Sound bar for Dialogue

Sound absorbing panels worked best for me. The more drivers you have, the harder it will be to get the clarity you desire.

I always agree with having appropriate room treatment as being essential for clarity and tonal balance.

Still, I think having a sound bar is such a great feature to simplify a high system which shares space with the TV.

rdoc, The Zvox I referred to was not incorporated into my 2 channel audio system which I use exclusively for music. I only use the Zvox for TV (in different rooms) and it replaces the 'full range' (haha) speakers in the TV. Great for what it does but I doubt that it would be better than properly driven audio speakers. Re different models, size = bass performance. 

I also use the ZVOX for dialogue on my Samsung TV.  It made a world of difference as I can now hear what people are saying without having to raise the volume.  Mine is at least 8 years old, cost was around $160.00. It sounds better than any sound bar I heard at the time.   It also does bass quite well. 

I keep my 2 channel stereo system completely separate.   I only watch 5 hours of TV weekly at the most. 

I was doing research on these a while back, and the Yamaha YAS-209 got nice reviews and even comes with a subwoofer that’ll likely inject a little more fun into your normal TV experience, and it’s only $299.  Best of luck.