Do stereo 2-channel passive soundbars exist?

D

dvzzz

Audioholic Intern
I have been looking for a soundbar that is passive and 2-channel only? I have a good sub but need to add decent quality 2-channel bar. Thanks for your help.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
I'm not sure that such a thing exists, as the need for a receiver makes a sound bar almost useless. You're paying hundreds for a single speaker that will never sound as good as a 2 ch stereo.

Can you not spend the money on a pair of decent bookshelf speakers? Sound bars offer only a minor upgrade over TV speakers. To get a truly immersive experience, you need to space those speakers out a bit!
 
Hookedonc4

Hookedonc4

Audioholic
I have been looking for a soundbar that is passive and 2-channel only? I have a good sub but need to add decent quality 2-channel bar. Thanks for your help.
Yes... And you can get great sound. What is your budget?
image.jpeg
 
D

dvzzz

Audioholic Intern
I see your point but I need to place speakers horizontally close to a floor under the projector screen, I am reading that decent horizontal speakers are impossible to find and you cannot place regular speakers on the side because of waveguide issues.
I'm not sure that such a thing exists, as the need for a receiver makes a sound bar almost useless. You're paying hundreds for a single speaker that will never sound as good as a 2 ch stereo.

Can you not spend the money on a pair of decent bookshelf speakers? Sound bars offer only a minor upgrade over TV speakers. To get a truly immersive experience, you need to space those speakers out a bit!
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
Is this for a home theater, or some other application? Cause a single sound bar is going to be very underwhelming for movie watching on a giant screen.

You've already got a receiver, get a pair of these and you'll have $400 left over for stands and whatever else if you need them.
 
Hookedonc4

Hookedonc4

Audioholic
My budget is reasonably modest at $600. What is this soundbar on the picture?
It is a custom 2 channel James loudspeaker sound bar with the new quad-tweeter technology.

We use this with the James A2.1 amp.
 
D

dvzzz

Audioholic Intern
Yes, these are being built for me by Philharmonic. My room arrangement is quite unusual, on one wall of my living room, I have TV, this is where Philharmonic Monitor2s will go, they will have room in the back for the front to breath. My Harman receiver has switchable speaker outputs, on the adjacent wall I have a screen, and when I watch proj I just switch receiver to this pair (that way I share my sub between TV and pro), problem, is that ported speakers have to be against with the wall port to the wall. That is why I thought that Philharmonic's will boom if mounted on the call with mounts.

Is this for a home theater, or some other application? Cause a single sound bar is going to be very underwhelming for movie watching on a giant screen.

.
 
Last edited:
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
Instead of re-orienting yourself, would a perforated, retractable screen not work a lot better? Have the screen drop down over the TV?
 
D

dvzzz

Audioholic Intern
The condo rules do not permit me to mount anything to the ceiling, otherwise that would have been best. Thank you for your thoughts, I may give WaveCrest a listen, and see if I can mount those on the adjacent screen wall. They are still way big for wall mounting. HVL-1 is front ported and specs are not too far apart. Of course Dennis' monitors will keep HVL-1s in the bass department completely.

Instead of re-orienting yourself, would a perforated, retractable screen not work a lot better? Have the screen drop down over the TV?
 
D

dvzzz

Audioholic Intern
Thank you, I saw on your site that you also have on the wall models, was curious to find out if your crossovers are custom calculated based on the size of speakers (assuming custom order)?
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top