Sound Bar Recommendation?

2,294 Views | 18 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by zephyr88
rynning
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AG
I'm looking for a sound bar for the TV in the living room with an AppleTV, primarily to enhance TV watching but also to listen to music occasionally.

For $400, I can get the Sonos Beam or the Sony X900F with a subwoofer:

https://www.amazon.com/All-new-Sonos-Beam-built-Streaming/dp/B07D4734HR
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-X9000F-Wireless-Subwoofer-HT-X9000F/dp/B0792SBYZ8

Seems like the Sony is a no-brainer with the subwoofer and Dolby Atmos support that the Beam doesn't have, but the Beam has an app, voice control (Siri, Alexa, and Google), and AirPlay 2 support the Sony doesn't have.

Thoughts? Other recommendations around that price point? Wait for Prime Day? Thanks.
TravelAg2004
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We also have a soundbar on our AppleTV and we can use Siri / AirPlay2 through the AppleTV and it plays on the soundbar.

Just plug your AppleTV into the HDMI ARC port and when you power on the AppleTV, it will turn on the soundbar and TV (if you plug into the TV HDMI ARC port) all at the same time. You can use the AppleTV remote for everything.
rynning
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TravelAg2004 said:

We also have a soundbar on our AppleTV and we can use Siri / AirPlay2 through the AppleTV and it plays on the soundbar.

Just plug your AppleTV into the HDMI ARC port and when you power on the AppleTV, it will turn on the soundbar and TV (if you plug into the TV HDMI ARC port) all at the same time. You can use the AppleTV remote for everything.

Thanks! I think I get it. Are these statements correct?

  • The Sonos only has an HDMI input, so there's no choice but to plug the Apple TV into the TV (non-ARC) and plug the Sonos into the TV (ARC).
  • The Sony has both an HDMI input and output, so I would plug the AppleTV into the Sony HDMI input, then plug the Sony HDMI output into the TV (ARC).

We (still) have a DVD player. Would I just plug it into a (non-ARC) HDMI input on the TV in both scenarios to get its sound via the sound bar?
Caesar4
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Bought the Beam a couple of months ago, mostly because we have Sonos speakers already populated throughout the house.

A nice feature with the Beam is that it can be the source of sound. So, audio coming into it can also be sent to any one or more of your other Sonos speakers....convenient if you're in the middle of movie or sports game and you need/want to change rooms briefly for some reason and want to keep up with the movie/game.

Also, if you purchase the Beam directly from Sonos, then they will have someone come install/setup for no additional charge.
Jasomania
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rynning said:

TravelAg2004 said:

We also have a soundbar on our AppleTV and we can use Siri / AirPlay2 through the AppleTV and it plays on the soundbar.

Just plug your AppleTV into the HDMI ARC port and when you power on the AppleTV, it will turn on the soundbar and TV (if you plug into the TV HDMI ARC port) all at the same time. You can use the AppleTV remote for everything.

Thanks! I think I get it. Are these statements correct?

  • The Sonos only has an HDMI input, so there's no choice but to plug the Apple TV into the TV (non-ARC) and plug the Sonos into the TV (ARC).
  • The Sony has both an HDMI input and output, so I would plug the AppleTV into the Sony HDMI input, then plug the Sony HDMI output into the TV (ARC).

We (still) have a DVD player. Would I just plug it into a (non-ARC) HDMI input on the TV in both scenarios to get its sound via the sound bar?
Yes that is correct. As long as the soundbar is connected to the ARC port your soundbar will pick up sound from every thing else you have plugged in to your TV. The output on the Sony prevents you from losing a HDMI port but it doesn't matter what you have plugged into the soundbar, you don't have to put your Apple TV on the soundbar port to send your appletv sound to the soundbar. When connected via ARC the soundbar will also be able to automatically turn on/off with your TV and you can control it's volume with your normal TV remote.
tmas
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Caesar4 said:

Bought the Beam a couple of months ago, mostly because we have Sonos speakers already populated throughout the house.

A nice feature with the Beam is that it can be the source of sound. So, audio coming into it can also be sent to any one or more of your other Sonos speakers....convenient if you're in the middle of movie or sports game and you need/want to change rooms briefly for some reason and want to keep up with the movie/game.

Also, if you purchase the Beam directly from Sonos, then they will have someone come install/setup for no additional charge.
How do you change the volume with the Beam, is there a separate remote?
rynning
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Good info. Thanks.

I *thought* I knew what ARC is, but looked it up to be sure: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/hdmi-arc-faq,news-26262.html

Interesting that the ARC standard does not support Dolby Atmos, but the newer "eARC" standard does along with other improvements.

Fortunately, the Sony supports eARC via a firmware upgrade: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/downloads/00015967

I could find no evidence that the Beam supports HDMI 2.1/eARC.

Edit: So if the TV I have doesn't have HDMI 2.1/eARC, I would want to plug the AppleTV directly into the Sony soundbar for Dolby Atmos as described here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204069

What I don't get is that while ARC doesn't support Dolby Atmos, how is the AppleTV 4K able to support Dolby Atmos with only a HDMI 2.0a output?
TravelAg2004
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You should be fine. That says you need eARC 2.1 to have ATMOS on the return channel. ATMOS will work in the "normal" direction on HDMI 2.0.

The only time it wouldn't work is if you had an ATMOS signal coming from your TV to the sound bar. I'm guessing that won't happen any time in the near future.
rynning
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So for Atmos to work, I would have to connect the Apple TV directly to the sound bar and not pass through the TV's ARC. Thanks again.
Caesar4
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tmas said:

How do you change the volume with the Beam, is there a separate remote?
Several options:
  • Speak using Alexa or Google Assistant (the Beam comes with one or the other) to say something like "Turn down the volume".
  • Using volume up/down buttons on top of the Beam itself
  • Using the Sonos app on your phone or laptop that's on the same network as the Beam
tmas
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That's what I was afraid of...not going to work for the kids.

Thanks for the info.
rynning
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Are you sure about that? I thought a feature of ARC was that it also passes volume changes from the TV so your TV remote can be used to control sound bar volume.
Caesar4
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tmas said:

That's what I was afraid of...not going to work for the kids.

Thanks for the info.
Oh, I forgot that, somehow (maybe via the HDMI eARC thing), the volume up/down buttons on the TV remote also controls the Sonos Beam. If the Sonos Beam loses network connectivity, e.g. if your router goes down, then the volume up/down buttons on the TV remote control the TV's speakers.
Caesar4
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rynning said:

Are you sure about that? I thought a feature of ARC was that it also passes volume changes from the TV so your TV remote can be used to control sound bar volume.
lol, I apparently responded moments after you. Yes, you're right re the ARC feature. The TV remote volume buttons do control the Sonos Beam volume if the TV supports HDMI/ARC, of course.


rynning
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Does anyone know if ARC audio pass-through to soundbar will work if the TV is off? Do some TVs support that and not others?

I had just about decided on the Sony, but now the price has gone up everywhere to $500. Apparently $400 is the lowest it's ever been and should come down again one day...
TravelAg2004
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Depends on the TV. I think most do these days, but you'd have to check your TV.

That being said, what's the scenario for wanting to use the soundbar with the TV and needing audio pass-thru? Ideally, you'd have your setup connected like this:

Source (AppleTV) ---- (HDMI) ---> Soundbar ---- (HDMI) ----> TV

Then, you can use the AppleTV remote for everything and stream just audio if you want.
rynning
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Thanks. Understand. I was thinking of the Sonos Beam scenario when there is only one HDMI input:

Source (AppleTV) ---- (HDMI) ---> TV ---- (HDMI) ----> Soundbar

In that case, you really care if the TV can be turned off when playing music!
TravelAg2004
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AG
Just another reason not to go with Sonos.
Caesar4
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rynning said:

Thanks. Understand. I was thinking of the Sonos Beam scenario when there is only one HDMI input:

Source (AppleTV) ---- (HDMI) ---> TV ---- (HDMI) ----> Soundbar

In that case, you really care if the TV can be turned off when playing music!
I'll try this later today on our Sonos Beam. No idea if that works. We do all of our music through Spotify or Pandora using either those apps (Spotify/Pandora) or the Sonos app itself.

ETA1: Agree with what was pointed out above, that's a function of the TV and not the soundbar.

ETA2: Confirmed that, at least for my POS TV, when the TV is off, audio input to it does not also output to the soundbar. Sounds like (from some quick reading), that feature is called 5.1 Passthrough.
zephyr88
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I love my Sonos sound bar and woofer/speakers. I have 5.1 due to the odd shape of my family room, but absolutely love the ability to add speakers in other rooms (I have 4 other speakers) that sync with the main system. I'm not a hi-fidelity aficionado, but I enjoy the setup and would do it again.
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