Dayton Audio BS36 36" LCR Speaker Bar Black

Great sound- easy to connect

UPDATE 6/5/17 Dropped from 5 to 2 stars.I am not sure what happened. The sound just changed over time. Not sure if it got broken in or just broken. I started noticing that the dialog sounded all muffled. It was getting hard to hear the dialog as if if something was covering the speaker. I spent hours going through my receiver thinking that I changed a setting by accident. I fooled around with the sub crossover, speaker size, bass/treble, etc. Nothing would produce the results explained in the review below. I did however push the speaker back further onto the cabinet from where it was once, sitting right on the front edge. I went back to my Klipsch quintet (old version) speakers with separate front, left, right, and was impressed with the sound. I demoted this speaker to the living room where it seldom gets used. At least it looks great in that room.BOTTOM LINE: Your mileage may vary based on your gear, room, and lifestyle. If you absolutely need a passive bar, go with this one; there aren't many out there. It's probably safe to bet that this would not perform better or as well as a real separate surround sound speaker setup.END UPDATE--------------I have a klipsch reference series set of home theater speakers wired to a $600 Yamaha receiver. After moving, I didn't want the clutter of big box speakers in my den and didn't want the hassle of mounting the tv so I could fit the massive klipsch center channel speaker. I also did not want to give up my receiver and the hdmi switching for all of my devices, and wanted to use my sub. This led me to the passive sound bar arena. Pickins are slim. Most sound bars are powered. This speaker was the shortest in height and was cheaper than the current offerings. I am very impressed with the sound. I was critical of the paper woofers but this sounds really great. Separation between center and r/l channels are non existent, but that was to be expected. Listening to optimum tv and xbox one hbo go tv sounds great. I can't believe how clear and crisp the dialog is. The receiver is set to small speakers with a +5 level bump to the center channel, and the crossover set to 90. I definitely recommend use a sub. If I didn't already have one I would go for the dayton sub. The soundbar wattage is rated pretty low so I don't suspect your going to be able to crank it. It has key-hole mounts on the back as well as threaded inserts so you can use after market mounts. The rubber feet are a nice touch. It will be needed to reach a desired angle. Otherwise, you can just sit it right on your tv stand and it will sit straight. I will report back as I play with it more. I have to mention the packaging too. Top-notch. It gave me the feeling of unwrapping something of great quality and luxury. Dayton is the house brand of the company Parts Express. Very reputable among the AVS Forum DIYers.

I didn't want fancy electronics or faux surround sound. All I needed to do was get rid of an ugly center channel and I wanted to use the other two speakers on left and right to give my system 7.1 instead of 5.1. This speaker works beautifully for that. Strip the wire down to copper and insert it into the left and right grips and you are done. Took me 5 minutes to set it up and the sounds is as good as the high end bulky center speaker I used to have.If you want to pretty up your center channel, or add two additional speakers to get your room to 7.1 you can't go wrong with this.Beats the heck out of a competitive product I saw on Amazon around Christmas time which was $500. Three speakers in a slim box and no electronics for $500!$150 is still a bit of change but certainly much better than $500. Great value and comes in a great looking black lacquer cabinet. Doesn't look cheap at all...in fact is rather high end looking (and sounding).

This obviously isn't going to provide exceptional sound at this price and size. However, it is very good for use for use with a second television such as in a bedroom. I matched it with 10' subwoofer and the sound is pretty good. You'll be happy with it if you have realistic expectations.

Had just mounted my plasma on the wall and wanted to get rid of the multitude of speakers and speaker wire running up the front wall. Hard to find a good, inexpensive Left, Center, Right passive speaker. This fit the bill. Has multiple ways to mount in, I used 2 screws into the wood paneling wall and used the keyholes on the back of the speaker. Seems very sturdy.The sound is phenomenal for the price. Even at full price this speaker is very inexpensive for what is in essence a passive soundbar. While watching Longmire on Netflix last night I was hearing sounds I never heard before, like a leather chair squeaking while somebody was moving around in it.I paired it with the Dayton Audio SAT-BK Satellite Speakers. Very happy with the purchase.

Tonal quality is mediocre. The speaker physically looks nice but the audio is lacking. It works for our particular scenario as the size of the speaker fits the space perfectly.

I'm really impressed with this speaker. I'm no expert, but the sound and build quality is far better than I expected at this price. The speaker cabinet is heavy-duty and has a nice gloss black finish. Note that this is not a typical powered soundbar that attaches directly to your TV, like you might see at Best Buy. It is a passive speaker bar with left, center, and right-channel speakers built into one enclosure. You need a separate A/V receiver to send sound to it. The speaker bar uses separate spring-loaded terminals (positive and negative) to connect your speaker wire to each speaker. I have mine paired with a subwoofer and surround speakers. TV shows and movies sound great.

Purchased for a small apartment and am very pleased with the results. Sharp, clear highs and lows. Makes my TV sound 100% better (smart TV is in a corner of room, so the TV speakers are not very effective). I'm very happy with the sound bar.

Replaced two large floor standing speakers and a large centre channel speaker with this sound bar. The general idea was to reduce the clutter in the lounge and make the TV/Projector viewing area more pleasing to be in. The big floor standing speakers and gear had dominated our lounges for 30 years and it was time for a change.Note this is used with a big Yamaha subwoofer and a Denon AVR with the AVR speaker front/centre/left set to "small".Pros: Much sleeker, works well with a Denon AVR. Much less floor space now taken up. Panning noises across the front of a movie no longer have the slight tonal change we used to have from a slightly mis-matched centre speaker.Cons: Thin sounding speaker overall, doesn't have the massive punch the old floor standing speakers had. Separation between the left and right isn't as pleasing as two widely space floor standing speakers.Overall: Mission accomplished but some compromises compared to full size speakers