Sound Bar vs Home Theater

IceStrike256 · 03-01-2015, 08:16 AM #1

My tv sound sucks so i want either a soundbar or home theater. Any thoughts?

kirbypuff · (This post was last modified: 03-01-2015, 10:04 AM by kirbypuff.)

Headphones?

**AnyOldName3** · 03-01-2015, 01:06 PM #3

I've not actually got one, but some modern soundbars sound pretty surroundy. Still, for this kind of thing it'd be a much better idea to find a store where you can listen to things before dropping money on them.

HeyAlucard · (This post was last modified: 03-01-2015, 03:27 PM by HeyAlucard.)

home theater for sure
I use the Logitech Logitech X-530 5.1 ( Equivalent Z506 5.1) They're pretty cheap and sound decent got mine for 70$ USD.

IceStrike256 · 03-01-2015, 04:03 PM #5

(03-01-2015, 01:06 PM)AnyOldName3 Wrote: I've not actually got one, but some modern soundbars sound pretty surroundy. Still, for this kind of thing it'd be a much better idea to find a store where you can listen to things before dropping money on them.

From things I've read good soundboard have great virtual surround sound and I am leaning that direction because of simplicity.

(03-01-2015, 03:06 PM)HeyAlucard Wrote: home theater for sure
I use the Logitech Logitech X-530 5.1 ( Equivalent Z506 5.1) They're pretty cheap and sound decent got mine for 70$ USD.

I used to have an awesome set of Logitech surround sound speakers ten years ago they were great and I wouldn't mind going that route again but they don't have digital input.

(03-01-2015, 10:02 AM)kirbypuff Wrote: Headphones?

Uncomfortable and won't allow the whole family to hear the tv unfortunately.

teh_speleegn_polease · 03-02-2015, 01:26 AM #6

(03-01-2015, 04:03 PM)IceStrike256 Wrote:
(03-01-2015, 10:02 AM)kirbypuff Wrote: Headphones?

Uncomfortable and won't allow the whole family to hear the tv unfortunately.

I'm pretty sure there's a type of headphones out there to fit almost everyone. Circumaural, supra-aural, leather, fuzzy (I'm sure that's the technical term Tongue

), light or heavy, isolating or breathable, etc. - something out there is almost sure to be comfortable for you. You could also make a setup for several pairs of headphones (e.g. wireless ones on the same channel). That said, it would be pretty expensive (with good headphones costing easily over $100 per pair), so it might indeed not be the best option.

**NaturalViolence** · (This post was last modified: 03-02-2015, 01:43 AM by NaturalViolence.)

@IceStrike256
Your question doesn't really make sense. "Home theater" is not a product or a type of product. "Home theater" literally means an attempt to mimic theater functionality in the home with a setup. A soundbar can be part of a home theater. My best guess is that by "home theater" you either mean "bookshelf speakers" or "home theater in a box" (which includes satellite speakers and an a/v receiver at the minimum).

kirbypuff Wrote:Headphones?

This effectively defeats the entire point of a home theater setup with a tv. And as a result most low/midrange tvs don't even support them (although you could easily use a dual rca to 3.5mm trs adapter). It should also be implied from OPs question that he is going for a home theater setup.

HeyAlucard Wrote:I use the Logitech Logitech X-530 5.1 ( Equivalent Z506 5.1) They're pretty cheap and sound decent got mine for 70$ USD.

Those are PC speakers that run off of multiple trs cables. That's completely unusable for a home theater setup unless the only device he plans on using with the tv is an htpc.

IceStrike256 Wrote:From things I've read good soundboard have great virtual surround sound and I am leaning that direction because of simplicity.

"Great" in the sense that they're better than stereo for that. A real surround sound setup will beat them in surround effect.

Soundbars are generally shit when it comes to sound quality. They're designed to sacrifice audio quality for cost and convenience/simplificity. Which is why they've become so popular. They are really easy to place under/above the tv so they don't really require any dedicated space and all you have to do is plug in 1 cable to get them working.

I am not an audiphile by any means but as someone who cares to some degree about audio quality in their setups it drives me insane that they've become so popular (much like this new wave of ultra thin tvs that throws reliability and IQ out the window to save an inch of thickness). Yet I understand why consumers want/use them. And whatever consumers want that's what the market is going to gravitate towards. That's why you see them all over the place in retail stores. But I'm getting a bit off topic here.

Soundbars suck because they are forced to use very small drivers (the electromagnetic transducers that make the sound) and amps to fit into that very short (height wise) bar. Small drivers cannot produce good bass or even midrange. They just can't move enough air with each oscillation. Look at the frequency response curves of a typical $300 soundbar then compare it against a $300 bookshelf setup. They try to correct this by using a bass heavy equilizer but you can only get so far by doing that. Small amps are notoriously noisy, with low SNR (signal to noise ratio) and have a very limited current output which produces clipping.

Let's start with the basics for planning your setup. What's your budget and how much space do you have for speakers (and where)?

IceStrike256 · 03-02-2015, 04:36 AM #8

Looking to stay under 200 blew my spending budget on my desktop lol. And I can mount speakers so space isn't really a concern.

**NaturalViolence** · 03-02-2015, 05:20 AM #9

$200 for a home theater audio setup!?! That's about as low as you can possibly get away with. I would recommend stepping that up if you can. $400-600 would be more reasonable for a low budget build.

At that price I recommend against surround sound because you'll be stuck with crappy satellite speakers. I would also recommend buying active speakers. Active (also called powered) speakers will limit your future upgrade potential but will allow you to get better sound for your money. I would also recommend buying used. And this goes true of any price range since speakers don't degrade in quality over time nor has the tech substantially improved over the last 60 years unlike other industries.

I have a few suggestions in mind but let me ask you a few more questions first.

Important questions:
How big is the room? How far away from where the speakers will be do you normally sit?

Less important questions:
Do you prefer bookshelf or floorstanding speakers (or do you not have a preference)? How important is having a subwoofer (deep bass)? How important is having surround sound (2D positional effects)? Do you prefer bassy (bass heavy), neutral, or bright (treble heavy) speakers (or no preference)? Do you prefer forward or distant (or no preference)? Do you prefer narrow or wide soundstage (or no preference)?

**KHg8m3r** · 03-02-2015, 05:41 AM **#10**

If you want the best sound, get a home theater box with hardwired speakers. We just replaced our old dead box with this Sony system and it made the same speakers sound way better because of better sound technology.

Also, I helped a friend setup a soundbar they bought online, and they didn't like that the sound got distorted at high levels.

If you can increase you budget, definitely get a surround system with hardwired speakers, it will sound way better.