Hi folks
I just moved to a new place. Looking for speakers to connect to my TV. I don't use it for hours a day, but I do use it for:
55% of the time - Playing on the Xbox Series X with guests
20% - Watching UFC/soccer on TV
20% - Music from Youtube/Phone
5% - Netflix movies
Again, really limited on space. I have the space for either a pair of 7.5" wide bookshelves (with or without a subwoofer of 7.5" *height* max), or just a soundbar and a subwoofer perhaps.
What will I be better off with, for the use cases I described above?
I am NOT an audio fanatic. In fact, I am currently with a LG UM7310 70" TV and am very happy with the sound of its speakers ^^ However, I fondly remember the time with my Microlab SOLO 7C speakers in the past (put them at my parents, they enjoy them so much I don't wanna take em back), so I thought I should invest a little bit in a pair of external speakers.
What do you say?
The options as I currently see:
2 Studio Monitor Bookshelves
RCF Ayra Pro 5 (recommended by my cousin's husband who has an audio equipment company), which I found at a big promo here for $186.5 each - making for a total of $373 for a pair of them (about $200 less than the retail price). Here's the product page:
https://www.rcf.it/en_US/products/product-detail/ayra-pro5/1022568
What worries me - aren't studio speakers more "flat" in nature - accurate, short-distance focused, etc for audio recording purposes rather than enriched, slightly manipulated sound of "recreational speakers" built for home ? And how do you integrate their volume with the TV remote? Do you have to get up each time you want to change the volume? And do you change the volume for each of them at a time?! I know they're connected with two separate power cables, so I assume volume and everything is controlled independently..?
"Normal" Bookshelves
Edifier R2000DB, which normally costs $317 here, but are on promotion for $271 for the next 7 days. Seems very similar to the Ayra Pro 5 in dimensions and specs (I think? I'm no sound expert). Also have the benefit of bluetooth and a remote control for comfort. Hopefully can integrate them to the TV's remote control. Product page:
https://www.edifier.com/int/en/speakers/r2000db-bookshelf-bluetooth-optical-rca
Can also get the R1700 or R1850 for even cheaper.
Soundbar
Everybody seems to hate them, but I see they all have HDMI+ARC which would allow me the convenience of controlling their volume through the TV remote? I'd love to be able to cancel the TV speakers compeltely and control the speakers volume from its remote control, but hey, not at the price of much inferior audio quality if that's the case.
Anyway, here are some models I can get here:
Samsung HW-T650 ($293)
Samsung HW-T550 ( $240)
Sonos Beam ($448)
PolkAudio Signa S2 ($407)
JBL SB160 ($243)
JBL Bar 2.1 Deep Bass ($360)
LG SJ3 ($282)
Sony HTS350 ($249)
Denon DHT-S316 ($274)
LG SK8 ($422)
There are other models too, of course, so if you have one in mind by all means mention it.
Would love to know your experienced opinion.
Thanks!