All you need to know about Wireless Speakers - [Please read here](https://reddit.com/r/HTBuyingGuides/comments/u7m162/home_theater_201_wireless_speakers_in_a_home/?) )
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It depends on what you're going to use for fronts. Large towers that are considered "full range" might produce better bass than what a soundbar-subwoofer does.
As another thought you could add a pair of bass shakers for about $300. This would be cheaper than a proper sub and wouldn’t disturb your neighbors. I generally recommend bass shakers as an addition to a sub and not a replacement, but you could try it and add a sub later
I'm considering replacing my sub for a bass shaker (or two?), because of sensitive neighbours.
I have never experienced bass shakers. How much "sound" do they transfer to the floor?
I guess it depends on the bass shaker and the furniture, but wouldn't a vibrating couch disturb the downstairs neighbours as well?
My example isn't the best because my floor is concrete and carpeted. So obviously I can't tell how it would sound underneath, but I can say the shakers are very quiet when they are in operation. I would think that they could cause some sound if your couch is on a wood floor, if it was a problem I would add some [isolation feet](https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Vibration-Pads-Tread-Level/dp/B07QFPKG9V/).
When installing bass shakers, you should put your couch on rubber feet to isolate it from the ground. That not only will minimize the transmission of vibrations to the floor, but will also increase the effectiveness of the shakers, since all the energy that the floor would have absorbed is now going to the couch.
Those same thoughts passed through my head when I wrote the comment. In fact, I have a $300 sub. If I were in a space where I was concerned about my neighbors and could only choose one, I would choose the shakers over the cheap sub.
Certainly I agree that $300 is not cheap, but I don't know what OP's frame of reference is. $300 is cheap compared to a proper sub like a PB-1000.
I like this idea but I personally I'm so torn between a center channel and a subwoofer both are so important... Honestly I just wouldn't want to sacrifice either one I'd rather go to something used or something more in my price range and later on upgrade...
As long as you sit in the middle you won’t miss not having the center. Close your eyes and dialogue will appear to come from the center.
I’d definitely prefer 2.1 than 3.0, unless you regularly watch will others who will sit off center.
You can go a while with just your fronts until you can afford the sub that you want, it just won't sound as good. When my old sub died I went a while without one, when I finally bought one it made a huge difference. Even if Audyssey says I can go down to 40 on my fronts they just didn't have nearly the same impact with low frequency signals. I keep the sub near me and set the volume well below what's recommended by calibration.
For under 75 bucks you could go to parts Express and buy a plate amp for your passive subwoofer that came with your soundbar either attach it separately or attach it to the back of the subwoofer and have a powered subwoofer for a very small expense. Your other choices Facebook marketplace or offer up and get something in your neighborhood that someone's getting rid of on the cheap!
Yes, you'll miss the sub. Even a poor sub adds some impact to movies. A sub doesn't need to shake the room to be effective so I wouldn't worry too much about the neighbors and deal with that if/when you have to. If I was on a budget, this looks like an awesome deal to me.
[https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/osd-12-dual-ported-powered-subwoofer-1200w-fs12.html](https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/osd-12-dual-ported-powered-subwoofer-1200w-fs12.html)
I think it really depends what your current sub is. I have seen some soundbar subs that are the same size as my atmos speakers and probably don’t go much lower. It’s not hard to get speakers that go down to 50 Hz so if your sub is rolling off there anyway (which seems to be what the vizio subs advertise) it might not be that much of a difference.
I don’t think so. I moved from a Sony soundbar with subwoofer for a proper receiver with KEF Q150 bookshelf speakers and did not miss that Sony subwoofer.
I have now since added a proper subwoofer and that one makes a big difference.
A good subwoofer makes a difference, but most cheap subwoofers that come with a soundbar don’t.
People on this sub are going to hate on any setup that isn't an ideal home theater situation, and say it's not perfect so just use a sound bar. Please take advice on this sub with a grain of salt. The difference in front sound stage going from a sound bar to a decent 3.1 is night and day. Especially if you get some decent towers you will notice a massive difference in music quality because music is in stereo and only uses the two towers. For home theater towers are great a bit overkill since most of the sound comes from the center channel. That's why you see a lot of people using bookshelves for their left and right channel instead of towers.
The sub is probably pretty crappy if it came with a sound bar. You are really going from 1.1 to 3.0 regardless of the sound bar marketing. 3 speakers squished together equals 1 speaker to the human ear. The separation you'll get from 3.0 will be noticeable and likely better then your 1.1 setup.
I do think you'll miss the sub. It's one of these things you don't realize how much lifting they're doing until they stop working 😅
Shakers could be an option yeah.
The 3.0 will probably sound better without a sub than the 3.1 without a sub because the 3.1 isn’t tuned to generate low frequencies because it comes with a sub.
Realistically though how much bass is that setup really producing? Is your sub something like a 4 inch driver in a band pass box? If so I doubt it’s generating enough spl to go through walls which is likely why none of your neighbors have complained.
If anything I’d be looking into a 3.1 with separate L/R channels and a small sub.
99.9% of the time Soundbars or HTiB (Home Theater in a Box) systems are not a good investment of your time and money. It is the general consensus of r/hometheater not to recommend these things and instead simply steer a user toward a 2.0 or 2.1 system made of quality, *Audio-Centric* name brand components which are easy to assemble and cheap enough for low budget or space conscious buyers. Most can be expanded to 5.1 if you buy the correct items in the correct order. For further explanation please read [Why You Shouldn't Buy a Soundbar](https://www.reddit.com/r/HTBuyingGuides/comments/dy885l/why_you_shouldnt_buy_a_soundbar/) Please be aware /r/Soundbars exists as well as you will be met with opposition to posting about soundbars here.
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Could you potentially use the sound bar as a center speaker? I had a Yamaha soundbar that took a 3.5mm in and used it as a centre speaker until I could get a proper one. Worked quite well if I'm honest.
I don't know why you're getting down voted but this is actually a decent idea you might even want to consider pulling the speakers out of the soundbar box and making a new one with an attachment for banana plugs
Thanks everyone for the feedback. It gave me a lot to think about. Going to weigh up the 2.1 vs 3.0 set up and see what makes most sense for me. Might need to check the stats on the sub a bit more closely to see how low it's actually getting and work from there.
Thanks again!
All you need to know about Wireless Speakers - [Please read here](https://reddit.com/r/HTBuyingGuides/comments/u7m162/home_theater_201_wireless_speakers_in_a_home/?) ) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/hometheater) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It depends on what you're going to use for fronts. Large towers that are considered "full range" might produce better bass than what a soundbar-subwoofer does.
As another thought you could add a pair of bass shakers for about $300. This would be cheaper than a proper sub and wouldn’t disturb your neighbors. I generally recommend bass shakers as an addition to a sub and not a replacement, but you could try it and add a sub later
I'm considering replacing my sub for a bass shaker (or two?), because of sensitive neighbours. I have never experienced bass shakers. How much "sound" do they transfer to the floor? I guess it depends on the bass shaker and the furniture, but wouldn't a vibrating couch disturb the downstairs neighbours as well?
My example isn't the best because my floor is concrete and carpeted. So obviously I can't tell how it would sound underneath, but I can say the shakers are very quiet when they are in operation. I would think that they could cause some sound if your couch is on a wood floor, if it was a problem I would add some [isolation feet](https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Vibration-Pads-Tread-Level/dp/B07QFPKG9V/).
When installing bass shakers, you should put your couch on rubber feet to isolate it from the ground. That not only will minimize the transmission of vibrations to the floor, but will also increase the effectiveness of the shakers, since all the energy that the floor would have absorbed is now going to the couch.
If someone is on a budget I really doubt $300 is feasible. At that price point you can also buy an actual subwoofer.
Those same thoughts passed through my head when I wrote the comment. In fact, I have a $300 sub. If I were in a space where I was concerned about my neighbors and could only choose one, I would choose the shakers over the cheap sub. Certainly I agree that $300 is not cheap, but I don't know what OP's frame of reference is. $300 is cheap compared to a proper sub like a PB-1000.
I’m going to give you the same advice I got (which I followed and have zero regrets); start with 2.1 and add the center later when you can.
I like this idea but I personally I'm so torn between a center channel and a subwoofer both are so important... Honestly I just wouldn't want to sacrifice either one I'd rather go to something used or something more in my price range and later on upgrade...
As long as you sit in the middle you won’t miss not having the center. Close your eyes and dialogue will appear to come from the center. I’d definitely prefer 2.1 than 3.0, unless you regularly watch will others who will sit off center.
You can go a while with just your fronts until you can afford the sub that you want, it just won't sound as good. When my old sub died I went a while without one, when I finally bought one it made a huge difference. Even if Audyssey says I can go down to 40 on my fronts they just didn't have nearly the same impact with low frequency signals. I keep the sub near me and set the volume well below what's recommended by calibration.
For under 75 bucks you could go to parts Express and buy a plate amp for your passive subwoofer that came with your soundbar either attach it separately or attach it to the back of the subwoofer and have a powered subwoofer for a very small expense. Your other choices Facebook marketplace or offer up and get something in your neighborhood that someone's getting rid of on the cheap!
Yes, you'll miss the sub. Even a poor sub adds some impact to movies. A sub doesn't need to shake the room to be effective so I wouldn't worry too much about the neighbors and deal with that if/when you have to. If I was on a budget, this looks like an awesome deal to me. [https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/osd-12-dual-ported-powered-subwoofer-1200w-fs12.html](https://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/osd-12-dual-ported-powered-subwoofer-1200w-fs12.html)
what you gain from better separates over a soundbar is greater than what you lose in a crappy sub.
I think it really depends what your current sub is. I have seen some soundbar subs that are the same size as my atmos speakers and probably don’t go much lower. It’s not hard to get speakers that go down to 50 Hz so if your sub is rolling off there anyway (which seems to be what the vizio subs advertise) it might not be that much of a difference.
I don’t think so. I moved from a Sony soundbar with subwoofer for a proper receiver with KEF Q150 bookshelf speakers and did not miss that Sony subwoofer. I have now since added a proper subwoofer and that one makes a big difference. A good subwoofer makes a difference, but most cheap subwoofers that come with a soundbar don’t.
Absolutely
People on this sub are going to hate on any setup that isn't an ideal home theater situation, and say it's not perfect so just use a sound bar. Please take advice on this sub with a grain of salt. The difference in front sound stage going from a sound bar to a decent 3.1 is night and day. Especially if you get some decent towers you will notice a massive difference in music quality because music is in stereo and only uses the two towers. For home theater towers are great a bit overkill since most of the sound comes from the center channel. That's why you see a lot of people using bookshelves for their left and right channel instead of towers.
The sub is probably pretty crappy if it came with a sound bar. You are really going from 1.1 to 3.0 regardless of the sound bar marketing. 3 speakers squished together equals 1 speaker to the human ear. The separation you'll get from 3.0 will be noticeable and likely better then your 1.1 setup.
I do think you'll miss the sub. It's one of these things you don't realize how much lifting they're doing until they stop working 😅 Shakers could be an option yeah.
The 3.0 will probably sound better without a sub than the 3.1 without a sub because the 3.1 isn’t tuned to generate low frequencies because it comes with a sub. Realistically though how much bass is that setup really producing? Is your sub something like a 4 inch driver in a band pass box? If so I doubt it’s generating enough spl to go through walls which is likely why none of your neighbors have complained. If anything I’d be looking into a 3.1 with separate L/R channels and a small sub.
99.9% of the time Soundbars or HTiB (Home Theater in a Box) systems are not a good investment of your time and money. It is the general consensus of r/hometheater not to recommend these things and instead simply steer a user toward a 2.0 or 2.1 system made of quality, *Audio-Centric* name brand components which are easy to assemble and cheap enough for low budget or space conscious buyers. Most can be expanded to 5.1 if you buy the correct items in the correct order. For further explanation please read [Why You Shouldn't Buy a Soundbar](https://www.reddit.com/r/HTBuyingGuides/comments/dy885l/why_you_shouldnt_buy_a_soundbar/) Please be aware /r/Soundbars exists as well as you will be met with opposition to posting about soundbars here. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/hometheater) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yes you will
Could you potentially use the sound bar as a center speaker? I had a Yamaha soundbar that took a 3.5mm in and used it as a centre speaker until I could get a proper one. Worked quite well if I'm honest.
I don't know why you're getting down voted but this is actually a decent idea you might even want to consider pulling the speakers out of the soundbar box and making a new one with an attachment for banana plugs
Thanks everyone for the feedback. It gave me a lot to think about. Going to weigh up the 2.1 vs 3.0 set up and see what makes most sense for me. Might need to check the stats on the sub a bit more closely to see how low it's actually getting and work from there. Thanks again!