NurembergVillan Posted September 26, 2018 Moderator Share Posted September 26, 2018 I'm using the Sky one. It's developed by Devialet, who typically charge a fortune for their speakers. I've been really happy with it. It's a simple set up, and works directly with Sky Q to choose the relevant settings for whatever you're watching. That said, you can choose some settings like Late Night, Speech, etc to amplify the bits you want. It's got Optical and Bluetooth as options, so I can stream music through it or use it for the Netflix, Amazon Prime etc built into the TV. I'm really happy with it. It's good at low volumes (daughter's bedroom is above the living room) but is incredible at what would be a "normal" volume were it not for the fear of waking the kids up. At £249 I've been chuffed with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 26, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted September 26, 2018 59 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said: I'm using the Sky one. It's developed by Devialet, who typically charge a fortune for their speakers. I've been really happy with it. It's a simple set up, and works directly with Sky Q to choose the relevant settings for whatever you're watching. That said, you can choose some settings like Late Night, Speech, etc to amplify the bits you want. It's got Optical and Bluetooth as options, so I can stream music through it or use it for the Netflix, Amazon Prime etc built into the TV. I'm really happy with it. It's good at low volumes (daughter's bedroom is above the living room) but is incredible at what would be a "normal" volume were it not for the fear of waking the kids up. At £249 I've been chuffed with it. Sounds promising. I assume it works with other stuff too? Not just Sky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NurembergVillan Posted September 26, 2018 Moderator Share Posted September 26, 2018 52 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Sounds promising. I assume it works with other stuff too? Not just Sky? Yep. So long as you have an optical cable into the TV it'll run whatever is coming out of the TV. For Sky it uses HDMI straight into your Q box. At the time I got mine Sky we're offering interest free payments over 3 months onto my bill. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 Quote Before you buy a sound bar speaker, read this Sound bars are an attractive solution for lots of buyers, but are there better-sounding alternatives? CNET Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark359 Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 @Stevo985 have you looked at a sound base rather than a sound bar? I have a Cambridge Audio TV5 V2 and i have been very impressed with it, you need to make sure you have room under your TV for one however as its quite big 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 2, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 2, 2018 7 minutes ago, mark359 said: @Stevo985 have you looked at a sound base rather than a sound bar? I have a Cambridge Audio TV5 V2 and i have been very impressed with it, you need to make sure you have room under your TV for one however as its quite big Thanks. Ideally I wasn’t looking for just the bar but I’m open to other ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted October 2, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 2, 2018 Just to add my experience with a soundbar if anyone remotely cares. I used to have a 5.1 setup, but when I moved in with my gf we decided to go for a soundbar, so I bought a Dolby Atmos one made by Onkyo after reading good reviews. I hate it. Hate it hate it hate it. 5.1 surround with dedicated speakers is just infinitely better, and I really regret my choice. The soundbar apparently has tech in it to create a "surround sound" like atmosphere in your living room, it doesn't work for shit in comparison and with this setting enabled, any scene where someone is in a certain type of room has an "echo" sound to it like it's in a bathroom or something. tried all sorts of calibration to make it sound better but it never does. My advice if you're looking for a surround sound effect, just buy the real thing. Though, if that isn't of interest to you then don't bother. I used to be able to play games with my old 5.1 setup and know exactly where everyone was (ie, if someone was behind me), absolutely **** clueless on a soundbar and you can't tell if something is in front of you or behind you. Kinda obvious but wasn't in my thought process when purchasing a soundbar. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 3, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 3, 2018 5.1 isn't an option in my current situation. If I move house next year as is looking more and more likely I may invest in something like that. But it would be too much of a faff at the moment. Flat is rented so can't put anything on the walls. It's an open plan lounge/kitchen so we'd have to sort the wires out. Nowhere really to put speakers on stands behind where we sit. It just wouldn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark359 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 @Stevo985 what did you go for in the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 25, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 25, 2018 11 minutes ago, mark359 said: @Stevo985 what did you go for in the end? Nothing haha! I had the cash to buy one at the end of last month but decided I'd put it towards my upcoming holiday. So may delay a soundbar purchase until xmas. I usually get myself a xmas present so this will probably be it. I'll probably just go for the sky one or the Sonos one I posted on the previous page. But I might give Richer sounds a visit when I'm next in Solihull or brum and ask them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted October 29, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 29, 2018 On 25/10/2018 at 09:53, Stevo985 said: I usually get myself a xmas present 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troglodyte Posted October 29, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 29, 2018 I was in pretty much exactly the same situation last year @Stevo985. Just bought a sexy new OLED and wanted something decent for the sound, without breaking the bank - and I'm no audiophile. Our place is also rented so although surround would be ideal, it's not really an option unless we have wires trailing everywhere across the floor. I went with an LG SH7 soundbar and sub in the end, and it's a significant improvement on the TV sound. It's certainly not true surround but to me (although I'm far from an expert!) it does sound good and imitates it relatively well given the price, which was £250. That was around a year ago. However, I saw that you were watching Se7en and found problems with that - I experienced similar, even with the soundbar. I didn't really get the dramatic changes in volume you mention, but there were the odd times that I found it difficult to distinguish the actors' voices from the background noise. The most noticeable was the opening scene in the rain. I played about with a couple of settings and it was a bit better. Does make me wonder if it is the mixing or something though, or perhaps even something to do with Netflix (if you watched it on there too). Again, I'm clearly no sound expert! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 29, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 29, 2018 8 minutes ago, Troglodyte said: I was in pretty much exactly the same situation last year @Stevo985. Just bought a sexy new OLED and wanted something decent for the sound, without breaking the bank - and I'm no audiophile. Our place is also rented so although surround would be ideal, it's not really an option unless we have wires trailing everywhere across the floor. I went with an LG SH7 soundbar and sub in the end, and it's a significant improvement on the TV sound. It's certainly not true surround but to me (although I'm far from an expert!) it does sound good and imitates it relatively well given the price, which was £250. That was around a year ago. However, I saw that you were watching Se7en and found problems with that - I experienced similar, even with the soundbar. I didn't really get the dramatic changes in volume you mention, but there were the odd times that I found it difficult to distinguish the actors' voices from the background noise. The most noticeable was the opening scene in the rain. I played about with a couple of settings and it was a bit better. Does make me wonder if it is the mixing or something though, or perhaps even something to do with Netflix (if you watched it on there too). Again, I'm clearly no sound expert! Sounds exactly the same as my issues with finding it hard to pick out the actors' speech from the background noise. Thanks for the post. Will bear it all in mind and check out that LG soundbar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted October 29, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted October 29, 2018 (edited) I'm fairly certain all dialogue is sent through the centre speaker, and all "background" noise is done via the L + R speakers. Try turning the centre speaker up if you're having issues with the surround volume being too loud. (This on the assumption that your soundbar uses L C R .... mine does... ) Edited October 29, 2018 by PieFacE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 (edited) Treated myself to an LG SL9YG and the SPK8 rear speakers last weekend. It's a beast of a bar - huge! Fantastic sound quality, which combined with the rear speakers gives an infinitely better surround sound offering than our previous 5.1 wired setup. Haven't found too much to demonstrate the Atmos setup but what I did download blew my mind. Can't wait until Netflix or Amazon Prime start broadcasting with an Atmos soundtrack. I've not got Sky, only Virgin but I believe the BT Sport 4k channel offers this? Edited October 4, 2019 by dubbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raver50032 Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 (edited) On 29/10/2018 at 09:40, Troglodyte said: I was in pretty much exactly the same situation last year @Stevo985. Just bought a sexy new OLED and wanted something decent for the sound, without breaking the bank - and I'm no audiophile. Our place is also rented so although surround would be ideal, it's not really an option unless we have wires trailing everywhere across the floor. I went with an LG SH7 soundbar and sub in the end, and it's a significant improvement on the TV sound. It's certainly not true surround but to me (although I'm far from an expert!) it does sound good and imitates it relatively well given the price, which was £250. That was around a year ago. However, I saw that you were watching Se7en and found problems with that - I experienced similar, even with the soundbar. I didn't really get the dramatic changes in volume you mention, but there were the odd times that I found it difficult to distinguish the actors' voices from the background noise. The most noticeable was the opening scene in the rain. I played about with a couple of settings and it was a bit better. Does make me wonder if it is the mixing or something though, or perhaps even something to do with Netflix (if you watched it on there too). Again, I'm clearly no sound expert! You know what, I'm actually old enough to remember going to watch that film at the cinema when I was at Uni... and I believe I had the same issues as you guys report with the sound in the cinema, so it could actually be how the original film was cobbled together rather than modern tech. Of course, if you have a recurring theme/problem with the modern tech you are playing the sound through then I'm chatting crap. But I do recall issues with hearing exactly what was going on in Se7en. Personally, I'm looking for a modest sound bar or pair of speakers for use with a laptop. Occasionally, I give performances of audio-visual photography work I've done for my local camera club. Any recommendations out there? EDIT - Ooops, just seen that these posts were from 2018... My bad... feel free to wave the hand of dismissal at my retort. Good day. Edited October 9, 2019 by Raver50032 Time Banditry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 Looking for suggestions for a soundbar. No extra speakers behind me, just the soundbar under the TV on a TV stand. Willing to spend around £300. Any brands which are better or to avoid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 4 hours ago, ender4 said: Looking for suggestions for a soundbar. No extra speakers behind me, just the soundbar under the TV on a TV stand. Willing to spend around £300. Any brands which are better or to avoid? Sonos Beam Gen 2. Bit more than your budget but there is little else that come close IMO. I’ve just added some Play ones I had lying around and my word it’s impressive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted November 7, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted November 7, 2022 On 04/11/2022 at 10:47, ender4 said: Looking for suggestions for a soundbar. No extra speakers behind me, just the soundbar under the TV on a TV stand. Willing to spend around £300. Any brands which are better or to avoid? On 04/11/2022 at 14:58, jim said: Sonos Beam Gen 2. Bit more than your budget but there is little else that come close IMO. I’ve just added some Play ones I had lying around and my word it’s impressive. Yeah I'd agree with this. That's what I went for in the end (see above) and have no regrets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCDAN Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 (edited) If you use a Sonos Beam and connect up 2 more Sonos wireless speakers do you have any problem with sound being out of sync to the TV? Edited November 9, 2022 by AVFCDAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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