@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).
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.
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.
"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 $300 bookshelf setup. They try to correct this by using a bass heavy equilizer but you can only get so far by doing that. Small amps are notoriously noisy, with low SNR (signal to noise ratio) and have a very limited current output which produces clipping.
Let's start with the basics for planning your setup. What's your budget and how much space do you have for speakers (and where)?
Your question doesn't really make sense. "Home theater" is not a product or a type of product. "Home theater" literally means an attempt to mimic theater functionality in the home with a setup. A soundbar can be part of a home theater. My best guess is that by "home theater" you either mean "bookshelf speakers" or "home theater in a box" (which includes satellite speakers and an a/v receiver at the minimum).
kirbypuff Wrote:Headphones?
This effectively defeats the entire point of a home theater setup with a tv. And as a result most low/midrange tvs don't even support them (although you could easily use a dual rca to 3.5mm trs adapter). It should also be implied from OPs question that he is going for a home theater setup.
HeyAlucard Wrote:I use the Logitech Logitech X-530 5.1 ( Equivalent Z506 5.1) They're pretty cheap and sound decent got mine for 70$ 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)?
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-Ron Swanson
"I shall be a good politician, even if it kills me. Or if it kills anyone else for that matter. "
-Mark Antony