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EKO 2.1ch Bluetooth Sound Bar with Built-in Subwoofer $64.50 + Delivery ($0 C&C/ in-Store) @ Big W

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EKO 2.1ch Bluetooth Sound Bar with Built-in Subwoofer $64.50 + Delivery ($0 C&C/ in-Store) @ Big WAffiliate
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Sausageman on 14/02/2022 - 18:27 bigw.com.au (1236 clicks)
Last edited 14/02/2022 - 21:06 by 1 other user
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New Eko Bluetooth soundbar introductory offer for $64.50 down from $129.

Should sound better than most TV speakers if you are looking to upgrade but not spend heaps.

https://www.eko-entertainment.com.au/ksb750

  • 2 Channel Soundbar with built-in Subwoofer
  • HDMI (ARC)
  • 80W RMS Output
  • Bluetooth connectivity
  • Optical Port
  • USB Media Playback
  • AUX-IN for Music Playback
  • Remote Control
Electrical & Electronics EKO Soundbar

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closed Comments

  • jv on 14/02/2022 - 18:31
    -2

    Thanks, we were looking for an EKO

  • astevens on 14/02/2022 - 18:31

    Paired the previous iteration of these with an el cheapo Eko tv from a long ago ozbargain for the in-laws. Does the job. For this price it's good (assuming they've not changed much)

  • muncan on 14/02/2022 - 20:11
    +1

    Literally bought an EKO 2.0.2 last week (frequently drops to $149 from $199), for the seperate HDMI inputs. Sadly it defaults to the ARC input at wake up, so I have to press the input selector every time I turn on my TV, like it’s 2003. 🤦‍♂️

    • eloque on 14/02/2022 - 23:25

      Isn't that what it's supposed to do and what ARC is all about? What did you want it to do when you turn your TV on? It's probably my comprehension level (me not you) and I'm genuinely curious.

      • muncan on 15/02/2022 - 08:49

        My setup is Apple TV > Soundbar > TV.
        My TV has terrible CEC and can’t reliably control a soundbar, but it can be turned on/off OK by one. Hence TV not in the middle.
        Ideally I’m trying to operate all 3 with the Apple TV remote, which I can, once I manually switch the soundbar to HDMI1 at wake up.
        The fix is probably to throw the remote at the TV and break it, then replace the TV.

        • Vieira4 on 15/02/2022 - 09:37

          Shouldn't it be apple TV > TV > Soundbar ??

          • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 10:11

            @Vieira4: I've never used Apple TV but if its remote triggers the TV to turn on then yes, this would automatically turn the soundbar on too.

        • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 10:14

          Thanks for the info. Have you tried it with the TV in the middle yet and does turning on Apple TV (or selecting a channel or whatever) turn on your 'off' TV? I'm guessing you've already tried everything, in which case throwing the remote at the TV might not be a bad fix.

        • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 10:30

          What control over the soundbar do you need other than on/off and volume? Can't you just use the soundbar's remote as a secondary remote for any extra customization? I may be missing the point again though - bit of a lazy thinker at times.

          • muncan on 15/02/2022 - 11:41

            @eloque: Also a lazy thinker. I’ve got a clunky old Logitech Harmony remote that I’m thinking of dusting off to handle pressing the input selector, but then I’d lose the helpful microphone on the Apple TV remote.
            TV in the middle is a horrible experience for me, with the TV causing the soundbar to intermittently turn off then back on again, and sometimes the volume buttons don’t work, or get stuck going up,up,UP,UP, ARGHHH!!! Or just don’t work at all. Sometimes the TV stays on when sleeping the Apple TV. But if I put the TV at the end of the chain, it’s well behaved (except making the soundbar flip to ARC at wake).
            Maybe I’ll go back to being a two-remote TV user. Like it’s 1999.
            In the meantime, I’ve put a “press me” sticker on the soundbar input selector for the Mrs.

            • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 12:25

              @muncan: When the soundbar 'flips to ARC', which generally should be the problem, imo, does the TV automatically default to the 'antenna' input or something? If not, what actually happens with this flip?

              Sounds like you're going through what I've been going thru for the last few months with the setup for my elderly mother - I'm constantly trying to simply and improve it. The Samsung soundbar I recently purchased has actually made things pretty darn great and now there's always sound, even when the habitual erroneous toggle between external and TV speaker occurs.

              As for the Harmony remote - no chance of being a help here, especially after they updated the way it functions to revolve around tasks instead of being able to just store clones of specific models and let you choose which device you want to control.

              Everything in her setup is controlled with the TV remote. There exists a bad habit of constantly going to 'input/source' and selecting each one, even if there is nothing connected to those ports. Tried to solve this by plugging devices into each unused port so its clear that those are not the one she wants but in the end had to remove them all again for simplicity's sake.

              Have to constantly reiterate that 'it's ALWAYS antenna', especially because the radio stations (audio only) on the TV give the impression that they are on a different source to the TV channels. 'Just press the channel number of the TV station if you want to go back to TV', etc.

              When I was more of a hands-on carer who hung around the same living room I would have the soundbar remote handy for the rare occasion that it was needed but I've since washed my hands off that particular role and things seem to be going fine with just the TV remote.

              Casting from an iPad/iPhone automatically turns on the TV and soundbar and so do voice commands via the Google Home/Chromecast combo. Obviously all that is hidden and not utilized by mother dearest but the soundbar with ARC seems to be absolutely intuitive, which is probably why I'm struggling to get my head around your specific issue.

              As you allude to, it could be just due to the quality of the TV and/or soundbar. Well, the intermittent switching off and buttons sticking definitely convey something along these lines! Sounds like a PITA!

              • muncan on 15/02/2022 - 14:16

                @eloque: I appreciate your determination to resolve my issue here. You just reminded me about AirPlay, so I gave that a go.
                AirPlay activated > Apple TV wakes > TV wakes > soundbar wakes > soundbar defaults to HDMI > I press input selector on soundbar > sigh.
                If I turn on the soundbar first, set it to HDMI1, then wake Apple TV via either the remote or AirPlay, the soundbar does remain in HDMI1 mode. So I was wrong in thinking it’s the TV telling the soundbar to turn to ARC. It’s just the soundbar defaults to ARC when it wakes.
                So it’s probably not the TV causing my frustration, and I should do some more testing with my other TVs to confirm.
                EKO support have confirmed with me that the default mode is ARC and cannot be changed, and hinted for me to use ARC. But I bought the bloody thing for the extra inputs! Grr…

                • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 14:51

                  @muncan: No worries hehe. I'm still feeling a bit slow though.

                  That sequence of events sounds about right, I'm just confused about the 'soundbar defaults to HDMI bit'. I assume you mean HDMI1? If so, this would be the ARC port and the reason why the TV waking wakes the soundbar in turn. So if the soundbar is already plugged into and set to HDMI1 how does it default to something it's already set at, which is the right thing anyway?

                  What happens on screen and thru the speakers when it defaults to HDMI and what do you change it to when you press the input selector on the soundbar? That is, what causes you to want to change the input?

                  I would guess that all soundbars default to ARC whenever the TV is on and also that you can plug an HDMI device into any spare port on the TV or soundbar have have all three working together as soon as you turn on that device.

                  CBF going dowstairs to look at the back of our soundbar but is there one specific HDMI port for ARC on the soundbar, like there is on a TV or is it a case of 'any port goes'? That's another thing you could check. Although the fact that ARC is triggering in the first place may suggest that it's probably plugged in correctly.

                  When it comes to AirPlay, does it offer you a list of devices to connect to and are BOTH the soundbar and TV available as options or does Airplay require the device to have WIFI and be connected to the same network? If there's some sort of Bluetooth functionality and you're choosing the soundbar to connect to, you could try connecting to the TV instead.

                  If it's a smart TV or simply one with WIFI connectivity and you connect Airplay that way, things may improve, if that's not what you were doing anyway.

                  Chromecast gen 3's were going really cheap recently, in case that's something you would consider. It would work with Airplay (basically creating an extra label/handle for the TV) and possibly sort things out. Ours is working fine with a gen 1. Our TV is quite old but it's an LG Smart TV still.

                  Again, you've probably tried everything already. Hopefully messing around with other TVs will help troubleshoot further toward a success. Godspeed!

                  • muncan on 15/02/2022 - 15:07

                    @eloque: I have Chromecasts too, I’ll add that to my list of configurations to try. CEC/ARC is triggered from any HDMI port on my TV.
                    But at the end of the day EKO support have already confirmed with me that the default mode is ARC and cannot be changed, so if there was a way to prevent the soundbar from sleeping, that might be my ticket out of this madness and stay on HDMI1.
                    I tested with my smart power switch, it uses almost the same amount of power when sleeping as it does when playing audio, so no power cost concerns there.

                    • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 15:23

                      @muncan: Aren't ARC and HDMI1 complimentary? If it's not staying on HDMI1, what is it switching to? A different source?

                      On the Samsung soundbar there is a little LED that displays the word ARC for a few seconds to inform the user that it's been activated and there's a little delay before the sound comes out but at no point does it change input sources by itself.

                      If the default state of the soundbar upon waking isn't the one you want, what do you change it to?

                      It sounds like the default state is HDMI1 and the one you want is also HDMI1 but for some reason the sound cuts out somewhere in between so you have to remind it and reconfirm the source. It could be getting interrupted by another device (e.g. TV) or you could be pulling your hair out over a defective device!

                      • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 15:25

                        @eloque: Also, please tell me to fly a kite if I get unbearably annoying.

                      • muncan on 15/02/2022 - 15:47

                        @eloque: The HDMI ports on the EKO 2.0.2 are:
                        HDMI OUT (ARC)
                        HDMI1
                        HDMI2

                        While you were out flying your kite, I found another configuration that slightly less annoying and might be the solution for me.

                        If I manually wake the soundbar either before or at exactly the same time as the Apple TV, it remains on HDMI1. (ie. before the TV wakes the soundbar)

                        So the advice I was provided by EKO support is not correct, nor was my theory, that the default mode was ARC. It was my slow TV waking the slow soundbar that caused the input to change to ARC. But if the soundbar is already in HDMI1 mode by the time the TV fully wakes and sends a CEC/ARC signal, then the soundbar ignores it and sticks with the Apple TV signal on HDMI1.
                        Of course it means I still have to press a button on the soundbar/remote in addition to the Apple TV remote, but I can live with this frustration for the $ saved.
                        Thank you for helping me in my journey, and for those of you playing along from home.

                        👏🥳

                        • eloque on 15/02/2022 - 16:44

                          @muncan: Ah! Oki dokes - the ARC port is not HDMI1! Woopsie. That clears up most of my confusion!

                          It sounds like a bit of a design fault in a cheaper product as you connoted from the get-go.

                          Once the ARC connection is established, it's supposed to pretty much disappear into the background rendering HDMI 0 null and void as an actual input that can override other inputs.

                          Well that should work best when the TV is in the middle but ideally should work the same for devices plugged directly into the soundbar - what's to point of getting a soundbar for extra ports if using them confuses it if the user doesn't perform a particular ritual ay?

                          Due to the delay in the TV coming on, the soundbar must assume that it is being used for audio only even when it is the activation of Apple TV has triggered the television to turn on via the soundbar and ARC. Then when the TV eventually actually registers as being on, this is interpreted by the soundbar as the user changing media type/commencing a new activity.

                          The default mode is ARC when there is a TV connected and switched on, but when not switched on, it defaults to whatever's sending it a signal first, perhaps. Like, if you were to set the soundbar to HDMI2 and then power on Apple TV, I wonder whether it automatically switches to HDMI1 as long as the TV and whatever's plugged into HDMI2 are both powered off… or whether it stays on HDMI2, being the last thing it was set to, or a receiving a signal from before being turned off.

                          I feel like Russell Crow in a room scribbling over newspaper cutouts stuck to the wall, but much less beautifully.

                          It would be nice if the soundbar recognizes that it is receiving an audio AND visual signal from Apple TV, uses ARC to turn the TV on and remembers what just happened and why… and demonstrated a little patience instead of increasing your risk of RSI.

                          Speaking of patience, thanks for yours - it's been fun… and goodonya for getting to the bottom of the slow TV effect.

    • Junnyjun on 15/02/2022 - 07:44

      Turn off hdmi cec

      • muncan on 15/02/2022 - 08:51

        Yes this works in that the soundbar stays in HDMI1 at wake up. But then the TV doesn’t wake with the soundbar. Sigh.

  • Damonator84 on 14/02/2022 - 21:21
    +3

    with built-in Subwoofer

    Lol, just really have to LOL at that comment. Nothing that size will ever compare to a subwoofer.

    • bunnybash on 15/02/2022 - 09:06

      The specs actually list the sub as separate anyways lol… So strange.

  • Drakesy on 14/02/2022 - 21:35
    -1

    Yeah nah
    Sorry but this is marginally better than a tinny tv speaker

    Save your money and get a $200+ one at least
    Else
    Marketplace or gumtree

  • jensonhills on 14/02/2022 - 22:41
    +4

    Bought one but returned it the following day. Didn't expect much for the price, but the bass was very poor. Treble was very clear, but the soundbar had some unwanted internal vibrations at certain mid high frequencies, which was very noticeable and unacceptable. Maybe I was unlucky, but personally I wouldn't bother.

    • ToobsAU on 15/02/2022 - 18:55

      I agree, my TV with its massive 2x10W rear firing speakers sounds better, more volume, more bass, less tinny… It'll be getting returned tomorrow or whenever I CBF doing so.

  • muzzy1907 on 14/02/2022 - 23:26

    I recommend the 2.1.2 Grabbed one for sale for $199 last year. Packs a punch.

  • CptHowdy on 18/02/2022 - 13:08

    I wasn't expecting much but, I wouldn't recommend these. Bought it for my elderly father who is getting a little hard of hearing to connect to the crappy Bauhn TV he bought awhile back.

    There was an improvement in the voice quality (it was clearer), the bass sounded ok and they looked good. Unfortunately, they didn't get loud enough. Put the soundbar volume to max then turned off the soundbar and the TV could still go up even more (the TV volume was at only 50%).

    I returned them back to the store and got my money back.

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