How To Mount A Soundbar
Have you ever gone to your buddy’s place and seen this floating speaker under their television? Do you ever wonder why there aren’t any wires connecting the whole thing? And why does it always play sound but never seems to be on?
Well, you’re in the correct place to have all your questions answered. In this article, we’re going to cover how you should go about mounting your soundbar for your sound/home theater system.
How To Mount a Soundbar To Your Television
Mount your soundbar to your wall and you’ve got a speaker in a random place on the wall. So, it would be ideal to mount yours to your TV, or in the general area of your television for the best viewing experience. A few things will be needed for this build but most of the materials and equipment you’re going to use have already been purchased. You wouldn’t be mounting a soundbar if you don’t have a TV yet.
Here is a list of the things you’re going to need:
- Wall Bracket
- Soundbar Screws
- Screwdriver
- Plumbers tape
- Metal cutters
- Drill
- Bracket screws and wall plugs
- The soundbar
- A Television
- A digital stud finder
If you bought a soundbar with a manual and wall bracket installation guide (as the one below), it is advised to use these guides. They will be explained in this article but not focused on.
Why Mount a Soundbar To Your TV?
There are many pros to mounting your soundbar to your TV. The convenience of sound and pleasant aesthetic that the soundbar provides to the room are exceptional. Especially a clean look on your soundbar. Mounting the soundbar to your TV allows both pieces of equipment to move freely while connected. It is convenient if you’re looking to move your TV to a different room or you’re moving from your current place to a different area. The advantages are pretty ideal, with the correct placement of your soundbar, your movie-watching experiences are sublime! Position that soundbar directly perpendicular to your seating area and you’ve got a theater set in your house!
With every good thing comes a bad thing and the disadvantage is the arrangements you have underneath your television. Let us paint you a picture.
Your TV is positioned over a table that holds your remotes, collection of CDs, a couple of your mom’s favorite ornaments, sentimental pieces of knick-knacks, and the odd birthday gift your nana sends you on occasion. This table is directly underneath your TV but you need to mount the soundbar in this area. There won’t be any space for these ornaments. A good place to put all of these unnecessary gifts would be the trash can, but ideally, the basement or the attic.
Where To Mount The Soundbar
You can either mount the soundbar to the TV, underneath the TV to the wall, on top of the TV, or lay it on the table beneath the TV.
On the floating table/desk underneath your TV is an option.
Your soundbar can be mounted to the wall with your television on the top. This image below shows how hanging your soundbar on the wall indicates individuality.
You can have your soundbar mounted to your TV. It’ll look like the soundbar is floating.
The picture shows the back of the TV with the soundbar mounted in place.
Your soundbar could be mounted to your TV with two types of designs, either a flush design or a non-flush design.
You need to plan before drilling any holes. If your soundbar cannot be mounted to your TV, simply place it on a table underneath your television. Check if the soundbar can actually be mounted.
Step 1: Get a Soundbar Mount
The mount attaches to the back of the TV and two arms mount the soundbar to the TV. The soundbar is actually attached to these two hanging arms. The advantage of these arms is the fact that you don’t have to drill any more holes into your wall. Your soundbar is connected to your TV and moves with your TV.
Step 2: Television placement
- Get your TV on a flat surface.
- Remove your TV from its mounted position (if necessary) and lay it on a flat surface, preferably on your bed or a table with a cloth on the hard surface.
Tip of the day= Make sure your screws are long enough!
- If your TV has already been mounted, that’s the place you’re going to work with.
- If you just moved your television into this room, locate an ideal place for your TV. Preferably in the eye-line of where you’re going to sit.
Step 2 a: Stud Finder
Use your stud finder to locate any pillars or structure behind the drywall. You’re going to drill into these studs to provide a sturdier feel for your brackets. Do not mount your brackets into any drywall without a stud at the back. We don’t want your TV falling in the middle of the night.
Step 3: Connection
Before we jump into the wiring, there is a trick you can use for your cables.
- Measure and cut a strip of plumbers tape with a pair of metal cutters. This is not actual tape but it does hold your wires up. If you have a saggy connection, the audio will be disrupted and you can cause damage to your wires.
- Place this tape with the hole matching the screw hole. Leave a little gap in the middle for your wires to come through.
- Connect the HDMI cable to the “HDMI In” port of the TV.
- Connect the HDMI cable to the “HDMI Out” port of the subwoofer next.
If an HDMI cable is not present or does not correspond to the build at hand, use an Optical cable as its replacement.
Tip of the day 2= Use some zip ties to clamp the wires together so that they aren’t in sight!
- Connect the soundbar cable to allow power.
If your soundbar comes with a power brick, use double-sided tape to mount the power supply to your TV.
If you are using fiber optic cable, ensure that the cable is not bending. A bent fiber cable can distort your sound and eventually cut the sound entirely.
Step 4: Brackets
With your TV laying on the flat surface, grab your mount brackets. This piece of equipment works perfectly for mounting and it has a rotatory cap to adjust between a flush or non-flush design. This step is all about preference and will be different for every user.
- Place the bracket on the desired location of the screws.
- Eyeball how far up or down you want the soundbar to sit.
- Bring your soundbar under your tv, facing down.
- Align the soundbar according to whichever screw hole you want it to sit.
The screw hole is placed on the back of your soundbar. Make sure that your bracket hole is aligned to your screw hole.
- Adjust the soundbar to your liking and specific design features before putting in any screws.
Step 5: Screws
Once your brackets are lined up, you can use your screwdriver to secure the screws in your soundbar and TV. You have two options here:
- You can either screw them in while on the flat surface
OR
- You can screw them in while the TV is in its mounted position (as depicted in the picture above)
Hang your TV and soundbar up to its mount and there you have it! However, there is an alternatively easier method. Steps 1, 2, and 3 from the above method can be done before using this method, so we will be looking at Alternative Step 4. If you do have the mounting guide, follow their guide with these quick steps.
Alternative Guide To Mounting Soundbar To Wall
Alternative Step 4: Brackets
- Attach the two sheets of guide paper
- Place them firmly up against the wall so the “TV Center” is aligned with the center of the TV.
- Grab your wall brackets to align them according to the screw holes on the guide.
- Drill your screws into the wall, keeping the brackets in the wall.
- Remove the guide paper.
Now that you have your brackets securely on the wall, you can mount your TV and soundbar. With the cables secured to the back of your TV, the power outlet might be a problem. This doesn’t stop you from running wire straight to your outlet, so what if one cable comes out of your system? That can be a great conversation starter when people come over!
Conclusion
We have come to the end of this guide with your TV and soundbar firmly mounted to your wall. We would like to take this opportunity to mention that the steps do not have to be done in that precise order. You can mix it up here and there but make sure that you don’t mount your soundbar before installing secure brackets. With that being said, enjoy the DIY project at your pace and stay tuned to more DIY guides.
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