Soundbar discussion thread [consolidated]

[blackroom]

bass soft? make sure DRC is set to Off (under Level menu). also, ensure DRC is off in your dvd player.

also, location of sub in room affects bass as long standing wave may have cancelled the phase within the room. try move it to another location to test out.

as it's down firing, it may not need to be near wall or in a corner for effectiveness.

Hi bro thanks for your advice after tweaking bass and everything seems to be good this are the settings i used havent check on the DRC will check it tonight.

Settings :
Sw Level : +5
Center Speaker : +2
Bass + 1
Treble + 2

Lower bass settings is to let sw handle and mid/high for my soundbar. Ct150 owners please do share your settings .

Btw on my media player i got few audio source may i know which is the best ?

Hdmi/Lpcm
hdmi/lpcm multi channel
hdmi raw

For some movies raw doesnt seem to get any sound .

 

[alanchia67]

Increasing center speaker level will impact the virtual surround soundfield. Other forums stated at most +1. I left it at 0.

My settings? Everything 0 (default). I didnt experience sub-bass cancellation in my room thus even SW 0 is fine.

HDMI/LPCM multi-channel means the surround sound decoding will be done at the media player and the data stream will be sent as multi-channel to the soundbar. It can be left at this setting.

 

[skthk21]

Wow Sony Ct 150 display set at $299 is abit unbelievable.
Was quoted $499 for a display set was told "just opened yesterday" as the older set was just sold.
Looks like the price of $599 for 1 is overprice as we are looking for display sets.
The other one sound bar (which matches 40 inch LCD) was selling at $599 if u buy any 40" above LCDs.

 

[alanchia67]

oh, so BD nowadays opens the boxes frequently to sell as display set?

 

[skthk21]

oh, so BD nowadays opens the boxes frequently to sell as display set?

It's HN actually, ya that's what I thot to myslef too. But then isn't it I reading here mostly buying display set too ?

Now headache, saw Philips Blueray HT is selling very cheap. Outside about $459 still gives 2 free blu-ray. Saw it Philips warehouse sale $369 !

While Sony never have any sales one. CT 150 at $599 just sucks.
I like it but not the price.

But if buy Philips means can't connect anything else cos only 1 mono input.
But then should I be too concern cos is only want to conenct PS3 & Mio.
If get the soundbar is use PS3 as bluray player, Ps3 have region code.
If Philips HT means it comes with Blueray multi code player but have to lay the surround wire on the floor to the back.
Heachache.
And to the bro who get ct-150 at $299 ? Please get 2 sets for me

 

[skthk21]

I bought my Sony HT-CT150 for retail price at the Sony Gallery store. The length of the soundbar fits a 40' TV exactly (Was 1 of the advantage for me since i have width restriction on the pillar where my 40' TV was mounted). For me, it was either between this or the Samsung soundbar system. But the Sony won me over because it can support both optical input as well as HDMI (Good flexibility for folks like me who was working out the layout of my A/V set-up.) In the end, I decided to just have a thin optical cable input from my LED TV. All the other cables from the Starhub box, Bluray player and Wii go direct into my TV.

Actually ct-150 is matching to 32'LCD, while the 350 matches 40".
HMM ? all drect to TV ? Then won't get the DD/DTS from your Bluray/Hub etc ?

 

[skthk21]

Was told that ct-150 is discontinued ! What the ....
Anyway HN say that they were selling the 350 at $599 too ! Both at same price!?
But now no more stock.
I wonder how Sony 150/350 vs Yamaha S400.
Saw S400 at $899 at HN warehouse sale.
Where can get a no obligation demo ? Or best for both sony & yamaha.
Can any of them produce true DTS etc if connect to a PS3 ?
All of them can produce virtual 5.1 sound right ? or just 3.1

 

[alanchia67]

both accept DD and DTS 5.1, and can reproduce virtual 5.1. for lossless dts/dd (aka bluray movie source), you can send LPCM to sony soundbar for virtual surround.

and from where you heard ct150 is discontinued?

 

[SunFlag]

Was told that ct-150 is discontinued ! What the ....
Anyway HN say that they were selling the 350 at $599 too ! Both at same price!?
But now no more stock.
I wonder how Sony 150/350 vs Yamaha S400.
Saw S400 at $899 at HN warehouse sale.
Where can get a no obligation demo ? Or best for both sony & yamaha.
Can any of them produce true DTS etc if connect to a PS3 ?
All of them can produce virtual 5.1 sound right ? or just 3.1

where u saw the $899?

can advise?

 

[alanchia67]

where u saw the $899?

can advise?

he already mentioned it's harvey norman warehouse sale - it's a event located at benoi road.

http://www.harveynorman.com.sg/promotions/promotions.php

 

[chrono]

I have also been doing research on soundbars for my new house.

Narrowed down to the YHT-S400 which seems pretty good, but the soundbar is really small. Anyways, Yamaha just announced a new replacement for the S400, the YHT-494 which I think is much better with a stand alone AVR and stand alone sub.
In addition, it adds 2 sats for surround function.

Amazon link here: http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-49...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1289026962&sr=1-1


The other option which I considered is to get a set of good passive soundbar plus a good AVR. I've narrowed down to 2 pretty good sounding soundbars:
- Polk Audio Surroundbar 50
- Definitive Technology SSA-50

Both are able to replicate 5.1 surround sound with pretty convincing results, and both can handle music and movies very well. Plus, they are reasonably priced at only around USD$700 onwards. The only downside is that you need to spend additional money for an AVR.

I'm looking at shipping some Surroundbar 50s from USA. If anybody is interested, can drop me a PM.

 

[alanchia67]

checked on vizio 210 (both VHT and VSB) yet?

yes the new yamaha seems promising, yet the addition of back surround satellites may not be suitable for some who prefers clean setup using just the front sound bar. it's moving to the same path as vizio 510.

 

[chrono]

Was told that ct-150 is discontinued ! What the ....
Anyway HN say that they were selling the 350 at $599 too ! Both at same price!?
But now no more stock.
I wonder how Sony 150/350 vs Yamaha S400.
Saw S400 at $899 at HN warehouse sale.
Where can get a no obligation demo ? Or best for both sony & yamaha.
Can any of them produce true DTS etc if connect to a PS3 ?
All of them can produce virtual 5.1 sound right ? or just 3.1

checked on vizio 210 (both VHT and VSB) yet?

yes the new yamaha seems promising, yet the addition of back surround satellites may not be suitable for some who prefers clean setup using just the front sound bar. it's moving to the same path as vizio 510.

The Vizio 510 seems promising. But shipping from USA to SG will be super exp becos the sub is very heavy. Plus there's no local support from Vizio.
The Yamaha may be more ideal as there's local Yamaha svc centre.

Alternatively, is to get the passive Surroundbar or SSA-50 from USA. Both are not that heavy to ship and passive speakers should be more durable than active systems.

 

[Evolution9]

I am selling my Yamaha S400 if anyone is interested? Good as new as just 2 months old. warranty unfilled and bought from Best Denki at $950. Interested pls pm me. Thanks.

 

[chrono]

I am selling my Yamaha S400 if anyone is interested? Good as new as just 2 months old. warranty unfilled and bought from Best Denki at $950. Interested pls pm me. Thanks.

Bro, why selling?

 

[Evolution9]

Selling cause I moving house and bought myself a home theater system (MT-30). Its a great soundbar for the size and especially with Blueray (listen to believe).

Item Sold.

 

[skthk21]

both accept DD and DTS 5.1, and can reproduce virtual 5.1. for lossless dts/dd (aka bluray movie source), you can send LPCM to sony soundbar for virtual surround.

and from where you heard ct150 is discontinued?

Ask at a Toa Payoh Electronic shop, they reply "no longer coming in".
Then at that HN warehouse sales guy also said discont.
He said they sold the ct-350 same price as ct-150 at $599 as purchase with purchase (with purchase 40" or above LCD).
He say he could actually sell CT-350 for $599 but no stock.

I also called a shop at Jurong east to check price, Twice.
But got no reply.

So I guess it's discont ? If a product discont like so fast means its no good ?

 

[alanchia67]

Due to economy, many electronics products price have dropped tremendously. Take the case of panny 3D TV, it was $5999 at launch, and then dropped to $5288 at promo. Now you can get the TV at $4999. Bear in mind it's launched only 3 months ago.

 

[jekslee]

CT-350 for $599 standalone offer is a little hard to believe cos Sony always control price. But if part of package with LCD TV then it's possible.

But if by now you still don't have LCD TV, I doubt you will spend so much on a Sony soundbar (Samsung wireless soundbar is cheap and adequate).

I doubt it is really worth the money to spend >$599 on soundbar cos in a short while, there'll be 3D soundbars

If you want to spend >$$$$, might as well get a proper 5.1.

 

[alanchia67]

what is 3d sound bar??

I know the price to vendor for CT350 from Sony, thus it's not possible for CT350 to be S$599 if bought alone.