I want an Atmos soundbar - Suggestions?

[SethRex]

I'd like recommendations for a good Dolby Atmos Soundbar. Don't worry, when I buy this, price will be no barrier, so please, suggest the best soundbars. With as little wires as possible though.

[Scarriere]

http://www.sony.ca/en/electronics/sound-bars/ht-st5000

[Scarriere]

http://www.samsung.com/ca/audio-video/soundbar-k950/

I've heard this one and it was effective.

[Scarriere]

https://ca.yamaha.com/en/products/au...600/index.html

[SethRex]

Okay, great, guys! Thanks for all your suggestions.

[azmodeous]

I'm not sure what your price range is but this is a much more affordable option if you're on a budget.

https://www.onkyousa.com/Products/mo...lass=Soundbars

[starkent08]

The new nakamichi 9.2 makes these sound bars look like garbage

[Zoland2020]

For under $1000, I think this is one of the better Dolby Atmos soundbars out there.
http://www.lg.com/us/home-audio/lg-S...less-sound-bar

[555SD]

Originally Posted by starkent08

The new nakamichi 9.2 makes these sound bars look like garbage

And that bar doesn’t do ATMOS as the OP was asking about.

I have the Yammy 5600 in my bedroom paired with the SW300 as suggested by Yamaha and it’s only fault is the lack of HDR passthrough, though with the 203’s dual HDMI outs (not least amount of cables as you also requested), it is a fault where I’m not really missing anything and it is quite effective with the processing of all surround formats. The sub is definitely a requirement versus a suggestion though. Granted it is not exactly comparable to my living room setup, but I could easily live with it as my prime setup if I was forced to.

[Krelldog1977]

Originally Posted by 555SD

And that bar doesn’t do ATMOS as the OP was asking about.

I have the Yammy 5600 in my bedroom paired with the SW300 as suggested by Yamaha and it’s only fault is the lack of HDR passthrough, though with the 203’s dual HDMI outs (not least amount of cables as you also requested), it is a fault where I’m not really missing anything and it is quite effective with the processing of all surround formats. The sub is definitely a requirement versus a suggestion though. Granted it is not exactly comparable to my living room setup, but I could easily live with it as my prime setup if I was forced to.

My best friend just installed this one and I was surprised at how effective it was on the Atmos tracks.....pleasantly surprised. Like you said the only fault is no HDR as far as video goes.....but it does the trick.

and the WAF is sky high.....no wires anywhere. The processing of all other codecs was OK, but if you're gonna spend $1200+ on a bar be sure it does Atmos....and install it 3 feet high as recommended on all the reviews. A good quality sub is also needed....not a huge sub...it would be too overpowering.....

[oddbox83]

Looking for some advise myself.

Since the Sony HT5000 has recently had an upgrade that enables all DTS formats up to X and Dolby Vision passthrough, that's put it way ahead of the competition for me. The others not doing DTS-HD MA for example have them as immediate no-nos. Samsung have particularly dropped the ball there as otherwise I'd have been very interested because their bar has wireless satellites to still give true rear audio. LG is way too mean with the HDMI inputs.

I have a 7.1 system, decent Tannoy satellite speakers with tower front left and right but a Marantz slimline AVR that's limited to 50W per channel (not that that is an issue for me, more on that below). It doesn't do HDR and HDCP2.2. I have no room for a full sized receiver.

The fact is, what's more important to me is a good quality front sound, and most of the viewing is older material in mono and stereo. I do like an occasional modern mix. The problem is, where I live and how I like to watch my movies late means rather than just choose what I want to watch I tend to avoid 5.1/7.1 films because "it's too late for the neighbours". This is just silly and I want to get away from and enjoy what I want, when I want. So I'm thinking a more limited soundscape without sacrificing the discrete channels might solve this.

The way I hear the 7.1, I wouldn't describe it as immersive, I just hear directional effects. So while I can hear them, I think my hearing is just more appreciate of a good front sound but I don't want to lose the effect of a full speaker setup. Another issue I have is due to the shape and setup of my living room, my front tower speakers have to go right against the side walls. This makes stereo soundtracks and dual mono sound way too wide and bloody awful from my listening position, so everything goes through Pro-logic II to get voices from the centre. Now I could replace the front towers with bookshelf speakers on the media unit I suppose to solve this but that doesn't tackle the rest.

This space has to double up as a living room as well as home theatre. It isn't complete square. TV is centred, flat ceiling but a chimney breast off to the left and my sitting position is way closer to the left than right. My system has been calibrated with Marantz's mic Audyssy setup but still sounds scewed.

Now if I keep my current setup and upgrade the receiver to Atmos I'd have to be limited to up-firing speakers. There's no way I could add ceiling mounted in any sensible way and any extras wiring on top of 7.1 fills me with chills.

I've also got an Audio-Technika turntable hooked up to the AVRs analogue inputs, but in my thinking if I get the Atmos soundbar I could either convert this to the Sony's mini-jack input or just hive of the turntable to elsewhere and reuse my Tannoy towers. It doesn't sound great anyway coming through the current set-up, like I said stereo separation way too wide.

So all this is what is leading me to the Sony HT5000. I want to keep discrete channels, I want some directional effects still if not true rear sound and add some height effect into the mix. Without worrying the neighbours and keeping clutter to a minimum. Any comments or advise based on my thinking above? Is an Atmos soundbar a good option for me or am I barking up the wrong tree? Has the firmware update ironed out all off the issues with the bar I've read about or do some still remain? Some reviews have mentioned issues with sync and wireless sub reliability but I can't find any reference to this in regards to the latest firmware update (adding DTS and the like).

It's currently on sale for around £1199 British pounds. Still a lot of money but something I'm willing to pay if this is the ideal solution for me. Or should I wait? eARC is of interest too and that should be just around the corner? Not sure I'd need it though with the inputs on the bar being sufficient for my high-res audio needs.