I have a new TV, Panasonic 40DX700B. The sound is fair but I would like to add a sound bar. I have no experience of these devices, in fact I have never even heard one in action. Can posters recommend a suitable model please?
The main points are: it should be good on music, as I view/listen to a lot of classical output; it should have an HDMI connection, as I read that this is superior to optical, something that rules out the otherwise well-reviewed Cambridge Audio TV5 Ver2; it should cost around £250 and maybe (I am not clear) it should have a USB connection.
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I don't want to immediately say "you don't want to do that", but have you considered an AV amp and speakers? Obviously it doesn't look so neat, but I'll wager you'd get a lot more bang for your buck.
All our kit goes through a Yamaha amp and some tiny Bose speakers and a subwoofer tucked away, and visitors comment how good the tv sounds.
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We bought a BOSE bar to go with our Samsung - have no experience of anything else - it works just fine. Ilike the sound. Couldn't be doing with an AV amp etc as an added box. The HiFi's future is in debate as well. We're moving down-sizing - some tough decisions ahead.
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Ironic I think that my 42in Panasonic has first class audio qualities - but only if you are standing behind it as the various speakers face downwards and to the rear.....:-(
As the TV is housed on a glass topped TV/audio table in an alcove, obviously the sound is very much compromised, so I bought a set of Charlie Rich 2.1 speakers, which perform their duties very well, but are no longer available as far as I'm aware.
Might be worth reading up on some sound bar reviews first (see:)
www.trustedreviews.com/best-soundbars_round-up
but remember that Richer Sounds usually have an excellent choice of the top brands at even better prices....:-)
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I've been through that site several times, as well as three other review services. I am tempted by the Bose as the price is right but there is no HDMI or Internet port and reviews are lukewarm.
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My TV is linked to one of these with an optical cable, works for me.
www.denon.co.uk/uk/product/compactsystem/mini/dm40dab
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I have an LG one which sounds fine to me, using the optical cable from the back of the telly. I also use it directly connected to my PC via standard jack plugs to deliver my New Year's Eve party music. It' may not be the best but it sounds perfectly adequate to me.
I'm not making a recommendation as I'd hate anyone to buy something like that on my say-so, and anyway mine is a couple of years old now.
The thing I would look for again is a wireless sub woofer. I thought matching the make to my TV would bring benefits of a unified remote but really apart from altering the volume (which I can do from the TiVo remote anyway) I don't fiddle with the settings much, so that would be less important for me.
My local Richer Sounds had a quite good acoustic room where you could listen to the different makes.
I have this feeling I can also cast stuff to it from my phone using Bluetooth but I get by without doing that.
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So far, Cambridge Audio all-in-one TV2 V2 looks good in reviews (10/10 from What Hi-Fi? ) It is £199.99 from Richer Sounds.
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Hell's teeth. This is a foreign language to me.. No wonder I rarely watch TV. The ruddy remote drives me potty😕
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Ambo, I too bought a Panasonic TV a couple of months back and the sound is listenable, which isnt the case with some brands. However adding a Q Acoustics soundbar has put it in a different league.
This doesnt have HDMI but the optical connection is fine by me and none of the many online reviews I've read make any comment on this as an issue for sound quality. Its rated very well in all reviews. It does mean the Blueray player and SKY box have to be connected to the TV and then out over the one optical link. Bluetooth is also built into the bar.
I am sure a good separate speaker system will outperform it but I prefer the neatness of a soundbar. Mine doesnt even need a separate bass unit.
Whatever you buy, the remote situation is worth checking if you want to minimise them. I've managed to pair my soundbar to the SKY remote but not the TV one. This isn't a big issue for us as the SKY one also controls most TV functions so its used 90% of the time. Some bars have a TV sound pairing facility built in which I assume gets over this minor irritation.
The other thing worth testing in a demo room is the high volume level if that is important to you. My soundbar spec claims a very high level of output (100w) and in practice its perfectly adequate for normal listening but its not what I'd call party-loud at top volume setting.
Also, although I had no immediate problem in getting the bar to work with my TV I later needed to take off my laptop connection to the TV as, when the laptop went onto auto stand-by, it was turning off the soundbar. Looking at online forums this sort of issue is not unique my set-up. Bars might switch off and this has several possible causes, some tricky to trace.
With those potential issues in mind it might be worth making it a condition of sale that any sound system will work with your particular TV and other units.
All in all however I am delighted with my set-up and wouldn't want to discourage anyone from upgrading their sound.
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The Bose has a superb - works everything is the goto Remote - the Sky remote lies unused. If there is a whinge BOSE have not put the ( abc def) letters on or adjacent to the digit buttons...Beautifully made and well thought out but of kit with no fiddly buttons
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>>I don't want to immediately say "you don't want to do that", but have you considered an AV amp and speakers?
I've often thought of that. Which sockets on the TV have you connected to which on the amp?
My amp only has one input socket, Aux, for a 3.5 mini plug.
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Tivo box optical out to optical in on amp, HDMI from Tivo to TV, tv sound turned off. I imagine a similar route would work for Sky, Now tv, whatever.
Also has PS3, optical, Apple TV, optical, and did until recently have DVD player, RCA.
So basically - splitting the sound/picture at source,, not taking anything out of TV. Just feeding it pictures.
Works for me.
More modern AV amps are easier, you just feed the hdmi from your source into the amp and it passes the video signal through to the tv whilst picking up the sound, effectively.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 24 Jan 17 at 11:32
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If it's the Panasonic SC-HTE80 you are referring to Dog then it's the one my sons bought me for Xmas, although I think it was around £100 from Amazon in December.
Two main reasons we went for this one. Firstly, we have a Panasonic TV and wanted it to work as seamlessly as possible, which it does. Only have to use its' dedicated remote if we want to adjust any of the settings other than volume which adjusts via the TV remote or the Virgin one. We nearly always use the Virgin one.
Secondly, it's a sound box rather than a bar. So many of the bars are too wide for a 37" TV. Our TV sits on a stand and you really don't notice the two inch high box sandwiched between the two. Obviously wouldn't work with a wall mounted telly.
We don't use the optical connection. Both TV and Blu Ray are connected via HDMI and it knows which is in use and switches accordingly. Very easy to set up.
Sound quality is good enough for us. Certainly adds something to films. Rarely listen to music, although if we want to, we can apparently bluetooth from ithingy or whatever or use the aux input.
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I was actually referring to Panasonic soundbases in general Chris.
I have a 42" Panasonic plasma TV and if I was considering buying a soundbar/soundbase, I would prefer to go the way of a soundbase, and most likely choose the SC-HTE80 too.
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I finally decided on the Cambridge Audio TV2 V2 soundbase, the final V2 meaning the version appearing last month. It is extremely good but I haven't yet decided if it is £199.99's worth of good - although that seems to be a moderate price as these devices go.
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That is an excellent price.
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Seek sound (bar) advice - Crankcase
