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Sound Bar Recommendations

TylerD321

I have a tv in my living room that I routinely have to turn all the way up in order to be able to hear. I’m not sure if it is dang Hulu’s fault or what.

 

As I rent, I am unable to mount my tv on the wall and it has to sit in an area that is built into the house, so I can’t get a bigger tv. That means I have to put the sound bar under the tv, there is no room in front of it. 
 

The size of room I have under the legs is approximately 32 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall. (There is technically 2.75 inches but I don’t want to interfere with remote connectivity).

 

I am willing to spend 200 usd or so (located in the US, prefer Amazon). I am open to options without subwoofer, or with - as long as it is wireless as I would put it by my couch. I can go a little over budget if it would greatly change sound quality and volume.

 

My tv has HDMI in eARC and a digital audio out port. Either of these options are valid. What would you guys recommend?

My PC Specs: (expand to view)

 

 

Main Gaming Machine

CPU:  Intel Core i7-14700K
CPU Cooler: Deepcool LT720
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000

Storage 1: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB

Storage 2: Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB
Video Card: EVGA XC3 ULTRA GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 10GB

Power Supply: Corsair RM850 850W
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow
Case Fan 120mm: Noctua F12 PWM 54.97 CFM 120 mm (x1)
Case Fan 140mm: Noctua A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140 mm (x2)
Monitor Main: MSI G274QPF-QD 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz
Monitor Vertical: Asus VA27EHE 27.0" 1920x1080 75 Hz

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Frankly you're going to have a hard time picking anything that will perform worse than your built in TV speakers.

 

I know rtings has a comprehensive list of soundbars they've tested for under $200 (I'm not sure if I can link to their site or not). The Vizio M Series M215aw-K6 and Vizio V Series V51X-j6 are ranked near the top. Both will easily fit under your TV but are wider by about 2 inches on either side (36" wide). 

 

If you really can't fit that width you could also try the Bose Solo 5 which is only 21.6" wide, but it's 2.6" high. You could always shim under the TV legs if the speaker height does actually block the IR on the TV.

 

I have an older Vizio on our smaller TV and it does the job in terms of boosting dialog.

I like smart home and home theater tech.

My 5.1 setup consists of: Sony x90cj 75" TV, Yamaha RX-V4A Receiver, Apple TV 4k gen 2, SVS SB-1000 Pro Sub, KEF Q350 L/R, KEF Q250c Center, KEF Q150 rears.

My smart home is built around Home Assistant.

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56 minutes ago, ender23 said:

Frankly you're going to have a hard time picking anything that will perform worse than your built in TV speakers.

 

I know rtings has a comprehensive list of soundbars they've tested for under $200 (I'm not sure if I can link to their site or not). The Vizio M Series M215aw-K6 and Vizio V Series V51X-j6 are ranked near the top. Both will easily fit under your TV but are wider by about 2 inches on either side (36" wide). 

 

If you really can't fit that width you could also try the Bose Solo 5 which is only 21.6" wide, but it's 2.6" high. You could always shim under the TV legs if the speaker height does actually block the IR on the TV.

 

I have an older Vizio on our smaller TV and it does the job in terms of boosting dialog.

I actually ended up picking a Samsung sound bar up from Best Buy yesterday. It was the largest one that could fit under my tv. I am shockingly very happy with it.

 

Samsung C Series 2.1ch DTS Virtual: X Soundbar Titan Black HW-C450 - Best Buy

My PC Specs: (expand to view)

 

 

Main Gaming Machine

CPU:  Intel Core i7-14700K
CPU Cooler: Deepcool LT720
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000

Storage 1: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB

Storage 2: Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB
Video Card: EVGA XC3 ULTRA GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 10GB

Power Supply: Corsair RM850 850W
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow
Case Fan 120mm: Noctua F12 PWM 54.97 CFM 120 mm (x1)
Case Fan 140mm: Noctua A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140 mm (x2)
Monitor Main: MSI G274QPF-QD 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz
Monitor Vertical: Asus VA27EHE 27.0" 1920x1080 75 Hz

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Nice! Glad you found something that works for you.

I like smart home and home theater tech.

My 5.1 setup consists of: Sony x90cj 75" TV, Yamaha RX-V4A Receiver, Apple TV 4k gen 2, SVS SB-1000 Pro Sub, KEF Q350 L/R, KEF Q250c Center, KEF Q150 rears.

My smart home is built around Home Assistant.

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