Comments on: How to shop for a sound bar

By: Cliff Heyne

Cliff Heyne — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:30:58 +0000

I'm pretty curious to see the PlayBar in action. I wonder what wireless technology they are using for the Play 3 and sub to be wireless. I can't imagine it work's off the SONOS mesh network because there would be a big delay between picture and sound. But, then again, I don't know everything.

Also, it would have been nice to see a sub out on the soundbar, so you didn't have to use the SONOS Sub. Don't get me wrong, the SONOS sub is a great little sub, but isn't designed for movies. The PlayBar and a $500ish sub from Hsu, SVS, PowerSound, etc... would be a better match for movies....Then again, that isn't the focus of SONOS.

By: Cliff Heyne

Cliff Heyne — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:25:25 +0000

Bose can certainly put on an impressive demo in their store. And for $6k they had better! Their TV was always a little weird to me...The goal is to have a clean looking system but the TV is a beast! Granted, then you don't even have to worry about placing a soundbar under your TV.

But if you are seriously looking to drop that much money on a TV/Soundbar combo. A nice TV (Panasonic plasma for me) and one of the high-end soundbars we listed + a subwoofer would walk all over the Bose. Trust me, it couldn't hold a candle to the MartinLogan Vision or Yamaha YSP-5100 combined with something like an SVS PB-13 Ultra.

By: keremz

keremz — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:01:33 +0000

The best surround sound I heard from a non surround system was the Video Wave from Bose. Speaker is built into the tv but the effect is as real as it gets. The only downside is that its very very expensive. $6000. Then again thats typical of Bose. I urge everyone to go to a Bose store for a demo. By the way I do not work for Bose :)))

By: Licorice Master

Licorice Master — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 14:33:15 +0000

In December 2012 I purchased a Panasonic 50-inch plasma TV, model #TC-P5OU50 and with it I also purchased a Panasonic sound bar, model #SU-HTB350.

I would highly recommend purchasing the same manufacturer of both the TV and sound bar when it comes to compatibility. It was a breeze to set both my new TV and sound bar up in under fifteen minutes.

Also I’d like to add that this sound bar cost me two-hundred dollars at the big box store and it should be considered for your mid-range list.

By: Ian White

Ian White — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:23:01 +0000

I would also suggest the Boston Acoustics TVee Model 30 which is designed to work with HDTVs in the 40-50" range; excellent sound quality, wireless subwoofer, and Bluetooth-enabled. There are very few soundbars that have HDMI In/Out but the bigger issue for me is that 99% can't process DTS-HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD. The top model from Definitive Technology SoloCinema ($2,000) offers this but only one optical input.

The new SONOS PlayBar is the first true 5.1 wireless system for $2,000 if you add the additional channels and subwoofer.

By: Rhurazz_2012

Rhurazz_2012 — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:28:55 +0000

Your right, if you want true surround get a complete component theater system, but if you just wanna enhance your sound, then a sound bar is good, especially if you don’t have a lot of space. The ones that are suggested are great solutions, but I wouldn’t recommend the cheap ones from Walmart since those are usually the gimmicky ones that claim surround but are not really surround at all. Do the research, look around and chose between two or more for comparison sound bar or home theater system…