Sound Bars any Good?

[Steve]

Most sound bars are considered to be only minor upgrades over your TV's speakers. It's generally recommended to go with a "real" 2.1 or 3.1 setup rather than a soundbar. This would produce much greater results than a soundbar and also eliminate having to run the wires for surround speakers. You can use any receiver in a 2.1 or 3.1 setup. Just because it has 5.1 or 7.1 capability doesn't mean you HAVE to hook that many speakers up to it.