Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

oldfarmer50 · January 9

kyfdx said:
Driving out of my street, saw a guy with a big pickup truck, snow blowing a neighbor's driveway and sidewalk. Asked him if he had time to do mine. (I only had about 40% of the driveway left, plus some serious snowplow banks around the end of the driveway)

He came down and looked at it.. said, sure. How much? $35.

I didn't have him do the sidewalk by the street, as that would be the sidewalk to nowhere.

Took him about 15-20 minutes. Fire hydrant, mailbox and massive snowplow berm are all clear, plus the 40% of driveway I didn't shovel on Monday. Gave him $50, and we were all happy.

That will ensure that he will come back next time. I hope you got his number.

$35 is a pretty good price these days. I was lucky enough to get my neighbor to do mine for $40 and he’s reliable which is worth his weight in gold.

oldfarmer50 · January 9

stickguy said:
I didn't mean to just throw it out there loose!

Even putting it in a container might not work in your area as just a few weeks ago there were bears running around.

Years ago I had a refrigerator fail in early winter and for the few days that it took to replace it I dragged the old one out on the deck and kept everything right around freezing for a while.

Kirstie_H · January 9

imidazol97 said:
Are the restarts hot resets? Samsung had me pull the plug with the set On. I think I waited a couple minutes, then restarted tv and the problem was fixed.

Yeah, that's what we have to do, only it's becoming more of a frequent occurrence after a year of ownership. It's just annoying when all you want to do is watch a show or play a game at the end of the day, and you have 10 minutes of fiddling around before you can actually do that.

tjc78 · January 9

@stickguy said:
I love the Samsung sound bar we got for the new house. Works seamlessly with the Samsung tv. And vastly better than the built in tiny speakers!

We have the Samsung bar, sub, and rear speaker kit for our bedroom. Absolutely perfect for the application. The little amp box sits behind the bed and the speakers are so tiny they just blend into our nightstands next to the lamps.

We watch a lot of our nighttime TV in there so I had to have better sound.

kyfdx · January 9

stickguy said:
I love the Samsung sound bar we got for the new house. Works seamlessly with the Samsung tv. And vastly better than the built in tiny speakers!

Same.. I don't like it as much as my old Polk Audio bar/subwoofer, but that stopped connecting with the new TV.

The Samsung is excellent for the price point (Cheap!)

kyfdx · January 9

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:
Driving out of my street, saw a guy with a big pickup truck, snow blowing a neighbor's driveway and sidewalk. Asked him if he had time to do mine. (I only had about 40% of the driveway left, plus some serious snowplow banks around the end of the driveway)

He came down and looked at it.. said, sure. How much? $35.

I didn't have him do the sidewalk by the street, as that would be the sidewalk to nowhere.

Took him about 15-20 minutes. Fire hydrant, mailbox and massive snowplow berm are all clear, plus the 40% of driveway I didn't shovel on Monday. Gave him $50, and we were all happy.

That will ensure that he will come back next time. I hope you got his number.

$35 is a pretty good price these days. I was lucky enough to get my neighbor to do mine for $40 and he’s reliable which is worth his weight in gold.

$35 is amazingly cheap. He could have said $80, and I might not have been super happy, but still would have gone ahead. The 40% of driveway (one side of a 2-car wide drive) also had about half of the snow I shoveled from the other side. So, there was no way I was going to be able to shovel it, myself.

We don't look to be above freezing in the next 10 days, and have 3-4 more inches forecast for tomorrow. I really, really needed it done.

And, yes, I have his number..

kyfdx · January 9

Also.. the temperature is 6 F, right now

graphicguy · January 9

Kirstie_H said:

graphicguy said:

Can't think of anything I need. Food is stocked up. Brought in some dried logs from the back yard for the fireplace. Made a TP run to Costco last week, so all good there.

Won't get above freezing this week. So, given I need nothing, guess I'll stay indoors for a bit.
@graphicguy - does this belong to you?

Why yes.......it does. Now, where did I put my easel, smock and beret?

graphicguy · January 9

driver100 said:

graphicguy said:

roadburner said:
We drove over to church to help take down the Christmas decorations. All the local roads were clear. The driveway is clear and we have plenty of firewood in case of a power loss.
Was just reading about how to plug in my refrigerator and lamps to my EV6 to give me light and keep my food from spoiling. Not needed right now. But, I now have a way to get power when the house has none.
Just wondering, what if you use up all the power from the EV6 and then you realize you have to drive somewhere? Not being a smart [non-permissible content removed], really wondering.

From what I understand, the batteries in the EV6 would power the fridge and lights for days. So, if I'm going to be without power for several days, I don't think I'm sticking around home. I won't plug anything in and drive to somewhere else.

I don't think you can power any household with an ICE vehicle.

Just saw VW says they have 50,000 paid pre-orders for their upcoming Scout EV.

graphicguy · January 9

tjc78 said:

@kyfdx said:

Our last tube TV was a 36" Sony. In a silver cabinet that sat on a matching swivel base. The TV alone was about 250 lbs.

This had the same matching stand.

It was similar to this.

My former in-laws had one of those. It was a beast. But, nice picture for its day.

roadburner said:
It’s easier for me to understand that differences in picture quality are often more difficult to detect than it is with respect to sound quality- I guess because there are so many abysmal sound sources out there that decent sound quality is seldom heard.

Although I do remember my FIL saying that he thought DVDs were just an attempt to get people to buy new products. He had decent eyesight and was not senile, but he claimed SD VHS picture quality looked perfectly fine to him…

There was a HUGE improvement between VHS and DVDs, for both sound and picture quality. And, another (lesser) quality jump from DVD to Blu-Ray particularly 4K.

Just read an article the other day that diminishing returns have stalled any sort of 8K leap.

graphicguy · January 9

My neighborhood this a.m. while taking the dog out….

roadburner · January 9

jmonroe1 said:
I returned the Samsung TV that had the sound problem. No problem at all doing that but I came home empty handed because, just as I thought, Best Buy could not give me the Christmas sale price on the LG. So, I’m going to wait for a sale.

However, their TV guru was more than helpful and willing to spend at least 30 minutes (the store was practically empty) showing me the differences in brands and what you get for the higher prices. He made adjustments showing me the differences in black levels and brightness of the better OLED’s compared to the less expensive OLED’s units. When he slowed it down like he did, even my old eyes could see the difference. He said streaming would provide even better viewing than the standard cable box. I never heard that before. I’ve never tried steaming but I will when I decide to get the LG C4 series when it hopefully drops in price for the Super Bowl sales.

I’m now back to my 2012 LED Samsung that was brought down from the office to its old home in the family room again. It still looks good to me hooked up to the cable box.

FWIW, the guru said if I got a new sound bar (the Samsung I have now has to be 15 years old, I’d hear a dramatic improvement in sound due to newer technology used today). He showed me a $300 Samsung sound bar and it did sound pretty good, the $500 job sounded even better but I don’t think I’ll spend that much on a sound bar but I could twist my arm, I guess. I don’t want my ears to become totally spoiled all at once, (@roadburner, I know you’d spend even more). He said he prefers the Samsung sound bars over the LG’s.

All in all it was worth the education.

jmonroe

You are absolutely right; in my opinion there are very few soundbars under $500 that I find acceptable.
Regardless, here are a few good ones available for under $500:

JBL Bar 500 (w/wireless sub) $399.95
Klipsch Cinema 600 Sound Bar 3.1 (w/wireless sub) $549.00 I know, over $500- but you get a lot of power along with a 10" sub.
LG SC9S (w/wireless sub) $499.99
Sonus Beam (Gen 2) $499.00

I know you want a soundbar, but I would buy a Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system ($349) and a Yamaha RX-V385BL 5.1 receiver ($349.95) and some quality speaker cable from Blue Jeans Cable ($100) - you'll have a system that will absolutely blow away most any soundbar regardless of price- it's essentially the same system I have in the finished basement.

tjc78 · January 9

@roadburner
I 100% agree that no sound bar will outperform a system like you suggest, but in some rooms you just want a certain look.

As much as my wife lets me get away with my audio obsession, there was no way she was gonna allow a receiver and bigger speakers in the bedroom.

The Samsung setup I have is 4 years old now. I think I paid $500 for it (the rear kit was an add/on). It is perfect for a bedroom system but would not cut it for me in a primary viewing space.

carnaught · January 9

@roadburner, how would that system be for movies ? Specifically sometimes male voices are in monotones and words to me do not always come out crystal clear. I have somewhat remediated this issue playing with the audio settings on my aged Marantz receiver.

roadburner · January 9

carnaught said:
@roadburner, how would that system be for movies ? Specifically sometimes male voices are in monotones and words to me do not always come out crystal clear. I have somewhat remediated this issue playing with the audio settings on my aged Marantz receiver.

I've been very happy with it; for both streaming and BD movies. You could also increase the volume of the center channel. The Yamaha receiver I mentioned has Yamaha's proprietary YPAO system that optimizes the sound quality.

tjc78 · January 9

If you have trouble with dialogue the best quick fix is to raise the center volume up a bit.

It’s not by the book but in my theater room I have the center volume a touch louder and it improves the dialogue especially at lower volumes. If we are watching an action movie at reference levels I’ll bump it down to match the L/R

My receiver has an EQ for the center speaker and I’ve experimented with those settings as well to enhance performance.

houdini1 · January 9

Kirstie_H said:

imidazol97 said:
Are the restarts hot resets? Samsung had me pull the plug with the set On. I think I waited a couple minutes, then restarted tv and the problem was fixed.
Yeah, that's what we have to do, only it's becoming more of a frequent occurrence after a year of ownership. It's just annoying when all you want to do is watch a show or play a game at the end of the day, and you have 10 minutes of fiddling around before you can actually do that.

"Ten minutes of fiddling around." Now I know there is a good joke in there somewhere...

xwesx · January 9

graphicguy said:
Just saw VW says they have 50,000 paid pre-orders for their upcoming Scout EV.

I am one! Now, when the time comes, I'm not sure how to have that conversation with the spouse, but I can dream in the meantime.

I like the onboard generator (i.e., range extender) option. I think it is a practical solution to the issue of long-distance travel (particularly with areas I drive).

explorerx4 · January 9

@xwesx,
Does that mean you put down a deposit or paid in full?
The paid pre order meaning is not clear to me.

qbrozen · January 9

@jmonroe1 said:
I returned the Samsung TV that had the sound problem. No problem at all doing that but I came home empty handed because, just as I thought, Best Buy could not give me the Christmas sale price on the LG. So, I’m going to wait for a sale.

However, their TV guru was more than helpful and willing to spend at least 30 minutes (the store was practically empty) showing me the differences in brands and what you get for the higher prices. He made adjustments showing me the differences in black levels and brightness of the better OLED’s compared to the less expensive OLED’s units. When he slowed it down like he did, even my old eyes could see the difference. He said streaming would provide even better viewing than the standard cable box. I never heard that before. I’ve never tried steaming but I will when I decide to get the LG C4 series when it hopefully drops in price for the Super Bowl sales.

I’m now back to my 2012 LED Samsung that was brought down from the office to its old home in the family room again. It still looks good to me hooked up to the cable box.

FWIW, the guru said if I got a new sound bar (the Samsung I have now has to be 15 years old, I’d hear a dramatic improvement in sound due to newer technology used today). He showed me a $300 Samsung sound bar and it did sound pretty good, the $500 job sounded even better but I don’t think I’ll spend that much on a sound bar but I could twist my arm, I guess. I don’t want my ears to become totally spoiled all at once, (@roadburner, I know you’d spend even more). He said he prefers the Samsung sound bars over the LG’s.

All in all it was worth the education.

jmonroe

I’m just not a fan of soundbars. I’ve tried them out every few years and they always let me down. They just can’t fool my ears into thinking it is coming from anywhere other than right under the TV. So I have stuck with my 3.1 setup ever since moving to our current house (I didn’t want to bother with the rear surrounds like I did in the previous house).

stickguy · January 9

When the practical alternative is the tiny speakers built into the TV, a soundbar and wireless sub is fantastic. Actually get a lot of bass out of that. We also primarily are watching shows or sports on that TV, not movies.

jmonroe1 · January 9

roadburner said:

jmonroe1 said:
I returned the Samsung TV that had the sound problem. No problem at all doing that but I came home empty handed because, just as I thought, Best Buy could not give me the Christmas sale price on the LG. So, I’m going to wait for a sale.

However, their TV guru was more than helpful and willing to spend at least 30 minutes (the store was practically empty) showing me the differences in brands and what you get for the higher prices. He made adjustments showing me the differences in black levels and brightness of the better OLED’s compared to the less expensive OLED’s units. When he slowed it down like he did, even my old eyes could see the difference. He said streaming would provide even better viewing than the standard cable box. I never heard that before. I’ve never tried steaming but I will when I decide to get the LG C4 series when it hopefully drops in price for the Super Bowl sales.

I’m now back to my 2012 LED Samsung that was brought down from the office to its old home in the family room again. It still looks good to me hooked up to the cable box.

FWIW, the guru said if I got a new sound bar (the Samsung I have now has to be 15 years old, I’d hear a dramatic improvement in sound due to newer technology used today). He showed me a $300 Samsung sound bar and it did sound pretty good, the $500 job sounded even better but I don’t think I’ll spend that much on a sound bar but I could twist my arm, I guess. I don’t want my ears to become totally spoiled all at once, (@roadburner, I know you’d spend even more). He said he prefers the Samsung sound bars over the LG’s.

All in all it was worth the education.

jmonroe
You are absolutely right; in my opinion there are very few soundbars under $500 that I find acceptable.
Regardless, here are a few good ones available for under $500:

JBL Bar 500 (w/wireless sub) $399.95
Klipsch Cinema 600 Sound Bar 3.1 (w/wireless sub) $549.00 I know, over $500- but you get a lot of power along with a 10" sub.
LG SC9S (w/wireless sub) $499.99
Sonus Beam (Gen 2) $499.00

I know you want a soundbar, but I would buy a Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system ($349) and a Yamaha RX-V385BL 5.1 receiver ($349.95) and some quality speaker cable from Blue Jeans Cable ($100) - you'll have a system that will absolutely blow away most any soundbar regardless of price- it's essentially the same system I have in the finished basement.

————————————————
Gee, you really don’t mind spending my money do ya?

FWIW, even before I saw your post I got to thinking about this soundbar thing and decided I’ll probably splurge and get a better soundbar. More than likely spend around 500 bucks. But for sure I’m not going whole hog with a theater system. I’m not into the movie thing so I don’t need that kind of quality for run of the mill TV watching.

Now a question for you guys that have soundbars and are satisfied with it. Just curious what brand you have and how much you spent for yours?

jmonroe

kyfdx · January 9

Just make sure your soundbar has a wireless subwoofer. That's the number one requirement to get a big improvement in sound vs. the TV speakers.

Klipsch makes great stuff, if you are going upmarket. But, some of their stuff is huge. They didn't have a soundbar that would fit on my existing stand.

explorerx4 · January 9

I don't need a sounds system that assaults me.
My almost decade old Boston Acoustics soundbar works just fine.
It's better then the native TV speakers, so everything a ok.

suydam · January 9

kyfdx said:
Just make sure your soundbar has a wireless subwoofer. That's the number one requirement to get a big improvement in sound vs. the TV speakers.

Klipsch makes great stuff, if you are going upmarket. But, some of their stuff is huge. They didn't have a soundbar that would fit on my existing stand.

Agree. And I also love my Samsung sound bar with subwoofer. And having the TV and sound bar mounted on the wall is a great space saver in my tiny condo.

xwesx · January 9

explorerx4 said:
@xwesx,
Does that mean you put down a deposit or paid in full?
The paid pre order meaning is not clear to me.

It is just a deposit. IIRC, $100. It doesn't commit you to anything other than an occasional email from them updating the progress. I'm enjoying the experience.

mjfloyd1 · January 9

@jmonroe1 said:
Thanks everyone for your input with my TV questions. I appreciate your help.

Here’s my plan:

I have to return the Samsung (model no. QN55S85DAEXZA that has the sound problem) that I paid $1000 for before the Best Buy return period lapses which is next week. The price of that TV is now $1300. So I guess it really was on sale. Here’s my dilemma, I’d like to get the LG C4 Series (Model OLED55C4 PUA) but it’s also not on sale like it was before Christmas. The price for it now is $1400. I doubt they’ll let me have the LG for its Christmas price since it’s now gone up in price too, even if I’m willing to pay the difference in the Christmas price, but I’ll ask. So, I’ll just make the return and ask the techs at Best Buy to show/convince me why I should spend more money than what my eyes can discern from the models on display. If noting else, I’ll have more time to think this through.

Spending more money doesn’t bother me. The 55 inch Samsung i bought in 2012 cost $2000 and is still fine. It’s in the office now. Back then I could easily see the difference between it and other TV’s on display. It was an LED (I don’t think OLED’s were out yet) but it was a 3-D job too. I never used that feature. I thought the grandkids would get a kick out of it but never could get them all together due to one thing or another (spots and stuff) and to be honest, I never really tried all that hard either. I’m not sorry I spent the money because like I said the picture was terrific. Also, like I said, in 2012 the picture looked pretty good to me in the store compared to what I can differentiate today.

Spending more money is not an issue, in fact, I have a few more dollars today than I did back then but I never was one to spend more money than I had to for anything. If I liked something I bought it, within reason of course.

If somehow I end up getting a less expensive TV, I’ll just use that savings for my next car. Nobody in here is going to fault me for that, right?

jmonroe

PM sent

jmonroe1 · January 9

mjfloyd1 said:

@jmonroe1 said:

Thanks everyone for your input with my TV questions. I appreciate your help.

Here’s my plan:

I have to return the Samsung (model no. QN55S85DAEXZA that has the sound problem) that I paid $1000 for before the Best Buy return period lapses which is next week. The price of that TV is now $1300. So I guess it really was on sale. Here’s my dilemma, I’d like to get the LG C4 Series (Model OLED55C4 PUA) but it’s also not on sale like it was before Christmas. The price for it now is $1400. I doubt they’ll let me have the LG for its Christmas price since it’s now gone up in price too, even if I’m willing to pay the difference in the Christmas price, but I’ll ask. So, I’ll just make the return and ask the techs at Best Buy to show/convince me why I should spend more money than what my eyes can discern from the models on display. If noting else, I’ll have more time to think this through.

Spending more money doesn’t bother me. The 55 inch Samsung i bought in 2012 cost $2000 and is still fine. It’s in the office now. Back then I could easily see the difference between it and other TV’s on display. It was an LED (I don’t think OLED’s were out yet) but it was a 3-D job too. I never used that feature. I thought the grandkids would get a kick out of it but never could get them all together due to one thing or another (spots and stuff) and to be honest, I never really tried all that hard either. I’m not sorry I spent the money because like I said the picture was terrific. Also, like I said, in 2012 the picture looked pretty good to me in the store compared to what I can differentiate today.

Spending more money is not an issue, in fact, I have a few more dollars today than I did back then but I never was one to spend more money than I had to for anything. If I liked something I bought it, within reason of course.

If somehow I end up getting a less expensive TV, I’ll just use that savings for my next car. Nobody in here is going to fault me for that, right?

jmonroe

PM sent

————————————————
I’m having problems getting to PM’s on my phone since I’ve lost my Quick Links section. I’m pretty sure I still have it on my PC, which is upstairs in the office. We’re getting ready to go out to dinner now. I don’t usually go upstairs till bed time so I’ll have to check on that later.

jmonroe

snakeweasel · January 9

houdini1 said:

Kirstie_H said:

imidazol97 said:
Are the restarts hot resets? Samsung had me pull the plug with the set On. I think I waited a couple minutes, then restarted tv and the problem was fixed.
Yeah, that's what we have to do, only it's becoming more of a frequent occurrence after a year of ownership. It's just annoying when all you want to do is watch a show or play a game at the end of the day, and you have 10 minutes of fiddling around before you can actually do that.

"Ten minutes of fiddling around." Now I know there is a good joke in there somewhere...

There are a few but none I can post here.

graphicguy · January 9

@roadburner said:
You are absolutely right; in my opinion there are very few soundbars under $500 that I find acceptable.
Regardless, here are a few good ones available for under $500:

JBL Bar 500 (w/wireless sub) $399.95
Klipsch Cinema 600 Sound Bar 3.1 (w/wireless sub) $549.00 I know, over $500- but you get a lot of power along with a 10" sub.
LG SC9S (w/wireless sub) $499.99
Sonus Beam (Gen 2) $499.00

I know you want a soundbar, but I would buy a Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system ($349) and a Yamaha RX-V385BL 5.1 receiver ($349.95) and some quality speaker cable from Blue Jeans Cable ($100) - you'll have a system that will absolutely blow away most any soundbar regardless of price- it's essentially the same system I have in the finished basement.

Recommend staying away from the sound bars that CLAIM to offer Atmos. Agree that a 2
channel bar with wireless sub works best for the money!

If you really want a relatively cheap surround experience, I like the Yamaha/Energy config suggestion!

mjfloyd1 · January 9

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————
I’m having problems getting to PM’s on my phone since I’ve lost my Quick Links section. I’m pretty sure I still have it on my PC, which is upstairs in the office. We’re getting ready to go out to dinner now. I don’t usually go upstairs till bed time so I’ll have to check on that later.

jmonroe

Just check Greentoe.com for the LG OLED pricing. There is also an app. I got my LG OLED C4 there and it comes from an authorized dealer near Nashville. I believe current 65 in is $1399 including shipping. You could try submit a price as well.

I’m really happy with the LG OLED C4

https://www.greentoe.com/buynow/LG_LG_OLED_Evo_C4_65_4K_HDR_Smart_TV_OLED65C4PUA?direct_shop=a06PD000007MfTXYA0&utm_source=google&utm_medium=x&utm_campaign=21817938694&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADtOarHskSXKWYKdTAqVPk-Q7un-T&gclid=CjwKCAiAhP67BhAVEiwA2E_9g__H1lLBb5xKzHUK2enkS2ZLQi1MOVdlFxqIcDKVZ20HLDkKvhmiQhoCgNEQAvD_BwE

explorerx4 · January 9

I can't imagine how much this is going to sell for.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/steve-mcqueen-s-le-mans-porsche-917-is-for-sale/ss-AA1vEM8f?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=d33691b0fe7a4da2b85e0ac79e039715&ei=26#image=2

xwesx · January 9

Some pretty incredible footage of the CA fire(s).... I'm hoping to be able to put the link for the specific time of footage, but 11:31 is the most dramatic stuff, just a minute or so of compiled footage.

stickguy · January 9

jmonroe1 said:

roadburner said:

jmonroe1 said:
I returned the Samsung TV that had the sound problem. No problem at all doing that but I came home empty handed because, just as I thought, Best Buy could not give me the Christmas sale price on the LG. So, I’m going to wait for a sale.

However, their TV guru was more than helpful and willing to spend at least 30 minutes (the store was practically empty) showing me the differences in brands and what you get for the higher prices. He made adjustments showing me the differences in black levels and brightness of the better OLED’s compared to the less expensive OLED’s units. When he slowed it down like he did, even my old eyes could see the difference. He said streaming would provide even better viewing than the standard cable box. I never heard that before. I’ve never tried steaming but I will when I decide to get the LG C4 series when it hopefully drops in price for the Super Bowl sales.

I’m now back to my 2012 LED Samsung that was brought down from the office to its old home in the family room again. It still looks good to me hooked up to the cable box.

FWIW, the guru said if I got a new sound bar (the Samsung I have now has to be 15 years old, I’d hear a dramatic improvement in sound due to newer technology used today). He showed me a $300 Samsung sound bar and it did sound pretty good, the $500 job sounded even better but I don’t think I’ll spend that much on a sound bar but I could twist my arm, I guess. I don’t want my ears to become totally spoiled all at once, (@roadburner, I know you’d spend even more). He said he prefers the Samsung sound bars over the LG’s.

All in all it was worth the education.

jmonroe
You are absolutely right; in my opinion there are very few soundbars under $500 that I find acceptable.
Regardless, here are a few good ones available for under $500:

JBL Bar 500 (w/wireless sub) $399.95
Klipsch Cinema 600 Sound Bar 3.1 (w/wireless sub) $549.00 I know, over $500- but you get a lot of power along with a 10" sub.
LG SC9S (w/wireless sub) $499.99
Sonus Beam (Gen 2) $499.00

I know you want a soundbar, but I would buy a Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system ($349) and a Yamaha RX-V385BL 5.1 receiver ($349.95) and some quality speaker cable from Blue Jeans Cable ($100) - you'll have a system that will absolutely blow away most any soundbar regardless of price- it's essentially the same system I have in the finished basement.

————————————————
Gee, you really don’t mind spending my money do ya?

FWIW, even before I saw your post I got to thinking about this soundbar thing and decided I’ll probably splurge and get a better soundbar. More than likely spend around 500 bucks. But for sure I’m not going whole hog with a theater system. I’m not into the movie thing so I don’t need that kind of quality for run of the mill TV watching.

Now a question for you guys that have soundbars and are satisfied with it. Just curious what brand you have and how much you spent for yours?

jmonroe

I got a Samsung (that had good references here) since I have a Samsung TV and wanted seamless integration, and only needing 1 remote. It was not the base level model. I think 1-2 levels up, and IIRC I paid around $250 for it? Wired sound bar that we have on the mantle below the TV (which hangs over the fireplace) and a wireless sub.

ab348 · January 9

xwesx said:
Some pretty incredible footage of the CA fire(s).... I'm hoping to be able to put the link for the specific time of footage, but 11:31 is the most dramatic stuff, just a minute or so of compiled footage.

The YT account “Onscene TV” has several videos of the fire losses taken on the residential streets which are staggering. What strikes me is the seeming randomness of the fires. A house fully involved and an inferno right next to one seemingly unaffected. I think a great many stucco/block structures were still lost thanks to asphalt/composition roofing catching fire from the embers. But I also saw a house with a clay tile roof fully intact also going up in flames. A great many vehicles incinerated too. Here’s one of their videos:

https://youtu.be/5jwH4W2gj1s?si=Fe2J3-uPnTLAVcSU

explorerx4 · January 9

When I asked, one of my friends said the fire came close to where one of his kids lives and they evacuated.
The fire was stopped in that direction and they were able to come back to their apartment.

driver100 · January 9

jmonroe1 said:

roadburner said:

jmonroe1 said:
I returned the Samsung TV that had the sound problem. No problem at all doing that but I came home empty handed because, just as I thought, Best Buy could not give me the Christmas sale price on the LG. So, I’m going to wait for a sale.

However, their TV guru was more than helpful and willing to spend at least 30 minutes (the store was practically empty) showing me the differences in brands and what you get for the higher prices. He made adjustments showing me the differences in black levels and brightness of the better OLED’s compared to the less expensive OLED’s units. When he slowed it down like he did, even my old eyes could see the difference. He said streaming would provide even better viewing than the standard cable box. I never heard that before. I’ve never tried steaming but I will when I decide to get the LG C4 series when it hopefully drops in price for the Super Bowl sales.

I’m now back to my 2012 LED Samsung that was brought down from the office to its old home in the family room again. It still looks good to me hooked up to the cable box.

FWIW, the guru said if I got a new sound bar (the Samsung I have now has to be 15 years old, I’d hear a dramatic improvement in sound due to newer technology used today). He showed me a $300 Samsung sound bar and it did sound pretty good, the $500 job sounded even better but I don’t think I’ll spend that much on a sound bar but I could twist my arm, I guess. I don’t want my ears to become totally spoiled all at once, (@roadburner, I know you’d spend even more). He said he prefers the Samsung sound bars over the LG’s.

All in all it was worth the education.

jmonroe
You are absolutely right; in my opinion there are very few soundbars under $500 that I find acceptable.
Regardless, here are a few good ones available for under $500:

JBL Bar 500 (w/wireless sub) $399.95
Klipsch Cinema 600 Sound Bar 3.1 (w/wireless sub) $549.00 I know, over $500- but you get a lot of power along with a 10" sub.
LG SC9S (w/wireless sub) $499.99
Sonus Beam (Gen 2) $499.00

I know you want a soundbar, but I would buy a Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system ($349) and a Yamaha RX-V385BL 5.1 receiver ($349.95) and some quality speaker cable from Blue Jeans Cable ($100) - you'll have a system that will absolutely blow away most any soundbar regardless of price- it's essentially the same system I have in the finished basement.

————————————————
Gee, you really don’t mind spending my money do ya?

FWIW, even before I saw your post I got to thinking about this soundbar thing and decided I’ll probably splurge and get a better soundbar. More than likely spend around 500 bucks. But for sure I’m not going whole hog with a theater system. I’m not into the movie thing so I don’t need that kind of quality for run of the mill TV watching.

Now a question for you guys that have soundbars and are satisfied with it. Just curious what brand you have and how much you spent for yours?

jmonroe

Save your dollars....just use Closed Captioning!

The speakers they put in TVs are ridiculously bad, you spend $1000 or $2000 for a TV and get tiny tinny speakers you get in a kids toy.
Just asking, but are you that into sound, especially since you don't watch movies.
Just as an example, this one on Amazon has 5 stars, and 12000 reviews, and is $280.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KRPCQJ?tag=bg2-222638-20&th=1
Many have good reviews and are under $200.
Do you need a Ferrari if you just use a car to go to the doctors office and to get groceries.
btw....I would have handled the Samsung TV situation the same way you did. We have had a lot of Samsungs and I would buy another one.....I don't like to change unless I have a problem. I am pretty loyal to Samsung and to HP computer products.

corvette · January 9

CAL FIRE's 3D incident map is interesting, you can look at nearby live webcams (some aren't functioning). I was just at the Getty Villa last month, looks like it survived.

roadburner · January 9

My son has a Klipsch with a wireless sub. I believe it cost around $400 five years ago. It sounds pretty good.

jmonroe1 · January 9

graphicguy said:

@roadburner said:

You are absolutely right; in my opinion there are very few soundbars under $500 that I find acceptable.

Regardless, here are a few good ones available for under $500:

JBL Bar 500 (w/wireless sub) $399.95

Klipsch Cinema 600 Sound Bar 3.1 (w/wireless sub) $549.00 I know, over $500- but you get a lot of power along with a 10" sub.

LG SC9S (w/wireless sub) $499.99

Sonus Beam (Gen 2) $499.00

I know you want a soundbar, but I would buy a Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system ($349) and a Yamaha RX-V385BL 5.1 receiver ($349.95) and some quality speaker cable from Blue Jeans Cable ($100) - you'll have a system that will absolutely blow away most any soundbar regardless of price- it's essentially the same system I have in the finished basement.

Recommend staying away from the sound bars that CLAIM to offer Atmos. Agree that a 2

channel bar with wireless sub works best for the money!

If you really want a relatively cheap surround experience, I like the Yamaha/Energy config suggestion!

————————————————
That’s interesting that you say that about Atmos because the Best Buy guru specifically said to make sure when I got a soundbar, regardless of brand, it should have Atmos. The Samsung soundbars that he demonstrated while I was there last night had Atmos and they sounded pretty good to me. Are you messin with me?

I have what has to be a 15 year old Samsung soundbar. It has a wireless 115v powered 10 inch subwoofer. The bar itself is 3 ft. wide and sits on the bottom shelf of the TV stand that is located in the corner of the room. I know the soundbar should be higher but that’s where it has to be. I’m not hanging it on a wall. When I get a new one it can’t be any wider than 42 inches. So I have to live with that restraint too.

Like I said, I’m not trying to build an optimal home theater system. Just something better than what I have now which is already a light year better than the TV’s speakers.

jmonroe

roadburner · January 9

I really think that Jeep should require potential 4xe buyers to pass a reading comprehension test. The 4xe FB pages and 4xe forums receive a steady stream of posts along the lines of, "I was ripped off! It will only travel 25 miles on the battery!"
Idiots.

corvette · January 9

I have a newer cheap Sony receiver and an older set of very small Polk speakers: left and right front and rear (all the same size), and a center channel. Not sure of the brand of the subwoofer. They work well. Before buying the newer Sony receiver, I tried to "downsize" to a soundbar, and the audio was way too tinny, so I returned it.

Probably going to upgrade the speakers in the Maverick--the lack of audio quality is even noticeable when listening to podcasts, which aren't something that should tax an audio system.

jmonroe1 · January 9

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

roadburner said:

jmonroe1 said:
I returned the Samsung TV that had the sound problem. No problem at all doing that but I came home empty handed because, just as I thought, Best Buy could not give me the Christmas sale price on the LG. So, I’m going to wait for a sale.

However, their TV guru was more than helpful and willing to spend at least 30 minutes (the store was practically empty) showing me the differences in brands and what you get for the higher prices. He made adjustments showing me the differences in black levels and brightness of the better OLED’s compared to the less expensive OLED’s units. When he slowed it down like he did, even my old eyes could see the difference. He said streaming would provide even better viewing than the standard cable box. I never heard that before. I’ve never tried steaming but I will when I decide to get the LG C4 series when it hopefully drops in price for the Super Bowl sales.

I’m now back to my 2012 LED Samsung that was brought down from the office to its old home in the family room again. It still looks good to me hooked up to the cable box.

FWIW, the guru said if I got a new sound bar (the Samsung I have now has to be 15 years old, I’d hear a dramatic improvement in sound due to newer technology used today). He showed me a $300 Samsung sound bar and it did sound pretty good, the $500 job sounded even better but I don’t think I’ll spend that much on a sound bar but I could twist my arm, I guess. I don’t want my ears to become totally spoiled all at once, (@roadburner, I know you’d spend even more). He said he prefers the Samsung sound bars over the LG’s.

All in all it was worth the education.

jmonroe
You are absolutely right; in my opinion there are very few soundbars under $500 that I find acceptable.
Regardless, here are a few good ones available for under $500:

JBL Bar 500 (w/wireless sub) $399.95
Klipsch Cinema 600 Sound Bar 3.1 (w/wireless sub) $549.00 I know, over $500- but you get a lot of power along with a 10" sub.
LG SC9S (w/wireless sub) $499.99
Sonus Beam (Gen 2) $499.00

I know you want a soundbar, but I would buy a Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker system ($349) and a Yamaha RX-V385BL 5.1 receiver ($349.95) and some quality speaker cable from Blue Jeans Cable ($100) - you'll have a system that will absolutely blow away most any soundbar regardless of price- it's essentially the same system I have in the finished basement.

————————————————
Gee, you really don’t mind spending my money do ya?

FWIW, even before I saw your post I got to thinking about this soundbar thing and decided I’ll probably splurge and get a better soundbar. More than likely spend around 500 bucks. But for sure I’m not going whole hog with a theater system. I’m not into the movie thing so I don’t need that kind of quality for run of the mill TV watching.

Now a question for you guys that have soundbars and are satisfied with it. Just curious what brand you have and how much you spent for yours?

jmonroe
Save your dollars....just use Closed Captioning!

The speakers they put in TVs are ridiculously bad, you spend $1000 or $2000 for a TV and get tiny tinny speakers you get in a kids toy.
Just asking, but are you that into sound, especially since you don't watch movies.
Just as an example, this one on Amazon has 5 stars, and 12000 reviews, and is $280.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KRPCQJ?tag=bg2-222638-20&th=1
Many have good reviews and are under $200.
Do you need a Ferrari if you just use a car to go to the doctors office and to get groceries.
btw....I would have handled the Samsung TV situation the same way you did. We have had a lot of Samsungs and I would buy another one.....I don't like to change unless I have a problem. I am pretty loyal to Samsung and to HP computer products.

————————————————
I don’t watch movies other than those on TV. I don’t do the Blueray stuff but I still like sound that is a lot better than what you get from the TV speakers.

That link you posted doesn’t have a wireless self powered subwoofer so I can’t imagine it can produce good base sounds. I know it’s a Bose unit but from what I’ve heard it seems the Bose ship sailed a few years ago.

jmonroe

roadburner · January 9

No highs,
No lows,
It must be Bose…

xwesx · January 9

ab348 said:

The YT account “Onscene TV” has several videos of the fire losses taken on the residential streets which are staggering. What strikes me is the seeming randomness of the fires. A house fully involved and an inferno right next to one seemingly unaffected. I think a great many stucco/block structures were still lost thanks to asphalt/composition roofing catching fire from the embers. But I also saw a house with a clay tile roof fully intact also going up in flames. A great many vehicles incinerated too. Here’s one of their videos:

Oof. Them folks in California definitely know how to keep the home fires burning!

I think that place shown "unaffected" in the first minute of the video was not long for this world.... It just hadn't ignited quite yet. With the house right next door raging, and the wind whipping all the heat directly at the neighboring house, the hedges starting to burn next to it.... It was minutes or less from bursting into flame itself.

xwesx · January 9

corvette said:
I have a newer cheap Sony receiver and an older set of very small Polk speakers: left and right front and rear (all the same size), and a center channel. Not sure of the brand of the subwoofer. They work well. Before buying the newer Sony receiver, I tried to "downsize" to a soundbar, and the audio was way too tinny, so I returned it.

Probably going to upgrade the speakers in the Maverick--the lack of audio quality is even noticeable when listening to podcasts, which aren't something that should tax an audio system.

There's no replacement for displacement!

Kirstie_H · January 10

I've long been a fan of B&W audio, because I also use the speakers to listen to music (usually when no one else is home), but their wireless devices are getting absolutely PANNED for connectivity issues, and I refuse to go back to a totally wired system. I was going to buy their earbuds for my daily walking/listening to music adventure, but even those get lots of negative feedback about connectivity, and I don't have time or patience for that.

kyfdx · January 10

@jmonroe1 I have the same space constraints as you. Almost every Samsung soundbar will fit.

oldfarmer50 · January 10

graphicguy said:

tjc78 said:

@kyfdx said:

Our last tube TV was a 36" Sony. In a silver cabinet that sat on a matching swivel base. The TV alone was about 250 lbs.

This had the same matching stand.

It was similar to this.

My former in-laws had one of those. It was a beast. But, nice picture for its day.

roadburner said:
It’s easier for me to understand that differences in picture quality are often more difficult to detect than it is with respect to sound quality- I guess because there are so many abysmal sound sources out there that decent sound quality is seldom heard.

Although I do remember my FIL saying that he thought DVDs were just an attempt to get people to buy new products. He had decent eyesight and was not senile, but he claimed SD VHS picture quality looked perfectly fine to him…

There was a HUGE improvement between VHS and DVDs, for both sound and picture quality. And, another (lesser) quality jump from DVD to Blu-Ray particularly 4K.

Just read an article the other day that diminishing returns have stalled any sort of 8K leap.

Soon it will all be hologram projection so you have to run our and update all your systems.

oldfarmer50 · January 10

ab348 said:

xwesx said:
Some pretty incredible footage of the CA fire(s).... I'm hoping to be able to put the link for the specific time of footage, but 11:31 is the most dramatic stuff, just a minute or so of compiled footage.
The YT account “Onscene TV” has several videos of the fire losses taken on the residential streets which are staggering. What strikes me is the seeming randomness of the fires. A house fully involved and an inferno right next to one seemingly unaffected. I think a great many stucco/block structures were still lost thanks to asphalt/composition roofing catching fire from the embers. But I also saw a house with a clay tile roof fully intact also going up in flames. A great many vehicles incinerated too. Here’s one of their videos:

https://youtu.be/5jwH4W2gj1s?si=Fe2J3-uPnTLAVcSU

I saw one news report where one house was burned to the ground and the heat set the wood window frames ablaze on the untouched house next door. I understand there was no water in the hydrants so whole neighborhoods burned while firefighters stood by helpless.

Finger pointing to follow.

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