I'm interested in upgrading our TV's sound in our bedroom. We have a 40" Samsung and a PS3. I don't want to spend a lot (e.g., around $500 or less) and I want something *simple* so my wife can use it. I also don't want a lot of cables and components out and about. Any suggestions? I know people don't like Bose, but they have a 2.1 system that is wireless. FYI, the bed is about 14' from the TV.
I'm interested in upgrading our TV's sound in our bedroom. We have a 40" Samsung and a PS3. I don't want to spend a lot (e.g., around $500 or less) and I want something *simple* so my wife can use it. I also don't want a lot of cables and components out and about. Any suggestions? I know people don't like Bose, but they have a 2.1 system that is wireless. FYI, the bed is about 14' from the TV.
Under no circumstances should you get a bose. I made that mistake in the late 90's and im still paying for it.(slowly upgrading) You will get 90% better sound from any of these companies..
Polk audio
aperion
klipsch
elemental
emotiva
Of course if your only going to spend 500 than you will probably have to skip a subwoofer for now, or buy a HTIB; but those usually are pretty weak. Check out CNET's reviews on HTIB and that might help.
Personally i would get satellite front , center , and rear speakers from one of these brands and add a small sub. at a later date.
Just my 2 cents...
Under no circumstances should you get a bose. I made that mistake in the late 90's and im still paying for it.(slowly upgrading) You will get 90% better sound from any of these companies..
Polk audio
aperion
klipsch
elemental
emotiva
WRONG! In fact, if the OP can find a pair of used Bose 901's he'll be more than happy! The older Bose speakers were quite good!
look at my bedroom setup in my Gallery I love it. it's a logitech Z-5300. 5.1 THX-Certified 280 RMS and 560 peck. Input select switch from 2 Channel (stereo), 4.1 Channel, or 5.1 Channel. maybe able to pick one up for around $100. or go up to the Z-5500 with wireless controller but speakers have wires. 500 RMS 1000 peak power. you may find one for around $200 here it is. http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-C.../dp/B0002WPSBC good luck.
considering the simplicity and having the wife using it, a soundbar would be a great option for a bedroom setup. of course, we'd be sacrificing sound quality, but if you already have a main HT setup already, i think you'd end up watching the good stuff there right?
just remember that soundbars rely heavily on your rooms acoustics for its 'surround' effects, using reflective points to give you that virtual surround effect. a little tinkering, a little tweaking here and there, and your missus can enjoy this without yanking you over to figure out everything for her.
considering the simplicity and having the wife using it, a soundbar would be a great option for a bedroom setup. of course, we'd be sacrificing sound quality, but if you already have a main HT setup already, i think you'd end up watching the good stuff there right?
just remember that soundbars rely heavily on your rooms acoustics for its 'surround' effects, using reflective points to give you that virtual surround effect. a little tinkering, a little tweaking here and there, and your missus can enjoy this without yanking you over to figure out everything for her.
nothing beats empowerment.
Another excellent post jomari (you're 2 for 2 today)!
considering the simplicity and having the wife using it, a soundbar would be a great option for a bedroom setup. of course, we'd be sacrificing sound quality, but if you already have a main HT setup already, i think you'd end up watching the good stuff there right?
just remember that soundbars rely heavily on your rooms acoustics for its 'surround' effects, using reflective points to give you that virtual surround effect. a little tinkering, a little tweaking here and there, and your missus can enjoy this without yanking you over to figure out everything for her.
nothing beats empowerment.
Yes, I'm just looking to upgrade and thus improve over the sound of the bedroom TV's speakers. I'm not looking to compete with my set-up downstairs. The Sony HTCT100 looks like it may be a good option. Any other suggestions?
Yes, I'm just looking to upgrade and thus improve over the sound of the bedroom TV's speakers. I'm not looking to compete with my set-up downstairs. The Sony HTCT100 looks like it may be a good option. Any other suggestions?
ive done a quick review on a soundbar a while back, and as much as id like to suggest the sony model, i prefer the yamaha soundbars over this considering cost and sonic performance, physics cannot dictate a better sound from a smaller woofer.
ive found it and here are my findings...
Heres my take on it, as i mentioned in allens thread, i recently got a soundbar for a friend of mine, looking into getting
1. a set of speakers, simple, no need for 5.1
2. has a radio...
setup
lives in an apartment, setting the speakers in her living room area
room dimensions at around 12x16 with an opening towards the kitchen area, with a good number of reflective areas for the speaker to perform properly.
configuration
we only had two sources here, a comcast box, and a dvd recorder, proving to be a very simple setup. the soundbars connections are all located at the subwoofers back panel, thus if you have to set the sub a bit farther from the tv stand, you have to have at least 8-10feet of audio/video cables to achieve this. the speakerwires btw, are around 12 feet so no problem there
there are 3 connections available - 1 toslink, 1 coax, and one simple L R RCA jacks, named input one, two and three respectively. The nice thing about this soundbar was that it had an optional connection for the ipod dock (which you have to purchase separately, and well, the connections are 'pins' so to speak - dont ask me i have no idea what it is.. =P )
the ipod connection looks like this... http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YDS-10-.../dp/B000EVT0XS
there are no hdmi connections available, and no video either, so it is what it is, a compressed audio system so to speak.
speaker wire? i hate the color. silver to be exact, and quite an eyesore considering how most equipment are in black.
speaker calibration
quite simple actually, considering you only have two speakers to work with. the subwoofer and the soundbar itself. placed the sub about 3 feet away from the corner of the room, and about 1 foot away from the wall to avoid 'boominess'
the soundbar was simply placed on the tv stand, right in front of the lcd tv...
the soundbar gives you options as to
speaker angle for the fronts (20,30,40,60 degree angles), in this situation i chose to use the 30degrees as it sounded much better, with a more 'direct' sound from the LCR setup. the others brought in a little too much spatiality, and it felt too open in certain instances, with the midrange completely gone.
individual levels for the separate speaker levels at increments from 0-4db per channel.
the subwoofer is huge compared to the other soundbar setups ive seen. even to the sony one.
the nice thing about this one is that the drivers are comparing this to the sony HTCT100, which has a 'boxy' HTIB lookalike sub to perform both its midrange and lower end sound. Sony
as to mention the drivers on the soundbar itself, its a lot bigger, and better from the sony one as well.
you can also use different DSPs for any non DD/DTS material, with your own standard issue DPII music/movie choices.
so, i went ahead and put it thru the loops, 'calibrating' it with my avia disc, and found out three things
1. the 'surround effect' really depends on how much reflectiveness your room has, and how efficient it works take a little bit of work, worth it tho, no doubt.
2. the subwoofer goes down to a decent 40hz, and quite surprised as to how 'good' it sounds. (remember, good is subjective at this price point, and pretty much 'acceptable' to certain people.)
3. even if it IS just a number of speakers in an array, it pretty much does a great job.
tried the panning track on the avia disc, and albeit im not convinced as to how good this is compared to a regular 5.1 setup, it wouldnt be fair to compare the two. of course you get directionality, of course you get a better sound environment, but thats because you have a dedicated speakers and space for em. this soundbar does what it does, for a minimalist effect.
then i got down and heavy with my 'demo' disc, as well as my faithful master and commander, using the ever so lovely chapter one, with the scene below the deck... results? quite amazing for what it is. i was a little bit skeptical it can pull off a good spatial effect, and well, i wasnt let down by it. the sub definitely surprised me for its size, and its capabilities, which was more than enough for her apartment space.
as mentioned, i purchased this for US$256.99, and considering its original price was at around $500, its not bad for what it is.
they may be glorified 'tv speakers' and also 'fake' surrounds, but i was pretty er... content for what it is.it served her purpose and pretty much happy with the results.
Thanks for your suggestions. I ordered the Sony HTCT100 from Amazon this morning for $250 with 2 day shipping via Prime. This sound bar looked like it best met my needs; was reasonably priced, and had great reviews. Plus, at only $250, that leaves more to spend on Blu's!
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Asking advice on a simple HT bedroom setup
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