Sound bars get poo-poo-ed, but they are undeniably convenient, and there are a few that sound really good in the right room.
One of the problems with modern AVRs has to be the sheer number of speakers involved. Even 5.1 seems simple relative to the latest height enabled systems...
I think this is where wireless speaker systems have so far missed an opportunity. What they need is a small I/O component to communicate with source and TV, and software that can support a modular number of powered wireless speakers so you can simple scale by adding more speakers and running a set-up routine to calibrate according to number and placement
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