Choosing the best soundbar to buy

So, we have read about how a soundbar can give you great surround sound audio without the grief and expense of a full on surround sound system based on an amplifier and multiple speakers.

So what exactly is ‘The Best Soundbar‘? Well, as with so many things in daily life the answer is ‘it depends’. The quick response is ‘the one which does what you want it to do and that you may afford’. To attempt to determine what that means keep reading!

What would you like it for?
Give some thought to what your actually would like the Soundbar for. Will it be purely to give your flat screen Tv set improved sound or do you want a rich surround sound experience? Will you be listening mainly to music or watching lots of films? Maybe you also have an Xbox 360 or gaming system you wish to enhance? These aspects will settle if you will be happy using a easy entry level unit or a top of the range system with plenty of connection choices.

What’s your budget?
Soundbars vary from around £50 ($82) all the way up to £1400 ($2,300).

What do I want to connect?
Make a list of anything you’d like to connect and find out if it’s possible – common needs are Xbox 360, Blu-Ray, MP3 Player,Wireless bluetooth and naturally Television set.

How can I connect?
On most entry to mid-range Soundbars you’ll attach all your gadgets (Wii, Xbox 360 console etc) to the TV and then the sound out from the TV to the Soundbar. With some top-of-the-range Soundbars you’ll be able to attach every thing directly.

HDMI
Pay special attention to HDMI, in particular HDMI ARC. Whenever both Soundbar and TV support this it can make the cabling much simpler.

Make sure your room layout is suitable
Ensure you haven’t got pieces of furniture which will block the sounds course. Check that the particular Soundbar you are interested in will either fit on your TV rack or perhaps can be easily wall mounted. You also need walls that will reflect sound readily.

How loud are you interested in?
Sound volume can vary from a fairly half-hearted 30 Watts RMS all the way up to 400. We wouldn’t bother with anything much under 100 for most purposes.

What manufacturer do you favor?
Many of the big consumer electronics producers make Soundbars, so if you have a favourite then that might guide your decision.

Physical Setup

Since the first article I’ve had a couple of questions about the physical setup – room layout and the like. So I’ve jotted down a few thoughts which hopefully should make things clearer! So settle down for another does of Soundbar Information!

Setting up a Soundbar is really uncomplicated, nonetheless as with just about any hi-tech sound setup there is lots to take into consideration if you need to make the most from your investment. (Without a doubt, it is easy to simply chuck it in andcross yoru fingers, however let’s admit it, having forked out some money you’d like your newly purchased system to ROCK!)

All Soundbars have a little varying set up requirements so do make sure you study the manual that is included with your own when you buy it. The below guide should provide you adequate general information to help you make a thought out buying choice and also to make sure that your room is suited for some sort of Soundbar.

Before we get in to the points we’ll have a short refresher about a Soundbar actually works. That sleek wide device you’d like to have sat underneath or over your TV is loaded with tiny speakers which inturn beam the audio at distinct angles. How many speakers will depend on whether or not you have got a 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 system along with the make and model that you’ve got. The impact is finished with all of the high-tech trickery such as SRS WOW, DTS, and Dolby etc.

If you visualize those sounds emerging from the Soundbar at set angles you immediately realise that you must make certain that all of them intersect at the same position – you!

You now need to make certain every one of the lines possess an continuous path and that also the length of each type of line is comparable. That’s not quite as challenging as it seems, just make sure there won’t be items of your furniture getting in the sounds way!

Now as you have perhaps read in our technical tutorial many Soundbars may have onboard calibration devices. This simply means they can project a sound and then configure itself determined by just what it gets back using the on board microphone. Such systems are great. Other systems assist you to manually influence the output which again is a huge strength. Nonetheless, even though you may have a system with these tuning capabilities you can give the system a helping hand by considering the following;

The gap between the Soundbar and you ought to be around 6ft. (1.8m)

Deploy the unit in the middle of the right and left wall

Listening point is required to be in front of your device

Items of home furniture mustn’t block out the travel of audio

Listening location ought not to be too near to the walls

Walls need to be solid enough to be able to reflect sound beams

Measure the width of your Television set rack and make certain the Soundbar will be able to fit without obstructions

As allways don’t forget to read your manual carefully before firing up your new Soundbar for the first time!

Drum roll – post number 1 – Enter the Soundbar

A small corner of the net where I can share some of my experiences with Windows Media Center and my latest interest – the Soundbar. I’ve recently had several people admiring my Windows7 based Media Center. Whilst generally chuffed about all the positive feedback (I largely built it myself) my bubble was a little burst when visiting a friends house to watch ‘Avatar’ on BluRay.

Ignoring the fact that he had a 50″ TV (I don’t….) what really made a difference was the sound. He had a full on surround system with the full 7 speakers, amp etc etc. I’d pretty much decided that I wanted the same when he told me how much it had cost.

By the time I had got over the shock, and then realised how he had pulled up the carpets and pulled off the skirting boards to run the cables I had gone off the idea.

Asking around my other friends led me to a piece of kit which I’d not previously come across - the soundbar.

The Soundbar is a special sort of speaker system which creates a stereo or surround sound effect from a single enclosure. It is wider than it is tall which helps them to be positioned either on a shelf underneath the TV or wall mounted above. Some Soundbars come with the option of an additional subwoofer to give a really satisfying depth to the sound.

The need for Soundbars was driven by advances in TV screen technology. As screens got progressively thinner the lack of bulk meant that onboard speakers simply couldn’t produce a really satisfying depth of sound.
When Yamaha created the YSP-1 in 2005 they effectively created a whole new product category overnight!

So Soundbars we developed for people who wanted full stereo or surround sound without the inconvenience and expense of having to install an amplifier and multiple speakers.

The ‘Surround Sound’ effect (sometimes called a 3D sound field) is achieved by housing multiple speakers within the Soundbar and then bouncing the sound of the walls. Onboard technology such as DTS and SRS WOW  complete the effect.

Some systems come with an onboard calibration program allowing them to adjust for your specific room geometry but as a general rule to make a Soundbar system work properly does require some planning as to where the viewer/listener will be sat relative to the Soundbar. Typically it’s considered best to be sat about 6ft in front on the unit.

Just make sure you do your homework when choosing a soundbar - count the number of devices that you’re going to want to plug in and make a list of what type of connections they need. Then make sure you can connect them all! (There are typically two approaches here – either connect them to the TV and then connect the TV to the Soundbar or connect them all to the Soundbar. Also make sure the Soundbar can fit without being blocked by anything and that you don’t have absorbant type walls. (Woodchip wall paper anyone?!)

So if you can’t face the pain of a full surround system and are prepared to compromise a bit on sound quality a soundbar might be just what you need..