I recently shifted homes and sold my 5. 1 setup in the hope of having something simpler and equally effective for watching movies.
My set up comprised of the Marantz SR5007 AVR and the formidable Monitor Audio 5.0 speakers comprising of M4 floor standers, M2 book shelves and the M Center. The sub was an Astonia 200w active sub.
All of this was put on sale on hifivision, hifiads, quikr and olx. For some reason the ad never got published on hifivision and I managed to sell everything on quikr in less than 48 hrs.
Obviously there was a need to fill a gap which in my case has been filled by the Philips Fidelio B5 sound bar. Very surprisingly I could demo it at Vijay Sales in Chembur and fell in love with its simplicity and sound quality. There was also a 5 star review on what hi-fi which made it easy for me to pull the trigger.
The soundbar is quite long about 4 feet n length since it fits the entire length of my 55 inch TV. In terms of height it sits nicely under the TV without obscuring the view. The two ends of the sound bar are detachable and act as surround speakers or as separate Bluetooth speakers which can be carried around. The sub is rather tall and slim but very powerful. Most importantly it is wireless which makes it clutter free. Calibration is available which sets the listening zone and the speaker levels.
In terms of connectivity, the surrounds are wireless so no wires across the length of the hall. There is aptx Bluetooth coupled with optical , coax digital , stereo RCA and 2 HDMI inputs. The HDMI out is ARC compliant.
Most importantly in terms of sound, although it is a step down from separates such as my earlier set up but not so much that I would need to go back to a separates set up again. The scale of sound is slightly smaller but the system surprises me in its ability to provide dolby digital and DTS sound effects with so much ease. Watching Moana was a delightful experience with the surrounds chipping in adequately as required. The dialogues were coming out clear and crisp. Last night I was watching The Fifth Estate movie which is about wikileaks. There is a scene where Benedict Cumberbatch comes knocking on the door in the middle of the night. The knock came sharply from the left surround speaker to an extent that it startled me. My door was also to my left and it took me 2-3 seconds to realize that the knocking sound was only in the movie.
In terms of stereo it is quite good particularly the aptx Bluetooth functionality making streaming a breeze. Comparing it to a separate stereo setup will not be fair but it comes quite close. The stereo sound is clear, loud and has a lot of weight to it. Bass and treble are on the remote and the rear speakers volume can also be increased/ decreased at will.
I have connected my airtel set top box through optical and the HDMI CEC function allows me to control everything with one remote. In case I don't need surround sound the speakers go back to the main sound bar for a re- charge.
On the downside the system doesn't do Dolby true HD or DTS HD MA but given my miniscule Blu-ray collection I have hardly used these formats in the past 4- 5 years. Again there is no 4k pass through but this can be circumvented by the optical connection.
All in all it provides a huge convenience without missing out on surround sound. There are hardly any wires (compared to an AVR) making the living room clutter free. Ample connectivity with aptx makes it easy to use. I will update this post in the days to come.
My set up comprised of the Marantz SR5007 AVR and the formidable Monitor Audio 5.0 speakers comprising of M4 floor standers, M2 book shelves and the M Center. The sub was an Astonia 200w active sub.
All of this was put on sale on hifivision, hifiads, quikr and olx. For some reason the ad never got published on hifivision and I managed to sell everything on quikr in less than 48 hrs.
Obviously there was a need to fill a gap which in my case has been filled by the Philips Fidelio B5 sound bar. Very surprisingly I could demo it at Vijay Sales in Chembur and fell in love with its simplicity and sound quality. There was also a 5 star review on what hi-fi which made it easy for me to pull the trigger.
The soundbar is quite long about 4 feet n length since it fits the entire length of my 55 inch TV. In terms of height it sits nicely under the TV without obscuring the view. The two ends of the sound bar are detachable and act as surround speakers or as separate Bluetooth speakers which can be carried around. The sub is rather tall and slim but very powerful. Most importantly it is wireless which makes it clutter free. Calibration is available which sets the listening zone and the speaker levels.
In terms of connectivity, the surrounds are wireless so no wires across the length of the hall. There is aptx Bluetooth coupled with optical , coax digital , stereo RCA and 2 HDMI inputs. The HDMI out is ARC compliant.
Most importantly in terms of sound, although it is a step down from separates such as my earlier set up but not so much that I would need to go back to a separates set up again. The scale of sound is slightly smaller but the system surprises me in its ability to provide dolby digital and DTS sound effects with so much ease. Watching Moana was a delightful experience with the surrounds chipping in adequately as required. The dialogues were coming out clear and crisp. Last night I was watching The Fifth Estate movie which is about wikileaks. There is a scene where Benedict Cumberbatch comes knocking on the door in the middle of the night. The knock came sharply from the left surround speaker to an extent that it startled me. My door was also to my left and it took me 2-3 seconds to realize that the knocking sound was only in the movie.
In terms of stereo it is quite good particularly the aptx Bluetooth functionality making streaming a breeze. Comparing it to a separate stereo setup will not be fair but it comes quite close. The stereo sound is clear, loud and has a lot of weight to it. Bass and treble are on the remote and the rear speakers volume can also be increased/ decreased at will.
I have connected my airtel set top box through optical and the HDMI CEC function allows me to control everything with one remote. In case I don't need surround sound the speakers go back to the main sound bar for a re- charge.
On the downside the system doesn't do Dolby true HD or DTS HD MA but given my miniscule Blu-ray collection I have hardly used these formats in the past 4- 5 years. Again there is no 4k pass through but this can be circumvented by the optical connection.
All in all it provides a huge convenience without missing out on surround sound. There are hardly any wires (compared to an AVR) making the living room clutter free. Ample connectivity with aptx makes it easy to use. I will update this post in the days to come.
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