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Soundbar Help for the Uneducated & Poor man

2K views 38 replies 8 participants last post by  dkfan9 
#1 ·
OK guys, I really need your help. I just got a Samsung 65JS8500 but the sound feels weak. I'm always turning the sound way up for my favorite sporting even or TV show. Perhaps it is the speakers equipped with the TV. Perhaps it is the size of our living room (see below).

So I am looking for something a little fuller and more clarity. My wife, however, isn't in the same boat as me. We've had speakers before, she hated them, and I promised never again if we got a new TV. Well, we've compromised on a soundbar. She will tolerate the sleekness of a soundbar.

I have about $100 in BB gift cards as well as a 10% coupon. I then have about $200 in cash. It appears as if many soundbars are on sale (bc of the Super Bowl?) and now might be a good time to cash in. However, I have no idea what to get. Can you guys please help me?
 

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#10 ·
No subwoofer would honestly make her day! How well will it sync with the TV? My wife wants something easy to use where she just has to turn on the TV and not mess with anything else. It sounds as if the Samsung soundbars are pretty seamless. What about the Yamaha 105?
 
#11 ·
Prior to buying an AVR I used a Yamaha 101 soundbar with an 8" Yamaha sub and for less than $300 it sounded pretty damn good. Many soundbars can be had with a wireless sub that Is small enough be placed out of sight. Definitely better than tv speakers.

Sent from my HTC One_M8
 
#13 ·
The Yamaha can be configured to come on with your TV. You will connect the Sound bar with a toslink (included with sound bar) from the TV to the sound bar. The sound bar then needs to learn the codes or your TV. You go into the TVs menu and turn off the TV speakers. The sound bar will now work with your TV, Cable, SAT or whatever remote knows your Samsung TV codes. It takes about 5-10 minutes to configure.


The Yamaha has noticeably better sound quality but its bass will not go as loud as the Samsung unless you add a sub. If the side table is open and not enclosed it is no problem placing a sub there. If it were me I would go with the Yamaha and if the bass does not go low or loud enough then add a sub, either now or in the future. If you can up your budget to about $50 more than t` he Samsung and add a Dayton or Bic sub from Parts Express it will blow the Samsung sub away and make the Yamaha a clear winner over the Samsung.
 
#15 ·
Technically, neither of these will handle a large room with tall ceilings, but it depends on your expectations. I wouldn't expect these sound bars to compete against most bookshelf speakers. Many bookshelves have as big of a woofer as the Samsung subwoofer. There is only so much small speakers can do, whether it be in a sound bar or a very small speaker. If your expectation is to get a better, fuller sound than the TV than the sound bar will be fine. If you expect a small sound bar to play at loud volumes and rock the house like bigger speakers, you will be greatly disappointed.


The Yamaha will have cleaner, better sound, especially with vocals and can play a little louder than the Samsung in the midrange and higher frequencies. Bass is where the Samsung has an advantage against the Yamaha without a sub. The smaller speakers in the Yamaha will not play bass as loud as the Samsung Sub. If you add even a small sub to the Yamaha it will give significantly better sound overall. Otherwise without a sub, you have to decide between cleaner, fuller sound of the Yamaha or more bass of the Samsung.
 
#16 ·
If your expectation is to get a better, fuller sound than the TV than the sound bar will be fine. If you expect a small sound bar to play at loud volumes and rock the house like bigger speakers, you will be greatly disappointed.
My expectation is better sound than the TV. I am not looking for something that will blow your socks off. I just want something that is fuller. The sound my TV provides seems empty and perhaps even distant. The vocals are fine but everything else just feels nonexistent.

Does that make sense?
 
#19 ·
That depends on how it is connected. If using ARC it is the same as optical. If you go into the sound bar from your a blu-ray player with HDMI and then out to the TV you will get he lossless formats. Most other source are not lossless so it makes no difference. But, honestly the difference between the lossless formats and the compressed formats is minor compared to the difference in speaker quality.
 
#26 ·
FWIW ... All my peripherals go into the OneConnect via HDMI. Then, the One Connect goes to the TV via HDMI. The soundbar is then connected from TV via optical.

I assume it is a setup like this you are referring to when saying it makes no difference between HDMI and optical?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
So my wife and I went to BB today ...

They didn't have the Yamaha. And long story short, I walked out with the http://www.polkaudio.com/magnifi/d/1237C3537Polk Magnifi.

I admittedly knew little about it. And I honestly didn't go in to buy anything. However, my wife just wanted me to get a soundbar. Plus, it had a sub and my wife was happy with it. Thoughts? Did I mess up?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#21 ·
It's funny when you come these forums and think, SNAP! In the same boat recently, the wife tired of speakers everywhere and thundering noise.. The downfall of having a non-dedicated theatre room, the compromise begins. I went with a JBL SB200. The biggest downfall for me was no sub and provision for it but I plan to upgrade ;).

I think you did well and listened to this when we were shopping. Out of all of the soundbars we listened the 'audio' brands definitely shined i.e. Polk, JBL, klipsch, yamaha etc

Hope you enjoy!
 
#27 ·
Your sound bar does not have HDMI so that is the best way to hook it up. For sound bars with HDMI connections that use the ARC connection there is no difference in sound quality over optical. For sound bars the connect a Blu-ray player or other device with lossless formats there is a small advantage to connecting the device to the sound bar and not using ARC. You typically only see this done with sound bars that have multiple HDMI inputs and all your devices connect to the sound bar and then from the sound bar to the TV.


But, even if your sound bar can accept HDMI and the lossless formats, the difference between the compressed and lossless formats is not be as great as having a better quality sound bar that has better speakers. Sometimes people get caught up in the features and forget the biggest difference in sound quality is what makes the sound, the speakers.
 
#30 ·
With digital signals quality of cable can matter for getting a signal but if you have a signal there is no difference in quality. The digital ones and zeroes are the same if receiving a signal, a better cable doesn't change the signal. So if your optical cable is working then getting a better cable will not improve the sound. Typically, we see problems with longer HDMI cables where the cheaper cables lose enough signal that the ones and zeroes are not recognized by the other device.
 
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