***Official HTIB Alternatives Thread*** - Page 113

We have samsung ES8000 (55 inch ) TV and bought a Blu ray player... now we are planning to buy a 5.1 speakers and I'm really confused between soundbar + AV receiver and HTIB.. Since we already have a Blu ray player, why cant we buy a soundbar alone and connect it to the bluray player or directly to TV?? Is it really necessary to buy AV Receiver?? and If im right, there is no need to buy HTIB since we already bought Bluray player?

The sound bar basically fakes the surround sound that the 5.1 speakers would actually recreate. So you are correct that you would not want to use a sound bar with the 5.1 speakers, as the center channel speaker and front side speakers would be redundant with the sound bar. If the sound bar is self powered you can just connect it to the TV. If not (and I do not own one) I imagine you would need a receiver to power it up You would almost certainly need a receiver for the 5.1 speakers. Just make sure it is a surround receiver and not just a stereo receiver. (This is because you will need the 5 channels to power the 5 speakers if you go that route. There will be 4 regular speakers and some sort of woofer or sub woofer speaker for the deeper bass.)