How long before the ShenzhenAudio boys take a crack at HT processors?

[JJB70]

HT theatre recievers seem to be a niche product these days, which I find slightly funny as I remember when stereo was becoming niche as the market wanted AV receivers.
I think it was viable it would already be happening (and I am sure you will find Chinese recievers in their domestic market) but the market for watching video content seems to have shifted from big screens to smartphones and tablets, and the main market for TV sound systems is soundbars and wireless speakers.

 

[Spkrdctr]

HT theatre recievers seem to be a niche product these days, which I find slightly funny as I remember when stereo was becoming niche as the market wanted AV receivers.
I think it was viable it would already be happening (and I am sure you will find Chinese recievers in their domestic market) but the market for watching video content seems to have shifted from big screens to smartphones and tablets, and the main market for TV sound systems is soundbars and wireless speakers.

Yes! Sound bars and wireless speakers. Extreme ease of use and very, very easy to install. If only I could hit a manufacturer in the head to get their attention. Look at the market and respond to what it is telling you, not what you want it to tell you.

 

[yllanos]

Yes! Sound bars and wireless speakers. Extreme ease of use and very, very easy to install. If only I could hit a manufacturer in the head to get their attention. Look at the market and respond to what it is telling you, not what you want it to tell you.

Not sure. It doesn't sound easy. Mixing electronics (and software) with speakers (and its correcponding acoustics) is having two different universes coming together in a single device, with lots of restrictions. To me, sounds like an important barrier to break.

 

[JJB70]

I think that many audiophiles sneer at soundbars and wireless speakers but there is clearly a lot of clever engineering in them and good examples are capable of very good sound quality. We have a Samsung soundbar for the TV and it is very good with TV, movies and music. We have some Sonos 1 speakers and again, whilst clearly limited in some respects they are terrific for what they are.

 

[ShadowFiend]

I don't have any experience with super high-end soundbars (1k+ USD), but medium price ones (<500$) I have owned/ heard are bad. They are decent for TV or family-oriented movies, that's all they can do. For any kind of serious music listening, even an decent & cheap monitor like my old JBL LSR305 destroys them in terms of sound quality.

 

[Spkrdctr]

I don't have any experience with super high-end soundbars (1k+ USD), but medium price ones (<500$) I have owned/ heard are bad. They are decent for TV or family-oriented movies, that's all they can do. For any kind of serious music listening, even an decent & cheap monitor like my old JBL LSR305 destroys them in terms of sound quality.

You have to remember, for the purpose of my comments you are comparing the sound to phone buds and or headphones of dubious quality. Since both of these two options have zero set up and are very easy to use, that is where your sound bars (good ones) really shine. Plug and play with decent to pretty good sound.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

I think that many audiophiles sneer at soundbars and wireless speakers but there is clearly a lot of clever engineering in them and good examples are capable of very good sound quality. We have a Samsung soundbar for the TV and it is very good with TV, movies and music. We have some Sonos 1 speakers and again, whilst clearly limited in some respects they are terrific for what they are.

“Very good”?

Makes me wonder if you’ve heard an actual well put together HT setup. The nicest sound bars still sound like sound bars.

 

[JJB70]

“Very good”?

Makes me wonder if you’ve heard an actual well put together HT setup. The nicest sound bars still sound like sound bars.

Yes I have. Does a true HT set up sound better? Yes. Does a good soundbar sound good with none of the hassle of installing a proper surround sound system and do it for a good price? Yes

A big reason AV receivers are now such a niche and true surround is still so limited in take up is that soundbars offer most of the sound most people want in an easy ownership proposition.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Yes I have. Does a true HT set up sound better? Yes. Does a good soundbar sound good with none of the hassle of installing a proper surround sound system and do it for a good price? Yes

A big reason AV receivers are now such a niche and true surround is still so limited in take up is that soundbars offer most of the sound most people want in an easy ownership proposition.

“Most of the sound people want”.

Yep. But nothing like a real theater experience, just like Sonos wireless speakers don’t deliver a true stereo audiophile experience. Nothing over Bluetooth does.

 

[JJB70]

Manufacturers tend to be primarily interested in products which satisfy most of the people most of the time. Other products tend to be niche hobby products. There are still plenty of options for those wanting true HT set ups but the main market is for other products. Similar to music audio where the main market is now wireless speakers (it has been that way for a long time). We have some Sonos speakers and for what they are they're excellent.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Manufacturers tend to be primarily interested in products which satisfy most of the people most of the time. Other products tend to be niche hobby products. There are still plenty of options for those wanting true HT set ups but the main market is for other products. Similar to music audio where the main market is now wireless speakers (it has been that way for a long time). We have some Sonos speakers and for what they are they're excellent.

I’m glad you’re satisfied with your mid-fi commodity gear, but why are we discussing it on ASR?

 

[HiFidFan]

“Most of the sound people want”.

Yep. But nothing like a real theater experience, just like Sonos wireless speakers don’t deliver a true stereo audiophile experience. Nothing over Bluetooth does.

Sonos is not Bluetooth.

 

[HiFidFan]

I’m glad you’re satisfied with your mid-fi commodity gear, but why are we discussing it on ASR?

Why not? ASR tests and discusses mid-fi (and even "low end" ) gear quite often. Have a look in the "Review Index".

 

[JJB70]

I’m glad you’re satisfied with your mid-fi commodity gear, but why are we discussing it on ASR?

OK I will leave it to you to convince manufacturers to do what you want them to regardless of what they are likely to sell

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

We’re a bunch of enthusiasts, thus, represent a very small percentage of the market. Manufacturers for the most part seem mired in the last century, offering the market at large, products only enthusiasts can operate or extract the best from.
Let’s take our AVR as example. Spectacular items ( I intend to write a post on what an AVR can bring IME to the table of accurate music reproduction even in 2-channels) no doubt but their basic operation require a PHD and weeks of fiddling. Finding the source, is an issue.. id it Airplay or is it Internet radio, for example my Denon uses Airplay but on the screen it mentions Internet Radio ... if for any reason the source in that case a PC takes some time to play it starts playing a random Internet Radio it was tuned on... no input from me required, don't even know which radio it plays but ... Let’s try to add a subwoofer (or God forbid, 2) and see the amount of work for the system to sound accurate or agréable and make us recognize that this is some music being played. It will take weeks. Contrast that with SONOS. Plug the SONOS sub to an AC outlet ...really plug it into the AC outlet... Fire the App on your smartphone I think for now only IOS, use the app which makes you walk around the room while moving the smartphone and, yes people! decent to very good sound. End of the story. Few companies recognize this. One of the few and we shouldn’t be surprised is Samsung, their sound bar are starting to sound beyond decent. Another is B&O. Do yourselves a a favor and listen to the Beolab 5. At the first cut you'll understand... There are a few others.. Devialet?
It is true that the ultimate is achieved with a good complement of decent speakers and processor but the amount of work is serious, very serious. Genelec has the GLM .. I don't know much about it but it seems to work well but at a cost: Genelec products are dear, especially those that work with GLM. Similar results can be obtained with less expensive products and the use of REW but if you go that route ( Like I have), prepare yourself for months of fiddling, researching and studying before your reach satisfying results
I believe that is where the new entrants should focus. Focus on software-driven products that will allow the user to obtain great results without spending a lifetime to figure out how. Things like Wireless speakers. Before, like any decent audiophile, I was worried about too many AD to DA conversions... In my present system there are many, yet, I am not bothered one bit: D to A from the AVR to its analog output, to my speakers where there is another A to D, then in the speaker still another D to A ... It sounds good, more than good at times.. I am astonished at the degree of accuracy of these cheap (yes! at $500 pair) powered speakers. The soundbar has a limitation in the spread of speakers but software can help ... There are other solutions : Think about what the Yamaha Sound Projector (The YSP series) are doing with their soundbar.. This is a road not travelled by other manufacturers but where I believe that Science (Psycho Acoustics, Software) can bring welcome solutions.. Make this wireless with another YSP in the back a wireless sub and ...


The future is this kind of direction ... Not in those

Peace.

 

[buz]

And while we are at it, come up with a solution to at least have rear and height wireless.

Sonos is sort of there but I would like to select my own speakers.

 

[FrantzM]

And while we are at it, come up with a solution to at least have rear and height wireless.

Sonos is sort of there but I would like to select my own speakers.

Denon could have. They have an ecosystem: the HEOS. They could provide sort of a "bridge" , a HEOS receiver with pre outputs or amp output ... They could expand on the concept and make their AVR become the command center of a true wireless system or hybrid-wired-wireless... Not sure they are looking in this direction. They seem to want to compete with SONOS ... I wish them luck
Audiophiles also are not helping. We sneer at "Lifestyle " products. Meanwhile we toil to make our NOT-lifestyle systems sound decent and integrate with our environment. Most of us don't (can't) enjoy the luxury of a dedicated room ... we should have welcomed products that make it easy to play well and accurate within a domestic environment ... Not sure we do ... For the record I have a dedicated , albeit small , room.

 

[Spkrdctr]

“Very good”?

Makes me wonder if you’ve heard an actual well put together HT setup. The nicest sound bars still sound like sound bars.

They do, but the point is who cares? The problem is a hi performing HT setup is NOT easy to set up and use, not plug and play. To really crack open the market for serious 5.2.2 you would need simple, easy plug and play. Anything more difficult will be replaced with headphones or ear buds in the current market place. The market for real home theater will get smaller and smaller as sound bars take over. It is not the sound but the ease of use and the fact you do not need to find room for all the different speakers and wires.

 

[JJB70]

Wireless should be ideal for HT as it addresses one of the big barriers to adoption by getting rid of most of the wiring and installation hassle. A lot of soundbars offer wireless subwoofers and rear speakers.

 

[VMAT4]

I’m glad you’re satisfied with your mid-fi commodity gear, but why are we discussing it on ASR?

Why are we discussing this on ASR? Doesn't this thread belong on AVSForum?