Passive soundbar and subwoofer UPGRADE (advice)

joysleep1

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Hi Peeps

OK so i have a bit complicated situation with my sound system. So i currently have a monitor audio R one HD passive soundbar with monitor audio 90s HD as rears (rears not seen in photo).

I have this with a BK gemini Subwoofer all hooked up by my x2600h denon.
Now its been ok and the sound is ok but its a bit weak in terms of filling the room. I feel the subwoofer can get boomy if i put the volume all the way to max but then gets a bit of distortion.

Looking at the photo, i appreciate that floor speakers side by side of the TV with a main centre channels speaker will be ideal but i just dont have the space. My kids toys on one side and my mums chair on the other which i cant move just dont allow this.
So i am looking for a decent powerful soundbar which can pump the room. You can see in the video that the soundbar looks too tiny compared to the TV (LOL)
Its a 6 metre by 6 metre box room which opens into the kitchen.

I have found a private seller who is selling the Sonance SB46M. Granted this is not a popular brand of soundbars but wanted any opinions on weather this would easily be better than the R ONE HD speaker?

Also, in regards to the subwoofer, i am thinking whether i need to get at least a 12inch drive one. Also i was reading up online about ported vs sealed vs bass radiator. I think i would probably need to go for a ported one. Would a 12 inch sealed sub be better than a 10 inch ported or bass radiator SUB?
Need some expert advice. You can see the subwoofer is located just right of the TV and this is the place i want to keep it. What are advantages for ported or bass vs sealed?
Please note that this advice is solely based on TV watching and movies. Music will not be used at all so i dunno if that makes a difference in choice of subs or speakers.

(sorry ignore that black subwoofer. Thats my old yamaha one. Was suppsed to move that).


Any advice will be appreciated​

 
Any input would be appreciated.
Esp about the soundbar.
Would love to know whether this would be an upgrade to my current one
 
Hey peeps.

Would really appreciate input in regards to the subwoofer and sonance soundbar.
 
Another option potentially is to get the xtr50s. They are quite compact speakers than can even sit on top of the subwoofer
My only issue is the lack of space left and right of the tv.
I could potentially place it above my subwoofer on the right and above small table of the left and centre below the tv.
I found another seller for the definite technology xtr 50. If I have three of these left right and centre. Would that surpass any soundbar that I can purchase?


See photo for reference.
Would really appreciate any input.

Please can anyone advise
 
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Monitor Audio do a passive soundbar SB-4 for 70inch tvs and over. I have one myself and find it very good for a passive soundbar. SB-4 | Passive Soundbar | Monitor Audio As far as Subs go usually a Sealed Sub has tighter Bass and a Ported Sub goes deeper and plays louder at the deepest frequencies. Your better asking about Subs in the Subwoofer forum though.
 
Monitor Audio do a passive soundbar SB-4 for 70inch tvs and over. I have one myself and find it very good for a passive soundbar. SB-4 | Passive Soundbar | Monitor Audio As far as Subs go usually a Sealed Sub has tighter Bass and a Ported Sub goes deeper and plays louder at the deepest frequencies. Your better asking about Subs in the Subwoofer forum though.
Hmm yh the monitor audio does look good but is quite expensive brand new.

What exactly are you looking for in terms of specs in a passive soundbar to determine it's power or whether enough it's good enough to fill the room . Or whether a separate 3 channel speaker would be better?
 
Monitor Audio do a passive soundbar SB-4 for 70inch tvs and over. I have one myself and find it very good for a passive soundbar. SB-4 | Passive Soundbar | Monitor Audio As far as Subs go usually a Sealed Sub has tighter Bass and a Ported Sub goes deeper and plays louder at the deepest frequencies. Your better asking about Subs in the Subwoofer forum though.

Hmm yh was hoping to kinda get both questions answered in one go. But yh might make a separate thread regarding sub.
I want to know what would be better in my specific room and circumstance
 
Hmm yh the monitor audio does look good but is quite expensive brand new.

What exactly are you looking for in terms of specs in a passive soundbar to determine it's power or whether enough it's good enough to fill the room . Or whether a separate 3 channel speaker would be better?
If you go down the seperate speaker route make sure you have 3 identical speakers and the 3 are at the same height. That way the front soundstage will be timbre matched and the soundstage will be at the same height. Obviously a Passive Soundbar gives you that so it's benefits are clear in one bar. The SB-4 can be set with a crossover at 80hz so you will get a good blend with a subwoofer which is another benefit and you shouldn't be able to localise the subwoofer if set-up correctly. What is your budget? What speakers have you been considering?
 
If you go down the seperate speaker route make sure you have 3 identical speakers and the 3 are at the same height. That way the front soundstage will be timbre matched and the soundstage will be at the same height. Obviously a Passive Soundbar gives you that so it's benefits are clear in one bar. The SB-4 can be set with a crossover at 80hz so you will get a good blend with a subwoofer which is another benefit and you shouldn't be able to localise the subwoofer if set-up correctly. What is your budget? What speakers have you been considering?

Hmm interesting

Well basically I have two private sellers.
One would be the sonance sb46m soundbar which is actually quite nice looking in that the width can be adjusted to the size of my cabinet. Kinda wanted some opinions on how those would perform but it's not a popular product but I'm not really good at understanding specs on paper.


The other option is the xtr50s. These would all be identical 3 speakers which would go left right and centre.
The left right will be the same height.

Which option would be better choice.? Let's assume I stick with my current subwoofer for now and might upgrade later.
 
You should always aim to get the front 3 speakers at the same height and if you can't then the front soundstage is compromised unfortunately. That's the benifit with a passive Soundbar as i already stated all 3 front channels are at the exact same height. So in your situation i would be aiming for a a Passive soundbar but i can't comment on the Sonance as i haven't had any experience with it, but all i can say is with the Monitor Audio SB-4 i have never wanted to replace it with another Passive Soundbar as i'm happy with it's wide and bass of it's front soundstage. Your Denon 2600 will drive it no problem as i used to drive mine with a Denon X1600 and could play it pretty loud. I have a Denon X1100 now and it drives it no problem also.
 
You should always aim to get the front 3 speakers at the same height and if you can't then the front soundstage is compromised unfortunately. That's the benifit with a passive Soundbar as i already stated all 3 front channels are at the exact same height. So in your situation i would be aiming for a a Passive soundbar but i can't comment on the Sonance as i haven't had any experience with it, but all i can say is with the Monitor Audio SB-4 i have never wanted to replace it with another Passive Soundbar as i'm happy with it's wide and bass of it's front soundstage. Your Denon 2600 will drive it no problem as i used to drive mine with a Denon X1600 and could play it pretty loud. I have a Denon X1100 now and it drives it no problem also.
Hmm thanks for your input

But where I sit on the sofa. The soundbar is technically slightly below ear level and if I get side speakers it will be just slightly higher than ear level.
 
Hey peeps

I thought i would add two photos showing exactly what options i have available. I really want to make sure i choose the right set up because changing would be a massive faff.

One photo shows the SB46 soundbar option and the other shows the traditional 3 channel set up (model shown in the photo).
I tried my best showing it so its obviously not to scale but you can just get the rough idea. Seating distance is around 13-14 feet.

What would be the better option in these to set ups in regards to better sound performance overall?

Any more info please message and i will try my best. I can not test each out and make a decision so would like to get your input on which set up you would go for

Thanks
 
Would appreciate if anyone can give their opinion the two set ups.

Thanks
 

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