We've just taken the carpet out of our lounge and dining room areas and accordingly the wires for the satellite speakers can no longer be hidden under the carpet edge, and accordingly the surround sound system is now decommissioned, and accordingly I want to replace it with something that sound great and provides the home cinema experience.
I am erring towards a Yamaha sound bar though any experiences?
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Would be interested here too - mahoosive LED tellies invariably have crap speakers.
Don't want phat noise, just crisper sound and better voice definition.
Of course the mild tinnitus I have noticed in the past couple of years does suggest slight hearing impairment but I'd never admit to that...
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Could you look instead at a Bluetooth surround system, if it's just the wires that are objectionable?
I appreciate this suggestion is in the true Internet forum sense of ignoring the question asked, suggesting you don't want to do what you thought you did, and offering something untried and untested you will probably already have dismissed, of course.
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>> Could you look instead at a Bluetooth surround system, if it's just the wires that
>> are objectionable?
>>
The problem there is you swap speaker cable for power cable.
I think a soundbar or soundbase is the answer, it's a question of which one, maybe Bose and maybe Sony though Yamaha seem to be the leaders and innovators. They are a company that seem to do every they do well, I have some Yamaha HiFi components already.
Thanks all!
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That towards the top end Dog ...
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I'd go for the Cambridge Audio TV2 V2 Ambo mentioned, if I was looking to buy a soundbase, which I am in a way, and have been for quite some time really :)
I have a olde 42" Panasonic plasma on which the sound isn't too bad compared to some flatties - been watching quite a few films lately, mainly sci-fi, but I'm beginning to get back in to horror too!
Gonna watch the last episode of The Vietnam War on BBC4 tonight, then get stuck into Gunpowder - good family viewing it aint!!
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>>Of course the mild tinnitus I have noticed in the past couple of years does suggest slight hearing impairment but I'd never admit to that...
May I be so bold as to suggest my learned fiend makes an appointment to a, um, doctor.
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A good AC/DC concert would be a better suggestion, it always cures mine.
Pat
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Mine got noticeably worse after a couple of Rush concerts in New York and Newark in 2015!
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Mmmm, I tried really hard but I never could 'get' Rush.
I sort of liked their music but never understood what they were about:)
Respect though!
Pat
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I have, what I feel is, very bad tinnitus in my left ear.
Not much fun - sometimes I have to sit at my desk with headphones on playing music just to drown it out and take my mind off it.
My audiologist said that he would never wear headphones ever !
I really have no idea what caused it - have never worked in a noisy environment.
b***** hate the damn thing though
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>>I have, what I feel is, very bad tinnitus in my left ear.
I get that, but only when I'm driving, and even then, not always.
Usually, actually only, when my wife is in the passenger seat...
;-)
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>> >>I have, what I feel is, very bad tinnitus in my left ear.
>>
>> I get that, but only when I'm driving, and even then, not always.
>>
>> Usually, actually only, when my wife is in the passenger seat...
>>
>> ;-)
>>
Did you ever get the kind of groaning in your ear when she was in the back seat ;-)
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Yes, but that stopped years ago.
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That's not what she tells me ;-)
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>>Usually, actually only, when my wife is in the passenger seat...>>
But if the tinnitus wasn't there, you'd think you'd gone completely deaf......
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I've got tinnitus in both ears - mild to moderate I suppose. However, as I have had it for as long as I can remember (possibly always), I've no idea how 'bad' others would perceive it to be. It wasn't till I was 18 that I figured out that a loud high pitched whine in both ears was not normal! I can hear it over most things if I concentrate on it; particularly noticeable when it's quiet though, so I always tend to have the radio on in the house - which annoys SWMBO sometimes, as she likes it quiet! It's always a lot worse if exposed to loud noise - I've worn earplugs at the last couple of concerts I've been to...including AC/DC at Hamden...
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Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what actually *is* tinnitus? I mean, I know its a noise in the ear, but how and why and stuff?
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No one really knows...
www.tinnitus.org.uk/all-about-tinnitus?gclid=Cj0KCQiAi7XQBRDnARIsANeLIetzsTpfuM7SkNmxkTx2SJqroDF8X9NiwdA6pfCu5EjNe9ILY-Hk86AaAileEALw_wcB
Mine possibly started after I had severe Mumps when I was about 4, but I couldn't say for sure. I often wonder what it must be like not to hear anything when it's quiet... I think I would now find that a bit disconcerting!
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Thank you, very interesting.
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My wife suffers from it as well
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Sounds a bit s***, to be honest. Sympathy for those with it and hope I'm never one of them.
I'd definitely fall into the category of people who worry and obsess about it.
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My brother out law suffers from it and attributes it to exposure to excessive noise while being a professional musician/entertainer.
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I thought I had it, until my wife got laryngitis.
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Way back in the late 1960's, I and a bunch of other hippies spent a phew! nights in the caves at Rock-a-Nore in Hastings where I experienced total darkness/quietness.
I well-remember thinking at the time I could hear my brain working (the hashish and cyder didn't help!) which I now realise was tinnitus.
I saw lights in the total darkness ... which could have been the reefers of course ;)
I now suffer experience constant quite loud ringing-in-the-ears but, I don't let it bother me at all at all,
unlike my sisters boy who has forked out shedloads in Harley St ... without seeing (hearing) any difference,
except in the wallet dept.
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>>...including AC/DC at Hamden<<
Sort of missing the point there Richard!
Take the ear plugs out and you won't hear the tinnitus, trust me, I know!
Pat
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I have a Sony soundbase. Vastly superior to the TV speakers but not as good as the separate speakers it replaced. I guess that is inevitable.
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Samsung seems to be the way to go according to Which.
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I have a Q Acoustics Soundbar that I am pleased with. It was a bit over £300 so not cheap but the sound is very good. It's not the loudest piece of kit but I was after quality not volume.
Also it has only a volume control, no separate bass/treble but that's not an issue for me as the sound us spot on as it is.
I bought it from Richer Sounds and they will dem various soundbars if you want to compare.
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>> I have a Q Acoustics Soundbar that I am pleased with. It was a bit
>> over £300 so not cheap but the sound is very good. >>
Is it the M2 model?
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Hard Cheese, no its an M4 soundbar. I think the M2 is a soundbase i.e. a squarer shape rather than the wider soundbar shape.
The M4 doesnt have HDMI, just optical and phono but thats not an issue for me. I use it with my Sky remote and its now worked faultlessly for a year.
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>> Samsung seems to be the way to go according to Which.
>>
I subscribe to Which they're OK for white goods and customer service reviews though I have issues with their photography reviews and when it comes to AV if ain't Samsung or Apple they don't want to know, it's getting kind of conspicuous. I wouldn't buy Samsung except perhaps a washing machine. What HiFi rate Yamaha amongst others.
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Good idea to get one with a Bluetooth connection so you can play music fom your iPad, phone etc through it.
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What replaces the carpet?
Can you run cables under skirting boards or if laying laminate cut grooves in the floorboards to contain them?
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Even the cheapest soundbar is umpteen times better than modern TV speakers. I have a sub hundred quid Goodmans and it sounds miles better.
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>>I have a sub hundred quid Goodmans and it sounds miles better.>>
My Panasonic TV has superb sound - but only if you sit behind it. Not quite the idea I had in mind...:-)
So a Roth Charlie twin satellites and sub-woofer system was acquired some years ago and provides excellent sound - if you have an earlier iPhone the base also charges it up...:-)
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>> if laying laminate
people still lay laminate? eeeewwww
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>> people still lay laminate? eeeewwww
Obvs there are decent laminates and carp ones but other than snobbery what's the objection?
The 20 year old stuff we have downstairs has been dinged in a few places but still looks far better than same age carpet.
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>> other than snobbery what's the objection?
A bit of taste and architectural sympathy dear boy.
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"obvs" ? How very down wid de kidz
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"Sepia"...as the 12 year olds in my office say
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My Cambridge Audio TV2 V2 soundbase is excellent. It is a new model this year and cost £199 from Richer Sounds. It comes with video and USB cables, the latter for "pairing" with other devices. It is large and heavy and will support the weight of most home TVs.
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Thanks Ambo, I have seen that one online, what are the exact dimensions, width, depth and height? Thanks in advance.
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www.richersounds.com/cambridge-tv2-v2-blk.html
Dimensions here but the site is a bit confusing, details being a bit jumbled up with a more expensive version. (For my "video" the correct term is optical. For "USB" read HDMI.) The weight I think is about 30 kilos but this is a guess since there were virtually no details with the set. See online reviews for more information.
There are three HDMI sockets. If you use one for pairing the remaining two can be used for, say, a DVD player. I have nothing to pair and read at the time that results are better from the optical connection. There are four sound settings but I can't detect much difference in them and in any case I bought it chiefly for music and Prom concerts, some of which I have recorded, so leave it on Music. Once set up you can put the remote away and use your existing control. The machine turns itself off when it can no longer detect a sound signal so you can effectively ignore it all together.
Unfortunately, it does not cure the problem I have with my new Panny and its predecessor, which I think my be down to poor dynamic range.. That is that a volume setting suitable for the lowest sounds is overwhelmingly loud when the performance sound increases, and vice versa.
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If considering a soundbase, you need to consider what it stands on. Shape, Material and construction of your TV cabinet can change the sound properties, and a load of DVDs tend to vibrate!
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>>
>> >> if laying laminate
>>
>> people still lay laminate? eeeewwww
>>
We've just got rid of the awful laminate which the previous owners had installed downstairs.
It's only taken us 6 years to bite the bullet, but we replaced it with Brinton's Bell Twist (and in the hall, stairs and landing, too).
What an improvement!
Warmer, cosier, quieter and nicer looking.
We just wish funds would allow the same to be done in the bedrooms. Later, perhaps.
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preview.tinyurl.com/y8km3xe4
Yamaha YAS-93 Front Surround Soundbar System with Dual Built-In subwoofwoofs
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Thanks Dog, I think that's the same one as my Dad has. I'll take a look.
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Well, I have bought a Yamaha YAS-207 soundbar, well reviewed by What HiFi though one or two people have reported issues with the subwoofer crossover frequency.
There is updated firmware online which I have downloaded and installed and it sounds great.
It's the first sound bar to feature DTS Virtual X which brings me to a question which I shall ask in a new thread ...
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Have been thinking about getting a soundbar to go with our new 55" LG TV.
Went into Richer Sounds yesterday to buy new headphones and asked him about the soundbars. He explained in detail how they work, the benefits, the features etc. He then made a throwaway comment that they are great all in one packages but they still cant beat a good surround system that folk used to have.
Hold on thinks I, I have one of them and I havent bothered hooking it up for anything other than using the DVD - it is a Panasonic surround system I got a good few years ago.
Got home, pulled it out the TV unit, took a digital audio cable and plugged it directly into the Virgin box and wow, what a difference!!
OK it cant bluetooth my iphone like a soundbar would do but it will do for now!
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I bought a Panasonic soundbase in the week for my 6 year-old 42" Panasonic plasma TV.
Although the TV has quite a good sound quality, for a flat screen. the soundbase has made me realise just what I've been missing all these years. With its 2 subwoofers and 120w power out put, tis the icing on the cake.
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Get a natty little Bluetooth adapter like this one:-
tinyurl.com/yd584aeh
works perfectly plugged into the AUX phonos !
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Our soundbar replaces a surround sound system, I don't think that there is really any substitute for surround speakers, i.e. the soundbar doesn't offer the sound running past your head, back and forth, left and right effects though does provide a high quality, broad and immersive sound field.
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Soundbars and soundbases ... - Lygonos
