£100-200 sound bars worth bothering with?
Discussion
Can anyone recommend a sound bar in the £100 to £200 range? Could possibly stretch a bit more if really worth it - and as per the title - are they worth bothering with at this price point?
I'm not expecting cinema quality sound, but I do find myself having to turn the volume up quite often as speech can sound quite muffled.
A clearer and more balanced sound level would be nice, maybe it's just my TV, or does anyone else notice the loudness of adverts, background music, explosions/action sequences and then really quiet mumbled speech?
I'm not expecting cinema quality sound, but I do find myself having to turn the volume up quite often as speech can sound quite muffled.
A clearer and more balanced sound level would be nice, maybe it's just my TV, or does anyone else notice the loudness of adverts, background music, explosions/action sequences and then really quiet mumbled speech?
Sonos beam for a little more (£239) from their refurb store is a good bet and its what I went for.
https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/beam-b-stock
Out of stock at the moment, keep checking they get stock all the time.
p.s. muffled dialog is a pain and many programmes have had issues - a good sound system can help but sometimes its just the audio from the programme that's poor.
https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/beam-b-stock
Out of stock at the moment, keep checking they get stock all the time.
p.s. muffled dialog is a pain and many programmes have had issues - a good sound system can help but sometimes its just the audio from the programme that's poor.
Can’t comment on the Denon but I recently bought a Sony HT-G700 sound bar with sub-woofer in Costco for about £200. The sound quality is fantastic and it has a ‘voice’ setting on the remote which will focus on the voice (unsurprisingly!). If there isnt a Costco near you, it can be bought from John Lewis and elsewhere for £249.
s91
I agree with you entirely. I often find I have to turn up the volume to hear dialogue but turn it down when there are sound effects.
O/T I used to know a sound engineer who worked at Pinewood many years ago. He commented that a lot of modern films (from the mid-late 90's) were having sound effects turned up to detract the audience from rubbish acting and that the studios had worked out that people were more interested in shock and awe than acting. I get the distinct feeling this philosophy has filtered down to TV as well. He was quite well respected in the film industry at the time so I don't have any reason to doubt him.
I agree with you entirely. I often find I have to turn up the volume to hear dialogue but turn it down when there are sound effects.
O/T I used to know a sound engineer who worked at Pinewood many years ago. He commented that a lot of modern films (from the mid-late 90's) were having sound effects turned up to detract the audience from rubbish acting and that the studios had worked out that people were more interested in shock and awe than acting. I get the distinct feeling this philosophy has filtered down to TV as well. He was quite well respected in the film industry at the time so I don't have any reason to doubt him.
Griffith4ever said:
Snoggledog said:
s91
the studios had worked out that people were more interested in shock and awe than acting.
have you seen transformers? any of them? :-)the studios had worked out that people were more interested in shock and awe than acting.
But yeah, the films rely on shock and awe at epic levels with superb CGI and god awful acting
s91 said:
Can anyone recommend a sound bar in the £100 to £200 range? Could possibly stretch a bit more if really worth it - and as per the title - are they worth bothering with at this price point?
I'm not expecting cinema quality sound, but I do find myself having to turn the volume up quite often as speech can sound quite muffled.
A clearer and more balanced sound level would be nice, maybe it's just my TV, or does anyone else notice the loudness of adverts, background music, explosions/action sequences and then really quiet mumbled speech?
A few weeks ago I went for a Sony HTS40R. It's slightly over your budget but I bought it as a new customer from Very so got a good discount. (take it out on their credit and just pay it off). I'm not expecting cinema quality sound, but I do find myself having to turn the volume up quite often as speech can sound quite muffled.
A clearer and more balanced sound level would be nice, maybe it's just my TV, or does anyone else notice the loudness of adverts, background music, explosions/action sequences and then really quiet mumbled speech?
It's a soundbar with bass speaker and satellite speakers so may not be what you are after. The difference from my previous soundbar is amazing though.
s91 said:
Thanks for the suggestions, having a look at them now, can anyone comment on the Denon DHT-S216? Seems to get good reviews for the price.
I really like the Denon, not expensive but decent quality sound, punchy bass and loud! Easily works in our 8mx6m space. Only issue is the cover is a bit of a dust magnet. Snoggledog said:
s91
I agree with you entirely. I often find I have to turn up the volume to hear dialogue but turn it down when there are sound effects.
O/T I used to know a sound engineer who worked at Pinewood many years ago. He commented that a lot of modern films (from the mid-late 90's) were having sound effects turned up to detract the audience from rubbish acting and that the studios had worked out that people were more interested in shock and awe than acting. I get the distinct feeling this philosophy has filtered down to TV as well. He was quite well respected in the film industry at the time so I don't have any reason to doubt him.
Isn't it more plausible that this is due to the increase of dynamic range in movie audio over the last few decades combined with the rise of home cinema?I agree with you entirely. I often find I have to turn up the volume to hear dialogue but turn it down when there are sound effects.
O/T I used to know a sound engineer who worked at Pinewood many years ago. He commented that a lot of modern films (from the mid-late 90's) were having sound effects turned up to detract the audience from rubbish acting and that the studios had worked out that people were more interested in shock and awe than acting. I get the distinct feeling this philosophy has filtered down to TV as well. He was quite well respected in the film industry at the time so I don't have any reason to doubt him.
In the cinema the explosions can be more explosiony, and you can hear the dialogue just fine as the system is turned up accordingly. But at home you don't want to wake the kids, upset the neighbours etc. so you get caught out by a big bang and it is frankly annoying.
Every home cinema amp I've ever owned, dating back to the mid-90s, has had a compression feature (often called some variation of "late night mode") for this very reason.
Chicken Chaser said:
s91 said:
Thanks for the suggestions, having a look at them now, can anyone comment on the Denon DHT-S216? Seems to get good reviews for the price.
I really like the Denon, not expensive but decent quality sound, punchy bass and loud! Easily works in our 8mx6m space. Only issue is the cover is a bit of a dust magnet. I have the 316 and it is pretty impressive and loud
Edited by Jinx on Friday 12th May 16:27
You could try contacting your local Richer Sounds, they tend to be well informed specialists and know what they're on about.
I have bought all my Sonos kit from them and they price matched on my Sub and Arc saving me a good few hundred pounds.
One of the main benefits though was the room they have where if you give them notice they will set it up with your desired bit/s of kit so that you can actually hear it in action.
When I went in with my son they set it up with a stereo pair of Sonos 1 (which I already have) and the Sub and Arc. Within seconds I was sold and my son looked at me and smiled and that was it. The bass from the Sub is monumental, but you can't actually pinpoint where it is coming from location wise.
I had to put little padded sticky things on the backs of all the pictures as they were vibrating, spices were coming off the shelves in the pantry and some pictures actually fell of the walls :-)
Give them a call, I have always found the guys at my shop very helpful and informative.
I have bought all my Sonos kit from them and they price matched on my Sub and Arc saving me a good few hundred pounds.
One of the main benefits though was the room they have where if you give them notice they will set it up with your desired bit/s of kit so that you can actually hear it in action.
When I went in with my son they set it up with a stereo pair of Sonos 1 (which I already have) and the Sub and Arc. Within seconds I was sold and my son looked at me and smiled and that was it. The bass from the Sub is monumental, but you can't actually pinpoint where it is coming from location wise.
I had to put little padded sticky things on the backs of all the pictures as they were vibrating, spices were coming off the shelves in the pantry and some pictures actually fell of the walls :-)
Give them a call, I have always found the guys at my shop very helpful and informative.
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