Looking for some SoundBar/Atmos Guidance.

[bromains]

Alright so i've had the Sonos Playbar and a couple Play 1s for 4 or 5 years. Their good i'm not disappointed but i've wanted atmos for a while and with the Sonos arc that came out i thought this was the time to upgrade playbar and buy the additional sub. I found out the Arc needed eARC port which my TV didn't have but that was fine because a TV upgrade was around the corner anyway.

So i bought the Sony A8H 65' recently but as i began to read more and more i started to realize, Me using SONOS for exclusively Home Theater has me paying a large premium for SONOS whole home music system that i never intend to use, and at the $1500 price for the arc + new sub there are other systems that might be better or are at least higher channel count for compareable prices.

At this point i could still go SONOS even knowing that but the biggest turnoff for me is the no DTS with sonos, basically only dolby atmos which is a bummer because i use physical media as muchas streaming content.

This took me down a rabbit hole of many options, initially i began to look into AVR and slowly adding klipsch over time but it's been pretty much determined to be a no go on running cables through the wall and for the most part ruled out a wired AVR setup.

Sound Bar Wise i've come to 3 or 4 possible packages with atmos

Samsung Q90R 7.1.4 - Seems to be rated the best from RTINGS as far as a sound bar atmos system but i feel like i personally see more complaints about it than the nakamichi or sonos.

Nakamichi Shockwafe Ultra 9.2.4 - the most channels and the cheapest option, i don't know much about the company but it seems to be great for that "Theater" experience. But it has no eArc and a new eARC audio port is kinda what sent me on the journey for a new TV.

LG SN11RG 7.1.4 - Read some common issues about it temp turning off the wifi if its too close to the router and it would be pretty close in this room (around 10 feet) there were some fixes im fairly confident i could employ but in overall comparisons against the others it just tends to fall short

Sonos Arc + Sub + Rears 5.1.2 - I guess one of the bigger things to note is i'm fairly happy with the playbar and 2 surrounds i've used so perhaps a large jump in channels would be unnecessary, maybe just adding that new arc with the sub i never had would boost my system enough to satisfy me. since im not a major audiophile but the no DTS is a turnoff.


Bear in mind i didn't even know what an AVR was a couple months ago so anything i'm confused about feel free to correct me because all of this information is very new to me and there's tons of it.

I've been starting to lean nakamichi because it seems like it'd give me the theater experience i want, the downsides being, no eARC and I kinda question the surrounds upward firing, like almost all the surrounds i've seen with dolby atmos have a blatantly obvious speaker on the TOP of it firing upwards but the nakamichis just look like a regular speaker which makes me question how good it would really be.

This is all started because i wanted dolby atmos, and on some level it might be impossible to get really good 3D sound without going full AVR setup with speakers in the wall/ceiling.

But since theres no nearby stores with ANY of the models in question on display i'm here trying to squeeze out that last info that i won't find on a youtube video or review site.

im really not trying to do AVR i'm sure theres some of you who are gonna wanna tell me to go that path but it's like my last resort.


the room in question has about a 9 foot ceiling 15 feet deep 12 foot wide. I can't use all the space behind the couch because theres a computer desk on the back wall but theres enough room to pur 2-4 surrounds 2-3 feet away from the sides and back.

Thoughts? What would you do in my situation or what do you think i should do since i'm probably much more casual than some.

[Scarriere]

That Nakamichi system looks killer.
Why do you need eArc? I'm just curious.
How many inputs do you need? Does the Nakamichi have that covered?

I'm not looking, but that Nak sure is intrguing.

[bromains]

Originally Posted by Scarriere

That Nakamichi system looks killer.
Why do you need eArc? I'm just curious.
How many inputs do you need? Does the Nakamichi have that covered?

I'm not looking, but that Nak sure is intrguing.

the reality is i don't NEED earc. It was just the initial need for earc to use the sonos ARC was what started my journey and kinda propelled me to get a new tv. Felt strange to not make use after.

I'm willing to go nakamichi and not use it, but since i'm so new to a lot of this information i wanted some extra opinions like if eARC was good enough to avoid non-eARC options.

Even the concept of inputs is a little confusing not because i don't know what you mean but because when setting up sound systems you end up doing stuff like Running pass throughs for audio/video etc which is still new to me since i've just used an optical plug as a 1 for all.


anyway to answer i only need 3 which the nakamichi has. At least i think i need 3, 1 for TV 1 for Player and maybe 1 for a game console. I use the tvs built-in streaming apps over things like apple/fire tv.

[Scarriere]

Originally Posted by bromains

the reality is i don't NEED earc. It was just the initial need for earc to use the sonos ARC was what started my journey and kinda propelled me to get a new tv. Felt strange to not make use after.

I'm willing to go nakamichi and not use it, but since i'm so new to a lot of this information i wanted some extra opinions like if eARC was good enough to avoid non-eARC options.

Even the concept of inputs is a little confusing not because i don't know what you mean but because when setting up sound systems you end up doing stuff like Running pass throughs for audio/video etc which is still new to me since i've just used an optical plug as a 1 for all.


anyway to answer i only need 3 which the nakamichi has. At least i think i need 3, 1 for TV 1 for Player and maybe 1 for a game console. I use the tvs built-in streaming apps over things like apple/fire tv.

Since you're using the apps on the tv, eArc would be a good idea. It has higher bandwidth and can (potentilly) send higher bit rates and/or better sound to the soundbar. It'd also be better for future proofing, I believe.

I use my AVR for the only 3 inputs I use and switch between them: Cable box, ATV4K and UHD player. Netflix via Cable box, Youtube via ATV4K. I don't use my tv for switching, only the AVR.

I would recommend the Nakamichi, but with you saying you use the tv for streaming apps, maybe a soundbar with eArc is a better idea.

*edit
Wow, nice tv!
After checking that out, yes, I think eArc is something to have for your upcoming soundbar purchase.
Too bad Sony doesn't have one.

[samlop10]

JBL Bar 9.1.

It has Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, suppers eARC, and it has dedicated surrounds too. Costs $1K. The surrounds can be charged to be completely wireless or they can be permanently wired with USB adapters. It also includes room correction calibration which the Nakamichi does not include.

The other sound bars you mentioned, they either rely on bouncing the sound off the walls for the side surrounds (which never sound as good as dedicated surrounds), and/or they do no support DTS-X. IMO the JBL is the most complete sound bar right now that also supports 3D audio. I’m seriously consider it as the holiday gift for my parents.

[bromains]

Originally Posted by Scarriere

Since you're using the apps on the tv, eArc would be a good idea. It has higher bandwidth and can (potentilly) send higher bit rates and/or better sound to the soundbar. It'd also be better for future proofing, I believe.

I use my AVR for the only 3 inputs I use and switch between them: Cable box, ATV4K and UHD player. Netflix via Cable box, Youtube via ATV4K. I don't use my tv for switching, only the AVR.

I would recommend the Nakamichi, but with you saying you use the tv for streaming apps, maybe a soundbar with eArc is a better idea.

*edit
Wow, nice tv!
After checking that out, yes, I think eArc is something to have for your upcoming soundbar purchase.
Too bad Sony doesn't have one.

I found out that streaming apps don't support lossless audio.

And from what i understand the eARC from the TV primarily affects those built in streaming apps but if those apps don't support any lossless audio formats I'm not sure theres any real priority to make sure i get an eArc bar over non. Seems like the nakamichi will still take dolby atmos signal from the TV so there is some use there even if its not an eARC bar.


Granted i might be misunderstanding something theres honestly so much to learn audio wise

[SteelbookCat]

Originally Posted by samlop10

JBL Bar 9.1.

It has Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, suppers eARC, and it has dedicated surrounds too. Costs $1K. The surrounds can be charged to be completely wireless or they can be permanently wired with USB adapters. It also includes room correction calibration which the Nakamichi does not include.

The other sound bars you mentioned, they either rely on bouncing the sound off the walls for the side surrounds (which never sound as good as dedicated surrounds), and/or they do no support DTS-X. IMO the JBL is the most complete sound bar right now that also supports 3D audio. I’m seriously consider it as the holiday gift for my parents.

question, if i if i permanently wire the the detachable surrounds will that eat away at their battery life or is the power coming from my electrical socket? i heard you cant replace the battery in the jbl 9.1 surrounds

[samlop10]

Originally Posted by SteelbookCat

question, if i if i permanently wire the the detachable surrounds will that eat away at their battery life or is the power coming from my electrical socket? i heard you cant replace the battery in the jbl 9.1 surrounds

No idea. Unfortunately can’t find any information about battery life regarding permanently connecting the surrounds to the power.

I mean, either way, all the other options with discrete surrounds require you to permanently connect them one way or another (usually to the subwoofer).

[sdmggs]

Hello all,
I’m a new member, so I wasn’t sure where to post this question but the title of this thread seemed like potentially a good place. Apologies if it’s a dumb question but I have a question about splitting audio and video from a Samsung M8500 4k player. Im looking to get a Sony soundbar for Dolby atmos and DTS x to add to my Samsung qled and player, the issue is that there is only one hdmi output on the Samsung 4k player, but the soundbar does not pass through HDR 10+ which my player and tv support. So I’m just wondering if there’s anything I can do to split that audio and video hdmi output so I could get the player’s audio to go to the soundbar but the video to go to the tv so I could retain HDR 10+. Thanks !

[slimdude]

If I was going to pay that kind of money for a soundbar, I would just get a receiver and a nice set of speakers and besides, it will sound better.