which is the best among LG SNC4R 420w 4.1 ch and LG LHB625 5.1 ch 1000w blue ray play

[rupeshforu3]

Hi I am Rupesh from India and I am planning to buy a nice home theatre with 5.1 channel or 4.1 channel and more than 400 Watt including Dolby digital or Dolby digital Plus and DTS.

I am providing a lot of text so kindly try to read keenly and answer properly.

Basically I want to listen to mp3 files through USB port in the home theatre I want to buy. I don't have interest in watching high quality movies in the player I am going to buy. So I don't need any dvd player to be included in the product I want to buy.

I have done a lot of research on home theatre about how to get best quality sound through speakers.

At present all companies like Sony, LG, Samsung are selling Home Theatre Systems without any dvd player or blue ray player.

Another interesting thing is that many of them are selling Home Theatre Systems with only two components they are sub woofer and sound bar. Some are coming with only one component which is sound bar and nothing else.

Four to five years back all of the major companies sold all of the following components.

1) Audio Video receiver also called amplifier which is the main component and also includes dvd player or blue ray player.
2) Sub woofer
3) two front speakers
4) two rear or surround speakers


Unfortunately manufacturing of Home Theatre Systems which includes dvd player or blue ray player has been stopped.

I have seen specifications of the latest Home Theatre Systems now they are called Sound Bars. They have specified in their website that those products have Dolby, DTS etc.,. But I have seen the remote control of those products but I can't find entries for Dolby or DTS etc.

I have seen specifications of old model Home Theatre Systems and they have specified in their website that those products have Dolby or DTS. I have examined the remote control of those products but this time I found entries for Dolby or DTS, surround sound etc..

Latest models have only options for play, pause, next, previous, stop, source and nothing else.

After a lot of searching I found two products which I think they are suitable for my needs and budget. They are

1) LG SNC4R 420w 4.1 ch which is latest and it is called Sound Bar.

2) LG LHB625 5.1 ch 1000w blue ray player which is old model.

Latest model has the following features
1) output power is 420 Watt.
2) wireless Sub woofer with 200 Watt.
3) one sound bar which may include two speakers integrated.
4) two surround speakers.
5) supports Dolby and DTS
6) manufactured around 2023
7) supports bluetooth.

Old model has the following features
1) output power is 1000 Watt.
2) wired Sub woofer.
3) two wired front speakers.
4) two wired rear or surround speakers.
5) Amplifier with blue ray dvd player included.
6) Manufactured around 2018
7) supports bluetooth, Dlna.

I have chosen these two products because they provide more speakers at reasonable prices.

I am providing the speciation pages of the two products below.

https://www.lg.com/levant_en/sound-systems/lg-snc4r

https://gscs-b2c.lge.com/downloadFil...uPpdf33XZD7vhQ

Now my question is if I buy the latest version which is sound bar it doesn't have options for Dolby or DTS in remote control.

If I buy old model there are a number of features which includes dvd player, 1000 Watt. Here the owner manual consists of the following lines

Digital Output
[Auto]
Select if you connect this unit’s HDMI OUT
jack to a device with LPCM, Dolby Digital,
Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD
decoder or digital decoder.

When [Digital Output] option is set to
[Auto], the audio may output as bitstream.
If the bitstream information is not detected
from HDMI device with EDID, the audio may
output as PCM.

If the [Digital Output] option is set to [DTS
Re-Encode], the DTS Re-Encode audio is
outputted for BD-ROM discs with secondary
audio and the original audio is outputted for
the other discs (like [Auto]).

This setting is not available on the input
signal from an external device

I can't understand whether this old model outputs Dolby or DTS effects through speakers when playing mp3 files.

I have another doubt ie as the old model is manufactured five years back can I think it don't contain highly durable and reliable components. New model is manufactured a year back and so can I think it has highly durable and reliable components.

Kindly try to suggest which is the best for listening mp3 files.

Suggestions from all of you is helpful and valuable to me because it helps to choose the right product. So suggest whatever you think.

Regards,
Rupesh.

[Emulgator]

.mp3 files can be played back as long as they can be decoded.
You can listen to .mp3 (playback decode, adjust and amplify) using what you like.
It is a lossy format anyway, most of the time encoded from 2.0 channels, far from Hi-End, so big spending for .mp3 is a bit of a contradiction.
If a decent PA is there, your listening experience may still benefit.
In your case the usual 2.0 channel mp3 will be played as you set the upmix in the preamp.

.mp3 files are not Dolby files, so can not contain anything a Dolby decoder can work on.
There is no Dolby "effect" anyway (except the headphone thingy), just decoding of the Dolby family of lossy formats.

.mp3 files are not DTS files, so can not contain anything a DTS decoder can work on.
There is no DTS "effect" anyway, just decoding of the DTS family of lossy formats.

...another doubt ie as the old model is manufactured five years back can I think it don't contain highly durable and reliable components.
New model is manufactured a year back and so can I think it has highly durable and reliable components.

Think of it vice versa.
For the latest devices engineers are held to design them to be light as possible, contain only the bare minimum of material.
They are built to last only for the warranty time, and most of the time they aren't repairable.
(I repair audio components since 1979. The 50 year old designs from the 60's/70's can still be repaired, the 2010/2020 designs most of the time not.)

.mp3 from USB Stick, Disc, Wired Network (LAN), Bluetooth
Guessing you may want to play .mp3 from your mobile phone you would want Bluetooth transmission.
Well: Both devices have Bluetooth. The LHB does not allow multi-pairing, though, so only one mobile phone, no Phone-DJ party

Next: A sound bar can not cope with separate speaker cabinets.
It is just a way to hide too small speakers in too small enclosures for everyday use so that the wife does not object,
and for a steep price. (Bose paved the way)

You may choose dependent on space availability:
If you want to party, you may want to go for the LG player with amplifier inside and separate speaker enclosures
(these I haven't seen here in Germany, so I can not speak for reliability of a India market "1000W" amplifier system within a Blu-ray player),
but 160W per channel should be sufficient for a 5.1 system. And you get an almost-any-disc-player with it, up to 3D-Bluray, no UHD.

With sound bar you are restricted soundwise and spacewise. It is only 5 speakers (4.1) ranging from 23 W to 33W.
One year (!) warranty. Do not ask for repair, see above.