OT: Home Audio Question

[Eldorado2k]

Sonos alot more expensive.

[dgage]

Sonos are good but way overpriced if the focus is audio for a single room. Sonos is best for wireless audio distribution within a house. Think zones in every room without any wires. But you pay dearly for that wireless flexibility and that their app just works. I had Sonos Play5 in the kids rooms and I had a Sonos Connect on my main system but when the Play5s died, we didn't replace them.

[Desertnate]

Price is the main reason I've not spent much time looking at Sonos.

At some point if I ever hang my TV over the fireplace, I might look at a Sonos to get away from extra wires, but it will be a tough sell.

[oneheadlite]

Thanks all again for the input.

Ended up going with a Vizio m21d-h8r - it's an "All in One" 2.1 soundbar. Dolby DTS capable. The subwoofers are integrated into it, not separate which is nice. It's nice and low profile. I saw it for $107 during holiday sales, but I didn't jump on it since I had put it on my wish list. Ended up getting it on sale after X-mas for $130 (retail price is $150). I figure heck, it's still not that much more than a lil HomePod mini...

Initial impressions are quite good. Setup was no problem. Sound is waaaay more full than the TV speakers. I did an initial test run up in the lunchroom at work, and made my coworker jealous - he said his 2.0 soundbar (don't know what brand) didn't have near that much bass/sound quality. I'm not looking to rattle the windows, but it's nice to get some low end for music/movies.

Haven't had a ton of time with it going to play with all the various modes, but it's nice it's got settings to balance volume levels or cut the subwoofer output if the kid's in bed.

I'll try to do an update down the road with impressions after it's been in use more if anyone's interested.

[vaca22]

I'm using a 32" Vizio 2.1 sound bar system. The exact model I have is no longer on the market, but they sell a newer version.

It's not all that expensive, yet I've been impressed with the sound quality and the fact the sub and the sound bar communicate wirelessly. For the usage and the room I wasn't after reference-quality sound. I've used it with both a Sharp and Vizio TV and it worked great.

Oh boy, I need to look up the model of my Vizio sound bar (with woofer), because I bet we both have the same one. It's AMAZING. I think I paid something like $130 for it a few years ago if it's the same one. My living room is small and oddly shaped but I listened to it at Best Buy before getting it elsewhere and I couldn't believe how good it was.

EDIT - Found it. It's gotta be this one: Sound Bar

[Desertnate]

That's pretty close and I paid about the same price off Target.com back when I bought it. It's a screaming deal for what you get. Yours might be a little bit newer, as my sub looks a little different.

Either way, its a great piece of kit if you simply want to hear your TV clearly and you're not after an actual surround sound system or one isn't practical for the room/situation.