Hi!
I was thinking on building a passive 2 channel (L/R) soundbar for watching tv and movies and stumbled across this forum, so I thought I might aswell ask the experts for advice 🙂
My plan is to buy a Denon AVR with crossover (X1800H), plus a sub (maybe if this build goes well I will build one).
I only have a 120cm (47 inches) gap for the soundbar (it will be very close to a wall on one side).
The room is about 13sqm (140 sqf), and the distance to the soundbar will be about 3m (10 feet).
I asked deepseek and it came with this recommendations:
It also recommended the following drivers and tweeters (from cheaper to more expensive):
Drivers:
Are there any better alternatives (available in UK/Europe)? is the difference between the medium priced ones and the most expensive noticeable for just tv and watching movies?
If I build the enclosure deep enough, can I just put the tv on top of it or is this a no-no?
If I use an AVR with crossover I assume I don't need any other kind of electronics, right?
Should I add an extra centre Driver/Tweeter, or just L/R will be enough?
Many thanks for you time!
I was thinking on building a passive 2 channel (L/R) soundbar for watching tv and movies and stumbled across this forum, so I thought I might aswell ask the experts for advice 🙂
My plan is to buy a Denon AVR with crossover (X1800H), plus a sub (maybe if this build goes well I will build one).
I only have a 120cm (47 inches) gap for the soundbar (it will be very close to a wall on one side).
The room is about 13sqm (140 sqf), and the distance to the soundbar will be about 3m (10 feet).
I asked deepseek and it came with this recommendations:
- Use 15mm MDF.
- Position full-range driver and tweeter at least 5–7 cm from the sides and top/bottom edges.
- Put the driver and tweeter on top of each other, to minimize interference between drivers and provides better vertical dispersion. Is this something to bear in mind or doesn't matter much in this context?
- Angle the left and right channel drivers slightly outward (e.g., 10–15 degrees) to improve stereo separation and soundstage width. Is this also worth doing if we're going to watch movies in direct line with the soundbar?
It also recommended the following drivers and tweeters (from cheaper to more expensive):
Drivers:
- Visaton FR 10-8 (4 Ohm, 10 W, 4" Full-Range) Frequency Response: 100 Hz – 20 kHz
- Dayton Audio PC105-8 (4" Full-Range, 8 Ohm, 30 W) Frequency Response: 85 Hz – 20 kHz
- Tang Band W4-1337SDF (4" Full-Range, 8 Ohm, 30 W) Frequency Response: 75 Hz – 20 kHz
- Visaton SC 10-8 (8 Ohm, 10 W, 1" Soft Dome Tweeter) Frequency Response: 2 kHz – 20 kHz
- Dayton Audio ND25FA-4 (1" Soft Dome Tweeter, 4 Ohm, 25 W) Frequency Response: 3 kHz – 20 kHz
- Seas Prestige 27TFFNC/G (H1212) (1" Soft Dome Tweeter, 8 Ohm, 50 W) Frequency Response: 2 kHz – 30 kHz
Are there any better alternatives (available in UK/Europe)? is the difference between the medium priced ones and the most expensive noticeable for just tv and watching movies?
If I build the enclosure deep enough, can I just put the tv on top of it or is this a no-no?
If I use an AVR with crossover I assume I don't need any other kind of electronics, right?
Should I add an extra centre Driver/Tweeter, or just L/R will be enough?
Many thanks for you time!
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Greets!
Start by doing a scaled plan view to find the requisite polar responses required as to whether you'll need a CC, angled speakers and to find optimal XO point for FR/tweeter.
If the box isn't divided into separate channels, then the vertically oriented drivers should ideally be at its open pipe odd harmonics.
Can't think of a reason not to put the TV on top, just need to make sure your box is sufficiently rigid/massive to support it and maybe need some feet/stand isolation and of course will need some side wall damping.
No clue about consumer products nor driver choices before polars done as these dictate driver frame size/XO point.
You're welcome!
Start by doing a scaled plan view to find the requisite polar responses required as to whether you'll need a CC, angled speakers and to find optimal XO point for FR/tweeter.
If the box isn't divided into separate channels, then the vertically oriented drivers should ideally be at its open pipe odd harmonics.
Can't think of a reason not to put the TV on top, just need to make sure your box is sufficiently rigid/massive to support it and maybe need some feet/stand isolation and of course will need some side wall damping.
No clue about consumer products nor driver choices before polars done as these dictate driver frame size/XO point.
You're welcome!
You're welcome! Sadly, no longer set up to do drawings, but here's some examples online, though not with audio polars, but there's lots of folks here with CAD skills to whip one up if you get them the room's, furniture, etc. dimensions.
You might want to consider whether a stable "dialogue" center is not more important to you. If directed outward the "phantom center" will disappear or move more quickly for spectators outside the ideal listening spot.
Also, if you have a wall near the speaker you want to minimize early reflections from that wall.
It will influence the radiation pattern and (depending on the distance between actual baffle and tv screen) extend the efffective baffle.
Here is a speaker project using the visaton FR10 (german).
And this is a quick and dirty measurement of the same driver I did, with and without whizzer cone:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/your-favorite-4-wide-band-driver.416330/post-7766235
The visaton is a rather old fashioned driver, not bad, not exceptional.
You still need a crossover between "woofer" and tweeter.
Yes, I think I'll point them straight, this is were the soundbar will be, I can replace the cabinet with a shorter one, or hang the tv on the wall.
The need for a crossover makes sense now, thanks for clarifying!
The need for a crossover makes sense now, thanks for clarifying!
Why 2-channel only? Center channel is very important and much better than 2-channel "phantom image". Build soundbar with 3 fullranges, one of them in the exact center. Later you can add 2 surround boxes and one subwoofer. Any AVR will drive them correctly. Any AVR has "croosover" built-in - it is a high-pass filter (label loudspeakers/soundbar drivers as "small" in the AVR menu, when you have a subwoofer).
Build soundbar with 3 equal-volume ported enclosures and tune each of them to 70 Hz (use freee WinISD and input fullrange's Thiele-Small parameters). No need to angle outward L and R drivers.
You don't need a tweeter if you choose fullrange driver.
Dayton RS100P-4 is very good and not expensive:
https://www.soundimports.eu/en/dayton-audio-rs100p-4.html
Yes, you can put TV on top of the soundbar enclosure.
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Oh, I read that they are so close that center won't make a difference?
Thanks for the tip on full range, that simplifies the build as I believe that with full range I won't need a crossover as that will be managed by the AVR, right?
It will have difference for all listeners not positioned in the dead center axis.
Fullrange drivers don't need crossover.
Fullrange drivers don't need crossover.
Dayton RS100P-4 doesn't seem to be available in the UK, would Dayton RS100P-8 or Dayton Audio PS95-8 also work? I can get both for the same price.