Need assistance picking a good soundbar.

[Gustavo Dutra]

So i have recently bought the cheapest sound bar i found in one store at the mall. Just to have an idea of how to set it up and learn how they work and sound obviously....
So, payment just got in. I'm full and i want something way better.

You guys know a pretty good soundbar out there ? Both for movies and some console gaming ?

Appreciate you guys.

[GeorgeMKane]

[Commodus]

18 hours ago, Gustavo Dutra said:

So i have recently bought the cheapest sound bar i found in one store at the mall. Just to have an idea of how to set it up and learn how they work and sound obviously....
So, payment just got in. I'm full and i want something way better.

You guys know a pretty good soundbar out there ? Both for movies and some console gaming ?

Appreciate you guys.

Your budget will dictate what your options are, but I would lean toward Samsung and Vizio for conventional soundbars, and Sonos (mainly the Beam or Arc) if you want something that doubles as a smart speaker. Get something with a subwoofer and surround audio if you can, and be mindful of whether your need HDMI or optical audio connections. I've found that Rtings has good lists of the best soundbars in given categories.

[sm1th5]

None on this planet I would ever touch again.

 

I just gave away my old bose soundtouch 130 soundbar to a family member.

 

I now exclusively use av receivers and speakers. Doesn't sound like you have the budget to find anything good TBH unfortunately  

[Commodus]

9 hours ago, sm1th5 said:

None on this planet I would ever touch again.

 

I just gave away my old bose soundtouch 130 soundbar to a family member.

 

I now exclusively use av receivers and speakers. Doesn't sound like you have the budget to find anything good TBH unfortunately  

There are good soundbars, but I'd say their main allure is their compactness and minimal wires. As a recent parent I realize there will soon come a day when I'll worry about my son tripping over cables or pulling a satellite down — I'm willing to sacrifice some audio quality to keep him safe.

[sm1th5]

I honestly don't see a way for someone to trip over a wire.

 

I have wires in my living room and there's 0 chance it will ever happen. 

 

What you use is a raceway. White trunking. That you attach to the walls and or floor to hide the wires. And there's no possibility of this to happen. 

 

There's also little to no chance someone will knock over a speaker either. Have mine on a table and tv cabinet and never been knocked over either.

 

You can wall mount if necessary and it makes it too difficult to knock over.

 

 

[seanondemand]

Sound bars have gotten very cost effective and are a really good way, especially in a smaller space, to get really good sound for your tv. Some people just don't care to mess around with building out a receiver-based solution and just want more of a plug-and-play (and also very clean looking) solution. Different strokes for different folks. 
 

Digital Trends just did an excellent rundown on some good options to start with on your research. 

 

[dalekphalm]

On 11/30/2022 at 5:30 PM, Gustavo Dutra said:

So i have recently bought the cheapest sound bar i found in one store at the mall. Just to have an idea of how to set it up and learn how they work and sound obviously....
So, payment just got in. I'm full and i want something way better.

You guys know a pretty good soundbar out there ? Both for movies and some console gaming ?

Appreciate you guys.

What's your budget? That's going to be the determining factor.

 

If budget is no concern, something like this:

https://www.samsung.com/ca/audio-devices/soundbar/q990b-black-hw-q990b-zc/

the HW-Q990B is an amazing soundbar with wireless rear speakers, and discrete 11.1.4 channels (11 main channels, including sides and rears, 1 sub, 4 atmos channels).

 

But this thing retails for like $2000.

 

BTW you can ignore anyone who says "all Soundbars are crap" and stuff like that. Yeah - you often can get a better more versatile experience with a dedicated AVR and separate speakers, but there are excellent Soundbars out there, that are easy to setup and offer a lot of space savings.