Home Theatre Surround Sound Upgrade! Recommendations and Is It Worth It?

• 

  Untameable on 29/04/2019 - 22:36

  +1

  I upgraded a week ago from a 5.1 to N950 for Apple TV 4K, 4K PC, and 4K Blu-Ray. I only ever used 3.1 of the old speakers though because side wiring across the floor was just too much of a pain (either a trip hazard or white channels around half the lounge which are expensive and still ugly as sin, I used them for a while then gave up!) With these it’s only power cables to the front and rear. Doable!

  N950 compatibility is pretty good. I haven’t had issues with any of these devices or 4:4:4 detection and high refresh rates and Dolby Vision etc.

  I have had static burps when Atmos kicks in at the start of a video. Also VLC HDMI pass-through of Atmos either doesn’t work at all or results in regular hisses and skipping while Windows Media Player works fine. It’s unclear if that’s a VLC or soundbar issue but I’m guessing VLC. I haven’t tested other PC media yet though except games.

  PC gaming in Atmos is superb although only a few games support it, I was using Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

  And the N950s are superb when it comes to Apple TV 4K movies that support Atmos. Also, with or without Atmos the speech distinction is ultra clear and not mumbled like almost every other sound system I’ve ever heard. This alone is amazing to me and worth every penny. I can pretty much turn off subtitles if I want to!

  I’ve also watched SOME non-Atmos content with Surround upmixing enabled on the soundbar and it seems very good to me. Surround uses all 7.1.4 all the time, whereas the Smart setting does x.1 and doesn’t use the upfiring speakers unless it’s a 7.1.4 native track. Those plus Standard (no upmix) are the only settings.

  For me it was a worthwhile purchase remembering it goes on sale from $999-$1250. I wouldn’t pay more on principle alone. The rear speakers are what clinches it for me. For you it may be more dicey because if you have your rear speakers set up properly I can’t really inform you.

  For other buyers room layout is key. Unobstructed walls to the left and right, a flat ceiling, and then with these reads they need to be behind you, up about ear level, facing inwards a bit, and preferably half a metre or more behind - there’s a diagram in the manual. If you can’t do those things then it could really compromise the sound. Having my rears set up properly made a massive improvement to when I got them out of the box and had them on the floor.

  If your room is roughly box shaped and you’re already doing 4K HDR then I say go for it. I’m no audiophile obviously but I am impressed at how good the Dolby demos I’ve tested have been. Everyone always writes about how a 2.1 system can beat a soundbar, but… that must be some special system not the $1k home theatre box sets from Yamaha and Pioneer which are the ones I’ve always ended up with.

  For me I don’t want to faff around with special orders and wiring and customising a system. This soundbar is simple, sounds amazing, and so is a dream come true.

  (PS no sound card for me, I’ve been using HDMI sound for years now because my PC is in the living room hooked up to the big screen TV, and so sound cards have been dead to me for a long time).

  • 

    Brotality on 29/04/2019 - 23:10

    I'm actually quite interested in the N950. The ease of setup alone is probably worth it. From my research the availability and variety of bookshelf speakers for AV Receivers is quite lacking down under. So for 1k, it is probably more than worth it. I'm also not in a hurry so will definitely wait for another price drop.

    I only got the sound card to try the up-scaling, it was $40 or something. This was back when our Dollar was worth more than the USD!

    If you are still using your PC, I highly recommend madvr. It also also adds LAV decoders which are ridiculously customizable.

    The negatives that are reported everywhere regarding the N950 is imprecise base, making music sound muddy. What is your experience like?

    • 

      bert-lifts on 30/04/2019 - 10:38

      I used to have an n950 but I returned it and got a proper 5.1.2 home theater setup instead.

      For a soundbar, it was actually very good. Unfortunately I had periodic connection issues with the rear speakers and subs + I found that typical 5.1 surround sound performance was poor on it. And yes, music was also not great. Atmos & DTS:X content was really good however(for a soundbar).

      Hardware wise it's really good. But the software lets it down. Needs far more options and tweaking. Plus Samsung to fix bugs, that doesn't look like it's happening unfortunately. If someone like Yamaha released a soundbar with this hardware it would be 10x better.

      • 

        Brotality on 30/04/2019 - 12:11

        I have a feeling that would be my conclusion as well.

        Which system did you end up getting if you don't mind me asking?

• 

  ItsMeAgro on 29/04/2019 - 23:07

  +3

  There's a lot of marketing BS about how a high-end soundbar is "almost as good" as a surround set up for half the price, but don't be conned. There's some very basic physics at play here, and good surround needs large front speakers and not-too-tiny rear speakers.

  • 

    Brotality on 29/04/2019 - 23:13

    I have a very specific taste in sound signature and can spot small drivers from a mile away, hence why I am asking for real world opinions. What kind of setup do you recommend?

• 

  [Deactivated] on 30/04/2019 - 00:08

  +1

  Seems a bit crazy to swap out an actual surround sound system with a phony virtual surround sound wall bouncing technology soundbar. Why not get yourself a decent entry level receiver with hdmi? Then just go PC > receiver > tv

• 

  [Deactivated] on 30/04/2019 - 09:30

  +1

  $1,200 isn't enough.

  Don't forget you either need to look only at powered speakers (harder to expand later) or factor in the cost of an amp.

  Also, 3x4m room means you should at the very least spend $200 on acoustic panels/foam. Much greater returns than sinking an extra $200 into speakers.

• 

  vinni9284 on 30/04/2019 - 09:50

  I would say go for a 7.2 (5.1.2) receiver/sub-woofer 5.1 system and then add ceiling speakers later

  You will get a bigger bang for your money as no soundbar with match the power IMO.
  Plus HDMI out from your GPU will go directly into your receiver so bypasses your sound card.

  Your room is a decent size and needs a decent powered setup.

  Agree with @tshow as $1200 will not be enough for a 5.1.2. system unless you research second hand for the speakers.

  If you go second hand or separate setup:

  • Klipsch RF series and Polk RtiA speakers are very common on gumtree which are decent speakers for the buck.
  • Stay away from Polk subwoofers are they are problematic; Klipsch & SVS are better.
  • I would invest in a new receiver as it would support the latest setup/codecs.

  Cheers

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 30/04/2019 - 11:56

    SVS subs are the mid-price-range gold standard. A 10' SVS would be plenty big for 3x4x2.4 room.

    I had two 10' in a 4.5x7x2.7 room. Corner bass traps and acoustic treatment the shit out of that room.

    House shakes.

    • 

      Brotality on 30/04/2019 - 12:15

      Thanks for the info guys.

      Unfortunately I'm moving into a unit, not 5 acres 😂. I also can't easily sound proof the space.

      I'm just looking for a better surround sound experience. The speakers I currently have are total 80W and that is enough for 80% of my usage, 200W would be plenty!!

      That is mainly why I can't justify the money if that makes sense.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 30/04/2019 - 12:32

        Acoustic treatment is not soundproofing. It goes on the wall, not into it.

        If you're only renting, one way to apply the panels is to glue the foam panels to a ply frame. It will stick out from the walls a bit more which is actually a good thing. Hang them like you would a picture but get the appropriate weight rated hooks as the frame is a touch heavier than your typical Ikea photo frame.

        I think you should just abandon the idea of modular and expandable. Anything you buy at this price range isn't what you'd expand upon.

        I would go a Q Acoustics 7000i. I'm basing this off 2 year old information so there may be better options now. It will set you back around $800-900 on sale leaving you some cash for an amp.

        • 

          Brotality on 30/04/2019 - 23:28

          +1

          @[Deactivated]: how about something like this? https://www.melbournehifi.com.au/products/yamaha-livestage-5…

          1 x RXV-385 AV receiver
          1 x Pair NS-F51 floor-standing speakers
          1 x NS-P51 centre and surrounds pack
          1 x NS-SW050 subwoofer

          And couple of extra stuff for $959?

          Seems like a good deal to me. I have no doubt that this would be leaps and bounds better than the N950. What do you think? please excuse my ignorance if I'm completely off.

          • 

            [Deactivated] on 01/05/2019 - 08:55

            @Brotality: I've never seen or heard the system you linked but like all floor standing speakers, it is going to look chunky in a small room.

            Gone are the days where the more obstructive the hardware, the cooler it is.

            Have a listen to it and compare to a few small form factor systems. If it makes no difference, why put up with a big vinyl wrapped MDF box.

            • 

              Brotality on 12/05/2019 - 11:07

              +2

              @[Deactivated]: I ended up following your advice. I got the following setup:

              Pioneer VSX-933 with 20% discount code
              Q Acoustics 7000i 5.1 - ex display
              Onkyo SKH-410 for $134 on ebay. (not sure how good/bad these are, but not losing much if they are bad)

              Total spent is just under $1500, which is exactly the current price of the N950 or the new refreshed model.

              Thanks for you help!

              • 

                [Deactivated] on 12/05/2019 - 11:27

                @Brotality: GoT marathon time.

                Now you need an OLED. And head down to Selby's in Hallam for some sound treatment ideas.

                :D

                • 

                  Brotality on 12/05/2019 - 22:36

                  @[Deactivated]: Already planning a Marvel marathon!

                  I don't think I can baby an OLED. I'm gonna get serious burn in the first month.

                  I wanted the Sony X9000F, but couldn't resist the NU8000 when it was ridiculously discounted at TGG.

                  I've had warm white bias lighting on my current Samsung H6400 for years and it is working wonders for perceived contrast, so missing out on OLED and Sony's FALD is probably something I can live with.

                  https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ambilight-USB-LED-Strip-ligh… <——- Now this is something that I would love to try!

                  • 

                    [Deactivated] on 12/05/2019 - 22:46

                    @Brotality: I'm waiting for Hue Play. I did a few installs (as a hobbyist) synced and not synced to the general colour of the scene on the screen.

                    Neither worked well and created more processes than was worthwhile.

                    Since my whole house is Hue, I can just set a scene with the Hue system, ie. TV mode will turn down all the lights and turn on the Play.

                    • 

                      Brotality on 13/05/2019 - 10:57

                      @[Deactivated]: Hue Play sounds interesting.

                      Which systems have you already tried? Dreamscreen? Raspberry Pi DIYs? this Ambilight box attached? and what went wrong? Very curious!

                      I'm currently using a universal remote w/ airmouse (have had it for 2+ years) hasn't missed a beat and its very convenient to control the TV, lights and the PC!

                      • 

                        [Deactivated] on 13/05/2019 - 11:27

                        @Brotality: I did one 3 years ago with Hue lightstrip V2 (I got it before Australian release. Inside connection. Not relevant. Just boasting.).

                        I did the iPad/phone set up with an app (found it on a forum). The iPads camera points to the screen to read the dominant colours displayed.

                        This was obviously not an elegant set up but more to experiment. There was a ~1S lag since there the iPad has to process the colour, make a setting change to the Hue bridge via WiFi, Hue has to talk to the lights and the lights have to change colours.

                        So out went that idea. I changed it to IFTTT to just turn on the lights trip when to switch on the TV. This didn't work since I still have to turn the room lights down. So I set a scene that dim the downlights and switch on the lightstrip. All worked well.

                        Then I mounted the TV on to the wall and the lightstrip has too muted so I moved it around. Then the lightstrip lost adhesiveness so I painstakingly reapplied an appropriate double sided tape (not all are equal. You have to use one that can withstand temperature change).

                        Then I changed my TV and I really cannot be bothered. Hahaha.

                        Hue Play will fix the problem with fidgeting with sticky tape and is scalable to my existing system.

                        Ps. Rasberry Pi never appealed to me because my HT setup is already mega complex. The amps also run my stereo system and huge amount of work setting up the relay so when I switch my power conditioner on, my system powers up in a specific sequence and output to the correct channels.

          • 

            Untameable on 04/05/2019 - 22:39

            @Brotality: That’s basically the system and speakers I replaced with the N950.

            Those systems are pretty good especially for music (I haven’t tried music on the N950 yet). Unfortunately with an Atmos movie the difference is night and day.