How to Make Your Own Soundbar : 8 Steps

Thank you to 123Toid for this build! : Youtube -- Website

I have a living room that had a really cheap Samsung sound bar that we picked up with a gift card a few years back. But I have always wanted to design and build a soundbar from scratch. So recently I did just that.

Step 1: Goal:

Is to have a soundbar that sounds great and is compact for most living rooms. I also wanted it to be aesthetically pleasing. With this is mind, I wanted it about 4" in height and length 36" or shorter. I also didn't really want frequencies below 90hz, as I planned to use a separate subwoofer with it. With those design goals in mind, I started picking out the drivers.

Step 2: Parts Used:

(4) Dayton ND65-8

(2) Dayton ND25FA-4

(1) Dayton 2x15 Amp (I may upgrade this, but I had this on hand)

Crossover Parts:

Resistors:

(2) 3ohm

(2) 4.7ohm

(2) 5.1ohm

(2) 0.82ohm

Inductors:

(2) 0.13

(2) 0.35

(2) 0.38 (substitute 0.37)

Capacitors: (you can substitute electrolytic if on a budget, but it is not recommended)

(2) 10uf

(2) 4.7uf

(2) 17uf (substitute an 18uf)

(2) 22uf

Materials Used:

1/4" MDF (doubled in the speaker enclosure)

1/4" Walnut Baffle (doubled in the speaker enclosure)

Step 3: Build Video:

Step 4: Build Plans:

All material used is 1/4" thick. I used both MDF for the entire box, minus the front baffle. For that I used Walnut. You may use any material you think is best for you.

Step 5: Cut List:

Outer Box

Sides (2): 3 1/8" x 4"

Top and Bottom (2): 36"x4"

Rear Baffle:

Back (1): 35 1/2" by 3 1/8"

Rear Inner Sides (2): 12" x 3 1/8"

Front Baffle:

Front (1): 35.5" x 3 1/8"

Front Inner Sides (2): 12" x 3 1/8"

Inner Braces: All are 3 1/8" tall

(4) 3/4" by 1/2"

(4) 3" by 1/4"

(2) 3 1/2" by 1/4"

(4) 1" by 1/4"

Step 6: Assembly

First Glue the outer box together by attaching the 36 x 4 to the two sides 3 1/8 x 4.

Next Prepare your rear baffle. You need to cut 2 holes in the rear middle chamber. This is to help take the rear baffle off if you need to get into it. It also allows for ventilation if you put an internal amp in that chamber. The holes will be 1" big and will be place approximately 17" from either side and 1 9/16" down. You will also want to glue on the rear pieces (12 x 3 1/8) to either side of the baffle.

For the front baffle, you will want to cut out the tweeter hole first (before gluing anything). Measure approximately 5 25/32" over (both sides) and 1 9/16 down on your front baffle (35.5 x 3 1/8) and cut a 2 3/4" hole. Then round this over with a 1/4 roundover bit. Now glue the rest of the front baffle on (12 x 3 1/8) which will be placed on the rear of the front baffle (opposite of the roundover). Measure again 5 25/32 over and 1 9/16 down and cut out a 45mm hole for the rear of the tweeter. At this time you will cut the woofer holes out at 2 1/4" and 9 1/4" over and 1 9/16" down. The holes are 2 1/2. Once this is complete, you can roundover your woofer holes with a 3/8" roundover bit.

Now we need to start bracing the box. The best thing to do at this time is to temporarily put the front baffle on to line up the braces. Do not glue the front baffle on. Take your two 3 1/2" braces out and glue them at 12". They will slide right against the the front baffle that is sticking out 1/4" higher.

You now have three boxes, 2 speaker boxes on either side and a center box for crossover components and or an amplifier. Take the four 3" pieces and glue them on either side of the inside of the speaker boxes. These will slide all the way against the front baffle.

Now we need something to screw the speakers to. For this we will sure the four 3/4" by 1/2" pieces. Glue the on the inner side, in the rear. They should be 1/2" from the edge (ie line up with the 3" piece you just glued in). When you assemble, this is what you will screw your screws in.

The last two braces (1") can go wherever you want. I placed them approximately, 1.5" from the rear of the enclosure at 5" and 7" from the side. This should be near the tweeter hole. Try to save room so you can still get to the screws on the back of the woofer.

Now attach your speakers. I attach the woofers first, then the tweeter. If you plan to externally power this, run some binding posts. These typically go in the middle compartment, which means you will need to run a hole for the speaker wire. Once you have it run, solder it to the speakers. And fill the hole with either self expanding gorilla glue or hot glue. Now it is time to build the crossover.