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All right, no pun intended, I need a great sounding soundbar for a small  area ... Please recommend.  Quality is everything.  Thanks.

HQ Player (#1) & Audrivana (#2) (wow! love the Apple w/music!!) .. these two software make my system "Amazing!", Purist USB- Benchmark DAC2 HGC (love it!), Purist Audio XLR , ATC SCM25A's (To Die For!) & Focal sub6 . Triode Power Cables with Uber Buss (Yes!) Also enjoy Audeze LCD3 w/"fat pipe cardas."

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If you want powered and you're a Roon user, I HIGHLY recommend the Bluesound Soundbar.  I use it to watch TV and while working (stereo in different room) with music during the day.  It works perfectly with Roon too.  I love it!

 

https://www.bluesound.com/products/pulse-soundbar-2i/

 

I also added the sub and Flex 2i for the rears.  lol

W10 NUC i7 (Gen 10) > Roon (Audiolense FIR) > Motu UltraLite mk5 > (4) Hypex NCore NC502MP > JBL M2 Master Reference +4 subs

 

Watch my Podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMw_bZWBMtRWNJQfTJ38kA/videos

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Thanks jtwrace, but I want a sounnbar... enjoy your music, always...

HQ Player (#1) & Audrivana (#2) (wow! love the Apple w/music!!) .. these two software make my system "Amazing!", Purist USB- Benchmark DAC2 HGC (love it!), Purist Audio XLR , ATC SCM25A's (To Die For!) & Focal sub6 . Triode Power Cables with Uber Buss (Yes!) Also enjoy Audeze LCD3 w/"fat pipe cardas."

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I was looking for a soundbar about 6 months ago.  I researched everything out there and tried in my house many of the higher end models that were available from Martin Logan, Samsung, Sony, Yamaha and Bluesound.  I was looking for just TV sound playback and had no need for any gimmicky stuff like bluetooth streaming.  Having the Goldenear XXL center channel speaker in my main HT setup, I knew nothing would come close to the sound that this could reproduce.  So the hunt was on, and I was extremely disappointed with every model I tried. 

 

Most soundbars couldn't get loud enough or simply sounded too tinny.  Those that had surround speakers sound terrible and were barely noticeable when pushed to the max.  The room I was testing them in is a 3 season porch about 15 X 30 feet, so not small by any means but not too big either.  Plus there's 4 walls with only sliding glass doors for openings.

 

Martin Logan sounded the best but couldn't get loud enough and there remote control couldn't sync with Comcast's remote or Logitech's.

 

So my next step was looking for passive soundbars.  I have several receivers, subwoofers and surround speakers collecting dust, so maybe this is the best route to go.  To make a long story short I settled on Definitive Technology  Mythos SSA-50 passive soundbar.  It was the best sounding to me and is fairly cheap these days if you can find one.  I have a Marantz receiver, a REl sub and couple of Klipsch speakers to round things off.  Best set up for me.  The SSA-50 is a bit gimmicky with foe surround channels built in the the soundbar.  So there is L/C/R and then L/R surround all built into the soundbar.  It's well built and weighs 30 lbs.  It has a good frequency sweep of 50-30 Hz which is far better then most soundbars will give you.

 

I'm still looking for a better all in one package that can eliminate the receiver but I haven't found one yet. There are a couple of brands that sell sound bars for $5000 but that's ridiculous.  A receiver and dedicated speakers even at entry level prices far outperforms any current soundbar. At least that's my disappointing and high expectation conclusion. 

 

I was hoping there would be more dedicated sound bars by reputable speaker companies but there are simply very little too choose from.

 

Good luck researching,

Shawn  

Computer setup - Roon/Qobuz - PS Audio P5 Regenerator - HIFI Rose 250A Streamer - Emotiva XPA-2 Harbeth P3ESR XD - Rel  R-528 Sub

Comfy Chair - Schitt Jotunheim - Meze Audio Empyrean w/Mitch Barnett's Accurate Sound FilterSet

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  • 3 months later...

Check out the Sonos Playbar.  Sonos really has the software piece dialed in unlike a lot of the other guys.  Bose control software is horrible and the Bose sound is not enough to make up for it.  And that seems to be a common problem with the speaker companies trying to get in on the home theatre market.  They just do not have the software expertise and that is a major piece of the  soundbar home theatre experience.  So be careful and pay attention to the software quality. 

 

Add a couple of surrounds to the Playbar and you will be pleasantly surprised how good what others refer to as "mid-fi" can sound.  Sonos is nicely integrated with every imaginable music streaming service out there.

RIG:  iFi Zen Stream - Benchmark DAC3 L - LA4  AHB2 | Paradigm Sig S6 Cables:  anything available

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