Upgrading Sony Muteki Speakers after 17 years - Are Soundbars that good?

Hey all,
Looking for a good option to upgrade from my Sony Muteki home theatre system, to something less obnoxious and of a higher quality.
And will sound bars really do that?

So more than half my life ago in my bass-days, I bought a set of brand new Sony Muteki 7.2 surround sound system, and somehow today its still working fine and lives in my lounge room and I'm getting over waiting for them to break haha

As I've matured over the years, I've tried to reduce the Muteki-footprint lol, and now I only run it as a 5.1 channel sound system, which does mean I have some gaps in audio channels etc.

It seems most of the TV audio market has moved to sound bars now, and I'm not convinced a soundbar (and likely + sub) will replace the 5.1 channel experience?
So I'm wondering if anyone can steer me in the right direction for a suitable upgrade?

A few friends have some 'decent' sound bars from Polk Audio and Bose, and I can't say they have blown me away but none have been the top-of-the-line ones.
I've been looking at the Bose 900 as a reasonable starting point, considering the size of my current system.

Any tips? Considering I've owned the Muteki's for 15 years I can't say I'm an audiophile, but do appreciate the immersive audio experience and while I would be happy to remove speakers from the floor of my room, I'm not prepared to do that if the experience goes down.

Will a soundbar satisfy? Or should I try to track down these now rarer standalone speaker systems (eg Yamaha kit etc).

Cheers!

Comments

  • +3

    In general… No. But, what's your budget for these?

    The fancy Sonos ones do (virtual) Atmos, but nothing beats actual real live rears, which you can get with the Sonos systems, but it starts to get real expensive.

    Stick with the 7.2, or get an amp that does atmos and add some more speakers to your existing ones.

    Nothing will beat that I feel, the soundbar is just a convenience thing that you pay through the nose for.

  • +1

    Soundbars use a whole bunch of processing in an attempt to replicate surround audio. End results vary depending on the config and contents of your lounge room, but likely won't give you the same 'feel' as your current setup with actual surround audio

    • +2

      I've got some advice on how to advise.

  • +3

    IMHO soundbars are used because they look better than speakers and take less space. The sound quality isn't even close.

  • +1

    Honestly a decent soundbar with Atmos (3.1.2 and above) will more than fill a standard living room, although they do move a lot of the bass and lower mids to the sub.

    i have a Samsung Atmos soundbar and would happily substitute it for my 5.1 Atmos sound system if i was ever forced to downsize. The technology has come a long way. Big boxy speakers are now relegated to the large dedicated home theater rooms and Audiophiles.

  • +4

    Sound bars suck. Trust your ears.

  • +1

    This is great advice thanks everyone, and is in line my thinking, i don't want to 'upgrade' and be disappointed.

    So the main reason I'm considering the upgrade is as I mentioned I'm getting frustrated at the channels I've lost by running my 7.2 system as a 5.1 but as far as the amp is concerned I can't officially downgrade it down to a 5.1, so certain audio eg voices in gaming drop out at certain angles or surround situations.

    So I've considered just changing up the amp to a more modern 5.1, but I'm conscious these were never 'great' speakers in the first place so I figure after such a long time they could use an upgrade too (in looks and maybe a smaller size too).

    So thanks - this has helped rule out the sound-bar direction - Would anyone know of any dedicated speaker + amp packages that would be a decent path to go down?

    I guess budget is I'd probably want something decent that should last another 10 year cycle at least. Would consider a $1-$3k option in budget.
    Something that an upgrade enough to notice the quality step up!

    Didn't think it would be as hard to find these traditional speaker packages these days haha.

    • +1

      The Denon S660H is a great budget receiver which I've seen as low as $550-600, you could pair that with a set of 5.1's from Polk, KEF, Mission Audio etc and it would blow the Sonys (and any soundbar) out of the water. You could even add a set of height speakers for Dolby Atmos if the budget allows.

      • +1

        Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check them out :)

      • +1

        Different model amp and unsure of how much of a good deal this actually is, but these appears to be reasonable, dont think I need the fancy smart-home stuff that come with some amps in their range.

        https://digitalcinema.com.au/denon-avr-x580bt-receiver-polk-…

        • +1

          Dont know about the speakers but the amp seems perfectly fine. I'd personally opt for higher quality bookshelves for the fronts and rears, you don't really need floorstanders since the sub will be handling most of the bass. If you're willing to wait for them to go on special, a pair of KEF Q350s for the fronts, Q150s for the rears and Q250 for the centre would be amazing. It might take you over your budget slightly but I would recommend a SVS subwoofer as well.

    • Wait, if the main issue is you're watching 7.1 content with only 5.1 speakers and losing some channels, surely that's just a setting on the amp (receiver)?

      You tell it what speakers you don't have, and it sends that channel to a different speaker?

      If not on the amp, your audio source can most likely do it too. (I know PCs can, presumably FireTV/Chromecast/TVs/etc?)

      • Yeah I can't seem to find an appropriate setting on the amp, I've tried a bunch of times over the years. I think the problem is the amp was a in-the-box package deal that it was made for the 7.2 setup with minimal other options for configuration.

        There is no way to turn the side channels off - there are no setup options in this way, and it doesn't recognise if they're plugged in or not (except for the subs, which it seems to know the second is not plugged in).

        On the amp the best I can do is turn down the levels for the side speakers.. (which are not plugged in)

        All my tv devices are set to 5.1 where the option is.

        But yeah after 17 years, thinking it might just be time to modernise both components

  • Could you get something with a soundbar, sub, and wireless rear speakers or something?

    • Yeah - this is where I got to before I asked this question bars, because I've assumed I'll need all that to get to a level of quality I'd expect. Price gets exxy though!

  • Considering the comments above something like this looks like a decent upgrade?

    https://www.customht.com.au/collections/home-theatre/product…

  • +2

    You could put together a really nice system for under $3000 You could run it as a 7.1 or as .5.1.2 and use one pair of speakers as heights mounted up high on the front wall.

    As a suggestion, something like a Denon AVR-X1700H $999 from https://www.westcoasthifi.com.au/shop/av-receivers/multi-cha…
    or a Yamaha RX-V6A $1019 from https://www.selby.com.au/yamaha-rx-v6a.html?gclid=EAIaIQobCh…

    An SVS SB100 subwoofer for $799 from multiple places, https://www.google.com/search?q=scs+sb1000&oq=scs+sb1000&gs_…

    Q Acoustics Q3090Ci Centre Speaker $258.30 https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/products/q-acoustics-q3090ci-…

    3 x Pairs of Q Acoustics Q3010i Bookshelf Speakers $837.90 https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/products/q-acoustics-q3010i-b…

    Or you could go with some Monitor Audio speakers which are on clearance.
    Monitor Audio Monitor C150 Centre Speaker $179 from https://www.spacehifi.com.au/speakers/centre-speakers/monito…

    3 x pairs of Monitor Audio Monitor 50 $537 from https://www.spacehifi.com.au/speakers/bookshelf-speakers/mon…

    • appreciate the suggestions, ill check them out! Thanks

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