Recessing a soundbar questions?

PhilJW

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Hi all

Can anyone clarify the best solution for the following please?

I am moving my setup to be on a chimney breast.

The fireplace below is empty (ie no fire and never likely to put one in) and so I was going to put all the kit (Sky, Bluray etc) into this as it would make the cabling easier (drop it all down the chimney).

I have a Yamaha YSP-2200 sound bar which will be mounted under the TV. My idea was (again for ease of cabling) to put the soundbar on the top shelf in the fireplace but level with the opening.

However the installer who is going to fit the TV tells me I shouldnt do this as it will really mess up the sound due to it being in an enclosed space, and he recommends mounting it on a shelf under the screen on the front of the chimney breast.

I've seen plenty of speakers/soundbars in recesses in the past with no apparent loss of quality so my question is this.....is he correct?

Will placing the soundbar in a recess space really mess up the sound and I sould mount it on a flat wall?

All help appreciated.
 
Hi, I think your installer wants an easy life!
There will be no effect on the sound from the 16 tiny front firing drivers by insetting the speaker in the wall.

Please see my AVforum avatar and photo's posted by me in other threads to see loads of inset speakers
including Soundbars with their feet removed for better aesthetics.

4mm clearance all round is typical.

Steve
 
Thanks but I maybe didnt word my original post right.

In your opinion would there be any issues with putting it in the fireplace?

ie it would be in a large open space with a lot of clearance all around, especially underneath. Would this not act as an 'echo chamber'?

Many thanks
 
There wouldnt any sound escaping backwards or forwards if you only had a 4mm gap around it. You would find if you put the soundbar on the wall opposite the fireplace you might have more of a problem. A way of checking sound reflections (this is more for sound acoustic treatment but will give you a idea) is to sit where you would to watch a movie, get someone to hold a mirror against the wall and move it till you can see the sound bar. This would be where the sound would be bouncing off your wall to your ear (this is a bit more sketchy with xx amount of little speakers in the soundbar) but if you have a big hole in a wall where the sound is going to hit off to thats where you will hear a problem.
 
Just for clarity if I used the picture attached (borrowed from a previous thread and its not my set up) would I cause problems if the sound bar was where the arrow is pointing.

ie on the top shelf in the fireplace rather than recessed into the wall?
 

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The picture you picked is one of my projects with glass shelves.
The shelves are toughened glass 350mm deep and protrude around 200mm from the front face of the false wall.

If your Soundbar is to go on a similar shelf set back then the sound would be slightly affected by reflections from the glass underneath and in front of the speaker. Not the end of the world but avoid it if you can.
If the Soundbar was at the front of the shelf with no overhang underneath you will be fine.
If the Soundbar was on a glass shelf but the glass and speaker are flush with the wall you will also be fine.

Hope this helps

Steve
 
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The picture you picked is one of my projects with glass shelves.
The shelves are toughened glass 350mm deep and protrude around 200mm from the front face of the false wall.

If your Soundbar is to go on a similar shelf set back then the sound would be slightly affected by reflections from the glass underneath and in front of the speaker. Not the end of the world but avoid it if you can.
If the Soundbar was at the front of the shelf with no overhang underneath you will be fine.
If the Soundbar was on a glass shelf but the glass and speaker are flush with the wall you will also be fine.

Hope this helps

Steve


Hi

Thanks everyone for all your help.

One last question though - if I had as Steve puts it "the Soundbar was on a glass shelf but the glass and speaker are flush with the wall" on the top shelf but then the shelves below (Sky etc) protrude from the wall further out would this cause problems?

ie would the sound reflect off the shelf below because the lower shelf sticks out further?

Thank you again

Phil
 
the effect of sound reflections from a lower shelf would be minimal.
 
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