Good basic sound bar?

[Harry Voyager]

We've got an LG 55 Nano 81, that the speakers are starting to get a bit dodgy on. (Apparently it's got about 5000h on it already, which sort of freaks me out a little).

 

I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what I need to look for in a sound bar for this? 

 

We've currently got an Xbox Series X, a Switch, and a WII using component video and sound hooked into this thing, and we're running this using an Inteset Universal Remote. 

 

Do most sound bars just replace the TV speakers directly, or is it more complicated than that? 

 

I'm not really looking for audiophile grade performance; it will spend it's life playing variations of Baby Shark and the equivalent. I'm looking for ease of use and robustness. (It will probably be used as a baseball bat by a 2-year old at some point.) 

 

Thank you, 

 

Harry Voyager

[filpo]

10 minutes ago, Harry Voyager said:

I'm not really looking for audiophile grade performance; it will spend it's life playing variations of Baby Shark and the equivalent. I'm looking for ease of use and robustness. (It will probably be used as a baseball bat by a 2-year old at some point.) 

 

these two have dedicated subwoofers Amazon.com: VIZIO V-Series 2.1 Home Theater Sound Bar with DTS Virtual:X, Wireless Subwoofer and Alexa Compatibility, V214x-K6, 2023 Model : Everything Else

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG HW-B450 2.1ch Soundbar w/Dolby Audio, Subwoofer Included, Bass Boosted, Wireless Bluetooth TV Connection, Adaptive Sound Lite, Game Mode, 2022 : Electronics

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, Harry Voyager said:

Do most sound bars just replace the TV speakers directly, or is it more complicated than that? 

My mom has a Bose sound bar connected via optical and my dad has the Roku Stream Bar connected via HDMI. The sound bars do replace the TV speakers. I can tell you that they tend not to sound much better than the default TV speakers. I know a lot of people around here would suggest Bookshelf speakers as they tend to offer better sound. 

[Harry Voyager]

25 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

My mom has a Bose sound bar connected via optical and my dad has the Roku Stream Bar connected via HDMI. The sound bars do replace the TV speakers. I can tell you that they tend not to sound much better than the default TV speakers. I know a lot of people around here would suggest Bookshelf speakers as they tend to offer better sound. 

Are there ones that are just plug and play with current TVs? 

 

I've got headphones for the audiophile stuff I do. This is mostly going to be for small children and I just need enough audio functionality to keep my sanity. Like I said, the current speakers were fine, until they started sounding like the adults from Peanuts.

 

The rest of the family hasn't noticed yet, but kind of where I draw the line. Even for Baby Shark Week, I have standards. They may be low standards, I have some. 

[Donut417]

Just now, Harry Voyager said:

Are there ones that are just plug and play with current TVs? 

I just know if you connect via Optical or RCA they will replace the speakers. My dads TV is the same way but the Roku Stream bar is not just a speaker is a Roku streaming device. Plus none of our TV's support ARC or eARC so I cant comment on if that does things different. 

[saintlouisbagels]

17 hours ago, Harry Voyager said:

Are there ones that are just plug and play with current TVs? 

 

I've got headphones for the audiophile stuff I do. This is mostly going to be for small children and I just need enough audio functionality to keep my sanity. Like I said, the current speakers were fine, until they started sounding like the adults from Peanuts.

 

The rest of the family hasn't noticed yet, but kind of where I draw the line. Even for Baby Shark Week, I have standards. They may be low standards, I have some. 

Any cheap soundbar is fine - TV speakers are the worst.

This Sony soundbar is sub-$100 and you don't have to think about a separate subwoofer unit like the above recommendations.

 

I checked the specs on your TV and it has HDMI with ARC functionality.

All you have to do is connect an HDMI cable from your TV (make sure it's the one labeled ARC) to the soundbar, maybe check the TV settings for CEC, and both devices will communicate with one another. Check the TV settings for Audio Output too.

[Genesis8935]

On 6/19/2023 at 7:46 AM, saintlouisbagels said:

This Sony soundbar is sub-$100 and you don't have to think about a separate subwoofer unit like the above recommendations.

Your link doesn't seem to be working (404). 

[saintlouisbagels]

42 minutes ago, Genesis8935 said:

Your link doesn't seem to be working (404). 

Sony S100F