Soundbars

[Alan Sex]

36 minutes ago, sh#t waffle said:

I've got the Beam, and it is absolutely ace. In terms of bang for buck I'd say it's the best product Sonos make. I haven't bothered with rear speakers, but it would work really well. Our living room is medium-sized, and I don't feel like we're missing anything by not having the sub, the beam's sound is surprisingly weighty.

Nice. It’s decently priced - Costco has a package with the two Sonos 1 speakers, the space is open plan so that should help fill the sound out a little. 

[Allan]

I have the Beam and 2 One speakers in my living room. I have the Ones set as a stereo pair, but keep them separate from the Beam in the Sonos Controller. The Beam is assigned to a TV Room group, with the 2 Ones assigned to Living Room.

 

My living room is a small space so the Beam is more than sufficient on it's own, but when I do want to go bigger and louder, I just group the rooms in the controller to have the Ones behind me adding the extra kick, and then when I'm done, I can simply separate the groups once more.

 

[Alan Sex]

40 minutes ago, Dynamite said:

I have the Beam and 2 One speakers in my living room. I have the Ones set as a stereo pair, but keep them separate from the Beam in the Sonos Controller. The Beam is assigned to a TV Room group, with the 2 Ones assigned to Living Room.

 

My living room is a small space so the Beam is more than sufficient on it's own, but when I do want to go bigger and louder, I just group the rooms in the controller to have the Ones behind me adding the extra kick, and then when I'm done, I can simply separate the groups once more.

 

Good plan. 

[Red74]

On 06/03/2018 at 15:22, johnsusername said:

Has anyone used the Sky Soundbox? It's made by Devialet.

 

It's got very good reviews and i can get it for £249. But i've already got a Bose speaker (was a poresent a couple of years ago and cost similar but it's not exclusively set up for the telly and i rarely bother plugging it in - the wire sticks out the side of the telly, and it doesn't have a remote so it's a bit of a pain when you want the volume up/down.) I tend to only use it when the wife and kids are away for films etc. Having two small kids in the house I don't want massive noise.

 

Obviously that sounds like it would be a waste of my time getting a new one, but i want one anyway. 

You’re probably not in the least bit arsed now but I’ve got one and it’s brilliant. Adjusts the volume to suit what’s happening on screen rather than you having to have the volume at full blast just to hear the vocals and then having half the streets lights go on when an explosion goes off on screen like the Samsung I had. 
 

highly recommend 

[johnsusername]

On 08/06/2020 at 20:18, Red74 said:

You’re probably not in the least bit arsed now but I’ve got one and it’s brilliant. Adjusts the volume to suit what’s happening on screen rather than you having to have the volume at full blast just to hear the vocals and then having half the streets lights go on when an explosion goes off on screen like the Samsung I had. 
 

highly recommend 

I never did get one, but they're now down to £169 so I might. I've got a new telly and the Bose speaker doesn't plug into it (no 3.5mm jack input on the telly - I know that's older technology but still disappointing as the sound on the Bose is great).

 

I'm actually surprised how good the sound out of the TV speakers is, I thought they'd be worse. But think I need a separate set/bar.

 

[Colonel Bumcunt]

On 08/06/2020 at 20:18, Red74 said:

You’re probably not in the least bit arsed now but I’ve got one and it’s brilliant. Adjusts the volume to suit what’s happening on screen rather than you having to have the volume at full blast just to hear the vocals and then having half the streets lights go on when an explosion goes off on screen like the Samsung I had. 
 

highly recommend 

Interesting price point that. However, I return to my initial point from 2 years ago and I'm just not tempted to upgrade to a soundbar without Dolby Atmos. 

That sadly includes the Sonos which is also £100 cheaper right now.  

 

Have seen some Atmos soundbars now reduced to £250-300 which is making me think. 

[Colonel Bumcunt]

Ahhh fuck.

 

https://hdguru.com/understanding-dolby-atmos-from-an-supporting-lg-tv/

[Baresi]

Awaiting delivery of a Sonos beam. Hope it’s worth it!

[TheBitch]

What’s the verdict, @Baresi
 

I’ve got a Sonos Playbase and 2 Sonos 1’s in the living room. 
 

A Sonos 5 in the conservatory. 
 

They’re all superb products. 

[i5x]

We have an Arc; managed to get £90 or so discount. I wanted to go full 5.1.2 as I wanted atmos that actually worked how it was supposed to. It looked very tidy mounted on wall and is quite low profile. It has really made a diffidence especially to bass, I was not 100% convinced we wouldn't end up having to buy a sub but we have not felt the need yet. The treble has a nice sparkle but not overly aggressive and really like the voice enhancement feature (brings mids forward so more pronounced)

Sound fills the room nicely and poor cat seems to be a bit scared of it , which I guess attests to the accuracy of my comments.

[Daisy]

Any of you get issues with sonos devices on Sky Q mesh network? 

[johnsusername]

On 08/06/2020 at 20:18, Red74 said:

You’re probably not in the least bit arsed now but I’ve got one and it’s brilliant. Adjusts the volume to suit what’s happening on screen rather than you having to have the volume at full blast just to hear the vocals and then having half the streets lights go on when an explosion goes off on screen like the Samsung I had. 
 

highly recommend 

Ha - I finally got one of these - three years after my post. Pristine for £99. I'm having trouble with the various connections though - it was working okay, but then when I switched everything off and tried to switch it all back on the Tv wouldn't pick up the Sky box HD. I'll fiddle round with it - but the whole point of me getting the Sky soundbox was so I wouldn't have to fiddle round, so I'm a bit disappointed as things stand.

[Red74]

1 hour ago, johnsusername said:

Ha - I finally got one of these - three years after my post. Pristine for £99. I'm having trouble with the various connections though - it was working okay, but then when I switched everything off and tried to switch it all back on the Tv wouldn't pick up the Sky box HD. I'll fiddle round with it - but the whole point of me getting the Sky soundbox was so I wouldn't have to fiddle round, so I'm a bit disappointed as things stand.

I had similar problem going via HDMI cable and after googling it, I’d read that i should connect mine up via the optical cable and that worked great.

Few good forums out there that’ll put you right. 

 

 

[johnsusername]

9 hours ago, Red74 said:

I had similar problem going via HDMI cable and after googling it, I’d read that i should connect mine up via the optical cable and that worked great.

Few good forums out there that’ll put you right. 

 

 

Oh yeah, I've been on a lot of forums ha. Done some faffing round and think I've got it set up the way I want it.

 

One thing I can't seem to find on a forum - using the Disney + and Netflix apps through the Sky box they aren't HDR/4k anymore like they should be, just HD. It's not a problem as I can still get 4K through the TV apps, just thought it was weird. 

 

Anyway, it's an excellent sound box and even though it's a couple of years old now it was pretty good value at £99. 

[Red74]

19 minutes ago, johnsusername said:

Oh yeah, I've been on a lot of forums ha. Done some faffing round and think I've got it set up the way I want it.

 

One thing I can't seem to find on a forum - using the Disney + and Netflix apps through the Sky box they aren't HDR/4k anymore like they should be, just HD. It's not a problem as I can still get 4K through the TV apps, just thought it was weird. 

 

Anyway, it's an excellent sound box and even though it's a couple of years old now it was pretty good value at £99. 

Noticed the difference with Netflix 4k through sky compared to using the app and read that you can’t get it through sky anymore. Same with Disney so just go straight to the apps now

[Sugar Ape]

Anyone with a Sky soundbox used a Fire Stick with it, and if so does it work ok? @Red74 @johnsusername

 

I'm upgrading my setup in the living room, found an LG telly I'm going to get and I'll have a 4K fire stick plugged into it for Plex, and I'll probably watch other things on Prime and Netflix through it and I'll have a Sky Q box hooked up to it.

 

Undecided on whether to get a soundbar or a Sky soundbox though to go with it. I like the look of the soundbox and you can get them basically brand new on eBay for around £100 but not sure if it will be a lot of faffing about getting the fire stick to play through it and the information about it online is sketchy and contradictory. As far as I can see I should be able to hook the soundbox to the Sky Q box and the telly via HDMI and to the fire stick by bluetooth but some people are saying it is a pain in the arse getting it all to work.

[Red74]

21 minutes ago, Sugar Ape said:

Anyone with a Sky soundbox used a Fire Stick with it, and if so does it work ok? @Red74 @johnsusername

 

I'm upgrading my setup in the living room, found an LG telly I'm going to get and I'll have a 4K fire stick plugged into it for Plex, and I'll probably watch other things on Prime and Netflix through it and I'll have a Sky Q box hooked up to it.

 

Undecided on whether to get a soundbar or a Sky soundbox though to go with it. I like the look of the soundbox and you can get them basically brand new on eBay for around £100 but not sure if it will be a lot of faffing about getting the fire stick to play through it and the information about it online is sketchy and contradictory. As far as I can see I should be able to hook the soundbox to the Sky Q box and the telly via HDMI and to the fire stick by bluetooth but some people are saying it is a pain in the arse getting it all to work.

Works great with the fire stick mate. I’ve got the optical lead from the telly into the back of it so everything runs fine.

 

Ive got the Plex app installed on the telly instead of fire stick. Seems to run a lot quicker than the stick. 

[Sugar Ape]

11 minutes ago, Red74 said:

Works great with the fire stick mate. I’ve got the optical lead from the telly into the back of it so everything runs fine.

 

Ive got the Plex app installed on the telly instead of fire stick. Seems to run a lot quicker than the stick. 

Cheers mate. Can't really go wrong for £100 and seems much better than a soundbar for that price would be.

[johnsusername]

33 minutes ago, Sugar Ape said:

Cheers mate. Can't really go wrong for £100 and seems much better than a soundbar for that price would be.

I got mine from here mate - https://www.thebigphonestore.co.uk/products/sky-soundbox-with-original-remote-black-pristine

 

Perfect condition - I don't think it's been used. I'm guessing they might have bought a job lot of warehouse stock from sky or something. 

[Carvalho Diablo]

10 hours ago, Red74 said:

Works great with the fire stick mate. I’ve got the optical lead from the telly into the back of it so everything runs fine.

 

Ive got the Plex app installed on the telly instead of fire stick. Seems to run a lot quicker than the stick. 

Same with Plex direct on my LG.

[johnsusername]

One quirk of the Sky soundbox - the sounds on the Nintendo Switch menu are intermittent. The games seem to be fine - but the sound on the menu / OS flit in and out randomly. I've swapped cables round (HDMI and Optical and vice versa) but nothing seems to change it. 

[Sugar Ape]

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.

[Total Longo]

On 05/06/2021 at 23:01, Red74 said:

Noticed the difference with Netflix 4k through sky compared to using the app and read that you can’t get it through sky anymore. Same with Disney so just go straight to the apps now

They work fine for me through Sky Q. The Disney+ 4K is amongst the best i've seen on a streaming service. Way better quality through the Sky Q box than on the firestick imo.

[Paul]

Are soundbars really worth it now? The best new tellies have ridiculous sound quality. 

[RedKnight]

Dolby surround sound AV receiver is the real choice.