An interesting alternative to a surround soundbar is boombox

 

A good example of how similar a boombox and soundbar can be is the JBL L75ms. It costs around €1,500 and has a positive review from What Hi-Fi. Its design harkens back to the legendary hi-fi speakers of the 1970s, which were modeled after iconic studio monitors. Future versions of this active speaker will undoubtedly incorporate the latest surround sound solutions.

Samsung now owns the American brand JBL and over the years, it has built a very strong market position with this type of offering. Along with Google, it is also one of the main initiators of new surround sound format Eclipsa Audio. More about it: A historic launch for Eclipsa Audio in Las Vegas will change a lot 

 Soundbar-like designs are nothing new for JBL. The same is true for Altec Lansing,, who even introduced a multi-channel soundbar called Voice of the Digital Theater back in 1998. The Wikipedia specifies also: James Bullough Lansing (born James Martini, January 2, 1902 – September 29, 1949) was a pioneering American audio engineer and loudspeaker designer who was most notable for establishing two audio companies that bear his name, Altec Lansing and JBL, the latter taken from his initials, JBL. More on this topic can be found in:  PC4uMusic configuration can be useful even with a soundbar. 

Both manufacturers' offerings initially featured horn-based designs. The most advanced was the JBL D44000 Paragon, shown in the sketch above.  The Wikipedia specifies also: It was introduced in 1957 and discontinued in 1983; its production run was the longest of any JBL speaker. At its launch, the Paragon was the most expensive domestic loudspeaker on the market.

Altec's most important innovation was the coaxial electroacoustic transducer Duplex. Now, their transducers have been built into laptops from companies such as Hewlett Packard for many years.

 

Recently, this brand has been focusing on the boombox. The photo shows that streaming replaces cassette tapes, but instead of a smartphone port, there may be a subwoofer. However, they only unnecessarily fixed themselves on the legend of the horn.

In boombox design, this obsession is likely an unwitting imitation of Japanese solutions from years past, lacking practical knowledge of earlier American developments at Altec Lansing. Nowadays, with digital technologies, it is possible to use loudspeakers in a more practical way. This is especially true for coaxial speakers, where the subwoofer can be mounted with the center speaker. This allows them to fit perfectly in the center, between the stereo pair, while the surround speakers can be mounted on the side walls.

 

A slightly different solution might be a larger subwoofer with 2 satellites for stereo and extra surround sound. Digital technology offers many possibilities here. Eclipsa Audio will likely be the inspiration for this. There is no need to replace an expensive TV and instead of a cheap soundbar it is better to invest in a properly designed boombox. Such a solution can be custom-made.

 

Tests with a simple TV have shown that even its small speakers built into the back of the curved screen work well if they are driven by the right amplifier and the low tones are filtered out. However, this is difficult to hear during normal use because the TV's operating system excessively distorts the sound.

The American company Bose already had some ideas in this area, but it was a solution limited by the possibilities of analog technology. 

 

The Bose 901 had 9 full-range 4 inch electro-acoustic transducers in each speaker - one in the front and 8 on the back

However, in descriptions after many years, their front and back may be confused. This may have been caused by the stage speakers being used differently.

 

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