My struggle with Dolby Atmos soundbars is very real – and concerns their set-up

[What Hi-Fi?]

Why delivering convincing immersive audio from a soundbar can be a real struggle...

My struggle with Dolby Atmos soundbars is very real – and concerns their set-up : Read more

 

[scoughlan67]

Couldn't agree more. I recently purchased the Sennheiser Ambeo Max soundbar to take advantage of Christmas sales, but it's 14 cm high! The pedestal stand on my Samsung TV barely lifts the screen a puny 8 cm from the surface it's standing on. Wall mounting is not an option for corner placement, and as an aside: Why aren't there more corner TV stands in a country where this is very normal? You can buy a few stands with a VESA mount, but again, not many that fit neatly in a corner, and you would have to purchase a whole new TV stand! My solution has been to purchase an after-market adjustable height table-top VESA stand. Solves the problem, but another £40 to purchase that I shouldn't really have to fork out on. How difficult is it for the manufacturer to design a TV stand with a few mounting height options for goodness sake?

 

[lovlid]

Silly article that only applies to people that don’t have the sense to plan ahead.

 

[scoughlan67]

What does that have to do with manufacturers making low-profile standards that virtually no soundbar in the world will fit under, then equipping their super thin panels with terrible sound? The planning (good design) should be on the manufacturer side. Why should punters have to fork out on another stand/rack/wall mount just to slide a soundbar under their tele? I have planned ahead, hence all the hassle and cost...

 

[lovlid]

The comment is not aimed at you personally. It is aimed at anyone not planning ahead. I agree that manufacturers can make bad planning decisions, but they do not make you buy their products. We shouldn't buy something, then complain about the manufacturers when we have to buy or do something else to make it fit.

 

[scoughlan67]

Of course we should. That is the very essence of product design. Manufacturers design TVs with poor sound (chiefly due to ultra thin panel technology, which is excusable) knowing that many will add an aftermarket sound solution and knowing the prevaling popularity of the soundbar solution; then completely ignores the practical application of this solution in their designs. It is straight forward to design an adjustable height stand, and some TV models have had exactly this, or even two different stands of different heights. Not only does it make technological sense, it also protects the environment from unnecessary manufacturing of additonal equipment that should be unnecessary. The availability of after-market height adjustable stands, points exactly at providing a solution to a flaw in the original design. If the TV manufacturere aren't aware of the problem, then why do they all manufacture soundbars? I would point out, that even some soundbars from the same manufacturer as the television, will block the lower part of the screen. So, they can't even design TVs/soundbars within their own stable that work together successfully.

 

[lovlid]

Yes yes, I get your point. But my point is don't buy it without making sure it fits with your needs and home environment. If it does neither of these things, Don't Buy It. Common sense says get your tape measure out. We know how big tech thinks. They're not stupid, they know what they are doing, but so does the customer for the most part. I would say this to What Hi Fi though. If you are going to do an article like this, get some kit together, name and shame the companies and the products guilty of bad design.

 

[scoughlan67]

I hope that's what the article writer and What Hi-Fi editorial staff are doing. It's a common complaint. How do you make sure it "fits your needs"? My needs are a flat TV with integral great Atmos surround system. They don't make them, unless you can afford an ultra-premium Philips B&W, B&O, or similar. The tape measure is irrelevant. Many of these sets a virtually flush with the surface they are sat on. Nobody makes pancake flat soundbars that sound any good. I can forgive the TV manufacturers rubbish sound; their panel technology has moved on and we prefer slim profile TVs rather than the (good sounding) monster CRT boxes of old. I would be happy if they just sold monitors without sound at all, as long as they acknowledge the practicalities of adding a sound system. Before Atmos became a thing, you might get away sliding a soundbar on the shelf, but that's impractical with upward drivers. It's notable that soundbar manufacturers at least make an effort, they attempt low profile designs, with varying success, and most will provide wall brackets or a simple slots for screw fixing. If you are not wall mounting though, you are stuffed. As I said, My Samsung is screen bottom edge is only 8 cm above the table top. That's a pretty slim list of good sounding Atmos soundbars that can fit under there. For even worse designs, see just about every TV model with those stupid sticking out feet a mile apart. Those screens virtually brush the surface of anything they are sat on. It would absolutely be useful if What Hi Fi and other reviewers published lowest screen heights for TVs. I've been right through the specifications on the Samsung website and it tells you nothing about this. It is faddish design that they are following without recognising practical needs. You can Google search TV stand for soundbar, it's an actual category on some websites! All because TV manufacturers ignore customers and won't design a stand that can adjust in height a few centimetres.

 

[policeman51]

Struggled with this issue before Atmos soundbars started coming out mainstream.
I have the Sony HTST9 which isn't the best soundbar but at the time (I believe 2015) it was pretty good. The height of the soundbar was and is a struggle. I had the Sony x930d and had to prop up the TV because it blocked part of the lower half. I eventually got a cabinet that had enough room for the soundbar. Moving TVs around I got the x950g and still the same issue of the soundbar height.
Looking at Atmos soundbars they seem like a good upgrade, but like the article says you need to have the top of the soundbar unrestricted which is difficult without proper planning (hanging or elevating the TV).

 

[Sliced Bread]

What if….
What if the TV cabinet itself *was* the soundbar? It could house a significant driver array and would be out of the way of the display.

What if the coffee table in the middle of this article was a speaker? It could throw sound in all directions with a cabinet volume most conventional arrays could only dream of.

Much can be achieved with just a step back to refocus.

 

[Neil.C]

Ditch the soundbar & get an AV receiver & speakers, problem solved.