Home Theater System Live

5 Responses to “Noah Company Dynavox AcoustaBar SD All-in-One 520-Watt Home Theater System with Built-In Subwoofer and iPod Dock”

1. hoss3000 Says: August 10th, 2010 at 7:11 pm

   I really needed something to complement my 42 inch LCD HDTV for its speakers had really poor sound. I wanted a sound bar, because well I’m lazy and I didn’t feel like making a weekend project out of installing speakers and fishing wires all over the place. Also they are generally pretty energy efficient (8 watts total power consumption). The only bad thing about sound bars is that they can run anywhere between $500-$1000 and up these days. So I wanted something cheap. I came across the AcoustaBar SD Home Theater Sound Bar.

   I can admit at first, I was a bit skeptical about purchasing the AcoustaBar SD. I mean there’s not a lot of research on it (besides what is known about Dynavox speakers which are really good by the way) and its 340 watt sister hasn’t been getting the greatest reviews, so who wouldn’t be. All I can say is I am definitely glad I purchased this. The sound is so crisp and the bass is really deep. With the surround sound feature, it really sounds like I have multiple speakers placed throughout the room.

   In addition, it’s perfect to install on a wall or a mantle. Set up only took a few minutes and it comes with rca jacks and a jack for a pc input.

   As for the cons, well there is no manual to begin with. I mean its not like like you need one or anything because it is very straight forward in its design and function. I just would’ve preferred one anyway, espicially one with a printed warranty statement. But if you just go to their website, they have a warranty statement that guarantees the product to be free of defects for 1 year.

   Another problem: It comes poorly packed inside a box (seems like it came straight from China). It’s really weird, it’s wrapped in a drawstring bag with 2 foam cubes on either side and then wrapped with a thin foam sheet in the middle. Because of this shoddy packing job, it suffered a very small minor ding on the bottom front side-no big deal it has character now.

   Oddly enough, it feels well built and cheap at the same time. The speakers exhibit quality materials and workmanship, yet the main interface is a little lacking in refined details.

   On the contrary, I have yet to experience any static interference or sudden unavoidable changes in volume often associated with its 340 watt counterpart.

   Regardless, I am very happy with this purchase. For the steal I got it for from Amazon, I can look beyond the minor blemishes and relax with a awesome sounding (540 watts YEAH!) Home Theater Sound Bar that is energy efficient. My home theater is complete, I just hope this product lasts more than a couple of years.
   Rating: 4 / 5

2. Nina Says: August 10th, 2010 at 7:26 pm

   First off, this thing is HUGE. From reading other reviews I knew it was 40″ long and 5.5″ high. What caught me off-guard was the 7.5″ width. I’d planned to put it in front of my 37″ LCD TV, but it was just too darn wide.

   I ended up putting the AcoustaBar on the middle shelf of the stand where it fit just fine. Setting it up was a piece of cake. Output from the TV went into the well-marked input on the Acoustabar. Even the cable was included. My TV’s speakers aren’t bad, but the Acoustabar did produce a richer sound.

   I docked my iTouch and had to laugh – it was the biggest dang docking station I’d ever seen! The sound was an improvement over the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere speakers I usually use for listening to music. The AcoustaBar remote has forward/reverse buttons that worked just fine with the iTouch

   I was happy with the Acoustabar. So, I broke down the big box and put it in the recycle can. The next day I sat down to watch a movie & decided to try the surround sound. Yikes! All that came out was a bunch of white noise/static. I checked the connections and turned the Acoustabar on & off. Didn’t help. The Surround Sound wouldn’t work with any of the inputs (iPod, DVD, or TV).

   So, I retrieved the box and returned the soundbar. (In all the years I’ve shopped at Amazon, this was just the 2′nd item I’ve returned. It could not possibly have been easier – I just boxed up the Acoustabar & UPS arrived the next morning and picked it up.)

   I did take some photos and they’re hopefully included at the top of the page. One shows the remote & the other shows the Acoustabar in front of my 37″ TV.
   Rating: 2 / 5

3. Michael D. Eddy Says: August 10th, 2010 at 8:20 pm

   This solved my problem of wanting better sound for my Samsung flat screen without a bunch of speakers and wires. The sound is good – it doesnt’ hint at being 5 speaker surround – but is so much better than the tv that the differnece is remarkable. I also like the ipod capability and I have my Bose cc/radio plugged in to it.
   
   Rating: 4 / 5

4. Tim Says: August 10th, 2010 at 10:10 pm

   The 5.5 inch height definitely will not fit under your /my typical table mounted screen – the clearance on mine is only 4 inches or so & therefore the soundbar blocked the remote on the tv. Also I wasn’t impressed with the sound, there was a difference but it was not $250 worth of difference. Maybe it was the room, long & narrow, but, I got very little if any stereo separation, much less SRS sound & the bass was kinda odd sounding , but, there was bass. Audio systems are very subjective & obviously the prior two reviewers were very pleased, the big thing for me was the physical size, as I needed to place this under my TV on the table & they were just too high & deep to fit. But, hey, with Amazons generous return policy, it doesn’t cost that much to try them out, mileage may vary
   Rating: 2 / 5

5. merlin490 Says: August 10th, 2010 at 10:37 pm

   I got an HD tv and the speakers wouldn’t get loud enough when watching movies. This thing sure helps. Easy to set up and looks good in my living room.
   Rating: 4 / 5

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