Tried building a surround sound setup with thrift store speakers vs. a basic soundbar from Target - the difference was insane

I spent like $30 at Goodwill grabbing random speakers and a receiver that smelled like old cigarettes. Wired it all up and it sounded like a tin can full of bees. Next day I grabbed a $99 soundbar on clearance at Target and honestly my movies never sounded better. No wires no mess. Anyone else waste money on the DIY speaker route first?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.felix6d ago

bro same here. i literally did the exact same thing with a ratty onkyo receiver and mismatched speakers from the salvation army. ended up with this awful hum that wouldnt go away no matter how i positioned stuff. the soundbar was a night and day difference right out of the box. if you ever wanna try diy again, look for a used but decent av receiver and at least two matching bookshelf speakers first. matching speakers actually matter way more than you'd think. also check the speaker wire connections twice before plugging in. saved me from smoking a cheap amp once.

emmajackson6d agoTop Commenter

That Onkyo hum is practically a rite of passage, I swear. I spent a whole weekend convinced my wiring was cursed, only to realize the left speaker was literally a different impedance than the right one by a huge margin. My little amp was just sitting there buzzing like an angry bee. Ended up trading a six pack to a buddy for a pair of his old Polk Audios and suddenly my system sounded half decent instead of like a haunted house noise.