Issues with choosing a soundbar

[CaseK]

Hello What hi-fi experts,

Could you give me some advice. Due to a recent baby arrival and moving to a new house I got rid of my proper 5.1 receiver+speakers system to get rid of the cables etc. etc. The Mrs. however always has some issue with hearing the dialogue on tv and our new living room is quit spacious. I am therefore looking at soundbar options (soundbase not as much as it wouldn't fit where we have the tv). Based among others on the What hi-fi reviews I bought the Philips HTL 5140 which indeed performs well. One crazy problem, our dog goes properly nuts by the output from the sub (even at lowest level). I'm now considering replacing the Philips. I have a few Sonos speakers already so the Playbar is an option (and that would not have an extra sub with it to scare the dog). Ideally I would look for a soundbar without an accompanying sub. Price range would top out at the cost of a Sonos Playbar. I even looked at some quality 2.1 sets but again I have some issues with placement.

Any help or suggestions would be very, very much appreciated!!!

Thanks!

 

[audiodarkness]

Hi.

I believe the philips are quite good, but there is also a really nice Arcam unit which sounds good for music (the solo bar) which is worth auditioning. I tend to find Arcam stuff sounds really good and I've had a number of their products before.

 

[ideal av]

Try the Yamaha YSP 2500, its what i use at home in a conservatory and really is very good

 

[eddy20]

Hello. I am a newbie to this Forum and wonder if any of you experts could be of help to me. I would be most grateful for any suggestions.

I bought a HDL5140B Soundbar. On connecting it up I was disappointed when no sound came through the speakers. The display did cycle through the types of sound that the Soundbar was supposed make. My first presumption was that it was faulty but on trying the AUX setting with phono plugs, I did get the speakers working, it wasn't ideal although a bit of a relief. The TV is a smart Finlux 40".

The Finlux has 4 HDMI sockets and I tried each one with the HDMI cable supplied but no sound occurred. I am positive that the Soundbar is working but I must be doing something wrong. I will mention that when using the AUX socket speech volume didn't alter but background sounds did, if that is any help.

 

[grdunn123]

Hi, I could be wrong but i think your tv only outputs a video signal via HDMI - you may have to use an optical or caoxial cable as well as the HDMI to get sound.

 

[eddy20]

Thank you grdunn123 for your reply.

It definitely says in the Soundbar instruction booklet that you have to connect the HDMI cable to the Soundbar and the other end to the HDMI(arc) socket on the TV.

I haven't got an optical cable so I can't try that. I did look up HDMI for the definition and it says 'This is the only cable that carries both Digital Video and up to 7.1 digital audio' so I should get some sound from it, after all that was what came with the Soundbar kit. Maybe the TV socket is not compatible. My TV only labels the sockets as HDMI none say HDMI(arc)