[Closed] New TV / sound bar advice please. (audiophiles input required)

I'm not in any way an expert, but I got a ~£150 sound bar free with my TV, and its FAR superior to the TV sound. Any visitors that have been round for a movie have also commented they were impressed with it.

I like the idea of free....

I've had a couple of soundbars, one inc. blu-ray so although cost £350 was probably the sound quality of a £150 normal soundbar. It was very noticeable and generally an improvement however I found the bass to be intrusive and there was no way of controlling it (for example in scenes with background traffic you could barely hear the dialogue as the background rumbling overwhelmed it).
I swapped it for a £700 soundbar as I had the cash available at the time, I don't regret it but I probably should have tried some cheaper models.

So would a £150 soundbar make a noticeable difference, yes but I would definitely only buy one at that price with either no dedicated sub-woofer or one where you can control it.

On the flip-side, you do sort of get used to cheap built-in sound, my parents don't have a soundbar and the TV always sounds horribly tinny the first couple of hours when I visit but I soon get used to it and don't really notice it much (same with the ridiculous colour balance they prefer, apparently it looks better to them if people are bright orange...).

In your case if you can't try the soundbars in the shop (and compare with a similar TV built-in sound) then I would order the TV, see how it sounded to you and then if it seemed tinny enough to be annoying then order one of the others on-line so you can return it if it doesn't make enough of a difference for the cost (in your opinion).

Hmmm, the Philips one has [i]treble& bass control[/i] so should be able to balance it out ok. I'm wondering if its spread of 32w x 3 + 55w will give a better all round sound than the LGs 2 x 25w + 70w which may well be too bass rich.

For a modern TV a bit of string and a can is an improvement. TVs are very thin, so no room for the speakers...

Oh and you should review that TV in a few weeks because that's on my shortlist too. Mostly because I actually trust LG to make a non-terrible TV interface (and the software is built using my day job).

Physics basically dictates that you can't get decent sound from flat screen tellies, cos you can't fit a big enough speaker and/or resonance chamber in them.

I've got what is probably the previous model of the Phillips. It's vastly better than the sound from the telly. Also sounds decent for music cast via Bluetooth or the Chromecast Audio plugged in the Aux socket.

It's weird, you think the sounds from the telly is fine, then you plug the soundbar in and think "aaaaaaaah, THAT's what it's supposed to sound like"
It's probably not audiophile quality, but I don't care.

TVs are very thin, so no room for the speakers...

johndoh - unless i rob a bank i don't think that's gonna be an option.

...thinks of starting a riot outside Cirens Sony shop....

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Whatcha up to later IHN ?

Rethink the bank robbery and then purchase the Bluesound bar. Let me know how sweet it sounds?

[url= https://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/p-28995-bluesound-pulse-soundbar-wireless-hifi-soundbar.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkrOAmYWH1wIVVbsbCh2E9gS1EAQYAiABEgIZy_D_BwE ]Very expensive [/url]

Or just rob a shop and get the Sonos

[url= https://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/p-10673-sonos-playbar-soundbar-wireless-speaker-system.aspx ]Still expensive [/url]

What do you use to listen to music?

Currently a 17 year old Denon UD-M31 with Mission speakers, Spotify streamed via my mobile. Why?

Whatcha up to later IHN ?

*tools up*