2. home-theater
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Sound bar in a box . . . can't understand dialog.

We have a large credenza in our bedroom that houses the TV, video gear and sound bar (a modest Visio) facing the bed. It's become our favorite movie theater. Think a 4'x3'x8' box with doors on front. The "booming" caused by the interior reverb of the credenza box makes any dialog unintelligible.  Tried moving it out a bit when open (a pain) as well as adjusting out lower freq.s and boosting treble. No luck.  

Any suggestions on something more creative would be much appreciated!

ALERT! Wife is an interior designer so anything that does not fit inside box is not acceptable. 
dancub

Showing 5 responses by dancub

dancub OP
50 posts
 
elevick
Thanks. The soundbar is currently connected to the Vizio via the optical link. The Vizio speakers are turned off.  Setup works fine as far as getting signal to soundbar and the soundbar is working. I'm pretty sure I'm dealing with box resonances with my difficulty understanding dialog.
Dan
dancub OP
50 posts
 
So I did a quick check and no ports, at least not available to mess with (could be under the glued on fabric).

However, I pulled the soundbar out of where it sits inside the armoire (box) and set it about a foot in front of the armoire on a stool.  Dialog seemed more distinct. So one solution for watching movies is to build a way to do that simply, perhaps a fold/slide out shelf.  We're not heavy TV watchers so that's not a major suck.  Just got to be able to make it invisible when not in use. 

The other alternative, I suppose, is to find some small speakers to hang on the front doors so when they open, they swing outside the box. I do have a pair of small B&Ws that are not in use. Then the issue is no center speaker . . . hummmmm.
dancub OP
50 posts
 
tls49
Thanks. I’ll ck the model number in the morning. I suspect there’s no center speaker since it was sort of bottom of the line. The free standing approach I tried worked somewhat but would be a pain to set up each use. The next rainy day I’m going to try hanging the extra speakers for the heck of it. My reasoning is that this “box” is extremely heavy, ancient hardwood and not very resonate itself. I think the issue may be reflections inside. 

Everybody
All the suggestions got my brain going, thanks! Time to experiment...which is half the fun😊
dancub OP
50 posts
 
Re: pillows...Damn, I like that! Will try the experiment.

Re: the wife thing...this is my second pass...don't think I'll try that experiment again.

Re: better soundbar.  Actually, I think this one is dying so may be in the cards.

Cheers, Dan
dancub OP
50 posts
 
I did something similar, threw together a patchwork of left over mini-monitors with an old Kyocera receiver.  The monitors are attached to the doors so they swing out of the credenza cavity and don't excite the volume like the soundbar did.  

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