Got a Soundbar & want more low end?

[+GRAVES+]

I bought a stock used soundbar with no speakers. I popped in some sony 6.5" x-plod's and Hooked it up to make sure everything was working.

It just so happens that I had taken off the cover for the interior light (in the middle of the soundbar) before I hooked it up.

It sounded really good, not a ton of bass, but nice low end. I noticed the sound was not only coming from the speakers, but from the holes in the center light. If I covered up the light (the holes) with my hand, the low end all but dissapeared. Anyway to make a long story short, I essentially "ported" my soundbar by accident.

I haven't spent a lot of time messing around with it. I did notice that if I completely removed the center light housing, it produced more low end, but the sound became very un-focused. If ya wanted to spend the time, I am sure you could make a cover plate with a port that is the "perfect size". But what I ended up doing is taking out the center light plate, spraying it black & putting some mesh on the underside to keep out the dirt.

I was gonna add a sub, but this might just do the trick for me since I am not exactly looking for PUMPING low end. Anyway, if your center light is unimportant to you & you want more low end without adding a sub, give it a shot... it worked for me

[SirGCal]

Originally Posted by GRAVESTONE

I bought a stock used soundbar with no speakers. I popped in some sony 6.5" x-plod's and Hooked it up to make sure everything was working.

It just so happens that I had taken off the cover for the interior light (in the middle of the soundbar) before I hooked it up.

It sounded really good, not a ton of bass, but nice low end. I noticed the sound was not only coming from the speakers, but from the holes in the center light. If I covered up the light (the holes) with my hand, the low end all but dissapeared. Anyway to make a long story short, I essentially "ported" my soundbar by accident.

I haven't spent a lot of time messing around with it. I did notice that if I completely removed the center light housing, it produced more low end, but the sound became very un-focused. If ya wanted to spend the time, I am sure you could make a cover plate with a port that is the "perfect size". But what I ended up doing is taking out the center light plate, spraying it black & putting some mesh on the underside to keep out the dirt.

I was gonna add a sub, but this might just do the trick for me since I am not exactly looking for PUMPING low end. Anyway, if your center light is unimportant to you & you want more low end without adding a sub, give it a shot... it worked for me

Add rubberize undercoating to the soundbar interior and add polyfill and you can put the light back in. You're hearing the rear wave which falsely makes the sound appear louder. This is why it's horribly unfocused. It's out of phase. I'm surprised you even say it appears to have more bass. It should have less bass this way. You might have one of your speakers wired out of phase I would expect.

[metfan34]

Try this powered sub, i just installed it in my jeep 2 days ago. gives great low end for a good price... i am very happy with it, it also fits under the rear seat so you do not lose any space in your jeep... see link below

Woofer Dilema Solved

[+GRAVES+]

Originally Posted by SirGCal

Add rubberize undercoating to the soundbar interior and add polyfill and you can put the light back in. You're hearing the rear wave which falsely makes the sound appear louder. This is why it's horribly unfocused. It's out of phase. I'm surprised you even say it appears to have more bass. It should have less bass this way. You might have one of your speakers wired out of phase I would expect.

Thanks for the sub tip, metfan34, but I am trying not to add a sub if I can get away without one.

The speakers are not wired out of phase. The bass did not sound "horribly unfocused". Yes, the low end was absolutely less focused (ok i said "very unfocused") with the center plate *completely* removed. But I dont have the plate completely removed, I just have the clear cover removed & the plate is in place. The center plate has small holes in it, the sound is much more focused than with the entire plate removed and produces more low end than when the plate is completely covered.

It actually sounds really good without having to use polyfill. I used polyfill behind the front speakers to keep to get them sounding better. It didn't really add any low end, but it did keep the soundwave from reflecting back, which caused them to "fart out"

Anyway, it is what it is. If the soundbar sounded unfocused, out of phase, or in any way worse than with the plate covered I would not have posted about it. But I was pleasantly surprised, which is why I posted. If someone is curious how it sounds, all they need to do is pop of the clear light cover & listen. It improved my sound, but YMMV