[aaronkarp]

I have a very small living room (and design-conscious girlfriend) that prevent me from setting up a real surround system, so I'm looking for alternatives.


A few months ago I bought a higher end ($250) altec lansing 2.1 speaker system, hoping it would serve me until I have a bigger place and a real setup. Lo and behold, they sound terrible. They literally hurt my ears. I can't take it anymore.


I'm thinking of upgrading to a speaker bar solution. This Yamaha YAS 71 is right in my price range and seems very well reviewed. (Can't link to it because I'm new to the forums, but Crutchfield sells it, as do Amazon and Buy.com)


My only problem is I only have one place to put it, and I need you guys to tell me if it's a viable location. Here's my arrangement (2 photos attached):


15' x 9' room. Couch is against one of the long walls, across from my TV. The TV (30") is resting on a four-legged desk. The desk is 30" high. Under the desk is my "media cabinet" that contains my HD cable box and xbox 360. The media cabinet is 14" tall. That leaves only about a foot between the top of the media cabinet and the bottom of the desk.


The only place I'd have to put the sound bar would be on top of the media cabinet, below the desk.


Would this produce acceptable sound quality? Would the sound be overly impeded by the "ceiling" of the desk above it? Would the sound, particularly dialogue, feel unnatural coming from so far below the TV, considering how close the sofa is to the TV?


Anything else I'm not considering? I'm a relative novice compared to you guys, though I know the basics of setting up a/v components.


Thanks!

-Aaron

 

[pjones0404]

you would prefer to have it at ear level but it may work when you are seated and watching tv. I would look to see if there is any way that you could mount the tv to the wall or buy a small shelf and put the tv on it with the soundbar on the desk in front of it. .


I can not really comment on the brands of soundbars as i have not looked into them at all. I do now that you would need a small sub to go with it to get a fuller sound.

 

[aaronkarp]

Thanks pjones. Anyone else have any thoughts? Aside from not being at ear level, will the sound be noticeably obstructed by being under the overhang of the desk?

 

[slowmo44]

I would think the sound would be obstructed as soundbars are designed to use a bunch of small speakers that "bounce" the sound off the surrounding walls to create the appearance of surround sound. In your situation, I would probably try to mount the TV on the wall, with the soundbar beneath it.

 

[aaronkarp]

Thanks guys.