virtual surround Cheap Sound bar in France?

[FrenchChef]

Hello LTT Community

I am searching for cheapest and best sound bar for a small room. I can't set up fancy 5.1 (or 9.1.4) setup and can't get a subwoofer because I am a loving neighbor caring for the acoustic well being of all around me (in the future when I will have an individual house and my den, I will get a giant sub... but no woofer now okay? :D). The sound coming from my screen is flat, non-immersive, distorted and not very precise (of course). It's not great for movie nights with my SO, even if she doesn't complain. I complain because I like good sound quality, I have always gotten my hands on great headphones or made myself some 4.1 or 5.1 sound systems for all of my setups. Now, I can't do it because I don't have the space and my SO would kill me (I have to settle down to headset and sound card). I still think she'd enjoy a small but good (and cheap) sound bar with virtual surround for our movie / tv nights. 

Anybody got an idea on how to make my movie / game / music nights better?  

Price wise, I'd be very happy for options under 100€ but I can push to 150€ or wait for new releases if needed.

Thank you all and have a great day! Also, I am in France, so maybe all the products aren't available. I was thinking about a Vizio sound bar but I can't seem to find it

[Pixel5]

i would highly suggest not to go for a soundbar because if you ever happen to upgrade the soundbar is something that will go in the trash cause you dont need it.

 

i would buy a used old stereo amp and get some small book shelf speakers to go with it, the deliver much better sound than soundbars and once you upgrade you can use them as surround speakers.

 

Always buy audio equipment used, its much cheaper any usually only has a few scratches for example i bought an old technics amp from 1988 for 30€ which is driving my Canton GLE490 whenever i take them with me to somewhere where i don't want to risk my Denon amp getting damaged.

 

 

[FrenchChef]

21 minutes ago, Pixel5 said:

i would highly suggest not to go for a soundbar because if you ever happen to upgrade the soundbar is something that will go in the trash cause you dont need it.

 

i would buy a used old stereo amp and get some small book shelf speakers to go with it, the deliver much better sound than soundbars and once you upgrade you can use them as surround speakers.

 

Always buy audio equipment used, its much cheaper any usually only has a few scratches for example i bought an old technics amp from 1988 for 30€ which is driving my Canton GLE490 whenever i take them with me to somewhere where i don't want to risk my Denon amp getting damaged.

 

 

Can it do virtual surround though?  Is Virtual Surround worth it?

[Pixel5]

the old stereo amps will not do virtual surround but realistically it kind of works in the right conditions as you need to have walls facing the right direction to reflect the sound so it sounds like it coming from behind.

 

But in reality its more like a gimmick especially in the price range you are looking for.

 

The approach i mention is a little more future proof for whenever you want to expand you system, i have gone from a pre build 5.1 setup that broke after a year to a self build setup and the total cost was about 1000€ for everything.

 

the good thing is you dont need to buy everything at once, good stereo speakers alone make a huge difference compared to the TV speakers.

Also once you have the funds and space to get standing speakers for the front you may not even need a sub if the speakers have a good bass already.

[FrenchChef]

1 minute ago, Pixel5 said:

the old stereo amps will not do virtual surround but realistically it kind of works in the right conditions as you need to have walls facing the right direction to reflect the sound so it sounds like it coming from behind.

 

But in reality its more like a gimmick especially in the price range you are looking for.

 

The approach i mention is a little more future proof for whenever you want to expand you system, i have gone from a pre build 5.1 setup that broke after a year to a self build setup and the total cost was about 1000€ for everything.

 

the good thing is you dont need to buy everything at once, good stereo speakers alone make a huge difference compared to the TV speakers.

Also once you have the funds and space to get standing speakers for the front you may not even need a sub if the speakers have a good bass already.

Do you have some example of cheap good speakers?  (and easy to get of course)

[Pixel5]

i am using canton GLE420 as my rear speakers but they would also do well as front speakers especially compared to build in TV speakers.

 

they are a little expensive right now cause i think they got replaced by a new series but that means you could get them used for a cheap price.

Just an example of howmuch you can safe if you are lucky when buying used, at the time i bought them the Canton GLE490 speakers cost 430€ each for version 2

i bought 4 year old version one GLE490 and only paid 230€ for the pair.

 

Also bought my Denon X1000 amp used for 100€ less than it costs new, audio equipment is really good to buy used.