Anyone got one? Tempted to get one for my dad for Christmas as the audio isn't great on his 4 year old Sony. Seen a Samsung one in PC World with a wireless sub.

His living room isn't suitable for a full surround system so looks ideal but I'm not sure how good they really are.

I've had the BOSE Solo15 under TV speaker for almost a year and it is superb.

Several inputs on the rear and managed to hook it up to a bluetooth receiver to act as a speaker for music from my phone.

Series 2 version has bluetooth capability built-in.

I've got an LG one and its fantastic. It's plugged into the TV via optical lead and the subwoofer is wireless, it's also got Bluetooth, USB and an aux socket. Can't see myself listening to the bog standard speakers from the TV now.

Edited 23 December, 201510 yr by LGM

I am thinking of one of these as well, have been looking at the LG as well. Has anyone replaced a 5.1 system with one of these?, as I would like to try to reduce some of the wiring in my room to replace my ageing 5.1 system. Sorry OP for the hijack, but I think were after the same sort of answers.

We have a Panasonic Soundbar. We went for this one as we don't need surround sound or 300w to blast out the sound.... We wanted a simple unit which will sit with the TV standing on it, without being too big or having and extra speaker standing on the floor.

Problem with sound (audio) for the older generation ,( you don't give age), is that unless you're very lucky from as early as low 20's your range starts narrowing. I used to work for what is now BT ,often listening to various audio feeds from radio stations on a broadcast standard speaker. Years ago  we had some apprentices with us and one had problems with audio hearing range, so we linked up the speaker to an audio oscillator  .He was amazed to find that even though I was only a few years older, his range was wider than mine.

Dad may well find the TV output OK, then again, he might not. I use the TV I inherited from dad ,an old Panasonic 28" widescreen with multiple sound and vision options. For most programs I use the "speech " sound option, as I find that the music the sound folks put on drowns out speech when the TV is set to "music", but for music- it's amazing the difference letting the set give out the full frequency range makes. And therein is the difference- I may not hear the spectrum the set gives out on "Music", but the harmonics etc the set produces makes the sound vibrant, and more full of life. To try and explain this ,look at the bands used for various purposes. Military- can be as low as 2.6khz useable( narrow band on 70's military radio), as this is sufficient to allow speech to be coherent, but there's no need for accents or other details that enhance the listening experience. Telecoms ,this is generally quoted as 4khz, (typically 3.4khz), as this allows nuances in the voice to be sent, allowing the listener to know the other person . Early transatlantic broadcasts used 8Khz, and I seem to remember OB used 10khz, with music broadcasts going up to 20khz( though someone like Lady E, in the industry now will correct me if it's wrong). Each increase enhanced the frequency range and the enjoyment.

I've got an LG one and its fantastic. It's plugged into the TV via optical lead and the subwoofer is wireless, it's also got Bluetooth, USB and an aux socket. Can't see myself listening to the bog standard speakers from the TV now.

 

We've a LG one as well (sounds identically to LGMs). It's OK most of the time but occassionally crashes and needs a reboot - the sound is very good though . It is our second sound bar the first panasonic one packed up in under a year.

We've a LG one as well (sounds identically to LGMs). It's OK most of the time but occassionally crashes and needs a reboot - the sound is very good though . It is our second sound bar the first panasonic one packed up in under a year.

I've never had that problem thankfully. The only thing that's a little poor is the Bluetooth distance but then again I never really use it that much.

I did have a proper system. Yamaha amp, Mordaunt Short mezzo 2 fronts, mezzo 1 rears and a Mordaunt Short Sub.

Until i got fed up with all the space it took up.

So i sold it all, and got one of these to sit under the TV. Its absolutly brilliant. Sounds plenty good enough, obviously not as good as the set up i used to run, but for the size of it, it really does impress.

http://m.richersounds.com/#!/product/CAMB-MINX-TV2-BLK

Bluetooth aswel so music streaming off the phone or Mac is easy.

Works with the TV remote so i never use the remote it came with unless im using the bluetooth.

Theres also a bigger version (for bigger tv's) with 2 subs underneath instead of 1. Ive not heard the sound on that one though.

Ive found the TV2 sounds alot better than a normal sound bar. The space in a bar restricts what can be done, and this has a knock on effect to the sound quality

Edited 29 December, 201510 yr by fabiamk2SE

I did have a proper system. Yamaha amp, Mordaunt Short mezzo 2 fronts, mezzo 1 rears and a Mordaunt Short Sub.

Until i got fed up with all the space it took up.

So i sold it all, and got one of these to sit under the TV. Its absolutly brilliant. Sounds plenty good enough, obviously not as good as the set up i used to run, but for the size of it, it really does impress.

http://m.richersounds.com/#!/product/CAMB-MINX-TV2-BLK

Bluetooth aswel so music streaming off the phone or Mac is easy.

Works with the TV remote so i never use the remote it came with unless im using the bluetooth.

Theres also a bigger version (for bigger tv's) with 2 subs underneath instead of 1. Ive not heard the sound on that one though.

Ive found the TV2 sounds alot better than a normal sound bar. The space in a bar restricts what can be done, and this has a knock on effect to the sound quality

 

The bases do seem to be a decent solution as I had the same thoughts about just a bar.

One thing to note, is that on HD tellys, even ones only a few years old, a drop in sound level can be heard (or not as may be the case ) when you are watching HD programmes. This is usually when the show you are watching is in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. There is a thing called the Fold Down Ratio and it's how stereo (normal telly sound) is derived. owing to a rather complicated process and set of rules, some slightly older tellys suffer from a level drop. You can best hear this when you are watching say an HD movie on something like BBC and it's in 5.1, when the show ends and you get say, the news, or the continuity person chirps up, the level suddenly seems rather high. Also watching some stuff on Channel 4 may leap up in volume when you get to the adverts. If you get a soundbar, I'd recommend getting one that can properly decode DD 5.1 or use it to feed its several small in-built speakers) as it should help alleviate this problem I know it's a problem with my parent 4 year old HD telly and also with the LG soundbar they have (neither truly can use 5.1 unlike some soundbars which can use all the 6 channels available)

One thing to note, is that on HD tellys, even ones only a few years old, a drop in sound level can be heard (or not as may be the case ) when you are watching HD programmes. This is usually when the show you are watching is in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. There is a thing called the Fold Down Ratio and it's how stereo (normal telly sound) is derived. owing to a rather complicated process and set of rules, some slightly older tellys suffer from a level drop. You can best hear this when you are watching say an HD movie on something like BBC and it's in 5.1, when the show ends and you get say, the news, or the continuity person chirps up, the level suddenly seems rather high. Also watching some stuff on Channel 4 may leap up in volume when you get to the adverts. If you get a soundbar, I'd recommend getting one that can properly decode DD 5.1 or use it to feed its several small in-built speakers) as it should help alleviate this problem I know it's a problem with my parent 4 year old HD telly and also with the LG soundbar they have (neither truly can use 5.1 unlike some soundbars which can use all the 6 channels available)

 

I've noticed this with my dad's Sony. Adverts always seem louder

I've noticed this with my dad's Sony. Adverts always seem louder

My parents watch every thing in SD now as it's too much of a problem for them. They hate adjusting the volume every 15 minutes to correct this problem (can't say I blame them :( )

Remember when TV's were big enough to have speaker technology inbuilt and sounded decent? 

Remember when TV's were big enough to have speaker technology inbuilt and sounded decent?

I do.

I also remember when moving to another apartment how bloody heavy they were.

My 32" weighed about 60kg.

I do.

I also remember when moving to another apartment how bloody heavy they were.

My 32" weighed about 60kg.

Yeah thats true. Weighed a ton haha.

But our Sony did have handles on the back. That was handy

Yeah thats true. Weighed a ton haha.

But our Sony did have handles on the back. That was handy

i had one the last 36 sony crt models & it took me & the brother inlaw trying to move it weighed a bloody ton.

Edited 7 January, 201610 yr by *murph*

i had one the last 36 sony crt models & it took me & the brother inlaw trying to move it weighed a bloody ton.

Thats what we had! Ahaa.

Thats what we had! Ahaa.

plus you could only hold from underneath & the plastic cut your hands to pieces but it was a brilliant tv

plus you could only hold from underneath & the plastic cut your hands to pieces but it was a brilliant tv

Ours had grab handles at the back iirc.

Yeah, didnt have to worry about knocking it over anyway .

I'm no massive tv fan, but I do find if I curl up with the cat to watch a film, the standard tv, (sainsburies special celcus 40" - also used as a pc monitor now!) the sound is a bit lacking. I have had a 5.1 surround sound before, I also had my separates plumbed in at one point but its all a lot of extra wires and faff. 

 

I had a look at a few when they first came out, but wasn't overly impressed. They all seemed to fall short in the mid range, particularly ones with a sub.

 

Is there any particular features other than price that are worth considering?