Have HT systems really gotten this cheap?

[bachatero]

A long time ago (when I was little) I dreamed of having my own "home theater" but my parents always said it would be too expensive because we had no good space to put it. But now, I see why it would be so expensive, at least on the audio side. You'd need a receiver with amplifier, a whole bunch of speaker cable, and expensive theater speakers. The total cost would be in the thou$and$. Combine that with a nice projector and you are easily pushing $10,000, a totally unreasonable proposition for most people.

Fast forward to last weekend. After having upgraded my 2x Kali LP-6v2 + WS6.2 desk setup (the value king for such a setup) to the Neumann equivalent, the Kalis just sat around in my room doing absolutely nada for months. I then realized there was a perfect use for them. Right now, the humble living room TV has a slightly wimpy Hisense HS2100 soundbar that sounds far better than TV speakers but has obvious deficiencies once you compare it to something with better FR and distortion and wider stereo image. What if I just replaced the soundbar with the Kalis? So I did just that with a Fosi ZD3 as the bridge from HDMI ARC to RCA (the WS6.2 then converts that to balanced).

The results were incredible. I watched "The Substance" and it sounded just like at the theater with (almost) all of the bass and all of the clarity so I could actually hear what they were saying. Seriously! And this is with a setup costing less than $1000. 5000 lumen laser projectors are now around $1000 too (you don't actually need 4k).

The question is, am I missing anything significant here? I know this setup isn't surround but I have never noticed surround making a large difference in movies, and the TV is often used for radio type usage anyway. I also love how my EV ZLX PA speakers are a similar price but also enable larger scale outdoor movies using this same basic idea as with the Kalis. Why aren't more people jumping on this cost saving opportunity?

 

[masterhw]

Atmos can still get expensive, as quality speakers + amplification + decoding can get up there across so many channels. but generally AVRs are superb value for what they are, and some of the 2-channel only stuff like the WiiMs and Fosis are just incredible value. so easy to be an enthusiast these days

 

[meesbaker]

Stereo works extremely well for movies with modern equipment. I was never convinced of soundbars but I did pick up a Samsung Q930D recently because it was reduced from 1500 to 340 as openbox at my local store.
I said to myself a system this pricey has to sound somewhat good even if it is a soundbar+ Samsung has the best reputation in that market.

Returned it the next day. Sound was bright and thin and made my ears ring, heavy listening fatigue. Guess that happens when you put like 10 iphone drivers in a heavy steel case. It is a merciless aggressive sound.

I exchanged for a pair of Martin Logan B1, Edifier T5 sub and a wiim amp.

What a universe of a difference. Bass and clarity is crazy, the software of the wiim truly is gold. The room eq gave me a great FR, phase correction for the sub is spot on and dialogue clarity is still amazing.

The 1500$ soundbar system sounds like a toy vs a simple wiim 2.1 setup for half the price. Movies are amazing, even at high volumes. Effects have strong satisfying bass, the soundtracks sound impressive, dialogue is clear as day. I can second your experience - it doesnt take much money these days to get a great theater sound.