New TV time- advice

[rich83]

You can scrub expecting decent sound quality from any TV...

[AC43]

Samsung LED + Panasonic soundbar with wireless sub.

That's what I just did.

Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 24th February 15:12

[talkssense]

rich83 said:

You can scrub expecting decent sound quality from any TV...

That's not true. It's going to cost you though, in the same way a really good performing car will over an average one.

Quote below from the what hifi 5 star review of the BeoVision 11, available in 40, 46 or 55"

"
image: http://images.cdn.whathifi.com/sites/whathifi.com/...






Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 11 review: Sound quality

One of our most common complaints we have of flat-panel TV sets concerns their sound quality. The drive towards ever slimmer cabinets doesn’t leave much for decently sized drive units – but the BeoVision 11 is an exception.

Here, the engineers have managed to fit a three-way pair of fully active stereo speakers. The driver complement includes a 19mm dome tweeter, 5cm midrange unit and a 10cm woofer.

All these drive units are powered by dedicated 32W ICEpower Class-D amplifiers. That’s 6 x 32W power in total, and means the BeoVision 11 can output a maximum volume level of over 100dB.

Take a listen and all the effort is worthwhile: this is arguably the best sounding flatscreen we’ve ever reviewed. The sound has decent weight and authority, and the kind of clarity that’s usually the province of dedicated audio equipment.

In fact, B&O even promote the idea of using this TV as a dedicated audio system. While we would crave something of a higher quality for music replay that’s not a totally outlandish idea.

And again, while we’re not saying this is a replacement for a proper separates surround system, it’s a formidable achievement for a television.

If you don’t want to add an AV receiver to your kit rack, though, fear not – for the BeoVision 11 also has a surround sound processor built in, which means it can be the heart of a complete surround speaker set-up.


Read more at http://www.whathifi.com/bo/beovision-11/review#MLM...

[rich83]

Five grand for that thing.... who buys this stuff?

[talkssense]

rich83 said:

Five grand for that thing.... who buys this stuff?

People who want to and who can afford it. People who appreciate the sound quality, the picture quality, the build quality, the look, the remote, the integrated surround processor, the integration with automation systems etc.

The same people who may spend thousands on a watch, or hundreds of thousands on a kitchen. I couldn't justify either of those purchases even if money was no object, but I have had and appreciated B&O TVs in the past when I had more spare cash.

I have also been in a house where they had 13 as part of a £300k system, so people like that, or people like me who appreciate nice things and get pleasure from them.

I am sure there are things in your house that you elect to soend more than is necessary on, when someone with different taste, interests or priorities may well say "who the hell buys this stuff?"

[rich83]

I think all the B&O stuff looks terrible... each to their own. :-)

[belleair302]

No more plasmas being produced....a decent soundbase is better than a soundbar in most cases and as for screens....go above 50 inches....4K if possible and the choices are in no order Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and yes Philips who make some great screens today. Look to spend around £1500-!800 for the best realistic package.

[Cheib]

talkssense said:

Take a listen and all the effort is worthwhile: this is arguably the best sounding flatscreen we’ve ever reviewed. The sound has decent weight and authority, and the kind of clarity that’s usually the province of dedicated audio equipment.


Read more at http://www.whathifi.com/bo/beovision-11/review#MLM...

Given that 99% flatscreen TV's sound st saying a TV is the best sounding flat screen TV is not a very high bar. Sure it's probably okay but you probably get a better picture and better sound at 60% of the price by combining a Samsung/Panasonic with a Soundbar of your choice. Speakers are largely about physics of moving air and there is only so much electronics and clever packaging can do about that.

[AC43]

hora said:

A blinding obvious eurika moment occurred to me- I've got a 14yr old Denon unit with same-age M&S speakers not doing much. The back of the unit has a multitude of plug in's- I could simply use this external all in one unit/amp as a sort of soundbar and hide the unit behind the TV?

Richersounds has a small convertor box for £40 (unless I can find something cheaper?

Edited by hora on Wednesday 25th February 10:48

Makes sense. I' ve driven my TV audio off various amps for many years. Makes a huge difference. (0nly using a soundbar on the recent install due to lack of space where that particular TV has to go and the fact that I've also got a spear ate music audio set up in the same room). Amp + proper speakers will usually sound much better.

[AC43]

hora said:

A blinding obvious eurika moment occurred to me- I've got a 14yr old Denon unit with same-age M&S speakers not doing much. The back of the unit has a multitude of plug in's- I could simply use this external all in one unit/amp as a sort of soundbar and hide the unit behind the TV?

Richersounds has a small convertor box for £40 (unless I can find something cheaper?

Edited by hora on Wednesday 25th February 10:48

Makes sense. I' ve driven my TV audio off various amps for many years. Makes a huge difference. (0nly using a soundbar on the recent install due to lack of space where that particular TV has to go and the fact that I've also got a spear ate music audio set up in the same room). Amp + proper speakers will usually sound much better.

[megaphone]

hora said:

A blinding obvious eurika moment occurred to me- I've got a 14yr old Denon unit with same-age M&S speakers not doing much. The back of the unit has a multitude of plug in's- I could simply use this external all in one unit/amp as a sort of soundbar and hide the unit behind the TV?

Richersounds has a small convertor box for £40 (unless I can find something cheaper?

Edited by hora on Wednesday 25th February 10:48

If you just want stereo out, then use a SCART adaptor and a standard phone cable. One of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/scart-to-phono-svhs-adap...

Available cheaper elsewhere.

[jonmac73]

FWIW if still looking for new TV, got the Samsung H6400 (albeit only 40") in black friday sale from JL. Great picture and so much better sound than previous flat screen in both quality and volume - no need for soundbar here.
They do a 48" i believe.

[alias2002]

I'll go for LED good sound and picture quality.

[Claudia Skies]

If you want to run a new TV through an old Hi-Fi it can sound good but there are often no analogue audio outputs on the TV - all you get is an optical output.

The solution to this is to buy a cheap stand-alone DAC. But watch out!! If you buy a cheap DAC it won't have a Dolby decoder and you will get sound from the standard definition TV channels but NOT from the High Definition TV channels.

Make sure you pay a bit more and get something like this Lindy for c.£85

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-Optical-Audio-Digita...

Highly recommended. If your TV has a USB it will power the DAC and you won't even have to turn a separate box on and off.

[AC43]

hora said:

In the end I bought a reduced Cambridge Minx TV2 soundbase

Like it?