Soundbars vs speakers

duotone

mrkb said:

DiscoStu said:

Because my g/f moved in with me last month and that was one of the expensive new purchases when we refurnished the living room. I don't need to change the tv, just sussing out the options.

You can tell there’s a ladies influence from the pot plants and figurines! You’ll need the Tannoys as shelving from all her tat/trinkets, so get them on wall mounted brackets.

Get that plant & figurine off of YOUR speakers FFS!

ThePrettyDamned

We've got a soundbar and subwoofer. Works great, but it's probably not audiophile. Depends how you want movies to sound I guess. 

chillidoggy

I've got a Yamaha YSP soundbar, and it's not really good enough. I'm going to try a pair of small hi-fi speakers next.

ToneControl

Why not put the TV on the wall, and get a matching centre speaker on the unit, between the 2 current speakers?

Most people have their TV (and computer monitor) too low
Sit in your TV-watching chair, and see where the centre of your vision is. Unless you are sitting very upright in your armchair (like you would to eat a meal), chances are it's higher than where you current have your TV
In which case, you can improve that and leave space for proper speakers

Personally, I have a taller unit for my 70 inch TV, and have a pair of tall freestanding speakers either side of it, and a small centre speaker put just behind the centre of the TV, to handle centre-channel audio

The problem with the biggest TVs is that they don't have a central base, they have legs at each end, I couldn't find a sound base that it could sit on, and there was not enough space under the screen for a sound bar. Also the IR sensor is at the bottom, so you could block the remote if you used a soundbar

DiscoStu

@ToneControl this new unit is higher than my old one and tv is at the right height.  I have thought about wall mounting the tv but it would be too high. Happy with it as it is.

As I said,  just getting info just now as a new tv is not by any stretch necessary. The one I've got is 1080p and I get smart features via Xbox and Chromecast. We were mainly talking about getting something that was edge to edge rather than the black box I've got now, and if we're spending money then we might go bigger. I could squeeze one of the new 40" or 43" Samsungs but it would be tight against the speakers which wouldn't look very neat. 

thisisguitar

I'd wall mount the speakers, that way you can angle them slightly downwards so the missus can't put things on top of them ;-)

Sporky

ToneControl said:

Most people have their TV (and computer monitor) too low

I'd say the opposite. Top of the screen should not be more than 30° above horizontal. Ideally your eye level should correspond to 2/3rds of the way up the screen.

(Taken from the Big Brown Book of Ergonomics)

DiscoStu

Sporky said:

ToneControl said:

Most people have their TV (and computer monitor) too low

I'd say the opposite. Top of the screen should not be more than 30° above horizontal. Ideally your eye level should correspond to 2/3rds of the way up the screen.

(Taken from the Big Brown Book of Ergonomics)

That's pretty much how my current TV sits which is far more comfortable than my old much lower tv unit. We have both noticed our necks are better off with the current viewing angle. I sell/fit blinds for a living and so am in customers' homes every day and I've seen some TVs mounted stupidly high in some houses. 

Sassafras

Buy a guitar instead.
I've lived without telly for about 10 years. You only miss it for the first 9 years or so.

ToneControl

Sporky said:

ToneControl said:

Most people have their TV (and computer monitor) too low

I'd say the opposite. Top of the screen should not be more than 30° above horizontal. Ideally your eye level should correspond to 2/3rds of the way up the screen.

(Taken from the Big Brown Book of Ergonomics)

that's when you are sitting bolt-upright in your work chair, using a keyboard
Is your sofa like that?

ToneControl

DiscoStu said:

Sporky said:

ToneControl said:

Most people have their TV (and computer monitor) too low

I'd say the opposite. Top of the screen should not be more than 30° above horizontal. Ideally your eye level should correspond to 2/3rds of the way up the screen.

(Taken from the Big Brown Book of Ergonomics)

That's pretty much how my current TV sits which is far more comfortable than my old much lower tv unit. We have both noticed our necks are better off with the current viewing angle. I sell/fit blinds for a living and so am in customers' homes every day and I've seen some TVs mounted stupidly high in some houses. 

I wear glasses
What I do is sit in my TV-viewing chair, and check that all 4 corners of the screen are within my lens boundaries, without having to move my head.
WIth our comfy chair, this means that my head is about level with the bottom part of the TV

I have seen TVs near ceiling level, it's not ideal, except in a bedroom perhaps

Sporky

ToneControl said:

Sporky said:

ToneControl said:

Most people have their TV (and computer monitor) too low

I'd say the opposite. Top of the screen should not be more than 30° above horizontal. Ideally your eye level should correspond to 2/3rds of the way up the screen.

(Taken from the Big Brown Book of Ergonomics)

that's when you are sitting bolt-upright in your work chair, using a keyboard
Is your sofa like that?

I have a Lay-z-boy, and I do sit fairly upright. However, a significant issue is that when you look upwards you blink less. Hence this being standard guidance in ergonomics textbooks. If the back of your chair is more reclined and supports your neck then you can go a bit higher, but it still affects your blink rate and is more tiring.

ToneControl

Sporky said:

ToneControl said:

Sporky said:

ToneControl said:

Most people have their TV (and computer monitor) too low

I'd say the opposite. Top of the screen should not be more than 30° above horizontal. Ideally your eye level should correspond to 2/3rds of the way up the screen.

(Taken from the Big Brown Book of Ergonomics)

that's when you are sitting bolt-upright in your work chair, using a keyboard
Is your sofa like that?

I have a Lay-z-boy, and I do sit fairly upright. However, a significant issue is that when you look upwards you blink less. Hence this being standard guidance in ergonomics textbooks. If the back of your chair is more reclined and supports your neck then you can go a bit higher, but it still affects your blink rate and is more tiring.

but chairs differ, and I need my neck supporting, since it's a bit knackered
why do you want to sit upright in a Lazyboy?

I'm just saying that having a "standard " height for a TV is wrong, it depends on the viewer, chair, room

Sporky

ToneControl said:

I'm just saying that having a "standard " height for a TV is wrong, it depends on the viewer, chair, room

Here you go - you can argue with established ergonomics references. I do this for a living, so I'm used to people who don't being certain they know better.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0823072711/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Nikc

I wouldn't worry too much - new tv's have less/no surround so you probably can fit a bigger screen size in without a problem
We have a 37 inch tv sat between active speakers on a dedicated cabinet (as chosen by my wife) I could fit a 42 inch edgeless design in without any issue and probably get away with a 50 if i pushed it

Snap

I had a reasonably good Yamaha soundbar, cost about 400 quid about 8 years ago. It was "alright". BEtter than the speakers in the TV, average for music, but nothing like a lower end amp & speakers for music, or TV.

For me, they are only an option for anyone who is seriuosly compromised on space. Otherwise I'd get one of the many cheap hifi/AV options. You will have a long time watching and listening and getting annoyed at it otherwise.

Rocker

DiscoStu said:

This is our TV unit. If we upgrade from the current 37" TV to a larger 4K set at some point then chances are that my hifi speakers won't fit.
So.. do soundbars have good enough sound quality to replace decent stereo speakers? I've got a Denon RCD-M38DAB stereo going through Tannoy Mercury V1 speakers.

https://i.imgur.com/uDI7wFa.jpg

You have a lovely system there. Wall mount the TV. Get rid of the sideboard and get a simple hi-fi rack for the electronics. Get decent quality speaker stands. A sub woofer might be a good idea but see how it is without first - you may not need it.

Soundbars are good but nowhere near as good as your speakers.

Phil_aka_Pip

That's almost what I told him but I don't think he's listening. He's taking more notice of the gf (her trinkets are on top of the speakers - UGH!) and the whole plot is sitting on an oversized bit of wood that she had a lot to do with the purchase of.

boogieman

Phil_aka_Pip said:

That's almost what I told him but I don't think he's listening. He's taking more notice of the gf (her trinkets are on top of the speakers - UGH!) and the whole plot is sitting on an oversized bit of wood that she had a lot to do with the purchase of.

You can tell you've never been married Phil. 
and @Rocker ;he's already said it's a new unit and he doesn't want to get rid of it. 

goldtop

I'm surprised that the misogynists here haven't had a go at the tealights yet. Dude, can you even play CoD properly if there are tealights in your peripheral vision, FFS!

(Bet they're scented, too.)