When choosing a soundbar, as banal as it sounds, you must understand what you want from it.
If we try to systematize the audio panels which are on the market now, we can distinguish three main directions.
Replacing the original TV speaker system.
This is the simplest kind of external audio system like the JBL CINEMA SB200 , – but oddly enough, not always the cheapest. Such audio panels do not pretend to sound quality in the whole range and abundant functionality. Often they are just active ie with built-in amplifier acoustics with an audible frequency rise in the “speech” spectrum and are used when the TV is “all good, but the sound is pumped up.
Compact home theater with surround sound.
If you want to save space and get the full effect of “surround sound”, to tell the truth, it is very difficult to achieve it from a soundbar.
The overwhelming majority of the sound panels create only frontal sound, even if they supply multi-channel sound, so they are unable to cope with building a full-fledged surround scene.
This is probably the most difficult type of soundbar to implement. Naturally, it is possible to get a full three-dimensional “sound around” from the speakers, located only in front, only due to the reflection from the rear walls of the room. And for this you need to think very well and, most importantly, to implement the design, positioning part of the speakers at an angle. At the same time their sound must not blend with the front and center channels and properly “go into the back” of the room, reflecting off the rear wall and coming back to the listener from the rear.
But this task is not absolutely unsolvable – the sound projectors of “YAMAHA” company cope with it rather well – by the way, the engineers of this very company developed the first mass soundbar, and some other manufacturers Loewe .
A complete audio system
Here, of course, the main factor is not the possibility of three-dimensional sound, but good sound – that is, a minimum of distortion and the ability to convey the nuances of musical material. As a rule, these devices are not cheap, so you should take them only if you really need an audio system “for-a-music too” but the space does not allow to place it.
The price of sound panels from well-known Hi-Fi manufacturers can easily exceed the price of a complete audio system.
All-in-one home entertainment package.
In this direction the producers stake on the abundance of functions – a built-in torrent client, a media player, the ability to connect via Bluetooth and other “benefits of technogenic civilization.
Such constructions are often compromise, and their sounding, unfortunately, sometimes leaves much to be desired. The same 3Q SF402H, which we have already mentioned, is technically very “smart”, but the “tops” it clutched, for full music listening it will not do.
So, have you decided what you need it for?. Now we need to choose the device, what you should pay attention to so that “one more stick in the apartment” would really satisfy you?
Sound
With this one, everything is clear – you just have to go to the store and listen.
By the way, it is not necessary to inform sellers, especially in chain stores that “you only want to listen and you are not going to take it now”.
Well shows the weaknesses of the audio system female vocals – this is one of the most difficult natural instruments. So are its carriers, but that’s another topic..
Before you go to the store, stock up on different media with the same material. Sellers can come up with lots of excuses, – “DVD player in this model doesn’t play CDs, USB-port is not russified, audio input has regional protection, our Bluetooth operator is out today”, etc.p.
For example, when I bought a BD player a couple of weeks ago in one of the chain stores with the same big letter in the logo as found on the doors of the men’s toilets the delivery boy told me that he could not check the player’s functionality, because there was no BD..
Connection
Note the interface.
If you are going to use the soundbar with a TV set that has a built-in USB player, t.e. it will be the source, – don’t forget to check if the soundbar has an audio input, and the same as the audio output in the TV.
It might be that your TV has ONLY an optical audio output, but the soundboard doesn’t and won’t have it Panasonic SC-HTB170, Samsung HW-E350 .
Design and size.
Oddly enough, with the seeming simplicity of sizing it is here you can “stumble”. If you are planning to place the sound bar under the TV, don’t be lazy to measure its length. It may turn out that the length of the soundbar you like is a couple of centimeters longer or shorter – some people, of course, don’t care, but some do..
Everything is more or less clear with a color matching. Certainly, if you need a soundbar in silver color, the choice narrows considerably.
Though, the silver TV sets have become a thing of the past in the majority of cases – though, when preparing the material about Panasonic SC-HTB170 soundbar, the specialists of this company disagreed with such statement – we shall venture to suppose that due to the color of the above device.
Location
It is clear that if you have decided to buy a soundbar, you will want to have a soundbar as well
personal space was not cluttered up with “technical excesses”.
But do not forget that often the subwoofer in the set is wired, which can slightly negate the idea of space saving.
Therefore, especially if it is planned to place the soundbar under the TV set on the wall, think over whether the “box on the floor” will fit in the surrounding interior. In the vast majority of cases it can ONLY be on the floor. When placing it on a shelf or stand if it is not made of cast iron or marble extraneous hum and noises are almost always inevitable, it is, after all, a low-frequency speaker.
By the way, note that the wireless subwoofer should not lag and should not “dampen” the Wi-Fi in the room – this sometimes happens.
Price
The cost is affected by many factors. First and foremost, perhaps, the sound. Complicated circuitry packs a tangible punch at the price.
“The “popularity” of the brand will also take away “extra Dollars.
Probably, it will be reasonable for someone to do without a clever remote control, friendly with other devices, without capability of integration into a home media network and a built-in torrent-client, but it would be better to invest money into sound.
In fact, the more “smart” the device is, the more expensive it is.
Therefore if you want to save money, – and who does not want to, before buying determine for yourself the most significant criteria.
How to choose a soundbar: weaknesses are well pointed out by female vocals
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Can you provide some insights on how to select a soundbar that effectively highlights the weaknesses in female vocals? I’m in search of a soundbar with great audio reproduction, specifically for enhancing female vocals.