 |
| Make no bones about this - this is a seriously impressive 5.1 surround system |
It's been 18-months since my first post on this blog, when I started with a look the Bose Cinemate 1SR which saw me move on to the Yamaha YSP220 sound bar. Since then, the Yammy has been a solid performer for my Sky TV, media streamers (Apple TV, Boxee, Airplay on a Mac). As a wired single box and sub solution, it did the trick and has added much enjoyment to my movie, sports and general TV watching.
As a solution for music playback, it failed miserably. I did try putting a Sonos Connect on it to use it as a zone, but unfortunately, it exposed the Yammy's focus on cinema digital sound processing (DSP), which even when disabled, is very unsuited to listening to music.
Since Sonos released the Playbar earlier in 2013, and it being warmly received by the media, the question of course was, how would it fare against the Yammy and would I want one longer term.
Reading the more technical reviews, the key blocker for me was would it process 5.1 audio from my inputs to recreate a fully 5.1 sound field.
As normal for me, my aim here is not to extensively review the Playbar per se, but for interested readers, talk about my experience with it, vis-a-vis being an existing sound bar owner.
Bulky but luxurious build
Compared to both the Bose and Yammy, the Playbar has a larger form factor and dare I say it, feels bulkier. It's height may be a problem for some TV sets, given the dimensions of a TV's fit and lower screen in relation to the height of the Playbar.
That said, as you'd expect from Sonos, it has a luxury feel and strong build quality.
Simplified setup
Thinking back to the Bose and Yammy, the set ups for both involved reading instructions and running through calibration routines with accessories to optimise the virtual surround modes which both systems employ. The Bose uses the Sonos approach which is to focus on sound integration via co-axial or optical (Toslink) inputs. Unfortunately, it cops out and does not go further with integrating with TV set remotes, and instead decides to supply its own remote, which fails itself as it provides no visual indication on the sound level when in use.
The Yammy on the other hand, acts like an AV receiver and requires all HDMI sources to route through it and a HDMI output via the ARC channel. It's advantage is that for switching sources, you can simply press the input button on the sound bar. It's disadvantage is that Sky HD copy protection does not allow switching capability when you've chosen another source. A compromise being reached when you need to use your TV remote to forcibly switch HDMI back to the Sky input. Beyond that, the Yammy works very well, has been cited for UK home cinema awards and for the price is unbeaten for a 3.1 Dolby Digital and DTS surround system.
In a very Apple-esque way (in fact a wonderfully Sonos way), Sonos have aimed for simplicity and it must be said, really cracked it. In both 3.0, 3.1 and 5.1 set up, setting up the Playbar by itself, or alongside the Sub and Play 3 surrounds is gorgeously easy. Using the iOS app, includes a deceptively simple set of steps for the Playbar to learn the remote of both my Sky+ remote and my Sony TV.
It's the small things
My main technical requirements check was to understand how the Playbar would work with my existing kit in terms of processing stereo and 5.1 discrete audio via its optical digital input.
As luck would have it, my Sony 40 inch 1080p panel outputs Dolby Digital 5.1 via optical. Even better luck my Samsung DRX890 Sky HD+ satellite receiver must have received a software update some time ago to output Dolby 5.1 over HDMI. The screenshot below is how you know:
 |
| In the UK, Sky has released a software patch to enable Dolby Digital over HDMI - a real boon for the Playbar |
Other niceties include wireless IR sensors which work to transmit the remote signal through the Playbar to the TV. The Yammy uses a wired approach which is flimsy to fix on to your TV.
Seriously impressive sound
My experience of the Playbar varied dependent on the setup. My own usage has been either paired with the Sonos Sub as 3.1 solution or more recently as a full 5.1 solution when I added as pair or wall mounted Play: 3's (using the very good Flexon brackets)
The sound is bigger, bolder, more naturally open and detailed that the Yamaha YSP220 sound projector. This may be as a result of the removal if the digital sound processing you historically find in Yamaha receivers.
The gain on the Playbar is considerably louder. I barely get up to volume 10 during the day and hover around levels 3-5 during the evening. A night-time mode is one screen press away to compress the dynamic range for late night watching when you live with others. A speech mode also adds gain on the dialogue which sits on the centre channel for those moments when your partner tells you they can't hear the on screen dialogue :)
For both music and TV, this is undoubtedly the best solution I have ever experienced. Even thinking back to the Laser Disc and early US DVD days of the late 1990's, paired with the Yamaha DSP3090 king of an AV amp and a 5.1 wired speaker in those days (B&Ws of course), I've can't remember even being so satisfied with both the performance, portability and convenience of setting it up. The fact that the sound is delivered wirelessly I consider an astonishing feat of engineering.
If you're a Sonos lover
This is a no brainer. Get one, immediately if you have a Sub and want to add enjoyable grunt to your TV, Movie and Music playing experience.
If you're looking around for a Playbar, then on it's own, this is expensive and the Yammy can be considered a better match for pseudo 5.1 system which also supports a sub woofer.
For everyone else
From a 3.1 comparison standpoint, the Playbar + Sub sits in the Bose price range. By the time you add the Play: 3's as surrounds you're in the luxury mid to higher end area, As in many cases, you get what you pay for. If you can stretch to the Sonos + Sub + Surrounds, you're going to love this.
