HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

My post was somewhat tongue in cheek ,hence the use of 'would they ?'

savvypaul wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:24 am

Daniel Quinn wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:15 am Nobody on a hifi forum would purchase a sound bar would they?.
.
I do like Alexa mind you .

Yep. I don't like my TV going through my hifi

I wouldn't want to watch / listen to blu-rays with a bloody soundbar.

Not after I've got used to the soundtrack coming through 2 EV Sentries, 1 Brik, 2 Saras and 2 HB1's. With this little lot costing me a total of about £1150 and therefore being quite modest in cost compared to typical B&W or Dali 5.1 speaker wank from Peter Tysons
https://petertyson.co.uk/homecinema/speaker-systems/5-1

Or even B&O soundbars at £1300!
https://petertyson.co.uk/homecinema/spe ... dbarbases?

And when I've been thinking of upgrading by adding a couple of 18" or bigger woofers as DIY'd subs for a cost of £400 to £500 instead of downgrading...

Lindsayt wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 3:19 pm

savvypaul wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:24 am

Daniel Quinn wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:15 am Nobody on a hifi forum would purchase a sound bar would they?.
.
I do like Alexa mind you .

Yep. I don't like my TV going through my hifi

I wouldn't want to watch / listen to blu-rays with a bloody soundbar.

Not after I've got used to the soundtrack coming through 2 EV Sentries, 1 Brik, 2 Saras and 2 HB1's. With this little lot costing me a total of about £1150 and therefore being quite modest in cost compared to typical B&W or Dali 5.1 speaker wank from Peter Tysons
https://petertyson.co.uk/homecinema/speaker-systems/5-1

Or even B&O soundbars at £1300!
https://petertyson.co.uk/homecinema/spe ... dbarbases?

And when I've been thinking of upgrading by adding a couple of 18" or bigger woofers as DIY'd subs for a cost of £400 to £500 instead of downgrading...

What's a blue ray?

My AV system and my music system are two completely separate entities in my living room, which, along with my PC sound system, accounts for the 12 speakers in there.

Music 2+1
PC 2+1
AV 5+1

Modern movies are made with extended speaker systems, including subwoofers, in mind so to me listening without one is a bit like the ancient days of moaning about how mono sounds best, and this stereo lark is just a gimmick. I've argued many times - and been derided for it by some stereo traditionalists - if somebody on-screen is creeping up on the protagonist, and steps on a twig, why wouldn't I want to hear that *crack* behind me? If an explosion blows a car into midair why wouldn't I want to "feel" it as a part of the cinematic experience?

As with most things though, one can go too far...


https://dornob.com/loud-style-subwoofer-chair-is-a-subsonic-seat-on-steroids/


Soundbars are shite though, simply because of the constraints of their physical size if for no other reason. I simply don't believe you can describe a 2", or even a massive 3" speaker a "subwoofer" and keep a straight face.

Take the Sennheiser Ambeo for instance. It's one of the biggest beasts on the market at approx 49" x 5" x 6.75" (126.5 x 12.5 x 17.1 cm) without its feet, and costs around £2,100.00

Here's the spec:
6x 4" long-throw woofer, cellulose sandwich cone
5x 1" tweeter, aluminium dome tweeter
2x 3.5" full-range driver (top-firing)

To paraphrase Chief Brody, in Jaws, you're going to need a bigger sub... which, of course, Sennheiser will be happy to sell you as a part of their Neumann range for another £1,199.00, or thereabouts. One guy on Reddit says his two Klipsch wireless subs "really make it rock."

No, soundbars are not only shite, but they can be bloody expensive shite too. Soundbars have a superior WAF, but that's about all in my book.

I too enjoy the company of Alexa throughout my house.

For me, the soundbar makes the TV acceptable. The TV just doesn't interest me beyond that. If I wanted a home cinema then of course the sound bar would be inept

I think it's safe to say we all do what's best for us

Our Sky Q box is connected to the Mscaler by AQ Cinamon optical cable. Because of the long length Carbon is cost prohibitive. Found that the short length of AQ Carbon connecting the Sky Q box to the tv significantly improved picture quality over what Sky provided. The Mscaler has a video facility which halves the maximum sample rate to keep the picture and sound in sync. No sound bar could compare with what comes out of the Cubes. We are not movie fans but many of the dramas we watch really benefit from it. I do not run You Tube through the hifi because the volume varies so much making the remote is a must. In any case, SQ is often so poor there is little point.

Anyway, from that article, the most interesting thing that he said was about soundbars.

Most of it seemed to be aimed at non hi-fi enthusiast types.

I agree with him that the mastering trumps the format.
And that speakers may well trump the digital format too, which I think he was getting at.

With lossy vs CD quality digital he seemed to be saying that there's a bit of difference that's likely to be more apparent when you have a decent system. Which seems sensible to me. I have no experience of comparing lossy formats to CD. And when I've compared CD to higher res I've been left wondering if there were differences in the mastering when I have heard a difference.

He also seemed to be of the opinion that cables, make a significant difference. From my tests in my system, different interconnects and speaker cables have not made a big enough difference to justify me spending any money on them. Although I'm quite happy to accept that other systems may be more cable critical than mine.

I have a soundbar
Sits there under the telly because the shitty speakers in the telly are shit.
The telly case vibrates if you go above a certain volume, so i got the soundbar so i can actually hear the telly
I watch so little telly that as long as its not making an awful vibrating noise i couldnt care less
I dont watch films very often either. Youtube gets watched more than anything on it
Nobody uses the bluetooth connectivity the soundbar has either. But it only cost twenty quid so who cares, it does its job
Its not bad for playing ps4 games either, but im rotten and make the kids use headphones when they are playing it so i dont have to listen to their games

It's a Sky Sound Box for us, and it would be so easy to put the tv through the main system, but to save wear and tear, and I think the Sky box does a good job:
Mr Slinger, modern movies are made to be watched through an av system with 5, 7 or more speakers, the problem is the sounds are enhanced, when that twig cracks behind you, or the car has an accident and explodes, it's all too much for me and becomes un-realistic