Considering ditching 5.1 for a soundbar; suggestions?

@spatialking Noted.

If anyone else wants to say, "I wouldn’t do it", Spatialking has that covered. Your work is done.

Anyone with advice about soundbars, please weigh in. I like movies but the fetish about surround sound/movie conditions doesn't grab me. A separate AVR, wires all over the place, additional speakers -- it's too much clutter. I have read there are good soundbars that can throw a decent soundfield for movies which can be cleanly mounted on the wall. That would be enough for me, especially if it meant preserving the maximum utility of the room for listening. Which is, for me, the priority.

@riley804

The hope is that there will be a further renovation to the whole house. In that case, the TV will move upstairs and I’ll have the whole basement to myself. If that happens, there certainly won’t be a 5.1 in our living room.

I have to live with the decision of selling the ht gear; I also have to live with the decision of NOT selling. (WAF, in my case.) It’s an ancient Greek dilemma in 21st c. trivial form.

@ml8764ag
Great to know. I have a Klipsch sub, wired. Could that be hooked to a Klipsch soundbar?

@tvad
Thanks so much for weighing in. I think I agree with you. The content of what we watch is so good — so engaging at the level of meaning — that we need to hear a reasonable spectrum of tonality and clear dialogue. We want there to be a soundstage but we don’t need helicopters circling our heads. No disrespect to those who want the "movie" experience, but we can live without that Disney ride.

@spencer Thanks for the suggestion for self-powered speakers. That's a great idea. And while I'm clearly willing to settle for lesser sound, it's clear that I don't want terrible sound. Self-powered speakers might really fit the bill. Will consider and hopefully audition. Vanatoo on my list for a while, now.

@rego I'm going to do my best to see if a back-to-back arrangement can work.

If not, powered monitors seems like the way to gol

@soix No, no --I appreciate the suggestion. I have an all tube 2 channel system and I already have a Denon AVR. This might work, though it would run down my tubes in my two channel unnecessarily.

The other issue, I am realizing, is that the room now has a large L shaped sectional. (I didn't consider this when I posted.

IF the two channel and TV are combined on one wall, well, one speaker will be firing directly into the long vertical length of the sectional. D'oh! 

@lonemountain Interesting idea. Might be a good way to trim things down. Thank you!