Recommendations for TV surround sound set?

[SS1]

Hey guys,

 

I just ordered my first ever TV, a Samsung 65 inch Smart TV and attached it to my wall with an extendable wall mount. Great so far, but sound needs improvement! I've been looking at different options and those sound bars seem to be very popular. However, wouldn't it be better to have 5.1 speakers for full surround sound? I'm hoping to not spend much more than 5,000-7,000 baht for these. Afterall, I live in a condo so can't keep it so loud, but I just want decent sound quality with nice surround sound effects.

 

I was looking at this one from Samsung and this one from Panasonic - what do you think? There don't seem to be that many different options available except when prices start going past 10,000 baht. I also note that most of these come with a bluray player which really is not necessary. 

Would you recommend any alternatives, specific brands or so? Why are the sound bars so popular over full 5.1 sets? 

[tifino]

popular for those who don't want to be bothered with laying cable all around the room...

 

what is the on-board Surround effect in your model Smart TV like? considering as you say, being in a small living area

[SS1]

10 minutes ago, tifino said:

popular for those who don't want to be bothered with laying cable all around the room...

 

what is the on-board Surround effect in your model Smart TV like? considering as you say, being in a small living area

That makes sense. Wouldn't take more than an hour to lay the cables and cover them with those white cable hiding thingies from HomePro though. 

Currently the sound is nothing impressive, which is expected considering how thin the TV is. 

[dddave]

I purchased a wired surround system several years ago and after hassling with it for close to a year, decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

Dealing with placement issues and wires for the rear speakers in my living space was a major PIA and the benefits of those rear speakers was marginal at best and often annoying.  Many movie sound engineers just seem to toss in rear audio features as afterthoughts and it is often more distracting than enhancing.

The center speaker never seemed to contribute much at all.

I finally decided to unplug the rear and center speakers and just use the two speaker towers and the subwoofer.  I don't really feel I'm missing much.

As deep bass notes can travel easily through cement floors, I spared my downstairs neighbors by putting the subwoofer on a platform a few inches above the floor and put furniture pads on the platform legs.  I've never had a complaint about noise.

I think if I were buying today, I'd look closely at some of the better soundbars.

Edited September 20, 2018 by dddave

[SS1]

4 hours ago, dddave said:

I purchased a wired surround system several years ago and after hassling with it for close to a year, decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

Dealing with placement issues and wires for the rear speakers in my living space was a major PIA and the benefits of those rear speakers was marginal at best and often annoying.  Many movie sound engineers just seem to toss in rear audio features as afterthoughts and it is often more distracting than enhancing.

The center speaker never seemed to contribute much at all.

I finally decided to unplug the rear and center speakers and just use the two speaker towers and the subwoofer.  I don't really feel I'm missing much.

As deep bass notes can travel easily through cement floors, I spared my downstairs neighbors by putting the subwoofer on a platform a few inches above the floor and put furniture pads on the platform legs.  I've never had a complaint about noise.

I think if I were buying today, I'd look closely at some of the better soundbars.

Thanks for the feedback. 

 

A sound bar would be certainly easier to install and maybe worth considering. I have a plan for the rear speakers though, I've got good spots for them on the sides of the sofa. For the wires, I'd just put them from behind the sofa on the side of my walls with those wire hiding thingies (as long as the wires are long enough) so that shouldn't be too hard. Looking at netflix and torrents I watch via Plex app, it seems most come with 5.1 audio as standard. 

[marcusarelus]

I have a soundbar and wireless sub woofer in the corner next to my couch.  For surround sound have you looked at surround sound wireless headphones?  My wife won't let me blast my tunes out over our soundbar! Close your eyes and check your soundbar with surround sound.  They have utubes that do this.

[sfokevin]

I have a basic Samsung soundbar with a wireless subwoofer behind the couch... The soundbar was easily mounted to the bottom of the TV on the wall by buying a set of 80mm L brackets and bolting two together to make a U... then the U bracket was bolted onto the TV using the bolts that were on the TV to attach the stand (which was removed when I mounted it on the wall) the power brick is behind the TV..

 Also I placed the Satellite box and my Apple TV on the back on the TV using Velcro and a few dabs of silicone glue for a nice clean look... I still have the satellite & power wires seen but eventually I will have a wood frame to place on the wall behind the TV to hide the wires too... 

 

this is is not “Home Theatre” quality but for ~4k baht a huge improvement over the tin can TV speakers...

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/samsung-300-w-21ch-flat-hw-k450-i223145370-s340529508.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.14.764933571FmCwm&search=1

 

PS the Samsung sound bar also has a set of wireless rear speakers (SWA-8000S) that can be bought to turn to from 2.1 to 4.1 but I have not been able to find them in Thailand?...

Edited September 23, 2018 by sfokevin