Hi all,
I've just taken delivery of one of the new LG 77" OLED TV's, but feel as though it could really benefit from splashing out on some speakers for the room. I've had large OLED TV's before, but have never upgraded the sound so would be keen to hear what other members are using in their media rooms.
I mention wireless for 5.1 (possibly 7.1) as I don't want the hassle of cables, nor do I want to be hacking the walls to bits to route them.
Thanks
Last edited by Spesh; 25th March 2023 at 08:44.
Hi Spesh
I also have an LG OLED the 48" version great picture quality 👍
I use a Sonos Beam as my soundbar and 2 Ikea Symfonisk speakers as my surrounds these are made in conjunction with Sonos and are totally compatible and much cheaper.. The sound is very good and clear, and through the Sonos app you can play Radio, Spotify etc.
The Beam now comes in a Dolby Atmos version if you wanted to go big time with your sound
Cheers
It's an ecosystem that comes with "premium" price, but I'd go for Sonos too. I have a Playbase/Sub/Play1 and it's performed flawlessly.
I'd go for Beam or Arc, a Sub or SubMini (or two SubMini) and Play1, Era100 or Era300 for surround, depending on your budget and/or how capable you want the system to be.
When I upgrade the TV I'm gong to try to gather funds for upgrade to Beam/Arc with Era300 for rears
Last edited by Scepticalist; 25th March 2023 at 10:23.
Used to own a Dali Katch Sound bar, due to connectivity issues ended up changing to a Sonos Arc- Awesome bit of kit and easy to set up, haven’t bothered with surround speakers as of yet, it’s good enough as just a stand alone imo. I’d try and demo a few options with Richer Sounds, ‘Horses for Courses’ and all that…….
Yes, I have friends that speak highly of their Sonos units mainly for compatibility reasons and multi room functionality. Most of my music is played in my critical listening room through an entirely separate system, so I'm not sure I would get much use out of that though it would be useful when entertaining guests.
The Sony HT-A7000 seems to be well regarded.
LG Dolby atmos soundbar and wireless sub is a significant improvement which might be worth trying before you commit to the extra speakers.
(I use Sonos for music everywhere else)
Last edited by gunner; 25th March 2023 at 14:41.
We have Sonos everywhere which is linked to google displays which are everywhere too.
The multi room aspect can have difficulties when you use all the speakers at the same time for the same music - some speakers cut out for 30 seconds at a time. I’ve stopped pressing the “everywhere” button now and just choose a few key rooms to conserve bandwidth even though our Wi-Fi strength and coverage is flawless.
For TV it’s good enough but I think Sonos is mainly for the ecosystem and not necessarily for the actual quality of sound. For the same money you’d probably get a better TV speaker system.
I've an LG TV and use a Sonos Arc and Sub. Works well. Some have had issues with sound dropping with the Beam if connected to a Virgin 360 box, I've had no issues with the Arc. The Beam issues seem to be down to interference and can be fixed (apparently) by using a LCL adapter on the box side.l
That’s good to know as had been seriously considering one of these as they are one of the few you can floor mount.Originally Posted by Rob153
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As part of a decluttering exercise we went from a wired av setup to a Devialet Dione.
Very nice as you would expect at this price.
No pass through is a big miss though - you need a new TV for it to work and you need to use the TV inputs for other devices.
Always upgrade the sound from a TV and the advice above is good a if you want a system as cable free as possible. Remember though each will need a power cable. Dead easy set up as well as trouble free. I had a Denon system before and it was a pain as it regularly needed resetting. Also use the eArc HDMI connection to get the Dolby Atmos etc.
The only thing I would add is that if you are going to splash out on Era 300s then go full on with the Arc. Especially as you have a 77”.
I have the Arc, Gen 2 Sub and 2xPlay 1s and it is great. Once the cinema room is built then I am gonna upgrade to the Era 300
Sonos is great for ease, simplicity, flexibility and good sound but it isn’t cheap. You would get a much better sound from a decent AV amp with speaker set up but it is much more fiddly in my experience.
Well I do have a Pioneer multi zone AV amp which sits redundant in the unit currently. However within the the the same unit I am housing my Naim Ndac, Teddy Pardo XPS PSU, and Sonneteer Orton amp alongside a CD transport. Not to mention the ProAc D20R floorstanders, so I am reluctant for the room to become inundated with too much more gear and speakers. I was actually considering moving the Pioneer unit on. Pictures below...
I have two sonos ones as surround, sonos sub and then two good bookshelf speakers connected to a sonos amp rather than a soundbar
Another Sonos recommendation here. I have a Beam gen2, 2 one SLs as surrounds and a fairly recent addition of the sub mini and love how good it sounds and how easy it is to use. Mine is sat under a 65” TV so think you probably want to go for the Arc as the beam might just look a little small.
Think you probably should have led with this!Well I do have a Pioneer multi zone AV amp which sits redundant in the unit currently. However within the the the same unit I am housing my Naim Ndac, Teddy Pardo XPS PSU, and Sonneteer Orton amp alongside a CD transport. Not to mention the ProAc D20R floorstanders, so I am reluctant for the room to become inundated with too much more gear and speakers. I was actually considering moving the Pioneer unit on. Pictures below...
Sonos amp plus a pair of Sonos 1s could be another option with your current set up.
Last edited by gunner; 26th March 2023 at 12:12.
Just the fronts, or centre & rears too?Well I do have a Pioneer multi zone AV amp which sits redundant in the unit currently. However within the the the same unit I am housing my Naim Ndac, Teddy Pardo XPS PSU, and Sonneteer Orton amp alongside a CD transport. Not to mention the ProAc D20R floorstanders, so I am reluctant for the room to become inundated with too much more gear and speakers. I was actually considering moving the Pioneer unit on. Pictures below...
Still a firm (maybe old school believer) that a bar and 2 rears can replace proper 5.1 or pseudo-atmos set ups.
Perhaps my friends with these just done have them set up properly. The sound stage and depth seems far better on my older school set up.
Have you tried changing channels for Sonos - it's 2.4ghz and nearby wifi might be interfering on its default channel? It uses its own private mesh so shouldnt make any difference how many speakers are playing. I've literally never experienced room cutout - even my Sonos Move can go halfway down the garden with no issues. If in the unlikely event you do have a hole in coverage, a Sonos Boost can be a cheap option.
Last edited by Scepticalist; 26th March 2023 at 15:22.
...can't replace...?
Thanks for the input. We have a pretty decent Ubiquiti Wi-Fi set up with 6 APs in a mesh network, all with minimum signal rules set and nightly channel optimisation set so I can’t see it being the Wi-Fi signal although there is a small chance it could be.
We did have 10 Sonos units but I just gave a playbar to my in-laws to try and have less units. Some are hardwired to reduce Wi-Fi issues.
I was debating having them on their own 2.4ghz channel but then I’d need to be on the same Wi-Fi to control. For now I have dual 2.4ghz and 5ghz enabled as most IoT needs 2.4ghz.
I’ve just gone in and manually set 2.4ghz to the max channel width so will see how it goes. I can’t use 160mhz on 5ghz as my Wi-Fi 6 APs don’t seem to be compatible - annoying but unrelated.
Only problem is I can only blast the volume on all speakers when she’s not home!
A bar and rears would be fine for my needs. I don't need a sub or side fills.
Just so there's no confusion, the ProAc floorstanders are for dedicated music use only. They are not connected to the TV.
I just got the Samsung HW-Q990B Soundbar with wireless sub and rears. Always been in to separates, but this is frankly amazing. Well worth it
They could be with a sonos amp
Indeed. Doh!
But run via an AV amp?
Are you not missing the the most obvious upgrade?
And a sub is always needed for cinema or normal TV. So much more involved.
The floor standers are running off a Sonneteer Orton dual mono amplifier, which is not designed for anything other than stereo output. The Pioneer unit supports 7.1 audio, but is nowhere near capable of achieving listenable results from D20R speakers.
Last edited by Spesh; 26th March 2023 at 18:36.
I've only a wired 5.1 system myself but still sounds better than being at the cinema
Totally agree with catflap I have the same setup sans the sub mini. Given your TV size the Sonos arc will be a technically better option as it has upward firing speakers that compliment the Dolby atmos facility. As others have said make sure you use the E arc output hdmi and have an iphone for trueplay tuning ( part of the sound setup)
Steve
Front output from the Pioneer as an input for the Sonneteer?
Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately this won't work in the real world. The two amps would have to power all drive units to a matched DBL. I listen to music at a much higher volume, so would consistently be re-adjusting the Sonneteer every time I wanted to use it for TV & vice versa for listening to music. Also, whereas the Pioneer has a standby mode (wake upon TV on). The Sonneteer doesn't have a this function and utilizes class A/B circuit topology which is heavily biased towards class A, meaning it would have to be left switched on all the time at great expense due to the output devices being in high operation. When switched off, these amps are meant to be left on for a period of time before use.
I also find the ProAcs a bit too natural/neutral sounding for use with TV's. They are designed to fill the room and disappear into the soundstage. Media systems tend to be voiced in a more shouty way that lends themselves to that sort of content.
So do you leave the Sonneteer on or not? Surely using it for two things reduces wasted warm up time? Adjusting the volume when switching between music and TV is hardly an issue either.
Seems like you have some fairly strong views and understanding of options already.
I suppose that's what happens when you come from a studio and live sound background.
I usually give the Sonneteer and the Ndac a couple of hours to to warm up and stabilise before listening. With a good front end, the difference is noticeable despite what some may say. Adjusting volume every time I needed the ProAcs for TV would frustrate me over time anyway, so I'm after two separate systems. I do however appreciate the input.
Last edited by Spesh; 26th March 2023 at 23:10.
Horses for courses I guess, there’s no single right answer. Just hope a soundbar isn’t disappointing given your hifi preferences.
Well there is that. And this used to be my old hobby system for live nights and festivals when I was in my early 20's, so perception may be slightly skewed.
There you go fixed it for you :)
I thought this might crop up. However, not a night did I run that system without ear plugs.
If you game with a PS5 or XBox then you need a receiver or soundbar with HDMI 2.1 passthrough to get the best out of the TV i.e. HDR. VRR etc. (if you're plugging into the soundbar or receiver). Otherwise you have to plug directly into the TV, which some people don't like due to multiple cables coming from the TV.
If the tv is on it's stand you don't see the cables or at least I don't on my LG OLED. My Series X goes straight into the tv and then the tv uses arc to the Sonos Beam. L337 players use headphones anyway :-)
I have an LG OLED connected to B&O Stage which is integrated with the rest of the sound system. Works very well and all integrated with phone and Remote, etc.
Hi, not sure if this helps but this is a Sonos Arc under a 77 inch LG oled. The wall mounted speakers on the sides and under the arc are for when the projector screen drops down in front of the tv and arc and I want to up the sound levels. :)
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That's not how Sonos works - it runs its own hidden network and doesnt use your wifi unless you specifically tell it to. If it's set up properly to use its own network, you'd only ever see the hardwired devices in Ubiquiti. I have 15 devices and can only see the Playbase in Ubiquiti console (it's hardwired).
The best way to set it up like this is to connect/set up the hardwired device first, then add devices working from that physical location outwards but do not tell them to use your own wifi network - they should be found perfectly fine without it.
Once you have it set up to use its own mesh, you can change channels using the Sonos App (Settings > Network) to avoid clashing with neighbours or your own 2.4ghz networks.
Last edited by Scepticalist; 28th March 2023 at 10:16.
If you call Sonos they are really helpful and will run diagnostics with you and get the whole system working properly for you - I ended up disconnecting some of my devices from the LAN to benefit the Sonosnet and have not had any problems since they helped whereas previously rooms kept disappearing. Also some have better internals than others so that affected their choice on each floor of what to hardwire and what to leave wireless.Thanks for the input. We have a pretty decent Ubiquiti Wi-Fi set up with 6 APs in a mesh network, all with minimum signal rules set and nightly channel optimisation set so I can’t see it being the Wi-Fi signal although there is a small chance it could be.
We did have 10 Sonos units but I just gave a playbar to my in-laws to try and have less units. Some are hardwired to reduce Wi-Fi issues.
I was debating having them on their own 2.4ghz channel but then I’d need to be on the same Wi-Fi to control. For now I have dual 2.4ghz and 5ghz enabled as most IoT needs 2.4ghz.
I’ve just gone in and manually set 2.4ghz to the max channel width so will see how it goes. I can’t use 160mhz on 5ghz as my Wi-Fi 6 APs don’t seem to be compatible - annoying but unrelated.
Only problem is I can only blast the volume on all speakers when she’s not home!
PS Don't use a dedicated SSID for the Sonos as everytime you want to use it you will have to log onto that network. One of the reason's for running a guest network is so the Sonos doesn't become a free for all at parties ;-)
Last edited by MB2; 28th March 2023 at 17:25.
My choice, Yamaha,....
https://www.whathifi.com/yamaha/ysp-5600/review
For a soundbar it's brilliant
We have an LG Atmos soundbar, sub and wireless satellite rear speakers hooked up to our LG OLED TV. The soundbar is a few years old (SK10Y, I think). I think the sub came with the soundbar and we bought the rears separately (but at the same time). If I'm honest the reason I don't know much about it is because I bought it, set it up and it's just worked since.
I don't really have anything to compare it to but if I'm watching a film with lots of 'copters and explosions it's pretty impressive.
Last edited by MakeColdplayHistory; 28th March 2023 at 20:43.
They have always led the way. Still remember being blown away years ago with a pseudo 5.1 set up & playing with 'heights' of the rears.
Amazing tech - If I could run one as a 'centre' in my current set up to give me the Atmos I'd love it.
Am banned from ceiling speakers.
Things have moved on since 2015.
Things have moved on from valve amps, but they can sound better than modern amps.
My Rogers LS3/5a speakers are 30 years old but will still outperform current similar sized speakers. Age has nothing to do with
performance.
A Sonos soundbar is ok (I sold them and have installed many surround systems over the years up to custom designed home systems).
Also has the advantage of sticking to one remote.
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