I have a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos[1] setup with decent sized modern speakers, hooked up to an 11 channel Denon amp. There is absolutely NO WAY any soundbar can compete with this setup.
That said, for people who do not have the luxury of having a dedicated space for a home cinema rig like mine, and want a better sound stage than the rubbish speakers in their LCD television, then a soundbar is a great non-intrusive solution.
The problem here is, TV manufacturers focus so hard on the pixels in their panels, but ignore the acoustic properties of the on-board speakers.
> NO WAY a soundbar can compete [but may be a] great non-intrusive solution
Used to agree with you, but there’s yet another setup out there that is good enough while non-intrusive, that I’m perplexed how.
I’m a home theater snob. For 20 years in a suburban home I’ve had a 20 ft diagonal screen in a cork walled room with multiple level floor going back to the projector, with a series of AV setups.
Meanwhile, in city condos or co-ops I’ve used top of the line Onkyo or Denon AVRs with Polk or Definitive wired speakers and powered sub (compromises made to get white speakers for white decor) in 7.1.4 or 7.1.2. I had auditioned a number of sound bars, and no way. Sound is just too important to the film and premium television experience.
But then, this summer I’m at a vacation home where for expedience I brought two of our HomePod speakers (full size) that were for whole house audio, plugged them as an Atmos enabled “stereo pair” to latest Apple TV that has eARC, and … I am shocked.
(Room/TV/speaker arrangement: room is shaped like a shoebox with 75 inch wall mount TV on the narrow wall with Home Pods 6” below and 1 foot in towards the center from the sides of the screen, and about 2” away from the wall. Room is ~3 TVs wide and ~5 TVs long. Couch is 4/5ths back in the room.)
I don’t know what Apple is doing to make just that pair sound so good. Certainly, I can tell it’s not “real” 7.1.x, but it’s better spatially than top of the line gear rendering Dolby Pro-Logic to 5.1 worth of speakers, and competitive sonically with the top in-wall/in-ceiling Polk and free standing Definitive models. It even “sounds” like we have a sub, though you cannot “feel” it.
For a studio / apartment / condo / co-op, thanks to how minimal this is relative to the sound experience it provides, as long as Apple keeps updating or at least supporting the HomePods I don’t think I’ll ever do a full system again.
I even purchased another pair to update and then keep in a box as spares.
// Yes, LG TV’s own audio was garbage, sounding practically mono and somehow simultaneously tinny and muffled.
GoldenEar has a very nice passive soundbar that I recommend if you don't have the room or a high WAF criteria for separates. Pair it with some solid in ceiling speakers and you'd be surprised how well it performs.
That said, for people who do not have the luxury of having a dedicated space for a home cinema rig like mine, and want a better sound stage than the rubbish speakers in their LCD television, then a soundbar is a great non-intrusive solution.
The problem here is, TV manufacturers focus so hard on the pixels in their panels, but ignore the acoustic properties of the on-board speakers.
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[1] https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guid...