Can a 2.0 audio speaker be used in a 5.0 surround sound as the center speaker?

Speaker Question · Mar 2, 2015

We just picked up a 2.0 sound bare to be used as the center speaker of a 5.0 system. Can it be used for that? I suppose I would have to convert the speaker wires to RCA plugs?

boosted1g · Mar 2, 2015

No, you cant use a sound bar as a center speaker.

A sound bard is 2.0 audio, a center speaker is 1.0. RCA is left and right plugs, the center of an individual plug being +, and the outside rim being the -; thus rca has 2 + and 2 - while a speaker is 1 + and 1 -.

Car guys use what is called a LOC, Line Output Converter, to convert a PAIR of speakers to an RCA connection. The end result of trying to use this without a second set of speakers would sound just awful.

You also cant just wire the left and right to provide center speaker because true 5.1 sound has the center speaker doing most of the dialog and the left and right doing foreground sounds so they are very different sounds.

To save yourself time and money in the future, I would suggest doing your research first and your purchase second. Fire, Ready, Aim almost never works out well in the end.

americanaudiophile · Mar 2, 2015

Most soundbars are self powered so if you have to use it as a center you can do this two ways. If your receiver has a line level center out (RCA) then you can split it and connect to the soundbar. If the receiver has speaker level out then you would connect this:
http

/www.crutchfield.com/p_142LOC80/Scosche-LOC80.html
to the center speaker output (connect both L & R to the center speaker out in parallel) and connect the soundbar to the output of the adapter.
How it will sound is a different matter.

Speaker Question · Mar 2, 2015

boosted1g :

No, you cant use a sound bar as a center speaker.

A sound bard is 2.0 audio, a center speaker is 1.0. RCA is left and right plugs, the center of an individual plug being +, and the outside rim being the -; thus rca has 2 + and 2 - while a speaker is 1 + and 1 -.

Car guys use what is called a LOC, Line Output Converter, to convert a PAIR of speakers to an RCA connection. The end result of trying to use this without a second set of speakers would sound just awful.

You also cant just wire the left and right to provide center speaker because true 5.1 sound has the center speaker doing most of the dialog and the left and right doing foreground sounds so they are very different sounds.

To save yourself time and money in the future, I would suggest doing your research first and your purchase second. Fire, Ready, Aim almost never works out well in the end.

Speaker Question · Mar 2, 2015

Thank you, Boosted. That is a big help. We moved into a place with four speakers in the wall and a pair of wires (black and red) coming out on the mantle under the TV. The previous owner took that speaker with him. My wife saw a deal while she was out and picked up the sound bar hoping it would connect. Skeptical, I didn't want to take it out of the box because the connection list did not show it as a single speaker. Thanks for the fast turnaround.

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