Soundbar + Other Speakers?

[benkunstman]

I'm fairly new to the sound world so excuse me if this is a dumb question.

I currently have a soundbar and sub (JBL Cinema SB300) but I'm looking at going to a full 5.1 or 7.1 system. My question is, can I still use the soundbar and sub that I have in conjunction with say two bookshelves, and two rears? Or would my soundbar basically be useless if I decide to upgrade?

Thanks in advance,
Ben

[jautor]

Generally not, which is a shame, but that's the problem with soundbars... They don't have line-level (or speaker level) outputs that would allow you to expand them with "real" surround speakers. I looked for one that would do that, never found one. Which is why I went with an LCR speaker "bar", surround speakers and an AVR for my bedroom system. I would have preferred a soundbar that I could have mated to my in-ceiling surrounds as that would have been "good enough".

Very happy with my LCR on-wall speaker, though!

http://definitivetechnology.com/prod...ythos-xtr-ssa3

Jeff

[benkunstman]

Originally Posted by jautor

Generally not, which is a shame, but that's the problem with soundbars... They don't have line-level (or speaker level) outputs that would allow you to expand them with "real" surround speakers. I looked for one that would do that, never found one. Which is why I went with an LCR speaker "bar", surround speakers and an AVR for my bedroom system. I would have preferred a soundbar that I could have mated to my in-ceiling surrounds as that would have been "good enough".

Very happy with my LCR on-wall speaker, though!

http://definitivetechnology.com/prod...ythos-xtr-ssa3

Jeff

Thanks a lot for your help! That's about what I thought, but I figured I'd ask. Not a huge deal as the JBL will sound nice in my bedroom when I decide to upgrade to a better system.

[jautor]

Originally Posted by benkunstman

Thanks a lot for your help! That's about what I thought, but I figured I'd ask. Not a huge deal as the JBL will sound nice in my bedroom when I decide to upgrade to a better system.

There you go!