Would adding a soundbar to external speakers help? (1 Viewer)

[Davidlaw69]

I have Sony XBR-85X860D tv. I run an HDMI connection from the cable box (Cable Out) to a Denon receiver (Cable/Satellite input). I then run an HDMI connection from the Denon receiver (HDMI Out) to the TV (HDMI In (ARC)). I have stereo Bose speakers connected connected by wire to the receiver.

The sound is fine when I am viewing something live or recorded on a medium other than film. When I watch movies, however, the dialogue is less strong and less clear that the background music and noise, and so more difficult to hear. I was thinking about adding a soundbar because I see them advertised as making voices clearer and more dominant.

Is this a good idea? Can the soundbar work at the same time as the Bose speakers? If the answer to these questions is "no," can you recommend what, if anything, I can do to remedy the situation?

Thank you.

 

[JohnRice]

The best solution is to get a third Bose speaker the same (or as close to the same) as what you have now, and connect it to the center channel output of your receiver. Soundbars are usually self-contained units that aren’t to be used with a receiver and other speakers.

BTW, I’m assuming you have a surround receiver, though you didn’t specify.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Basically, what John said. Getting another speaker for a center channel is the ticket. If you want the center speaker to match your existing speakers, you’ll probably have to buy a pair of them and store the extra one.

Generally, soundbars are self-contained ecosystems that include their own pre amp, amplifiers and speakers built in to the unit. As such they are not readily compatible with a standard AVR. The only kind of soundbar that would work with an AVR is a passive model, which means it is basically like your Bose speakers, but with a different physical shape.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[YANG]

...The sound is fine when I am viewing something live or recorded on a medium other than film. When I watch movies, however, the dialogue is less strong and less clear that the background music and noise, and so more difficult to hear. I was thinking about adding a soundbar because I see them advertised as making voices clearer and more dominant...

Without a clear hint on what model your Denon receiver is, i here assume that your receiver will be just a stereo receiver with ports for analogue audio from your video source... since you only mentioned Bose stereo speaker connection in your system.
You can't really improve much on dialogue quality as most of the movie soundtracks, movie score and effects would tend to "outshine" dialogues on screen if the scenes consist of other elements.

However... should your receiver is a multichannel receiver, yes, adding a center channel will have better soundtrack separation. Or... if your Bose speakers is compact enough, use it as surrounds and get a set of 3 fronts, or passive soundbars like... the Q-Accustics Q-AV LCR, or the DefTech Mythos XTR-SSA3 where tonal qualities of all 3 are balanced and unified.

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[Davidlaw69]

My receiver is a Denon AVR-S950H which has two sets of inputs for audio wires, regular (L, R & C) and surround sound (L, R & C). I currently have the wires running into the regular, L & R.

 

[YANG]

Hmmm... I think it's better to just add in a moderate sized center speaker that handles almost everything, most specifically for dialogue. That have to come with minimum 3.5inch woofers.​