Looking for a single speaker surround like the Yamaha Digital Sound Projector

[akshatp]

Ive got a 42" Panny mounted on the wall in a room thats about 18' x 15'

The sound from the TV is not so great, and I want to get a single speaker solution that will simulate surround and sound nice at the same time.

I saw the Yamaha's on their site, but have no idea which one to get, they have so many different ones. I also noticed Polk Audio has a "soundbar" which does the same thing.

Any opinions or actual experiences with any of these, or a different manufacturer?

Where does the bass come from? Would I need to purchase a separate subwoofer?

 

[vshah]

i've heard one in a friends house, i believe it was the yamaha one. It created a "spacy" sound similar to certain dsp settings in receivers. I didn't like the sound at all, but thats just my opinion. I think you would be better off with some small wall-mounted bookshelves. those soundbars tend to be exorbitantly priced too....

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Is you room enclosed? Do you have any wide open areas? Are you using an existing receiver with it?

You can use a seperate subwoofer with the single speaker solutions. I would buy it from somewhere that allows returns just in case.

 

[Project86]

Yeah you have to plan around what you already have. Is your couch/chair (where you sit to watch tv) up against a wall? Do you already have, or plan to purchase a receiver?

The Yamahas have built in amplification, several coax/optical/analog inputs, and a remote. They are designed to bounce sounds off side and rear walls. So if your couch/chair is placed midway between the side walls, and at least a few feet away from the back wall, it should work well. That is a very rare room setup though.

The Polk surround bar uses a simulted surround that is supposedly independant of your position. It also requires a receiver.

Both of them have had lots of good reviews, but they don't have the same effect as a real surround system. Neither go very low so a sub is a must either way.

For the price, I suggest getting a decent receiver and a decent 5.1 speaker setup. If you don't want to run rear speakers for now, you could just get some high quality fronts and do stereo, or fronts and center channel. I suggest the x series from av123.com for speakers. You could get a nice Onkyo or Denon receiver for ~$300, and then Onix X-LS for $250 shipped. Of course you could also add a center, sub, and surrounds at some point in the future.