Soundbar with AV Receiver

[awakedreaminguk]

I have a Pioneer VSX-921 av receiver with some old speakers at the moment. I am looking to improve on the speakers and am strongly edging towards a soundbar. I know a soundbar won't be as good as speakers for surround sound, but I really don't want to dot speakers all over the place. I've done a little bit of research but haven't found much concrete information so have a couple of things to clear up.

1. Will only passive soundbars (not active) connect to my av receiver?

2. Would the Panasonic SC-HTB20 (link) fit the bill?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

The Panasonic soundbar you link to is the active type so not suitable for use with your receiver. When it comes to passive sound bars they generally only replace the front three left, centre and right channels - you'll still need a couple of rear speakers and a sub with these.

If you want an active soundbar which has the same sort of features as an actuall AV receiver (HDMI inputs etc) and gives a virtual surround effect then take a look at the yamaha range. Digital sound projection technology makes for a seriously impressive effect for a bar and sub, whereas some cheaper bars will not give much of a fully enveloping effect at all:

http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/hometheater-systems/digital-sound-projector/

If you want a passive sound bar then the Monitor Audio Radius R one HD is worth consideration. You could run it as a 3.1 system (bar and sub) or add two surround channels like the R45HD for a proper 5.1 effect:

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/radius-hd/r-one-hd/

 

[awakedreaminguk]

Thank you for clearing up about active / passive and thank you for recommending one. Unfortunately that is out of my budget. I'm limited to £200, which I know will limit quality and 2.1/3.1/etc.

I'm finding it difficult being able to identify which soundbars are active or passive. Very few website actually specify active or passive, and I can't tell the difference from any other specs.

 

[bigboss]

Check the description. If it says "soundbar", then it is powered / active. If they say "speakers" with left /right / centre channels, they're passive. Search for LCR speakers, but read the description carefully to ensure that's what you're looking for.

 

[bigboss]

Thank you for clearing up about active / passive and thank you for recommending one. Unfortunately that is out of my budget. I'm limited to £200, which I know will limit quality and 2.1/3.1/etc.

There you go:

http://www.avbristol.com/product.php/72/0

 

[bigboss]

More options:

http://www.stoneaudio.co.uk/?product=harman+kardon+sb10+soundbar

http://www.soundandvision.co.uk/hifi/speakers/av-speaker-packages/q-acoustics-q-av-5-1-lcr50-w