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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
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Dan,
I think the soundbar has ports in it.  Block those and you might stop the boom.  You will lose bass.

It really stinks that almost all tv's these days have down or rear firing speakers.  They are all designed for wall mounting. Doesn't Vizio realize that most of us would gladly pay an extra $50 to get a tv with good built in speakers that are front firing.
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
elevick
Sorry to disagree, but I doubt his soundbar has ports. My Vizio is about 1 1/2 years old and it has passive radiators, as did all the ones in that series. Not sure about the very latest ones, but if they did have ports, I doubt he could get to them without some serious disassembly.
ifmywordsdidglow
16 posts
 
I'd be surprised if the Vizio had passive radiators only because they are typically more expensive to produce but I could be wrong, I'm not very familiar with the brand. The only thing I can think would be to put some type of damping material behind the soundbar...like a dark rolled up soft blanket or pillows or something to absorb sound that is bouncing around in the cabinet. Sometimes putting a speaker in a place like that is going to give you that tunnel sound. How much space is around the edges of the speaker and behind it? 
dancub OP
74 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.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,543 posts
 
If your Visio has an HDMI ARC outlet and your TV has one as well, try that. I had the same problem as you with dialog (but for different reasons) and going from optical to HDMI solved the problem. In fact, everything sounds better.

All the best,
Nonoise
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