Dolby Atmos Sound Bar? (1 Viewer)

[Necros]

I’ve been watching some YouTube reviews of some sound bars with dolby atmos and it seems pretty cool. I’m wondering about a few things...

If you’re not a huge audiophile, will it sound just as good or better than an average 5.1 system? Or will separate speakers always still be better than 1 sound bar in the front? My ears aren’t the greatest but I still like to be able to tell when bad guys are sneaking up behind me in video games. And of course explosions all around me in movies.

Does the sound bar also replace your receiver, so you connect your HDMI components to that, and then another cable goes to your TV? All I have is my cable box and my Xbox One, so I don’t need lots of different ports. Or, do you connect all of your speaker cables to the sound bar?

I’m moving soon and I like the idea of a cleaner look and not having to run cables all along the baseboards and stuff, but I don’t want to switch if the 5.1 system with separate speakers I have now is going to be better. My system right now isn't fancy or anything though.. it's a $200 sony receiver and some Polk speakers with a really old Sony subwoofter. It gets the job done, but I'd love to have a better experience with a cleaner look if I can.

 

[Todd Erwin]

The sound bar would replace your receiver. I've seen a few different configurations of soundbars that feature Atmos capability, some requiring the purchase of proprietary wireless rear speakers for full surround, otherwise they use the Atmos 3.1.2 configuration (Left, Center, Right, Sub, and L/R heights).

The one thing I found to be common among many of the major brands was that while they support Dolby Atmos, they do not support DTS at all. That is something you may want to take into consideration, since anything you send to the soundbar that is DTS will be a matrixed surround taken from a 2.0 stereo PCM signal.

Depending on how much you want to spend, what can be repurposed from your current config, and how large your viewing area is.

I may have some suggestions for you, but it would be helpful if I had the model numbers of the speakers you currently own. I just set up two rooms at the house we just moved into, and while I did not do it on the cheap, I did not spend a ton of money, either.

 

[Necros]

Thanks for the info. I’m looking to replace everything with a sound bar, I was going to get rid of my old receiver and speakers.. the room I’m in is kind of small so I want to reduce the clutter and I wanted to sell my old stuff to put toward the cost of the sound bar and new TV.

I was looking at the LG SJ9 sound bar, which is gonna be the top of my price range.. looks like it’s going for around $699 most places. Anyone familiar with it?

http://www.lg.com/us/home-audio/lg-SJ9-wireless-sound-bar

I noticed the back only has 1 HDMI in, which seems really limited to me. I have a cable box and an xbox one, so I would need 2 inputs, however I can have the cable box pass through my xbox one but I would prefer not to. I was also thinking of getting a blu ray player that can do 4k, when I get my 4K tv.

So, why would they only have 1 input if it is supposed to act as a receiver? Are you supposed to set it up where you plug things into your TV, and the TV uses the sole input.. and you switch your components on the TV? I’m used to connecting everything to a home theater receiver. What’s the best way to set this up? My current TV is a plasma from 2008, and I don’t think it has a HDMI out at all, or even an optical cable out either. I might not be able o afford the 4K TV for a while so if I get the sound bar first I want to make sure it will work with my current TV & components.

 

[Luke Cool]

Almost all Sound bars are compatible with your current TV & components, but check the specs before you buy. And from what you're saying, you will need an HDMI switch if you want to connect more than one HDMI cable.
Sound bars are great for their simplicity, but they lack the versatility of a component sound system. Also, If you have a problem, sound bar systems are disposable.

 

[Sam Posten]

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...y-atmos-sound-bar-official-htf-review.347708/

Keep in mind: In ceiling speakers > bounce atmos > Atmos sound bar.

The sound bar atmos effect is subtle. It is not laser focused like real speakers. It is more subtle than the subtle effect produced by bounce speakers.

I personally wouldn't spend major dollars on a sound bar and if you have working speakers that you like you are very likely to not be impressed with any sound bar's performance in the same space.