Soundbar to 5.1 conversion advice

[Dave Williams]

Looking for recommendations on decent in-wall or even low profile on-wall LCR speakers. Not looking to spend a lot for the living room. It’s a wide open space with 20’ ceilings so acoustically it’s a mess anyway. I currently have a Martin Logan VisionX soundbar that I would be fine with but we can’t hear TV dialogue due to what I am guessing is either due the room acoustics or the soundbar itself doing a bad job with voice freq so I am looking to try something else. I am thinking I want to choose speakers around the basis of a good center channel.
I have a really high end dedicated space for movies so I just need functional here. But don’t want builder grade junk either.
I am at a crossroads here because I really did not want to put speakers in the living room. We wanted to keep it minimalistic but the lack of center channel sound is really annoying.

Do you think going to a component 5.1 will be an improvement over the dialogue issues I’m having with the Vision X?

Thinking a basic Yamaha 5.1 receiver and need to research the model but I need to find a low profile entertainment rack too to hide it.

Last question is I want to add rear speakers in the ceiling above and behind the listening position. The ceiling from the kitchen area just behind the couch drops to 10’. I am thinking the RSL 34e’s for these but I can’t get wiring there due to the 20’ ceilings. Is there a wireless transmitter/receiver-amp available that can be used to drive these? I found something from Amphony, anyone have experience doing these? I realize I would have to run some wiring from a local outlet to power the amp and run wire up the wall to the speakers.

Thanks! — looking for recommendations.

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[KEW]

Accessories4Less has some good offerings.
I have not heard their on-walls, but based on their other speakers (and how well established they are as well engineered speakers), Boston Acoustics (Classic II 2300 5 speakers for $200), KEF, and Canton (GLE 417 for LCR, and GLE 416 for surround @ $900 for 5 speakers) are options worth considering.
Note that $200 BA system will not get very loud, but since you did not present a budget, this gives you different options.
I got specific for BA and Canton because it also looks like they are listing wall mountable bookshelf speakers, but you were specific about low profile. As you can see there are plenty of KEF options!

https://www.accessories4less.com/?type=&page=category&action=&id=spkonwall&skip_redirect_suffix=&mode=&search_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc

 

[Dave Williams]

Thanks KEW. I’ll take a look at those. I don’t think I want to go the Boston route for no other reason that I perceive them as low end. I don’t really have a budget I’m trying to stay in. I’m not dropping 10k on speakers for here as I have a dedicated room with those, but I did spend 2k on a soundbar. I have no problem spending the money on things that last and give me enjoyment and I do have a ear for good sound quality. However in this room I am very skeptical anything will sound great irregardless the cost so I cant justify big money here. You are the second person to recommend Canton. That sounds like it may be worth a look. Is there a KEF model you have experience with and would recommend?


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[rojo]

@Dave Williams I think the greatest opportunity for improvement immediately would be to hang some drapes and lay down an area rug between the TV and couch. I think some of the intelligibility issues might be solved by some acoustic absorption. You might also play with corner loading your sound bar's bass module and turning its volume down. Or better yet, pop it up on the couch, then crawl around the room to find where the bass sounds best. Then move the bass module to that spot.

 

[Dave Williams]

@Dave Williams I think the greatest opportunity for improvement immediately would be to hang some drapes and lay down an area rug between the TV and couch. I think some of the intelligibility issues might be solved by some acoustic absorption. You might also play with corner loading your sound bar's bass module and turning its volume down. Or better yet, pop it up on the couch, then crawl around the room to find where the bass sounds best. Then move the bass module to that spot.

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have a very large rug in place. I am familiar with sub tuning. The sub isn’t the issue. Plenty of output. I turn it and the soundbar bass down quite often to try to make the dialogue more clear. It doesn’t really help.


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[lovinthehd]

Is that soundbar aimed at your ears? From the pic looks like it is higher up....then again might not help much. $2K for a soundbar? Wow. Sorry no onwall suggestions for you, never looked into them.

 

[Dave Williams]

It’s only about 6” above ear level. Well, $1,800ish but yeah. It really does sound good with music. Just a quite a bit of echo in here.


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[lovinthehd]

Hard to tell from the pic. That is a cavernous space with lots of reflective surface....

OTOH have you tried tilting the soundbar down a bit?

 

[rojo]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have a very large rug in place. I am familiar with sub tuning. The sub isn’t the issue. Plenty of output. I turn it and the soundbar bass down quite often to try to make the dialogue more clear. It doesn’t really help.

You could try replacing your wrought iron art with acoustic panels. Assuming you're in the United States, contact Acoustimac with dimensions and photos of your space and see what they recommend. I'm no expert, but I bet panels above the entrance to the kitchen, between the fireplace and TV, and above the drapery rod would make a big difference, not just for watching television, but for the comfort of the room in general.

 

[KEW]

It’s only about 6” above ear level. Well, $1,800ish but yeah. It really does sound good with music. Just a quite a bit of echo in here.


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While 5.1 will allow better sound than a sound bar, I suspect eliminating some of the echo will be a better approach to actually solving the issue of hearing the dialog clearly!

 

[isolar8001]

Nothing like responding to a 6 year old thread....

 

[lovinthehd]

Nothing like responding to a 6 year old thread....

What does it feel like?

 

[isolar8001]

What does it feel like?

Now you know

 

[lovinthehd]

Now you know

Just curious, did a post get deleted before yours or you were just waiting for a sucker like me ?

 

[isolar8001]

Just curious, did a post get deleted before yours or you were just waiting for a sucker like me ?

Now that you mention it...I see the post that prompted me is gone. I think it was a bot anyhow.