Leveque Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Hello all. This is my first post. I'm looking for recommendations for TV speakers. The criteria is as follows: 1. Must be only 2 speakers. 2. Must be active speakers. 3. Must have a Toslink (digital) input. 4. Must have a speaker remote control. 5. Price can be up to $1,000. Thanks to all of you in advance! Leveque Link to comment
PJH Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Hmm... pretty tall order for $1000. A possible candidate would be the new Quad 9L Active. Strictly speaking it can't be an active speaker, despite the name, because one speaker has an analog output to the other speaker. Otherwise it seems to fit your criteria and the following review is very positive. I purchased a pair of Dynaudio BM5A's for my TV system. They should be arriving tomorrow. Had I known about these Quad's I would have held off on my purchase. http://www.avguide.com/review/quad-9l-active-desktop-loudspeaker-playback-30 PJH Link to comment
wgscott Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I don't listen to music through my TV sound system, so if you are the same, and you want something simple, cheap, and that sounds reasonably decent for movies, check out the Vizio soundbar with wireless woofer. I got it at Costco for about $250 when I decided I was going to create a separate 2-channel stereo system. It has an optical input to a DAC that is compatible with 16 or 20-bit, but not 24-bit. http://www.vizio.com/vsb210ws.html I'm not a TV/movie freak, and I didn't want a forest of speakers, so for my needs, this has been more than adequate. I'd rather spend the money on the music sound-system. Clink the image below if you want to see how I rigged it up. Link to comment
Leveque Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 Thanks PHJ and wgscott. I have to clarify where these speakers are going. They're for the children's playroom which has a new TV. The speakers have to have a Toslink input because I want to keep the audio out of the TV free for headphones. It may be that I want to go to bed early one evening :-) The Vizio looks like a good deal. It's got everything that I need. I wonder how it would sound without a subwoofer? I would rather not have a piece of electronic equipment laying around such that the kids might want to use it as a toy! Link to comment
Audio_ELF Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Have you thought of using something like Bowers and Wilkins Zepplin - not sure how much use the iPod dock would be for you but it has a (mini) TOSLink input and I've heard good reports of it's SQ used this way (it's excellent as a iPod sock). Eloise Eloise --- ...in my opinion / experience... While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing. And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism. keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out. Link to comment
Leveque Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 Thanks Eloise. Never thought about using an iPod docking station! The BW Zeppelin looks like a great system. However, looking at the specs I didn't see a remote, like the BW Mini seems to have. Although the Mini doesn't have an optical input! Link to comment
wgscott Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 The Zeppelin mini has a USB input and the full-blown $600 one has the mini-toslink. Both come with the same remote control. It plays well with the iPod and USB-connected (and maybe toslink-connected) iTunes computer. Link to comment
wgscott Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 You can buy the Vizio soundbar without the subwoofer. Unless your kids really need boomy explosion sounds, you could easily live without it. I turn ours way down (you can control the volume independently). Kids really don't give a #$$^# about sound quality, FWIW. My kids just listen to TV soundtracks via the TV speakers. They don't bother with the sound-bar, except my 12 year old who might turn it on for movies. Link to comment
Leveque Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 But the parents are often invited to the playroom to watch movies and hear music! Link to comment
wgscott Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 We are getting each of the kids a Zeppelin mini for their iPod, as it becomes age-appropriate (we started with our oldest). The sound is good, the price is manageable, it is semi-portable, and on the mini you can rotate the iPod (only on the mini) so they can use it as a movie-player of sorts as well in landscape mode. They seem to appreciate it around age 10 to 12. Since we invest in music lessons for these kids, it seems reasonable that they have something of reasonable fidelity to listen to. So here is my revised recommendation: 1. If this is primarily for TV viewing, the Vizio soundbar with or without wireless woofer gives you great bang for the buck, and is unlikely to get damaged by kids (mine have never shown any interest in poking the subwoofer). 2. If the kids will use it to listen to a significant amount of iPod music in addition to TV, the more portable Zeppelin mini (with USB digital in or analogue minijack in) or full-size, (with optical digital in) would be better. There is also an S-video out at least on the full-size one, so they could watch lower-resolution movies on TV this way from their iPod. Link to comment
Leveque Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 Thanks for the good info. I think I'm going to with the Vizio VSB200 w/o the subwoofer for now. I believe that I could always add the subwoofer later if I chose to. Link to comment
Leveque Posted May 6, 2010 Author Share Posted May 6, 2010 How about the ZVOX Z-Base 550 HSD? Anybody have any experience with it? Looks like a perfect fit for the playroom. http://www.zvoxaudio.com/cgi-bin/item/4005502 Link to comment
Egon Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 This is what I did in my kids playroom, and it's much better than you'd expect. Won't rival a $1000 system, but I'd put it against anything under $250. Ignore the name, but the Bose Companion 2 speakers are actually quite good, and can be had at Sam's club for $69. They're powered, sound better than you'd expect, have two analog inputs (e.g. for TV and Ipod), and a headphone out. No toslink or remote control, but if you use the headphone jack on the speakers and your TV to control volume, you won't need either of those. Use the other $930 on something fun. http://www.amazon.com/Bose-Companion-multimedia-speaker-system/dp/B000HZDF8W Potential upgrades could be a better power supply ($30), using an A/B switch from the analog out of your TV to split b/w speakers and your headphones ($5), or a headphone amp b/w the TV and speakers (the power supply is the real weak point of these). Give them a listen at some store before judging, I think you'll be surprised. Link to comment
Leveque Posted May 6, 2010 Author Share Posted May 6, 2010 Egon. I'm sure that the speakers that you're recommending are good speakers. But I want to keep the setup simple. For example, the A/B switch for the headphones is a no-no. I've made up my mind and I'm going to buy the ZVOX Z-Base 550 HSD within the next couple of weeks, unless there's strong arguments against it. http://www.zvoxaudio.com/cgi-bin/item/4005502 Link to comment
Egon Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 I actually have two sets of these speakers. In the kids playroom, it's not complicated, just red/white analog in from the TV, control volume on your TV, and plug in headphones to the front jack if you want to use them. In the other room I tinkered because I had the parts sitting around and wanted to see what would happen. Even without tinkering, I recommend them as the best in their price range. But the ZVox is the next step in price and therefore should be better, and still less than half of what you budgeted. I also like that it doesn't look like something the kids will pick up or pull at external wires. If you happen to see the bose speakers in a store before you make a purchase, check them out. But you're right, the ZVox looks great for you and I can't recommend against getting it. Link to comment
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