Replacing 5.1 setup with sound bar

[Banzai_Joe]

Hi all,
So I have a Denon AVR-2113 with monitor audio 5.1. I had it a good few years and have always been very happy with it.
However we are renovating and completely switching the living room around, which will ruin the 5.1 setup due to the way we’ll sit and I CBA’d to re-do everything again.
So….I’m wondering are there any soundbars nowadays that don’t cost as much as a car that might offer a similar audio experience.
We watch Netflix, Prime, Disney, NowTV and freeview/freesat, which are all built in-apps on our LG TV.
We have a BD player which hardly ever gets used but nothing else would connected up that would need to utilise the sound bar.

We do already have some sonos play 1’s, so maybe the sonos beam?

Any and all advice appreciated.

 

[lucid]

The short answer is no.

There are some very good sound bars using the 'reflecting sound' technique that has also been adopted for Atmos up-firing speakers. In the case of the Yamaha YSP soundbars they add phase control to steer the sound beams more accurately to target reflective surfaces, but it's still not as good as having a real speaker in that location. However, if that's not practical, and you (a) have a room with the right layout for reflected sound to reach the listeners, and (b) can accept the trade-off of less precision for greater convenience, then I can recommend the YSP range.

You might also want to have a look at soundbars that use wireless surround speakers. They still need power of course, but Sonos, Yamaha (Musiccast range), Denon (Heos range) do sound bars and AV receivers that make use of Wi-Fi to connect the surrounds to main system.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Hi lucid, thanks for the advice.
I know sonos are crazy (and overpriced imho) expensive, considering the ever-growing list of competition nowadays.
However, as have 3 play 1’s already and you can configure them as stereo or in a 5.1 setup I thought maybe the sonos arc might be a worthwhile spend. There is power behind where we will sit in the new layout so a WiFi connected speaker setup would/could work I guess.
The current 5.1 setup has speaker cables trailed under the carpet and trunked up the walls for the surrounds. To be fair I could do the same again but I’m kind of wanting to downsize a bit as I don’t have the need for the AVR anymore, since I removed the AppleTV and NowTV box I only have the TV and BD player connected into it.
I could maybe sell the kit and raise nigh on half the money for a sound bar(?)
And again with the sonos, if I think the sound bar isn’t enough then as mentioned I can add play 1’s to recreate a 5.1.
My 4K TV has ARC, but other than that does it matter what Tv I have?

 

[hornetstinger]

Your seperates system will blow all soundbars out of the water.

Question, is your other half pushing this?

LOL

 

[Ayahuasca]

Depends how much you're willing to spend. A soundbar on its own can't even be compared to separates. Some of the higher end sound bars with a sub and rear satellites are comparable to lower end separate systems but you're looking at £1500.

 

[Mysterae_]

OP, don't do it.

Rather than get a new AV amp for the new house (old Pioneer unit bit the dust) I went with a Yamaha MusicCast BAR 400 with two MusicCast 20 wireless speakers for the rears. It's crap. In fact it's worse than that, I sigh regretfully every time I hear it. The sound quality is terrible (the sound processing modes are particularly laughable) and the sound stage very narrow. It lacks volume drastically. It might be this particular soundbar but it's put me off them for life.

Keep or upgrade your 5.1 setup - going to all but the top-end soundbars (>£1k) is going to be a severe downgrade and you'll hate it since you've experienced proper 5.1.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Thanks guys. no the Mrs isn’t pushing it, I’m kind of going through a “minimalist” phase I guess.
Our room has never lent itself to 5.1 which is why I bought the denon in the first place because the “audigy” thing works really well.
Our living room door is half way along the wall which effectively splits the room in half, so the tv area will be on one side of room making a sound bar probably a bad idea as will direct sound to the empty side of the room I guess.
It bugs me that when I turn the TV on it takes a good 10 secs for the denon to select the correct output and pump audio out the speakers.

 

[lucid]

Hi lucid, thanks for the advice.
I know sonos are crazy (and overpriced imho) expensive, considering the ever-growing list of competition nowadays.
However, as have 3 play 1’s already and you can configure them as stereo or in a 5.1 setup I thought maybe the sonos arc might be a worthwhile spend. There is power behind where we will sit in the new layout so a WiFi connected speaker setup would/could work I guess.
The current 5.1 setup has speaker cables trailed under the carpet and trunked up the walls for the surrounds. To be fair I could do the same again but I’m kind of wanting to downsize a bit as I don’t have the need for the AVR anymore, since I removed the AppleTV and NowTV box I only have the TV and BD player connected into it.
I could maybe sell the kit and raise nigh on half the money for a sound bar(?)
And again with the sonos, if I think the sound bar isn’t enough then as mentioned I can add play 1’s to recreate a 5.1.
My 4K TV has ARC, but other than that does it matter what Tv I have?

A TV with ARC will typically pass DD 5.1 (including Dolby Digital Plus for Atmos) and Dolby Stereo (as decoded by DPL / DPL II). You might get DTS in stereo, but rarely DTS 5.1

What this means is you'll have surround signals for SD and HD TV, and for mainstream streaming apps.

Your BD player puts out Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio from BD discs. The TV won't pass that. Everything will be at DD5.1 which is compressed multichannel like DVD. Whether you notice the loss of resolution there depends on the quality of the soundbar. Cheaper / less capable models won't be so good at showing the difference. Ignorance is bliss... sort of. LOL

To get anything better passed by the TV requires a set with eARC. If you do buy a soundbar then that might be a future-proofing feature to consider ready for your next TV upgrade. That, or go for a soundbar with extra HDMI inputs and HD audio decoding.

Honestly, there's no absolute right answer here. I do favour the AV receiver route, but I have read posts from FMs who made the switch to a higher-end sound bar and were happy enough.

 

[BMox81]

Have a Sonos 5.1 setup in the living room. Looks and sounds great.

 

[Grim5]

Have a Sonos 5.1 setup in the living room. Looks and sounds great.

I was about to ask why do you have a 2nd subwoofer next to th TV

 

[droyden]

@BMox81 can I ask your exact setup please?

4x one, 1x sub, 1x Arc?
Are the rears powered from the far left wall?

 

[BMox81]

@BMox81 can I ask your exact setup please?

4x one, 1x sub, 1x Arc?
Are the rears powered from the far left wall?

Sure.

2 One SL’s for the rears, Sub and Beam.

I bought a long extension lead which goes from the back of the TV unit to the back of the sofa (cable tacked to the wall on the left).

 

[willhub]

I'm contemplating possible swapping out my 4.1 for a sound bar because it would be less cluttered.

But is there any soundbar setups that come with a sub that could match my BK Monolith+ ?

The actual sound quality probably won't be hard to beat as I'm only running Wharfdale Diamond 9.1s

 

[hornetstinger]

I'm contemplating possible swapping out my 4.1 for a sound bar because it would be less cluttered.

But is there any soundbar setups that come with a sub that could match my BK Monolith+ ?

The actual sound quality probably won't be hard to beat as I'm only running Wharfdale Diamond 9.1s

Lol not a chance in hell regarding sub better than monoloth plus.

Your speakers will outclass soundbar also

 

[Simmz]

Have a Sonos 5.1 setup in the living room. Looks and sounds great.

Are the speakers facing towards the TV or each other. Can't tell in the picture. Ideally you want them facing each other and besides where you sit firing across you for better rear sound, rather than actually behind you.

 

[BMox81]

Are the speakers facing towards the TV or each other. Can't tell in the picture. Ideally you want them facing each other and besides where you sit firing across you for better rear sound, rather than actually behind you.

They’re facing towards the TV. Sound great when watching films.