anyone own a soundbar? opinions?

I bought the 89.99 vizio sound bar from costco and I have been very pleased with it. There is one higher model that has the subwoofer as well for a very good price.

My place has high ceilings and with the tv that our unit came with the sound sucked. Got tired of it and wanted to try one out and I have been very pleased.

 

If I were going to buy some speakers I'd go with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Bowers-Wilkin...U6HG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1313997217&sr=8-2

They are wireless and have a built in dac. The best part you can you them with your computer, so even internet tv can be used with them and all your music. B7W are quality speakers.

 

I've never heard them personally, but I owned a pair of B&W bookshelf speakers for 10 years and can attest to the quality of the brand.

I would say that these speakers are going to be pretty loud. Consider the fact of how loud tv speakers can get. Remember them two speakers are built like a take and they are heavy. I wouldn't worry about it. I think they'd be fine.

 

Honestly I haven't had any real drawbacks on the unit. It does exactly what I needed it to do for the price I was willing to pay.

The place I am at right now had flat panel tvs installed already so I didn't want to spend a lot on a speaker system because it's not my tv and I am sure I will go ahead and get a complete system when the time comes.

I have gotten compliments on the sound quality compared to when it was just the TV and I am sure if you get the one with the sub you will probably like it that much better. The virtual surround sound part is whatever. I never liked those virtual ones and I keep that off.

If you have a costco membership get it from there since you have a very easy return policy and you can try it for up to like 90 day before you can't return it anymore.

 

Just a tip, I wouldn't go for anything wireless.

 

The more conversions your signal has to go through, the more compromised your sound is.

Plus you're probably going to be paying more for it.

 

I got the same sound bar for my parents as a Christmas gift.

Sound quality and sheer volume is far better than the TV itself, but the one drawback I'd point out is that the bar itself is bulkier than I would prefer. Still a pretty good buy if you're on a budget.

 

Bumping. Has anybody purchased a soundbar over the last year or so? If so, what model did you get and what are your thoughts?

I'm currently in the market and have considered this one. Am open to other suggestions. TIA!

Yamaha YAS-101BL
http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YAS-101BL-Front-Surround-System/dp/B005IVUWHW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=VR4RAIWO2IT6&coliid=I3U6G9K54VVVU3

 

I have a Sony CT-150 soundbar with subwoofer in my bedroom. I love it. It has 3 HDMI inputs.

https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...BIrR2QWNgoHgCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CI8BEK0E#scoring:tp

 

I've looked at that Sony real hard as well and it has rave reviews. Trying to determine if a subwoofer is really necessary for listening to music predominately (not so much into movies or games). The Yamaha has an integrated subwoofer so less clutter but I think the overall power (watts) is less. Thanks for that.

 

Look at vizio. They are highly rated and pretty cheap.

 

I bought a Yamaha YHT-S401, which is a slender, great looking 3.1 sound bar with a receiver that powers it, a sub that is built into the receiver (yeah, sounds weird, but works great), and an FM radio. It supports almost all the codecs, with 3 HDMI inputs, and 1 HDMI output. You can "tune" it to your room, and you definitely get a surround sound effect, along with a beautiful, natural sound. The oval shaped center speaker is designed to enhance voices in whatever media you watch, although you can turn that effect on and off. I highly recommend it. Amazon has it for $600, which is $100 below Yamaha's list. I paid $550 for mine by shopping around. Not cheap, but I would buy it again. It immediately made a huge difference in my bedroom. Don't know how it would sound in a larger room, since I haven't tried that (got a great surround sound setup in my living room), but I suspect that it would sound pretty damn good. The weakness in a larger room would be the built-in sub, which is fine for a bedroom, but might not be enough for a larger room, and there isn't a way to hook up another sub. Not one I've figured out.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the receiver drives 2 rear speakers as well, if you ever want to add them for true surround sound. You can also listen to your iPod, etc., through it. It has an extended stereo setting, which gives you a wider stereo sound field.

 

1. Need a small room.
2. Need a back wall to bounce the sound off of.

 

I read on the avsforum that the vizio vht 510 had many complaints on their LED light display on some of their soundbar units. If not for this I'd probably look at vizio more.