We bought a very large screen TV that hangs on the wall quite a distance from the couches in our living room so we debated whether to get a soundbar or install a surround sound system with speakers. We bought a Samsung soundbar (our TV is a Samsung) so we could get simulated surround sound and it works well for us. Our living room is very large, so the built-in TV speakers don’t work very well. You get a much richer and fuller sound with a soundbar. I think our soundbar cost $150 at Costco. They are very easy to install and you can either use Bluetooth or an optical cable to connect it to the TV. We tried Bluetooth by ended up directly cabling it which worked better for us. In our case, the sound comes just from the soundbar and not the TV. If you power down the soundbar it comes just from the TV… they both don’t work at the same time. At first, I was skeptical of using a soundbar but it worked out better than I expected. Ours came with a Bluetooth woofer that sits in the back of the room and two small side speakers for each side of the room that are also Bluetooth enabled.
I like to recommend ratings.com for very thorough, but clear, ratings of sound bars, headphones, TVs, and monitors. The products can be sorted and compared by dozens of criteria.
We installed a one-piece sound bar (no subwoofer or surround speakers) about a year ago. To test it I watched a Netflix broadcast of Stop Making Sense. The difference was vast; there were whole parts of the music that were inaudible when just using the TV’s speakers. For regular programming, the sound is almost always better using the soundbar, but if the soundtrack music is unimportant then I might not care much.
Our TV has an HDMI ARC connector which, I think, lets you control the soundbar functions very easily with the remote control. It was a simple connection, and the sound bar comes on (and turns off) with the TV. The sound just comes through the soundbar – but there might be an option to also use the TV speakers, although I would not want to.
Does a soundbar really do much?
Since most flat screen TVs have speakers firing out of the back of the TV (pointed at the wall behind), then yes - they can improve the sound quite a lot.
Are they easy to connect? I think a cable just runs to the back of the TV?
There are usually multiple ways to attach a soundbar to a TV - Optical (Toslink), HDMI, Bluetooth. Just make sure that the soundbar that you want has inputs that will match whatever outputs you have on the TV.
Does the sound come out both the TV and the soundbar? Or just one or the other?
Depends on the TV, I think.
One caveat - make sure that the soundbar that you want is not so tall that it blocks the infrared sensor for the TV’s remote control. It’s usually on the bottom of the TV somewhere on the bezel.
If needed, you could put the soundbar on a shelf above the TV, or use a couple of pieces of 2x4 wood to lift the TV up a bit.
One thing I didn’t think about when I bought mine was an “auto on” or “auto standby” feature. That means I have the nuisance of yet another damned remote to find just to turn on the TV.
One reason, and the reason we got one, was because on the TV we have the speakers are in the back. And the TV is on the wall in front of the bedroom. So when he gets up at 1a to watch TV, it was waking me up. Now the sound comes out of the sound bar on the front.
I thought I’d revive this instead of starting a new thread.
We’re about to update our TV with a larger one (current is 40", new will be 55") and I’m planning to get a sound bar based on all the reports that modern TVs have limited speakers. Our room isn’t that big and we don’t go in for the home theater experience so I think we’ll just go for a sound bar by itself, no additional speakers.
Some articles online recommend matching the size of the sound bar to the width of your screen. Is that needed?
Not really. But you should be aware of how big the soundbar is compared to your TV, so that it doesn’t screw anything up (i.e. if you have a space that’s big enough for your TV, but not your soundbar). I don’t think there are any soundbars that will be wider than a 55" TV. A smaller soundbar isn’t a big deal - for reference, see the Roku Streambar, just 14" wide. Now, that’s a pretty budget solution, and the more expensive ones are quite a bit wider - which likely adds some dimension to the sound.
I have a TCL Roku TV, and am eyeing this Alto soundbar. I have a surround sound system set up in my living room, but I NEVER use it. There’s an extra remote to add to the equation, cabinets to open up, etc. I think this could be a nice boost.
Any thoughts on how much we’d notice the difference between 2.0 and 2.1? We’re not going to get an external subwoofer but for not too much extra there are soundbars with built-in subwoofers. Will that be noticeable for broadcast or NetFlix/Amazon Prime offerings?
It seems like a small price to pay for a little future proofing.
One alternative to a soundbar you may want to look at is this:
I have had the Orbs as my surrounds for years and briefly as my main speakers. They sound incredible and I’d highly recommend a subwoofer if you have the option. It makes music and movies/tv a much better experience.
In my experience a soundbar with out a subwoofer is pointless. I was completely unimpressed with the one we put on our guest room TV.
For under $150 I bought a Vizio souNdbar with wireless woofer and rear speakers. Set it up in our downstairs rec room. Unbelievable EXPERIENCE FOR SUCH LITTLE MONEY.
I ended up getting a Vizio 2.1 soundbar, and it makes a huge difference. I can’t imaging ever going back. Install and setup was trivial. We haven’t tried it as a Bluetooth speaker yet, but that should be a nice bonus.
Just for kicks try watching a show with the sub turned way down or off for 10 minutes or so and then turn it back on. As @pkbites points out, it makes a big difference for those of you considering the same option…
And get one with satellite speakers. For this under 150 I got a sound bar with wireless subwoofer and 2 rear speakers. Sounds fantastic. Watching regular tv, sports and movies is enhanced 1000% with this set up.
The first sound bar we had, Panasonic maybe, was no better than the TV speakers. We took it back. The LG we have now with the subwoofer is much better.
One other option, if your TV has an earphone jack or audio out port, is to use powered computer speakers. We do that when we are in charge of the family reunions and the local pro sports teams are playing. Set it up on a picnic table and the computer speakers provide the ability to hear the announcers. Other years, even with the TV maxed, it is hard to hear.
The one we bought has an integrated subwoofer, so just one wire from the TV to the soundbar. The ones with separate subwoofers or rear speakers use Bluetooth or other wireless connections.
Just for kicks try watching a show with the sub turned way down or off for 10 minutes or so and then turn it back on. As