustable Speaker Stands 2-Pack Black

 

1 hour ago, AzrealNoctis said:

Ngl, never heard of speakers being called monitors so for a second I thought you meant like a display monitor

I think that term for speakers dates back to early music production. The mixers/engineers use "monitors" (speakers) to monitor what they're working on and what effect their work is making on their tracks. Often this term is just used nowadays when referring to common bookshelf speakers, I apologize for the confusion. 

[geo3]

3 hours ago, ThatOneGuy_808 said:

Like OfficalTechSpace said, don't buy a soundbar. They can't do the things speakers can do. It's better to go with those. Those Swan one's they recommended are probably good, there's also Adam TV5 or JBL's 30XP series (the 305, 6 and 8). The 305P is a pretty good speaker for the price, but you can consider the 6 and 8 if you want

Since he's looking for a sound bar these 2 probably won't work for him. He would need to get a DAC to make them work. The Swans OfficialTechSpace mentioned will work, that has digital inputs he will need.  These also work and are a bit cheaper than the D1090:  Jamo S 801 PM, Swan D100 or D1100  or Edifier R1850DB.

[Entropy.]

On 6/2/2021 at 6:44 PM, OfficialTechSpace said:

Tech tip #1 - If you want a good soundbar, the trick is to not buy one. Get a good set of monitors, join the rebellion. 

 While your first sentence I agree with for the most part, the soundbar industry is rapidly growing and developing. There's actually a lot of soundbars/ systems out there that don't suck. Provided, as far as I know there's really no compelling options out there under $400 USD currently. So uh, Nyes, but yeah, It'll obviously depend on your frame of reference and your personal opinion. 

Quote

Something like the Swan D1090's are a good starting point (widely considered the best monitors under $1000).

While your first sentence I agree with for the most part, the soundbar industry is rapidly growing and developing. There's actually a lot of soundbars/ systems out there that don't suck. Provided, as far as I know there's really no compelling options out there under $400 USD currently. So uh, Nyes, but yeah, It'll obviously depend on your frame of reference and your personal opinion. 

Quote

Something like the Swan D1090's are a good starting point (widely considered the best monitors under $1000).

I take more of an issue with this. Like I mentioned a second ago, sound is quite subjective. Saying that something is the "best" under x amount of money is easy, proving yourself right-even subjectively- is extremely difficult, while It's nearly impossible to prove that you're correct only through objective means. I can all but guarentee you that the swans, when they're backed up right against a cement wall with, mmm maybe brushed stainless steel sheets right behind them, while they're toed out agressively in a 10x10 ft cement room, they won't sound too great.

 

However, I don't take issue with the recommendation itself, just your choice of wording, and your general recommendation for OP without knowing their (more specific) circumstance, such as any limitations he might have, how far the speakers will be from a wall, ect.

10 hours ago, ThatOneGuy_808 said:

Like OfficalTechSpace said, don't buy a soundbar. They can't do the things speakers can do. It's better to go with those. Those Swan one's they recommended are probably good, there's also Adam TV5 or JBL's 30XP series (the 305, 6 and 8). The 305P is a pretty good speaker for the price, but you can consider the 6 and 8 if you want

Wait... what's up with people recommending nearfield monitors in this topic? Oh well. Anyways yes, as was stated you'll probably need a dac for those, they won't play nice pushed up against a wall- iirc especially those JBL's. If OP is listening from further out, well that gets a bit worse. 

On 6/2/2021 at 4:58 PM, AzrealNoctis said:

I currently have a 300w lg soundbar (I don't remember the exact name off the top of my head). But I'm looking at getting a better one, perhaps one that's louder than this one at an equivalent volume, im thinking my budget will be 300-400 dollars us.

Well, can you answer some questions real quick to give us a better idea of your situation? 

1. What situation will you be using this for? Living room home theatre setup? Desktop setup for listening to music and gaming? Anything really, the more specific you can be the better.

2. Do you have any space constraints for the speakers themselves? 

3. Is there a type tuning/sound curve you like? If you don't really know what that means, Do you like a lot of bass (e.g, a kick drum), treble (E.G, a symbol), midrange (E.G human voices, if you say a band this is where about 80% of them would live)? Do you want it to just be balanced? A lot of something, a little of something?  Is there something that you felt your current soundbar is missing? 

4. Room- Can you specify what the room you're placing them is made out of, it's rough dimensions, and say what are the most common materials in it (Say carpet, leather materials, wood, metal surfaces, ect.)? This isn't required but it can help with us choosing a speaker, as room acoustics can pretty seriously affect how a room sounds.  

5. Distance from wall- How far away will the (back) of your speaker be from a wall/corner? A rough number or range would be appreciated, anything to get an idea. This can be pretty important. 

[Entropy.]

(Accidental double post. Deleted.)
 

[OfficialTechSpace]

32 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

the soundbar industry is rapidly growing and developing. There's actually a lot of soundbars/ systems out there that don't suck.

Soundbars are just extra large Beats Pills®, change my mind. You can't get a comporable sound from 4-inch drivers in a flat plastic tube, even if you DSP correct it to the nines.

 

Sound is directional, unless you want a basically mono experience, a purely horizontally aligned non-angled array of small drivers is not a good idea.

If you can point out one soundbar that an actual audio engineer, enthusiast, or audiophile has recommended or approved, I'll stand corrected. 

32 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

sound is quite subjective. It's nearly impossible to prve that you're correct only through objective means.

Sound is not subjective, sound preference is subjective. To someone who hasn't experienced a proper system before, they won't even know what their preference is. If you take something that's objectively better than anything else in the pricepoint, and recommend it to someone new to the space, they'll likely enjoy it.

32 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Saying that something is the "best' under x amount of money is easy, proving yourself right-even subjectively- is extremely difficult

It's not difficult at all, especially when you have an entire community backing your statement. Where's your recommendations? By the look of it you just came here to disagree when we already had it figured out. The OP is here for an upgrade from a soundbar, it's not much more complicated than that.

[Entropy.]

37 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

Soundbars are just extra large Beats Pills®, change my mind. You can't get a comporable sound from 4-inch drivers in a flat plastic tube, even if you DSP correct it to the nines.

 

Sound is directional, unless you want a basically mono experience, a purely horizontally aligned non-angled array of small drivers is not a good idea.

If you can point out one soundbar that an actual audio engineer, enthusiast, or audiophile has recommended or approved, I'll stand corrected. 

 

This requires me to do absolutely 0 research. Andrew Robinson, Sennheiser ambeo, Samsung q950a. More names and products available on demand. 

 

37 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

Sound is not subjective, sound preference is subjective. To someone who hasn't experienced a proper system before, they won't even know what their preference is. If you take something that's objectively better than anything else in the pricepoint, and recommend it to someone new to the space, they'll likely enjoy it.

It's not difficult at all, especially when you have an entire community backing your statement. Where's your recommendations? 

I believe you knew very well what I intended to say here, and ignored it, fair enough. Let me clarify- how we experience sound is subjective, in that you have 1000 people listen to the same system with everything as close to the same as you can have it, there’s still going to be people that say it sounds bright, Some that think it’s fairly neutral, some think that it’s dark, and so on. You need to try gear out to know how you think it’ll sound, simple as that.
 

In response to the latter part of your rebuttal... Your main point is that “if we say it’s good, it’s good.” Look me straight in the eye and tell me if zeos and his massive platform (which primarily consists of parrots) says that something is good, it’s good. You mentioned that these swan speakers that are objectively better than anything else in the price point. I’d be very interested if you explained further, and if you turn out to be correct by explain how they’re superior in an entirely objective manner, well, I’ll eat my hat and write a 500 letter apology to you. Do note what I said above. 

Moving on, in my opinion It’s not nearly objective. I just established that how we perceive audio is subjective, and again, only way to know how you think something sounds is to listen to it. While reviews and community feedback act as a good starting point, they should NEVER be taken as facts and I mean if you’d do... I have no real words. There’s no replacement for firsthand experience, especially in a joint such as this. Recommendations are great, but I’m not saying they aren’t. 

37 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

Where's your recommendations? By the look of it you just came here to disagree when we already had it figured out. The OP is here for an upgrade from a soundbar, it's not much more complicated than that.

1. That’s when I knew you either only paid attention to the parts you could disagree with, or you deliberately ignored what I said, either way.

 

2. All OP did was provide their budget, I’m trying to figure out the specifics. Your recommendations are based entirely on OP’s budget- and while I don’t take too much of an issue with that by itself due to several factors, well, look at us right now. You don’t know the circumstance, you don’t know any of their constraints besides budget, you don’t really know what it’ll be used for, on and on. I mean c’mon man. 

[OfficialTechSpace]

8 hours ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

This requires me to do absolutely 0 research. Andrew Robinson Sennheiser ambeo, Samsung q950a.

Damn right it requires no research, when done properly the first thing you find is bad measurements, contradicting opinion, and outrageous prices.

 

Sennheiser Ambeo - $ 3,299.95                   Samsung Q950A - $1,649.99                   Swan D1090 (my recommendation) - $399.99

 

Btw, *ahem* this is a bookshelf speaker he's recommending over sounbars.

 

8 hours ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Let me clarify- how we experience sound is subjective, in that you have 1000 people listen to the same system with everything as close to the same as you can have it, there’s still going to be people that say it sounds bright, Some that think it’s fairly neutral, some think that it’s dark, and so on. You need to try gear out to know how you think it’ll sound, simple as that.

If something's too bright, you can find the peak and pull it down in a fine EQ. If something's neutral, that's good. If something's dark (which most soundbars are), you could try boosting the treble frequencies, but that's pretty much a loss at that point because you can pull frequencies down a lot easier than you can push them up on a poorly tuned driver (they usually don't react very kindly to that).

8 hours ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Your main point is that “if we say it’s good, it’s good.”

If we have measurements that show it's good, and lots people who've heard it who like it, what more do you need? That's pretty much all you need to qualify as good. The best speaker that can do both within X amount of money is the best one of that pricepoint, that's how it's decided.

8 hours ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

You mentioned that these swan speakers that are objectively better than anything else in the price point. I’d be very interested if you explained further, and if you turn out to be correct by explain how they’re superior in an entirely objective manner, well, I’ll eat my hat and write a 500 letter apology to you.

Being that they're powered monitors, that makes it easy. That already cuts out all of the passive monitors as even comparable on a budget. The only powered monitors available in that $400 price range that're any good are the Mackie MR524/MR624's and the Adam Audio T5V's (but they're both very old nowadays, the Swans are much more modern):

 

[D1090]                                                                                                        [MR524 & T5V]

 

The other monitors are also mostly recommended for music production, whereas the swans are also more-so comporable in a multimedia/home-theatre setup. The D1090's can also get pretty V-shaped when you start messing with the Bass/Treble dials on the side of them, which is largely a very consumer-friendly sound profile.

 

The D1090's ALSO have Bluetooth... something that neither of the other monitors have (to my knowledge).

[Entropy.]

9 hours ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

Damn right it requires no research, when done properly the first thing you find is bad measurements, contradicting opinion, and outrageous prices.

 

Sennheiser Ambeo - $ 3,299.95                   Samsung Q950A - $1,649.99                   Swan D1090 (my recommendation) - $399.99

 

Btw, *ahem* this is a bookshelf speaker he's recommending over sounbars.

 

1.

Quote

If you can point out one soundbar that an actual audio engineer, enthusiast, or audiophile has recommended or approved, I'll stand corrected. 

Please remind me where you asked for good measurements, more than a single opinion, or asked about price? Not going to comment on the actual measurements themselves, Just going to ask we're they're from and how they were recorded? 

 

2.  I explicitly mentioned in my *first* post: 

Quote

 Provided, as far as I know there's really no compelling options out there under $400 USD currently. 

 

3. This tells me that you likely didn't even watch the video. Andrew recently did his q950a review, and he didn't mention the fives (the review of which he did a good amount of time ago). He also stated that it could be a compelling option over similarly priced bookshelves and floor standers. He would've... maybe, recommended the fives over this sometime in his video if he thought they were better?

 

Quote

If something's too bright, you can find the peak and pull it down in a fine EQ. If something's neutral, that's good. If something's dark (which most soundbars are), you could try boosting the treble frequencies, but that's pretty much a loss at that point because you can pull frequencies down a lot easier than you can push them up on a poorly tuned driver (they usually don't react very kindly to that)

Managed to totally miss my point.

Quote

If we have measurements that show it's good, and lots people who've heard it who like it, what more do you need? That's pretty much all you need to qualify as good. The best speaker that can do both within X amount of money is the best one of that pricepoint, that's how it's decided

You have yet to define "good," which is basically my point. 

Quote

Being that they're powered monitors, that makes it easy. That already cuts out all of the passive monitors as even comparable on a budget. The only powered monitors available in that $400 price range that're any good are the Mackie MR524/MR624's and the Adam Audio T5V's (but they're both very old nowadays, the Swans are much more modern):

 

[D1090]                                                                                                        [MR524 & T5V]

 

Pretty narrow list that's missing a decent amount of speakers that I might possibly recommend- depending on circumstance, but okay. 

Quote

The other monitors are also mostly recommended for music production, whereas the swans are also more-so comporable in a multimedia/home-theatre setup. The D1090's can also get pretty V-shaped when you start messing with the Bass/Treble dials on the side of them, which is largely a very consumer-friendly sound profile.

We... don't know what's their situation and setup, that was one of my primary points

Also.... what happened to good measurements?

[AzrealNoctis]

On 6/4/2021 at 12:59 AM, Brok3n But who cares? said:

 While your first sentence I agree with for the most part, the soundbar industry is rapidly growing and developing. There's actually a lot of soundbars/ systems out there that don't suck. Provided, as far as I know there's really no compelling options out there under $400 USD currently. So uh, Nyes, but yeah, It'll obviously depend on your frame of reference and your personal opinion. 

While your first sentence I agree with for the most part, the soundbar industry is rapidly growing and developing. There's actually a lot of soundbars/ systems out there that don't suck. Provided, as far as I know there's really no compelling options out there under $400 USD currently. So uh, Nyes, but yeah, It'll obviously depend on your frame of reference and your personal opinion. 

I take more of an issue with this. Like I mentioned a second ago, sound is quite subjective. Saying that something is the "best" under x amount of money is easy, proving yourself right-even subjectively- is extremely difficult, while It's nearly impossible to prove that you're correct only through objective means. I can all but guarentee you that the swans, when they're backed up right against a cement wall with, mmm maybe brushed stainless steel sheets right behind them, while they're toed out agressively in a 10x10 ft cement room, they won't sound too great.

 

However, I don't take issue with the recommendation itself, just your choice of wording, and your general recommendation for OP without knowing their (more specific) circumstance, such as any limitations he might have, how far the speakers will be from a wall, ect.

Wait... what's up with people recommending nearfield monitors in this topic? Oh well. Anyways yes, as was stated you'll probably need a dac for those, they won't play nice pushed up against a wall- iirc especially those JBL's. If OP is listening from further out, well that gets a bit worse. 

Well, can you answer some questions real quick to give us a better idea of your situation? 

1. What situation will you be using this for? Living room home theatre setup? Desktop setup for listening to music and gaming? Anything really, the more specific you can be the better.

2. Do you have any space constraints for the speakers themselves? 

3. Is there a type tuning/sound curve you like? If you don't really know what that means, Do you like a lot of bass (e.g, a kick drum), treble (E.G, a symbol), midrange (E.G human voices, if you say a band this is where about 80% of them would live)? Do you want it to just be balanced? A lot of something, a little of something?  Is there something that you felt your current soundbar is missing? 

4. Room- Can you specify what the room you're placing them is made out of, it's rough dimensions, and say what are the most common materials in it (Say carpet, leather materials, wood, metal surfaces, ect.)? This isn't required but it can help with us choosing a speaker, as room acoustics can pretty seriously affect how a room sounds.  

5. Distance from wall- How far away will the (back) of your speaker be from a wall/corner? A rough number or range would be appreciated, anything to get an idea. This can be pretty important. 

1:they'll be used in my room for YouTube and gaming, plenty of gaming.

2:Not really, so long as they aren't massive, in the attached picture, the speakers would ideally go in between the window and the closet(that big open spot, doors not in yet. Also, the dressers will move, the white one is just there till I wall mount my xbox and Playstation)

3:I think something balanced that I could adjust would work nicely.

4:idk the dimensions of the room, but it's made pretty much entirely out of wood.

5:since I'd likely put them on a stand, I think theyd be around 1-2 feet from the wall.

 

6:what the balls happened here?  It went from sound to objectively proving oneself.