@RobL what do you feel you lost going from 5.1 to the soundbar? There are a lot of assumptions given around here that
of course something is better than something with no real explanation of what that something is, or what the user's experience may be.
I'm not saying you're guilty of this, so please don't take it that way. I'm genuinely curious and strive for details. Could you elucidate more on what you feel the differences are or have been with the soundbar? This might help others in the future who stumble upon threads like these, as they may find information that makes them say, "this matches my scenario so this may be good for me, too." Or, "The benefits of a full system for the music I listen to or the movies I watch don't warrant the effort I need to put in, so I'll settle for convenience."
Well, it’s tough to quantify the differences, my short acoustic memory and all that, haha.
I’ll give it a shot through I bullet points
Pluses of soundbar:
- better vocal clarity (previous centre channel was a Kef Q600c that cost half the price of the soundbar). The soundbar is clearer, full stop.
- the soundbar is supposedly 11.1 vs. my previous 5.1 rig. Well, whatever.
The “height” channels do work but certainly not as effective as ceiling mounted speakers would. It also adds “side surrounds” by bouncing sound from the side walls…this is surprisingly effective is some instances but hit and miss with others. A symmetric room and placement helps I think. The supplied rear surrounds have drivers on the front, outside and top.
- the supplied sub won’t play as low as my SVS did, I’m sure, but has no trouble pressurizing my room and effects, rumble, etc. are quite satisfying. I don’t really miss the SVS.
- aesthetically, the soundbar wins. I have my TV wall mounted with the soundbar on mounts I made just below it. That’s it. No console, centre channel, fronts, rats nest of wires etc. I ran all the wiring into the wall behind the TV and even put my Apple TV, and blue ray player in the room behind the wall. The wife was right, it looks way better. The sub and rear surround speakers are also wireless so, again no wires and placement is very flexible.
- I don’t listen to music on it, I have my Genelecs in the next room. I could see that most non audiophiles would be quite content with music on this thing though, it’s actually not bad and will play loud enough to put me out of the room.
Minuses of the soundbar:
- it’s a soundbar. No snob appeal or ability to tinker/upgrade etc. You set it up, it does its thing and you like it or you don’t, I guess. It does have some form of continuous room correction…not sure how it works but it has a microphone(s) and continuously monitors/adjusts/corrects the sound if you turn it on.
Like I said before, in this application (sound for TV/movies in my family room) it’s great. I am putting an actual home theatre in my Genelec room next year…but that won’t have a soundbar
.