Question

Streaming music quality from standalone Soundbar vs Play3

  • 25 November 2016
  • 4 replies
  • 417 views

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I just got delivery of a Soundbar, which is hooked up to TV but is also to be used as the music player in my lounge (previously I've used a single Play3 for music in the Lounge).

TV sound through the Playbar is fine, but when playing streaming music (Spotify etc) the audio is not a good as the Play3 (at least to my ears!).

Compared to the Play3, the Soundbar is distinctly lacking in bass and generally the sound is less "full". Based simply on the increased separation and total number of speakers (and cost!) I'd expected the Soundbat to sound better than Play3.

I've tried playing with the loudness setting and the equalisation on the Soundbar, but still can't get the same fullness of sound (particularly the bass) that the Play3 has.

I'm wondering if there's some setting I've missed which will improved music quality?
I assume that the Soundbar knows that there is no sub and should adjust its bass accordingly?

Has anyone else had a similar experience and was a solution found?

Any advice is welcome.

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4 replies

I assume that the Soundbar knows that there is no sub and should adjust its bass accordingly?
It does, but the drive units in the PLAYBAR are pretty modest in size so there's a limit to how much bass it can deliver on its own.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and was a solution found?

The 'solution' for most is probably a SUB.
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IMO a sub is pretty well a necessity, both for TV listening as it expands the whole experience when listening to many prgrammmes and movies. Same for music listening although I rarely use it for music as I have a Connect connected to my stereo system.
I stress, only a personal opinion from using the Playbar for one week when I first purchased it, before I added a sub!
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Thanks for the replies - maybe a sub is the answer

On the other hand, I tried playing Fantasy by The XX and even on standalone Playbar the bass was pretty awesome,.so clearly the bass units in the playbar are working reasonably well.!

It's set me wondering whether the sound from the Playbar is actually truer to the original and whether the Play3 is a bit oversone and "boomy" on the bass but my ears have just got used to it so I've come to expect that's how things should sound

Maybe the answer is to get a sub on Sonos's 100-day trial and see what difference it makes...
Laugh. I'd say your own ears are the best way to make that choice in sound, and the final solution you suggest is outstanding.

But fair warning, once you hear anything with that sub that Sonos makes, it's hard to give it up. Truly a worthy piece of equipment. Not overly intrusive, but puts out a tremendous amount of bass, when you ask for it.