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Soundbar vs. AVR w/2 speakers?

post #1 of 4
9/11/08 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
I know there are plenty of discussions comparing soundbars to 5.1 or 7.1 but what about plain ol' 2.1?

I have a small room where at least 1 seat and probably 2 will be right next to a rear satellite which can't be good for surround. I was ready to get a soundbar (probably the Sony 100) but it occurred to me that a receiver plus 2 speakers (plus sub) might give me better results. 70% of the time will be spent watching cable or BR disks, 10% Wii and 20% music.

I love the Sony price, ease of setup plus there's no need to buy an AVR.

Any thoughts?
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post #2 of 4
9/11/08 at 9:43am
What kind of blu-ray player are you using? If it's a PS3 or some other player that decodes Dolby True HD and DTS HD MA to multichannel LPCM, then the soundbar is all you need. If you're using a player that has to send the lossless audio to a receiver to be decoded then you will need a receiver capable of doing so.

And just fyi, the Sony HT-CT100 soundbar is 3.1, not 2.1. It has a left, right and center, as opposed to just left/right.
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post #3 of 4
9/11/08 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 
Thanks. A PS3 is on order but does all that format stuff actually matter if I'm only using a soundbar or 2.1/3.1 speakers?
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post #4 of 4
9/11/08 at 10:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dmaxdmax View Post

Thanks. A PS3 is on order but does all that format stuff actually matter if I'm only using a soundbar or 2.1/3.1 speakers?

Difficult to say for sure. I like the Sony soundbar for simplicity. One cable between the PS3 and soundbar and another from the soundbar to the TV and you're done. If you with a separate receiver, then I would definitely get one capable of all the latest audio, just in case I ever decided to expand the system to 5.1 or 7.1.
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