Soundbars are designed to put sound in certain parts of the room. When you rotate a soundbar 90 degrees to mount it vertically, your left and right speaker channels sound like they’re coming from the ceiling and floor. In general, it isn’t a good idea to mount a soundbar vertically. It ruins the sound experience, and you may have to go to great lengths to ensure that it will remain mounted. Ultimately, mounting your soundbar vertically should be an absolute last resort.
Why would you Mount a Soundbar Vertically?
To be honest, there is basically no situation in which it makes sense to mount a soundbar vertically. If you are considering mounting a soundbar vertically, you should have exhausted literally every other option. You should consider all of these options before considering a vertically mounted soundbar. A likely reason someone might consider a vertical soundbar is space in addition to a soundbar’s ability to help the hearing impaired (more on that in our guide). Sometimes existing furniture and existing wall mount pplacement leave little room for a horizontal soundbar. But you can swap out furniture, and you can move wall mounts. This might take on the scope of a small home repair project, but it will be worth it. Draw up a plan for yourself, and come up with a list of tasks and materials you would need. Another consideration may be the equipment that you have. Although it is good to be frugal and intentional with purchases, it is also important to ensure that the equipment you have is appropriate for the venue.
Issues with Mounting a Soundbar Vertically
The biggest issue with mounting a soundbar vertically is that there’s no such thing as a vertical soundbar mount. As previously mentioned, soundbars are designed to deliver sound in a particular way throughout your room. In order to do this, they must be oriented according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Thus, no company would make a mount that deliberately detracts from these specifications. While in theory, you can just turn any mount 90 degrees and install it per the instructions. However, these mounts are designed to distribute the weight of the soundbar in a particular way, relying on gravity coming from the expected direction: from the top down. If you install a mount sideways, you are inviting a host of damage not only to your equipment but possibly your wall. It really cannot be overstated that you should not mount a soundbar vertically. It is a very risky idea. Instead, we recommend either mounting your soundbar to the TV itself (our guide) or even considering mounting it above your TV if possible (also our guide).
How to Mount a Soundbar Vertically (if you Really Have To)
Don’t. No seriously, you should not mount a soundbar vertically. The Home Theater DIY cannot in good conscience provide anything resembling instructions to mount a soundbar this way. Beyond legal liability, the variation in soundbars and mounts would make any attempt at uniform instructions basically impossible. What we can provide is a guide on how soundbar mounts generally work, and some risks you run by using them improperly. The suggestions we provide here for mitigating these risks are entirely hypothetical. They are untested, and cannot possibly account for the unique conditions of your setup.
Some Things to Look Out For
A soundbar mount had two points of contact, and transfers force between them. The first point of contact is between the mount and the soundbar. The second point is between the mount and your wall. Both of these points of contact use and distribute the force of gravity to hold the soundbar in place. The soundbar is usually held into place with gravity and sometimes nothing else. In this case, the soundbar is less held than it is hanging. Tilting this arrangement may lead to the soundbar simply falling off of the mount. You may be able to get away with securing the soundbar horizontally by mounting additional things onto your wall to hold it in place. The weight of the soundbar is distributed by the mount to the wall. The contact points on the wall are specially designed to avoid damaging your wall. Turning the mount changes this weight distribution system. Because of this, the mount may end up tearing into or out of the wall if used improperly. Installing metal or plastic sheet cutouts to reinforce and widen the contact points with the wall may be helpful. There is also no way to determine whether the unusual gravitational strain on a sideways mount would damage the mount itself. Because they are designed to support weight in one direction, they may not support the same weight in other directions. There is not much to give here in the way of guidance. This is highly dependent on the individual equipment you have.
Don’t Mount Your Soundbar Vertically…
In short, please do not mount your soundbar vertically. If you are thinking about doing it anyway, you should budget your project in the following way. First, add together the cost of all of the hardware you need including any necessary tools or materials you need to buy. Second, add the cost of replacing literally everything connected to the soundbar as well as the soundbar itself. Third, add the cost of doing a major repair to your wall. Last, add the first number you calculated, since you may need to reinstall everything again. If this number is outside of your price range, you should probably not do this project. Please do not mount your soundbar vertically.
