Soundbars

[johnsusername]

On 08/06/2021 at 16:51, Sugar Ape said:

It arrived before so hooked it up to my current telly as my new one isn't arriving until tomorrow and it's pretty fucking good. Couldn't be arsed fucking around connecting the optical lead as the telly is mounted on the wall and I can't get to it easily so might as well wait until the new one comes, but connected it to the fire stick via bluetooth and worked fine. Good for playing Spotify through my phone as well.

 

Got the Sky Q box coming next week so it's connected to the Sky plus one and the sport sounds boss through that as well. Seems a right bargain for £100. Pisses all over similarly priced sound bars I've heard.

 

I'll have a Switch set up to it as well once it's all done so I'll let you know if mine is the same as yours.

The sound on the Sky box is really good for gaming. There's a real oomph to it.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Just bought the sonos beam gen 2 and only just realised the TV in the room I want it in doesn't have earc or arc hdmi! Why dont I check these fucking things first. 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Got a Samsung sound bar, put it into hdmi arc in the sharp aquos TV, the sound is still coming through the TV, and I've tried fucking everything driving me spare, any ideas anyone ?? I realise it's hard ficing advice without knowing the specific tech, I've exhausted Google. I can get my phone to play through the sound bar.

[Scooby Dudek]

2 hours ago, Ezekiel 25:17 said:

Got a Samsung sound bar, put it into hdmi arc in the sharp aquos TV, the sound is still coming through the TV, and I've tried fucking everything driving me spare, any ideas anyone ?? I realise it's hard ficing advice without knowing the specific tech, I've exhausted Google. I can get my phone to play through the sound bar.

With my television, despite having it set up via HDMI into soundbar I still need to go into sound settings on tele and switch off internal speakers, then change output to HDMI, or something similar.  

[Carvalho Diablo]

2 hours ago, Ezekiel 25:17 said:

Got a Samsung sound bar, put it into hdmi arc in the sharp aquos TV, the sound is still coming through the TV, and I've tried fucking everything driving me spare, any ideas anyone ?? I realise it's hard ficing advice without knowing the specific tech, I've exhausted Google. I can get my phone to play through the sound bar.

I'm an LG man, not a Sammy one, but the basic theory is the same... inside your TV's settings you will need to enable the ARC before selecting it as your chosen audio input.

 

To compound issues further though mate, apparently the techy nerd fuckwits at both Samsung and LG don't label ARC as ARC within their respective settings, they call it something entirely different altogether!

 

Why they would do this, fuck only knows (and sorry, can I fuck remember what either company decided to rename their internal ARCs as), but I watched a YouTube video on this a few weeks ago and it's definitely the case.

 

Why not simply connect via a zero latency optical SPDIF lead though? Cheap, skinny, far more reliable? I know you shouldn't need to and it's missing the point of your post, but it'll do your blood pressure no harm.

[Carvalho Diablo]

One further thing, on an LG you need to go into settings and activate ARC but you then also need to turn them on/off via the screen / remote too.

 

A 2 step process in absolutely nerdy wankerishness.

[Ezekiel 25:17]

12 hours ago, Carvalho Diablo said:

I'm an LG man, not a Sammy one, but the basic theory is the same... inside your TV's settings you will need to enable the ARC before selecting it as your chosen audio input.

 

To compound issues further though mate, apparently the techy nerd fuckwits at both Samsung and LG don't label ARC as ARC within their respective settings, they call it something entirely different altogether!

 

Why they would do this, fuck only knows (and sorry, can I fuck remember what either company decided to rename their internal ARCs as), but I watched a YouTube video on this a few weeks ago and it's definitely the case.

 

Why not simply connect via a zero latency optical SPDIF lead though? Cheap, skinny, far more reliable? I know you shouldn't need to and it's missing the point of your post, but it'll do your blood pressure no harm.

TBH that's exactly where it's heading, ridiculous though, I'm not a tech expert but i'm not a nooob either.

[Harry's Lad]

I was going to get a Sonos Arc.

To achieve what it's capable of it needs to be connected via EARC.

No problem I thought, my telly's had an update to upgrade the ARC connection.

It hasn't. 

 

When I bought the telly  (Samsung  QE55Q85R)  just before New year in 2019, an update for this was imminent, but has never materialised.

Samsung say it is scheduled 'soon'.

Yeah, right. It's took them 2 years so far, so I won't hold my breath.

 

[Moo]

I'm not after anything quite so fancy, just a small speaker for a bedroom telly to be connected via Bluetooth.  Suggestions would be welcomed, ta.

[Allan]

Roku Streambar is worth a look for anyone after an audio/smart upgrade to an older TV at a reasonable price.

 

I bought myself one earlier this year to hook up to a 4K monitor that I use, and whilst it's not on the same level as the Sonos Beam that I use for my main TV, the Streambar does what I want it to do.

 

The Streambar retails for £99.99 on Amazon, Argos & Currys.

 

Gets plenty of solid reviews and is a nice way to get a little more longevity out of any older TV that you may have.

 

What Hi-fi

 

Expert Reviews

 

Tom's Guide

Tech Advisor

 

AV Forums

[johnsusername]

My Sky Soundbox stopped taking remote input - both its own remote and the sky remote. Because I had to plug in a Google TV to test something (then take it out) it's buggered the inputs and I've tried every possibly input combination and nothing's working. The box is working fine - I can change it with the buttons on the box itself, but it won't take remote input at all.

 

One of those tech things that is working one minute and not the next, and has you pulling your hair out. 

[leslie]

On 10/01/2018 at 23:09, Gym Beglin said:

Can you control the volume with your telly remote ?

My Denon AV surround receiver sound levels now either blare out or are barely audible when I change channels  any ideas ?.

[Harry's Lad]

7 hours ago, leslie said:

My Denon AV surround receiver sound levels now either blare out or are barely audible when I change channels  any ideas ?.

Can it be rebooted?

Try pressing and holding the power button on the unit itself for 10 seconds.

I had a similar issue with my old Yamaha system and that cured it.

Denon may be different mind.

[GR10 LFC]

Got a Sky Devialet Soundbox I am looking to sell - bought last year as I had seen them recommended on this thread. Will be sticking on ebay and similar soon - if anyone is interested before I do that then drop me a message. Looking for £90 - fully boxed, with cables and remote. Perfect working order - only selling as we are building a media wall so looking at a more traditional shaped sound bar to go in there.

[leslie]

On 29/08/2022 at 20:30, Harry's Lad said:

Can it be rebooted?

Try pressing and holding the power button on the unit itself for 10 seconds.

I had a similar issue with my old Yamaha system and that cured it.

Denon may be different mind.

no good thanks, been told it's because companies are recording in different formats now.

[Harry's Lad]

26 minutes ago, leslie said:

no good thanks, been told it's because companies are recording in different formats now.

Is there an auto volume setting on your telly which levels the sound when changing channels or sources?

My Samsung has this feature but is 'greyed out' because I'm using HDMI pass through, but that might work 

It should be easy to find in sound settings.

[Colonel Bumcunt]

Sky Devialet, what are people's experience?

[Harry's Lad]

15 hours ago, Colonel Bumcunt said:

Sky Devialet, what are people's experience?

My mum's had one for about 4 years and it's been pretty good to be fair.

It's needed resetting a few times but generally ok.

It can go very loud with clear defined sound through Sky Q.

I can't comment on gaming or with DVD/Bluray as it hasn't been used for these.

 

Some people have had problems, I suggest you have a look on the Sky forum,  but so far apart from the minor niggles I've mentioned my mum's has been fine.

 

It's like everything I suppose, you can get a good one or a bad one.

[johnsusername]

16 hours ago, Colonel Bumcunt said:

Sky Devialet, what are people's experience?

Depends on the cost. I got mine for £99 I think. 

 

Sounds really good for what is just a single box. Looks pretty cool.

 

HOWEVER - it does sometimes have connection issues.

 

Also, after a year or so, the infra red receiver in mine has gone, which means the controller doesn't work on it, you have to use the buttons on the box. I just use mine when I'm watching films now, not for general telly watching. 

[johnsusername]

Actually I'm listening to it now as it's a pretty good Bluetooth speaker for music. 

[Colonel Bumcunt]

Cheers all. 

I think I'm going to hang on for someone to bring the price down on a Dolby Atmos bar. 

Currently have a Q Media 4, which has been great, but I've noticed it start to distort bassy dialogue when loud, not sure if that's as a result of its age (5 years or so). 

[skend04]

48 minutes ago, Colonel Bumcunt said:

Cheers all. 

I think I'm going to hang on for someone to bring the price down on a Dolby Atmos bar. 

Currently have a Q Media 4, which has been great, but I've noticed it start to distort bassy dialogue when loud, not sure if that's as a result of its age (5 years or so). 

The Sony HT-G700 gets good reviews and is now down to around £265-£299 depending on where you buy from. Atmos system.

 

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/sound-bars/ht-g700

[cloggypop]

On 21/09/2022 at 20:32, skend04 said:

The Sony HT-G700 gets good reviews and is now down to around £265-£299 depending on where you buy from. Atmos system.

 

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/sound-bars/ht-g700

I have one of these. Got a refurbished one off Amazon for dirt cheap in perfect condition. It's good. 

[Bobby Hundreds]

On 14/11/2021 at 11:36, Bobby Hundreds said:

Just bought the sonos beam gen 2 and only just realised the TV in the room I want it in doesn't have earc or arc hdmi! Why dont I check these fucking things first. 

I ended up buying a new TV and two sonos ones for surround sound the only problem is my missus "it's too loud"

[Carvalho Diablo]

These are supposed to be fantastic.

 

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