[mdsniper7]

trying to find a good budget soundbar for movies and games, however I am truly stuck. I was gonna go buy the bose cinemate but after reading that sounds like a bad idea. So I am looking at the these soundbars, are they good for the money, also if there are any other recomeditions that would be great. Thank you guys.


Oh added polk 6000 also

 

[jwilock]

Isn't the Polk quite a bit more expensive than the others? If you're at that price range, aren't there others that would be worth considering?

 

[Possumgirl]

Regarding the Haier, I don't know what TV you have or what you plan to connect to a soundbar (and how you want to connect), but be aware that if you would be connecting anything to the Haier via Toslink, the source device must be able to output PCM.


I've never heard the bar and it may sound great for all I know. That PCM limitation caught another member unaware, which is why I did a bit of research on it and found out why he had a problem.


I don't know if the Vizio 215 can accept anything other than PCM over Toslink. The Vizio 200 only accepts PCM, but perhaps the 215 is different.

 

[jwilock]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Possumgirl  /t/1416856/haier-sbev40-slim-or-vizio-vht-215-or-polk-6000#post_22155383


Regarding the Haier, I don't know what TV you have or what you plan to connect to a soundbar (and how you want to connect), but be aware that if you would be connecting anything to the Haier via Toslink, the source device must be able to output PCM.

I've never heard the bar and it may sound great for all I know. That PCM limitation caught another member unaware, which is why I did a bit of research on it and found out why he had a problem.

I don't know if the Vizio 215 can accept anything other than PCM over Toslink. The Vizio 200 only accepts PCM, but perhaps the 215 is different.

I'm confused. I thought I had read more than one post that said when using an optical connection to be sure to output bitstream, not PCM. Can you clarify why it should be PCM?

 

[valley_nomad]

Compared with other two soudbars, the lack of audio decoding capability is one BIG limitation of this Haier soundbar. As Toslink has the bandwidth for only 2 channels in PCM format, it will not have multichannel info in the input signal for further audio processing (e.g. virtual surround sound) when using PCM via Toslink. The soundbar also doesn't take ARC. So even when connected TV can output PCM on Toslink, the sound quality for OTA contents received by TV may be worse than that of other two soundbars

 

[Possumgirl]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jwilock  /t/1416856/haier-sbev40-slim-or-vizio-vht-215-or-polk-6000#post_22156022


I'm confused. I thought I had read more than one post that said when using an optical connection to be sure to output bitstream, not PCM. Can you clarify why it should be PCM?

My comment was specific to the Haier soundbar, as it cannot accept anything other than PCM over its optical connection.


Most soundbars that have an optical connection are able to accept bitstream and decode DD & DTS. That's why it's usually recommended to use bitstream, particularly when connecting a blu-ray player.

 

[jwilock]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Possumgirl  /t/1416856/haier-sbev40-slim-or-vizio-vht-215-or-polk-6000#post_22157296


My comment was specific to the Haier soundbar, as it cannot accept anything other than PCM over its optical connection.

Most soundbars that have an optical connection are able to accept bitstream and decode DD & DTS. That's why it's usually recommended to use bitstream, particularly when connecting a blu-ray player.

This helps. THanks.