Which soundbar?

[Topken]

Ok here's the deal. I am likely going to end up with a 42" HDTV in the bedroom and need a sound bar to go with it for movies/shows/video games. I am likely going to run the movies from my desktop over HDMI to the Vizio HDTV which will then output either DD or Bitstream over TOslink to the sound Bar. Will be using the sound bar for sound from my Direct TV box and a couple of Consoles like the Wii U and PS3 since the PS4 is in the livingroom.

Been trying to decide between either the Vizio 40" 5.1 soundbar or the older 42" Soundbar the 54" would be to big for the television hence why its out of the question.

Do NOT need great music output since I have a set of Audio Technica ATH-m50x for doing any critical listening to music. I was thinking 5.1 from Vizio since the backs are wired to the sub and the sub is wireless from the soundbar itself and 5.1 since it will be handing Movies,Games, and TV Shows instead of dealing with music.

Might be a while before I manage to scrounge up roughly $300-$450 or so. unless you guys know of a better 5.1 soundbar option for the bedroom at that price range.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Not sure how may responses you’ll get for recommendations; sound bars don’t get much love around here.

I am likely going to run the movies from my desktop over HDMI to the Vizio HDTV which will then output either DD or Bitstream over TOslink to the sound Bar.

Maybe someone else will chime in, but everything I’ve seen says that a TV’s digital output is straight-up two channel. You’re probably better off connecting the computer directly to the sound bar.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[jonnythan]

My dad just got the 54" Vizio, and it's pretty good. Unlike the smaller Vizio, it has drivers in the center, but it lacks tweeters (and you can tell). I think the 42" Vizio would be fine for you.

Don't expect it to sound like big speakers. It sounds more like what you'd have expected from a high quality TV back when TVs had good speakers, plus a halfway decent sub.

 

[Topken]

I know for a fact that 5.1 works with this Vizio HDTV as I tested it before using Star Ocean The Last Hope on PS3 and the Home theater in a box kit in the living room using a TosLink cable to go from the HDTV to the kit and was able to get proper sounds from the correct channels using the sound test on the game. HDTV is a Vizio M-Series from 2012 that properly DOES pass 5.1 from HDMi to Optical out. This is for a BEDROOM where music is not a high priority and as I said I have a set of headphones for private critical music listening. So an AVR and 5.1 speakers would be overkill and a 5.1 soundbar like the Vizios would be perfect for my needs.

We just moved into a brand new modular home and Step-dad will be replacing the HDTV int he living room with something larger and akin to 60"+ instead of the 42" that is current in there which I will be getting after he gets the new TV. I have already tested the HDTV for 5.1 optical out and as I said it works. \

I will get the right model number when the TV isn't being used.
Ok its the 2011 M-Series 42" AKA the Vizio M420SV

Manual for those interested about the TV itself

http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/pdf/Vizio M420SV-M470SV-M550SV LED TV Manual.pdf

Soundbars are perfect for things like the bedroom where you need better then what the tv gives you but an AVR+speaker setup would be a bit to much.

By thew way I tried to make an account on that OTHER site but it never got activated so the site is pretty much useless for me since I am unable to post anything or even do much of anything. Tried sending them a message about it and never herd back so yeah I am pretty much stuck with trying to use this site.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

If sound bar is only option then I would just stick with TV speakers and save your money as you wont get so much of improvement with soundbar. For your budget you can get http://philharmonicaudio.com/aa.html to pair with used receiver from craigslist and get actually good results.

 

[Topken]

After doing some testing in the living room with the Vizio M470SV it will properly pass Dolby Digital over optical to the Samsung HT-EM53C.

Testing was done via MPC-HC with Lav Filter.

I get proper Dolby digital 5.1 with the HDTV set to Dolby Digtal and Lav Filter set to Bistream DOlby Digital aka AC3. Having the Lav Filter send DTs over bitstream caused no audio to play at all. I have a few different test files with AC3, DD TrueHD and DTS Master HD and normal DTS. Only one that worked was Dolby Digital my TrueHD files errored out and played no audio on MPC-HC aka it did not even load the audio file just the video file DTS loaded but 0 sound output Dolby Digital gave me proper 5.1 on the Samsung. So like I said I got lucky and the Vizio will pass 5.1 albit in DD olnly over the optical which will work perfectly for the Consoles like The PS3 and the Wii U but won't work with the moives since I have a mixture of everything. In that case using an HDMi audio extractor should net me DD and DTS playback perfectly fine. Might even do DDTrueHD and DTS Master HD just uses the DTS core. That is if the extractor can handle TrueHD playback and output something like DD from it.

Basically when picking up the Soundbar from amazon I would just need to grab something like this as well

http://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-Switcher-Selector-Extractor/dp/B00QJGAKCW/

Needing that device depends on which soundbar I go with seeing as how the older 42" Soundbar does NOT have HDMI inputs but the newer 40" Soundbar does have HDMI in. So the device in questing would only be needed for the older 42" soundbar while the PC would be directly connected to the newer 42" soundbar via hdmi and the consoles would be connected to the HDTV and then fed to the soundbar via Toslink cable for 5.1 via DD. There are some pros and cons with both hence me posting here.

 

[jonnythan]

Their newer 38" and 40" soundbars have HDMI, optical, coax, and analog audio inputs.

 

[jonnythan]

If sound bar is only option then I would just stick with TV speakers and save your money as you wont get so much of improvement with soundbar. For your budget you can get http://philharmonicaudio.com/aa.html to pair with used receiver from craigslist and get actually good results.

Most current TVs have a small speaker that fires downward or backwards. Sound quality is completely horrendous.

 

[Topken]

Their newer 38" and 40" soundbars have HDMI, optical, coax, and analog audio inputs.

I am aware of that hence the last bit of my last message stating it depends on what Soundbar I go with will dictate on whether or not I need the audio extractor or not. AKA will I go with the newer 40" and get a sub woofer that is to loud even at its lowest setting or will I go with the older 42" and run into a few other issues instead?

 

[jonnythan]

This is a bedroom, right? Do you really need a sub? They sell the 38" soundbar with HDMI and digital inputs with no sub.

Also, why would the 40" sub but not the 42" sub be too loud even at "the lowest setting"? There's a volume knob on it. The new 40" comes with a 6" sub, and the 38" comes with a 5" sub. The old 42" comes with a

 

[Topken]

Just some of the things I have been reading about the 2 different products. Since my main use will be movies,games, and TV shows from my direct tv box the 5.1 would make a big difference compared to just using a 3 channel bar and no sub. Like I said I do NOT need the music since I have a set of Audio Technica ATH-m50x for critical music listening. The Vizio 5.1 bars are cheap but sound great with everything but music but are decent in the music department if I ever want to run music through them.

Here is a review that has the only con listed as Even with the sub turned all the way down it puts out to much bass. This is for the newer 40" soundbar

http://www.cnet.com/products/vizio-sb4051-c0/

 

[KEW]

I don't think the Vizio would be that bad (especially compared to the TV), but would expect something from Yamaha, KEF, Focal, or Canton to be a clear step up. If you are stuck with a sound bar, get a good one!
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/soundbars/speakers/soundbars/1.html

Accessories4less specializes in handling refurbished audio gear. Many people here (including myself) have had excellent experiences with them. The important thing to note is that the gear is refurbbed by the manufacturer. I have had horrible experiences where a third party buys a bunch of returned inventory (for next to nothing) and makes it their business to refurb and make as much profit as they can off of the inventory. The manufacturer companies are not going to screw with their customers the way a third party often will.
A4L has built a reputation to get the sales of refurbs from companies like Marantz, KEF, Focal, and Cambridge Audio. Note that they have warranties provided by the manufacturers.

Since you linked to CNET, notice that the Yamaha YAS-203 ($320 from A4L) got a 9.0 rating (vs. 7.8 for Visio):
http://www.cnet.com/products/yamaha-yas-203/

 

[Topken]

Sorry but amazon is the only place I can buy from since I get roughly $75-$150 a month in Amazon giftcards. On top of that I do NOT have a credit card so trying to purchase things from online shops is a pain unless I can get giftcards and I can do so with Amazon quite easily.

Ontop of that you guys apparently keep focusing on music which is something the bar won't be doing much of. It will be handing GAMES,MOVIES, and your basic TV Shows. So in the case of both Games and Movies its better to go with a 5.1 setup which the Vizio bars are. I would rather spend closer to $300 or less if possible here. And the Vizio bars are great for the price point they are in.

It would take roughly 6 months to get the $500 for anything else. Ontop of that I am use to watching movies on a Logitech X-530 speaker setup so anything would be a big step up from what I have.

 

[KEW]

Ontop of that you guys apparently keep focusing on music which is something the bar won't be doing much of.

I think we are focusing more on sound quality than music.

Sounds like the Vizio is what you want, so go for it.

 

[Topken]

Yeah but I am still trying to decide if I want to go with the older 42" model or the newer 40" model that has overpowering bass. The Older model seems to have some issues of its own.

I am sort of leaning towards the newer 40" becuase od the inclusion of the HDMI input which I will be using for my PC and the HDTV itself can handle the Wii U, PS3, DirectTV box since it cand pass DD over the optical output which is fine for gaming and TV Shows since they are are DD already. and the HDMi from PC will handle things like DTS and TrueHD perfectly fine. I know DTS Master Hd contains a DTS track which is likely what the bar will be plaing but I have no idea on what happens with DD TrueHD. If the bar can pull a DD track out of that and pass it over an optical cable or not or would I end up with stereo PCM over optical. I just don't want to deal with that so the HDMI input on the 40" would help get around that.

 

[fmw]

Sorry but amazon is the only place I can buy from since I get roughly $75-$150 a month in Amazon giftcards. On top of that I do NOT have a credit card so trying to purchase things from online shops is a pain unless I can get giftcards and I can do so with Amazon quite easily.

Ontop of that you guys apparently keep focusing on music which is something the bar won't be doing much of. It will be handing GAMES,MOVIES, and your basic TV Shows. So in the case of both Games and Movies its better to go with a 5.1 setup which the Vizio bars are. I would rather spend closer to $300 or less if possible here. And the Vizio bars are great for the price point they are in.

It would take roughly 6 months to get the $500 for anything else. Ontop of that I am use to watching movies on a Logitech X-530 speaker setup so anything would be a big step up from what I have.

I don't see the justification since a soundbar may not provide a step up at all. Save your money. Buying a soundbar is a waste.

 

[Topken]

I don't see the justification since a soundbar may not provide a step up at all. Save your money. Buying a soundbar is a waste.

Currently have no way of getting the tv audio over to my logitech speakers as the speakers only have the 3 3.5mm cables on the end for hooking up to a PC. These speakers were $80 when I pruchased them back in 2007 as well so replacing them with a more moderm setup would be much prefered. The logitechs are made for PC so yes a soundbar like the Vizio would be a BIG step up from what IO am currently using and allow me to make full use of the setup for TV and Console Games. So yeah the soundbar will NOT be a waste like you think. If this was the living room I would be opting for an AVR+5.1 speaker setup and go for a used AVr int he $200-$250 range and maybe the Monoprice premium or maybe even the Elac Debut series for speakers but this is a bedroom where that kind of setup is not really needed so spending up to $300 on a soundbar setup is more feasible for me.

 

[fmw]

Currently have no way of getting the tv audio over to my logitech speakers as the speakers only have the 3 3.5mm cables on the end for hooking up to a PC. These speakers were $80 when I pruchased them back in 2007 as well so replacing them with a more moderm setup would be much prefered. The logitechs are made for PC so yes a soundbar like the Vizio would be a BIG step up from what IO am currently using and allow me to make full use of the setup for TV and Console Games. So yeah the soundbar will NOT be a waste like you think. If this was the living room I would be opting for an AVR+5.1 speaker setup and go for a used AVr int he $200-$250 range and maybe the Monoprice premium or maybe even the Elac Debut series for speakers but this is a bedroom where that kind of setup is not really needed so spending up to $300 on a soundbar setup is more feasible for me.

It is your money.

 

[jonnythan]

It is your money.

You don't think a soundbar is a step up from TV speakers? What kind of TV do you have?

My Panasonic plasma has rear-firing speakers. It's almost impossible to hear anything, and the volume is crippled by their tiny size. They're like laptop speakers. It's truly horrendous. In the mad craze to get the smallest bezel possible, almost no modern TVs have front-firing speakers, much less front-firing speakers of any significant size.

An external loudspeaker of some kind is a virtual necessity for any modern TV.

 

[fmw]

I think soundbars are a waste of money but you obviously disagree. I just said it is your money. You can spend it as you see fit. No point in trying to convince me soundbars are good. I'm not going to be convinced.