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Can I use 2 soundbars on each side of tv?

  • 3 September 2022
  • 14 replies
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S

2 Soundbars, ONE on each side of TV??? 

In the house we are currently building, I prefer to NOT have the soundbar sitting on the fireplace mantle under the tv. (the whole idea of having a frame tv is to keep it from screaming ‘I’m a TV’)  I’ll have cabinets with shelves on each side of the fireplace. I’m wondering if I can use 2 soundbars - one on each side of the tv/fireplace on the shelves?  Or just one soundbar off to one side of the tv?  I’m concerned that will make the sound weird if its not centered.  Or is there another sonos option - maybe a surround system - that would allow me to not have a speaker centered on the fireplace below the tv but still provide great sound and clear dialogue?

Thanks for any help you guys can give!

 

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Best answer by ratty 3 September 2022, 18:20

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14 replies

ratty

In short, this won’t work.

One soundbar takes a feed from the TV. The second would have to be grouped with it, and would suffer a small but obvious network delay. The second bar would also only deliver stereo, not surround.

And that’s before considering the acoustic nightmare of a Left/Centre/Right to the left of the TV and another LCR to the right…

 

I suggest you look into getting a Sonos Amp, with your choice of passive speakers mounted either side of the TV.

The Amp generates a phantom centre channel, for speech etc., and can optionally support wireless Sonos surround speakers and Subs.

S

@ratty Thanks for the reply and explaining why it won’t work.  I especially appreciate suggestions of an alternative that might work and will check it out!  :-)

 

K

I suggest you look into getting a Sonos Amp, with your choice of passive speakers mounted either side of the TV.

The Amp generates a phantom centre channel, for speech etc., and can optionally support wireless Sonos surround speakers and Subs.

This works brilliantly - my dedicated to TV room has just this configuration albeit not with a Sonos Amp, with quality speakers on either side of the TV even negating the need for a Sub.

The only problem with the phantom centre channel is that you cannot change the sound levels of the dialogue independently. My solution for that has been subtitles for English movies as well. The benefit of getting used to this is the opening a huge window of movies in other languages that can be watched in the native language - no need for the dubbed in English versions that even at the best of times, seem lacking in impact.

The other big advantage of this is that if you are accustomed to listening to music in stereo the right way, from a speaker pair placed in front with the correct distance between the two speakers, no bar can deliver results for music play that are close to what this configuration can.

K

PS - as a follow on to the above - the placement of speakers that delivers the best results for how stereo music sounds is also the same needed for an effective phantom centre channel; in both cases the same external stimuli is tricking the brain into creating much the same illusion.

A friend of mine in another city watched Top Gun Maverick at home last night with some friends and I helped him rearrange his speaker placement from what it was before - not optimal. With just some tweaking of that, his response to me was - is my music also sounding better now, or am I just imagining things? I wanted to reply yes and yes because fundamentally, an effective phantom channel and a good stereo music sound stage are both imagined effects - but I let that pass because I was too tired to explain further!

S

@Kumar  Thank you for the reply.  I love good music and appreciate high quality sound but my main concern when watching a movie or TV is being able to clearly understand what the characters are saying.  Honestly, we mostly watch sports and aren’t big tv watchers in general. That said, when I do invest time in a movie or series, I want to enjoy the visuals, sounds, background music, and especially dialogue.  IMO - reading subtitles takes away from fully immersing yourself into the visuals and picking up on subtleties provided by the on-screen environment or expressions on characters’ faces.  Hopefully I can get it set up well enough that using subtitles won’t be a consideration.  Thanks again.

K

@SandyBrown It really comes down to what you watch. Movies like Casablanca, no issues. Ditto for MSNBC or other news channels. Or David Attenborough’s latest planet show. The dialogue will appear to come from the TV that has its speakers muted, and no speaker below it, to an extent that feels eerie if you stop to think about it!

Sports should also not be a problem. Or musicals.

But something like the latest Jurassic Park and dialogues may struggle - you may have to struggle to hear all the lines if you also want to hear/feel all the sound effects, and even if you dial those down, dialogue will also go down.

Stanley_4
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You might want to look for some speakers in this form factor, in vertical mode they will do nicely sitting beside a TV.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_714RP640D/Klipsch-Reference-Premiere-RP-640D.html

S

@Stanley_4   I appreciate the reply!  However, we will have a frame TV hanging on the fireplace above the mantle which is meant to disguise the fact that there’s even a tv there unless we’re watching it.  So the goal is to have no speakers below, above, or beside the tv and have them located on the bookshelves to either side of the fireplace. We also prefer to stick with Sonos if possible so we can play music on them throughout our house and back patio using the app . We own several other Sonos speakers already.

But thanks so much for weighing in! I’m sure those Klipsch are great speakers!  :-)   

S

@Kumar   Thank you - Sounds like you know your stuff!  I appreciate the shared experience and knowledge! 

K

 have them located on the bookshelves to either side of the fireplace.

To ensure a phantom centre channel effect your listening distance from the speakers should be equal to or more than the distance between the speakers; ideally it should be the same, but more is ok. 

Less is NOT ok because that can leave the perceived sound stage to have a hole in it exactly where you do not want it for TV sound - in the middle!

S

@Kumar   I can def make that spacing work.  Speakers will be approx 10.5 feet apart.  Seating will be about 12’ away from tv/speakers.  Thank you!

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

@Stanley_4   I appreciate the reply!  However, we will have a frame TV hanging on the fireplace above the mantle which is meant to disguise the fact that there’s even a tv there unless we’re watching it.  So the goal is to have no speakers below, above, or beside the tv and have them located on the bookshelves to either side of the fireplace. We also prefer to stick with Sonos if possible so we can play music on them throughout our house and back patio using the app . We own several other Sonos speakers already.

But thanks so much for weighing in! I’m sure those Klipsch are great speakers!  :-)   

I have no idea how the Klipsch sound, I was looking at the form factor and the sound coming from a larger vertical distribution. If that design speaker, available from several vendors, doesn’t fit your shelves then pick the form factor that fits and is going to sound best.

I had similar speakers with my AVR, different brand Infinity TSS 4000, and preferred having them to the sides of the screen at screen height. Tried floor level and it sounded odd. I messed with the center channel, trying above and below the screen. I liked above for the sound but the speaker weight that high on my TV cabinet mount was just too wobbly. My Arc is now below the TV, if not for the wobble issue it would likely be above no matter how that impacted the Atmos setup.

If you are going to stick to Sonos speakers, well there aren’t any. Sonos does partner with Sonance and sells customized versions of some of theirs. No bookshelf types though.

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/architectural

K

@SandyBrown There are plenty of bookshelf speakers that will suit, but my experience is limited to UK/EU makes, that, when available in the US, tend to be overpriced. But that apart, Dali Denmark make excellent sounding and looking speakers, that should suit a Sonos Amp very well, once a correct pick is made from their range. I have one of their smallest and also cheapest models in my dedicated to TV room, flanking a big plasma TV and they do full justice to the much costlier TV in delivering the combined audio visual effect.

The thing about speakers though: preference for how they sound is a subjective thing. And how they sound depends on where in what room they are installed. Ideally therefore you should be making the final selection after a listening test at home, with the speakers placed in the target space.

Good luck with the house build!

K

And the last time I did a reader the favour of a link, Sonos rapped my knuckles, so you will have to look this one up on the Dali site yourself:

OPTICON LCR MK2

It may be the perfect one for you. 

But only after an audition.

This one is made in Denmark. Not China. For what that may be worth.

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