Surround sound recommendations?

[Jeff R]

Von and I just upgraded the living room television, one of those huge screen UHD4K jobs, and we want to put in a surround sound on it. Nothing over the top, just a nice audio package to enhance the ultra-high-def in her movies and Dallas Stars games, and the flying car parts, bullets and blood in my GTA5 high-speed crashes and-murdering-bystanders/thug life experiences. I don't know anything about surround systems and shopping online frustrates me, so you guys know the drill from here.

For suggestions, let's start with the HFC-approved $350 price range but we're willing to invest a little more as bang for the buck dictates. It's a Samsung Series 6 unit, brand new. Thanks in advance to Johnny B. and other contributors.

[django49]

I am NOT an expert. One consideration is how much of an issue you have with the SIZE of the gear and how much space you want taken up in the room, not to mention the WAF factor as to appearance. One of the most "space conscious" solutions might be to get a sound bar that mount on the wall or below the TV, probably with a separate wireless subwoofer.

The better "surround" experience is probably to actually have speakers that physically surround you. But you should be able to get good results from "bar" especially if you make sure to get one well rated for the "center channel".

You can also install speakers IN the walls or ceiling, but that gets a bit more complex in terms or running wires, etc.

If the living room is also the home of an audio system, you can do double duty, routing everything through a receiver. All the easier is you have a newer one with HDMI connections (or whatever the latest version is).

[hamerhead]

You like to tweak? My Pioneer has a mic to dial it in to the room, but also allows you to adjust the volume and EQ (among other things) on each of the 8 (7.1) channels. Not audiophile grade, but sounds pretty damn good to these wore out ears. Plus it's got a ton of HDMI holes.

[murkat]

I, we, took Tommy's advice and went with a Yamaha hdmi receiver. Very nice for us old farts.

[chromium]

After two Onkyo HDMI 7.1 receivers prematurely crapped out on me (technically one Integra, one Onkyo), I went with a Yamaha RX-V675. I think I've had it about a year. I like it, and so far so good on the reliability front.

[hamerhead]

We have an older Yamaha 5.1 upstairs that sounds really good but lacked enough HDMIs for the mancave. Never had an issue with it. It's also warmer-sounding than the Pioneer, which is a bit sterile by comparison.

[sixesandsevens]

My recommendation: http://www.magnepan.com/- Made in the USA too, if that sort of thing plays a factor. The sound is a blast. Very clear. I have a pair of MMG-W (the smaller ones) and a pair of MG12 fronts. Very much the "Hamer of speakers" IMHO.

WAF can be pretty high since they look like fabric panels, but it depends highly on the W in WAF.

May not be cat-friendly.

[django49]

^^^^

Gets outta the "tree fiddy" range a bit.

Once upon a time I lusted after some for a surround setup in our large living room in LA......Front speakers would be wall mounted, so they could swing back outta the way. I got a pretty frosty, "You can do what you want Abe, but......". Even though she'd have loved to dislocate the Klipschorns. Ultimately ended up with some Ohm Walsh speakers (four) and ordered a matching center speaker. Great sound. Still not high on the WAF scale.

[chromium]

My recommendation: http://www.magnepan.com/- Made in the USA too, if that sort of thing plays a factor. The sound is a blast. Very clear. I have a pair of MMG-W (the smaller ones) and a pair of MG12 fronts. Very much the "Hamer of speakers" IMHO.

WAF can be pretty high since they look like fabric panels, but it depends highly on the W in WAF.

May not be cat-friendly.

Years ago they had just come out with a little surround sound setup that I almost picked up. I ended up going with Paradigm on-walls and an SVS cylinder for the sub instead. I've been happy with that setup.

At one time I thought I might venture into listening room territory and get some big Maggies and monoblocks, but I never got around to it. I'm probably better off - guitar GAS is painful enough Those are a sight and sound to behold, though.

[sixesandsevens]

My recommendation: http://www.magnepan.com/- Made in the USA too, if that sort of thing plays a factor. The sound is a blast. Very clear. I have a pair of MMG-W (the smaller ones) and a pair of MG12 fronts. Very much the "Hamer of speakers" IMHO.

WAF can be pretty high since they look like fabric panels, but it depends highly on the W in WAF.

May not be cat-friendly.

Years ago they had just come out with a little surround sound setup that I almost picked up. I ended up going with Paradigm on-walls and an SVS cylinder for the sub instead. I've been happy with that setup.

At one time I thought I might venture into listening room territory and get some big Maggies and monoblocks, but I never got around to it. I'm probably better off - guitar GAS is painful enough Those are a sight and sound to behold, though.

Amen to that. Years ago I dabbled in what to me was "hi-fi" (cue JohnnyB's maniacal laughter) but I realized I care more about the music than the sound and none of what I was spending was increasing my enjoyment. It was arguably just eating money and floor space.

The maggies are my one last vestige of that time. *sighs* I was so naive and happy then...

[sixesandsevens]

^^^^

Gets outta the "tree fiddy" range a bit.

Oops. Well, for a whole SYSTEM sure... but I got my MG12 pair for like $550 for the pair (used). The MMG-W are still $325/pair shipped from the factory. You'd want a sub if you go with just the MMG-W (and maybe even with the MG12), but it's ... $350 ... ish...

[tbonesullivan]

Depends on how much you want. I know a lot of people who had 7.1 surround systems, and eventually just went to a soundbar.

What kind of input/output does your TV have? Most of the good receivers these days use HDMI pass-through, which skims the audio signal off the HDMI signal before it gets to the TV. However this also means that your tv is dependent on the audio system to handle switching, so you need to have it on whenever the TV is on

[Boomerang~Junkie]

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit when I noticed this thread is right above the "Hearing Aid" thread.

[Jeff R]

Update: We're leaning towards a soundbar system of some sort it appears, nothing too over the top audio or tech-wise, or space wise for that matter.

[MCChris]

We bought one of these a few months ago:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/jbl-soundbar-with-6-5-wireless-subwoofer-black/4160021.p?id=1219621554725&skuId=4160021

So far so good!

[Jeff R]

That's a setup I kind of envisioned and I like the wireless sub idea and the price. Thanks!

[marcus2]

We got the Bose speaker. It is pretty cool. The new version also has bluetooth.

[tbonesullivan]

You can get a soundbar that has wireless satellite speakers if you want them. Some also have the ability to add on things later if you want them. My dad has one in his room and he loves it. I mean, sure, you won't get the same surround imaging that you do with a full surround setup, but honestly unless it's completely quiet in the room, it's easy to miss that stuff. I have a surround setup, and I rarely use it. I usually just use the TV speakers, as my TV has "real" speakers on it that face forwards.

[chromium]

I'm using an LG LAS551H soundbar in our master. It has wireless sub and bluetooth for ~$200. Its not gonna rattle any fillings, but it sounds good and fills up the room nicely

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TIAY248?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00

[JohnnyB]

Update: We're leaning towards a soundbar system of some sort it appears, nothing too over the top audio or tech-wise, or space wise for that matter.

I hadn't weighed in yet, but I was going to say that at your stated budget you're better off with a self-powered soundbar/surround sat system than trying to stretch that money to get a discrete 5.1 system that requires a surround receiver.

I helped my neighbor get a Vizio soundbar/bluetooth subwoofer that has the internal amp to drive the surround speakers. I found it form him on sale for $174 at Costco a year or so ago. MCChris's $399 JBL system looks promising but I'll check around a bit. Yamaha has some great products in this category too.

[Armitage]

[JohnnyB]

About 1-1/2 years ago my nextdoor neighbor asked me to help him get a soundbar to accompany his new Samsung 60" HDTV. I did a bit of research and recommended a Samsung 5.1 soundbar package which he went with. I've been over a few times to tune it and I'm always surprised at how good it sounds, It doesn't have the explosive bass and overall dynamics that my 1KW 7.2 system has, but it has a great tonal balance and good frequency extension. Here are several examples of the soundbars I'm talking about. A soundbar handles the left-center-right duties for the front. There is a wireless bluetooth connection to a powered subwoofer, which has an internal amp to power a pair of discrete surround speakers. Basically it gives you true 5.1 (L-C-R, L/R surround plus subwoofer) surround sound with no wires between the front and the back.

At your budget, I think this one will give you what you're looking for without a lot of drama. Review here. Notice the reviewers felt the system was a little too bassy, but I think it can be toned down both by lowering the bass output and lowering the overall bass control.

This is a notch up from my neighbor's system, it it sound really good for the money.

If you were willing to amp up the money some and had the rack/shelf space, I'd recommend an AV receiver to decode the surround and power a set of Elac surround speakers and sub.

[Jeff R]

Von just showed me this a.m. bar/sub units by Sony, JBL and Bose that Best Buy is running sales on for this Black Friday stuff, and we can order online without going out in that BF mess. Let me see if they're doing a deal on the Vizio as well. Thanks, Johnny!