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Soundbar purchase - very confused with making a decision - Page 2

post #31 of 55
12/27/11 at 8:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cynation View Post

Hello,

I got the zvox 555 this weekend. Our first impression so far has been mixed. The soundbar is, as advertised, unique in design and impressive in that manner. It sounds very good with movies and tv shows. However, it sounds good only with the dialog enhancement feature on. The vocals are lost in all three surround modes. There is no way to tune these settings! I found it disappointing with music over my iPod. The vocals sounded weak, no matter what. Besides this, the soundbar is powerful and fills the room effortlessly. Even the bass is great! I might bring in a jvc / Polk this coming weekend. The zvox definitely does not feel worthy of the price. The Sony 150 measured up pretty well to this guy IMO, and costs almost half the price.

Cheers!

cynation,

I am sorry to hear that your experience with the ZVOX was so blaise. I don't have a lot of experience with soundbars in my house (only in the storeroom) as I have only owned 2 (I had a Visio as well). I wonder if your issues come from the shape/size of your room.... I sit about 6-8 feet in front of my 555 and I never have problems discerning vocals. I do not use the dialog enhancement, but I think it works very well. Do you have OL (output leveling) on? I alway leave it off as I don't like too much compression - it colors the sound in a negative way to me. Also, I leave the surround on 2; 1 seems to kill the far right and left speakers and 3 kills the center. I like to use 3 for listening to music as it simulates stereo the best.

But anyway, yes I realize that other SBs do a better job at a lower price, there is no question. It is just a question of how much "clutter" you are willing to put up with. The answer for me is.... not much. So, the ZVOX ain't for everybody. It is definitely not for audiophiles, but works for people like me who want an easy fix to crappy TV speakers for everyday use.

Cheers rightbackatcha!

EDIT: Did you muck with the EQ a bit? What you can do is limited, but it might help a bit. I found that cranking bass muddies the sound and cranking the treble helps with clarity.
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post #32 of 55
12/27/11 at 12:04pm
Thread Starter 
Hi Kilgore,

Our TV/Soundbar is in a 12x14 living room and we sit 6-7 ft from where the TV/Soundbar is placed. I will clarify first up, I am not an audiophile at all. I have mentioned somewhere in my lengthy first post in this thread, this is my first HDTV + Audio experience My review might / might not be aligned with an expert's opinion. As I mentioned in my post above, the Zvox sounded very good with the DE feature enabled. I can easily hear it from the kitchen behind the TV. It's just that the vocals are low in surround mode, especially when I plug in the iPod (I play Pandora in HQ stream using a std Aux cable thru the front Aux input). I played around with the the EQ setting, upping the Treble in Surround mode but it did not help much. Even my fiancee felt the same with music. It sounds great for movies but I am caught between Movies / Music in terms of usage. I do not plan to invest in a hifi audio system in the immediate future and would want my soundbar to be good with both music and movies. Will continue using the Zvox for next couple of weeks and make a final decision. Also, this is my second strike with bringing home a soundbar, so there's just one last chance for the home run!

Thanks!
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post #33 of 55
1/9/12 at 9:23am
Thread Starter 
I brought home a JVC THBC1 from the local Frys and tested it for a week along with the Zvox. I have decided to keep the Zvox and have already returned the JVC sb. I would have to purchase a new powered subwoofer and connect it to the sb if I had to keep the JVC. We started liking the Zvox more and more over the past two weeks and have no reason to look for any alternative!
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post #34 of 55
1/9/12 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cynation View Post

I brought home a JVC THBC1 from the local Frys and tested it for a week along with the Zvox. I have decided to keep the Zvox and have already returned the JVC sb. I would have to purchase a new powered subwoofer and connect it to the sb if I had to keep the JVC. We started liking the Zvox more and more over the past two weeks and have no reason to look for any alternative!

Cynation, glad to hear you are warming up to the Zvox - in terms of convenience, it has a great design. Most people who come to my house don't even notice it (physically) until I point it out!

One thing I did that you might want to try is to turn your TV speakers on as well as the Zvox - it will add a little high end that the Zvox lacks. I just got a blu ray and the audio sounds pretty nice....

Cheers
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post #35 of 55
1/12/12 at 11:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gened45 View Post

Well Davyo,
The Sunday paper came out with a section that had the Yamaha YAS 101 for $229.00. I went down to the store and listened to it and, after researching it before I went, brought one home. The salesman said of the ones they carry Sony and several other brands the Yamaha was the one he thought was the best. (Of course he would say that for a sale I thought) The kids will be giving it to me for Christmas.
Things I like about it
1. It is all in one cabinet including a double speaker subwoofer. 120W all together.
2. Not too big. Some of the soundbars are huge and would be intimidating and look overwhelming. I wanted it not to take over the room.
3. Seems to have decent sound including virtual surround even in the showroom!
4. The remote is a learning remote meaning both theTime Warner and the Yamaha remote can be used for some adjustments(keeping the wifey happy).
5. There is an output for a separate subwoofer if one is needed.
6. If the soundbar blocks the Ir sensor on my Samsung the soundbar has a pass through to allow the Time Warner remote to work.
7. I was planning on using an optical cable to hook it up and it comes with one though I have another one maybe a little longer if needed.
8.It has a lot of features that the Zvox has, and some features the 555 doesn't have, for a lot less money.
9. The price was right.
As I stated I will have to wait until Sunday to "get it from my kids' but in the mean time I will be reading the manual and the reviews and learning about it in greater depth..

Hi,

Also considering this or one of the Samsung models. Would be interested to hear your impressions. Only issue I might have with this one is I have to check if the TV stand is wide enough (can you tell me how far apart the feet are). We have a Samsung 46" LCD on a low wooden cabinet in the corner of the room (no chance to wall mount because we just have floor to ceiling windows here).

Thanks
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post #36 of 55
1/13/12 at 1:10pm
Thread Starter 
Dimensions: 28"W x 16+"D x 3+"H

Here is a customer pic uploaded on Amazon: http: // www . amazon . com / gp / customer-media / product-gallery / B0055FZIZW / ref = cm_ciu_pdp_images_all

HTH!
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post #37 of 55
1/14/12 at 1:28am
thanks for the info
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post #38 of 55
1/23/12 at 11:29am
I have the zvox 555 on a tv stand that is I think 25" wide and you can feel just a small bit of the feet edging out over the side of the stand.
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post #39 of 55
1/23/12 at 8:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by frostylou View Post

Davyo,
I just heard it at Frys also. I had also heard it at Bose the day it came out.
I am sorry.. and yes, burn me at the stake for saying it.. It sounded dynamite.
Could the sub be better?.. sure
Could it be more fairly priced?.. sure

But it sounded great.

I think it's very important , for a lot of people that are new to the sound bar forums to understand.. Is that there are basically two types of technology.


#1-wall dependent - yamaha ysps, Mitsubishi unisen, the new Bose Soundbar

( sound beams being shot to and from the walls different places in the room)


#2. not wall dependant
-Sony
-Bose cinemate
-Polk
-vizio
(As the processing is going on within the sound bubble.)

That said, even #2 sounds better in the right room with the 4 walls.

But # 1- MUST have the walls.
I used to laugh at how people would walk away, (myself included) utterly unimpressed from a Mitsubishi unisen or Yamaha ysp sitting in the middle of a showroom without a wall in sight.

funny story...
When I first developed my love for home theater, same time as I got married , moved into a new home, the guy that helped me get my first home theater tv( a jvc 32 inch LCD-$2500!!) told me he had gotten back last year from I think it was CES, and heard the most mindblowing demo thing hed ever heard. It was called the Yamaha YSP -1. For me ..perfect because of the wife factor. I told him I'd heard other virtual surround things, and they all left me with me saying "ehh.."
He said not this one.

So I immediately called Good Guys. It was brand new, and I went over. It was in the middle of the showroom, and he put in Empire Strikes back. No subwoofer attached. I messed with it, the settings. I walked away saying. "ehh.."

I knew that I had to somehow be missing something. So a few days later, I went to another Good Guys near me.
They brought me into the home theater ROOM. It was attached to a subwoofer and properly set up and calibrated.
He put in the DVD of Bad Boys. ..and ..
My jaw hit the floor. I was in utter disbelief. The lights were off, and there were speakers all over this room, and I kept thinking he was lying to me about the fact that there was nothing that was coming out of any of these other speakers, and that they were all off.
And they were.

So, its so important to know which of those categories you are in ..#1 or #2.
If it is #1.. You need to hear it with the walls. Period . End of story.

If #2 ,if the wall factor is a problem, then look at the alternatives.. Sony, JVC, Vizio, Bose Cinemate, Polk.. et all, as good options.

Sorry for the novel..

This is great. Listing out the brands for the type of set up you have. I need a system that is NOT wall dependent. Do you have suggestions for the model numbers of the brands you listed for this category?

Thanks in advance
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post #40 of 55
1/27/12 at 9:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frostylou View Post

Davyo,
I just heard it at Frys also. I had also heard it at Bose the day it came out.
I am sorry.. and yes, burn me at the stake for saying it.. It sounded dynamite.
Could the sub be better?.. sure
Could it be more fairly priced?.. sure

But it sounded great.

I think it's very important , for a lot of people that are new to the sound bar forums to understand.. Is that there are basically two types of technology.


#1-wall dependent - yamaha ysps, Mitsubishi unisen, the new Bose Soundbar

( sound beams being shot to and from the walls different places in the room)


#2. not wall dependant
-Sony
-Bose cinemate
-Polk
-vizio
(As the processing is going on within the sound bubble.)

That said, even #2 sounds better in the right room with the 4 walls.

But # 1- MUST have the walls.
I used to laugh at how people would walk away, (myself included) utterly unimpressed from a Mitsubishi unisen or Yamaha ysp sitting in the middle of a showroom without a wall in sight.

funny story...
When I first developed my love for home theater, same time as I got married , moved into a new home, the guy that helped me get my first home theater tv( a jvc 32 inch LCD-$2500!!) told me he had gotten back last year from I think it was CES, and heard the most mindblowing demo thing hed ever heard. It was called the Yamaha YSP -1. For me ..perfect because of the wife factor. I told him I'd heard other virtual surround things, and they all left me with me saying "ehh.."
He said not this one.

So I immediately called Good Guys. It was brand new, and I went over. It was in the middle of the showroom, and he put in Empire Strikes back. No subwoofer attached. I messed with it, the settings. I walked away saying. "ehh.."

I knew that I had to somehow be missing something. So a few days later, I went to another Good Guys near me.
They brought me into the home theater ROOM. It was attached to a subwoofer and properly set up and calibrated.
He put in the DVD of Bad Boys. ..and ..
My jaw hit the floor. I was in utter disbelief. The lights were off, and there were speakers all over this room, and I kept thinking he was lying to me about the fact that there was nothing that was coming out of any of these other speakers, and that they were all off.
And they were.

So, its so important to know which of those categories you are in ..#1 or #2.
If it is #1.. You need to hear it with the walls. Period . End of story.

If #2 ,if the wall factor is a problem, then look at the alternatives.. Sony, JVC, Vizio, Bose Cinemate, Polk.. et all, as good options.

Sorry for the novel..

Ok so I think I definitly fall into the lacking proper walls category. What is any easy way to tell if that I am looking at needs walls or does not. For instance i was considering the ysp2200 and the bose sr-1 which are wall dependent. You mention the polk, i have considered the 6000. What about the yamaha yht-s401, Boston Acoustics Tvee30, or Harmon Kardon soundbar?
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post #41 of 55
1/27/12 at 9:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmull13 View Post

Ok so I think I definitly fall into the lacking proper walls category. What is any easy way to tell if that I am looking at needs walls or does not. For instance i was considering the ysp2200 and the bose sr-1 which are wall dependent. You mention the polk, i have considered the 6000. What about the yamaha yht-s401, Boston Acoustics Tvee30, or Harmon Kardon soundbar?

Kmull,
Yes those above 3 are not really wall dependant. (Although walls help with all soundbars). But the s401, Harmon, Boston do their processing within the sound bubble( not bouncing off walls).
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post #42 of 55
1/27/12 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frostylou View Post

Kmull,
Yes those above 3 are not really wall dependant. (Although walls help with all soundbars). But the s401, Harmon, Boston do their processing within the sound bubble( not bouncing off walls).

Thanks Frosty,
My room looks like this. Am i correct in thinking i need a soundbar that is not wall dependent?
LL
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post #43 of 55
1/27/12 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmull13 View Post

Thanks Frosty,
My room looks like this. Am i correct in thinking i need a soundbar that is not wall dependent?

Is there any wall behind the couch at all, or is it just open?
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post #44 of 55
1/27/12 at 11:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frostylou View Post

Is there any wall behind the couch at all, or is it just open?

Yes sorry for not making that clear. Its a full wall behind the couch. it extends a couple feet longer than the couch on both sides.
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post #45 of 55
1/27/12 at 11:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmull13 View Post

Yes sorry for not making that clear. Its a full wall behind the couch. it extends a couple feet longer than the couch on both sides.

Actually, you do have the walls. I think any of the Ysps or new Bose sound bar, would actually work quite well.
But I recommend strongly doing the manuel setup in the YSPs to get it just right for your shape room.
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post #46 of 55
1/27/12 at 12:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by frostylou View Post

Actually, you do have the walls. I think any of the Ysps or new Bose sound bar, would actually work quite well.
But I recommend strongly doing the manuel setup in the YSPs to get it just right for your shape room.

The Bose sound bars have room calibration built in
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post #47 of 55
1/27/12 at 1:08pm
Thanks guys, thats good to know.

Now i guess its time to decide between saving a lil money and going with something like the polk 6000, BA tvee 30, and YHT-s401 or spring for the ysp-2200 or even the bose sr1. Decisions, decisions.....
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post #48 of 55
1/27/12 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by frostylou View Post


Actually, you do have the walls. I think any of the Ysps or new Bose sound bar, would actually work quite well.
But I recommend strongly doing the manuel setup in the YSPs to get it just right for your shape room.

I think youd be thrilled once with the Ysp 2200 once you got it, and took some time to get it set up properly for your room.
I think for the price and what you get, it's a steal. And that and the Bose really are the ones that can give an amazing 5.1 feel, if the walls are there and set up right.
Again, auto set up is very iffy on the ysps. Most people are disappointed after that. Take the time and play with the Manuel setup
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post #49 of 55
1/27/12 at 8:39pm
With Bose there will be no "taking the time to set it up right", you run the calibration, it takes about 5 minutes and your done. I have heard the Bose unit with only a wall on the left side and a huge open space on the right and I still heard the right sound effects. I was really shocked.
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post #50 of 55
1/28/12 at 9:21am
Very valid points for both of those and I think Im going to go with one or the other. I actually heard the Bose in a friends living room which is MUCH more wide open than mine and it still sounded good. Im sure it would sound great in my house. That being said, I have no problem spending a little time and almost half the money on 2200 if the sound is at all in the ballpark of what the bose will give me. I guess there is only one way to find out.
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post #51 of 55
4/21/12 at 12:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by frostylou View Post

Davyo,
I just heard it at Frys also. I had also heard it at Bose the day it came out.
I am sorry.. and yes, burn me at the stake for saying it.. It sounded dynamite.
Could the sub be better?.. sure
Could it be more fairly priced?.. sure

But it sounded great.

I think it's very important , for a lot of people that are new to the sound bar forums to understand.. Is that there are basically two types of technology.


#1-wall dependent - yamaha ysps, Mitsubishi unisen, the new Bose Soundbar

( sound beams being shot to and from the walls different places in the room)


#2. not wall dependant
-Sony
-Bose cinemate
-Polk
-vizio
(As the processing is going on within the sound bubble.)

That said, even #2 sounds better in the right room with the 4 walls.

But # 1- MUST have the walls.

This is a question coming from a newcomer to this world, but you mention the "new" Bose being a type #1 (wall dependant) soundbar, but then you also mention the Bose "cinemate" as a type #2 (not wall dependant). Just for clarification when you say "cinemate" am I correct to assume you're referring to the Bose Cinemate 1SR soundbar? Thanks in advance.
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post #52 of 55
4/21/12 at 1:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elands View Post

This is a question coming from a newcomer to this world, but you mention the "new" Bose being a type #1 (wall dependant) soundbar, but then you also mention the Bose "cinemate" as a type #2 (not wall dependant). Just for clarification when you say "cinemate" am I correct to assume you're referring to the Bose Cinemate 1SR soundbar? Thanks in advance.

Nope, not correct,,,the Bose 1SR soundbar is different from the Bose Cinemate 2.1 system.
Two entirely different systems.

Cheers
Davyo
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post #53 of 55
4/21/12 at 4:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by davyo View Post

Nope, not correct,,,the Bose 1SR soundbar is different from the Bose Cinemate 2.1 system.
Two entirely different systems.

Cheers
Davyo

Thanks and understood, but after reading that really old post from someone else I'm still unclear on one thing... whether the Bose 1SR soundbar can be put flat on a stand in front of the tv as well as wall-mounted or just one and not the other. Thanks for helping a newbie... it's a confusing world to hop into, but I'm looking forward to it for sure!
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post #54 of 55
4/21/12 at 5:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by davyo View Post

Nope, not correct,,,the Bose 1SR soundbar is different from the Bose Cinemate 2.1 system.
Two entirely different systems.

Cheers
Davyo

On second look, when the other poster says "wall dependant" I think he might have meant that I'd need side walls and perhaps a back wall for the Bose 1SR to bounce the sound off of. In my case I have a wall the tv will be mounted on and one opposite of that (behind couch), but no left wall and only sliding glass doors covered by curtains on the right. Any thoughts to whether this would make the Bose 1SR less ideal of a choice? Thanks again btw!
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post #55 of 55
10/4/12 at 8:04am
Hello, I found this site a couple of days ago and have been reading it to help with a purchase decision. Your posts sound quite knowledgable; perhaps you could offer an opinion about our situation.

My husband has hearing loss, including being nearly deaf in one ear. He would like to be able to understand dialogue on our Samsung HDTV without blasting the sound so loud--mainly watching news shows and dramas/crime shows. For that matter, I'd like to catch the dialogue better, too.

I attached some extra speakers around the room, hooked up to a used RCA rtd315w receiver/DVD player (obviously not high quality) but it still sounds rather fuzzy and I'm told that the REAR speakers in surround sound aren't enhanced for voice anyway. It's a medium-size room with 3 main walls, one more distant wall, several dormer-type slants between walls and high ceilings, not a lot in the way of soft surfaces (no curtains, etc.).

So now I'm looking at the Bose Cinemate Series II system (pricey but he would use it a lot) or possibly the ZVOX 555 sound bar.

Do you think that one of these is particularly better than the other in our situation? Or would you have a different suggestion?

I'm sorry that this message is probably a bit off-topic; I'm unsure where else to post it. If you can provide any guidance, I will very much appreciate it.
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