We've all gone through the soundbar upgrade cycle. You start off with a cheap soundbar that's at least better than your TV's built-in audio but later buy a much nicer unit or even go all out with a surround setup.
The problem becomes, what do you do with the old soundbar? It's still a perfectly good speaker, but it's not worth much if you try to sell it. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to keep getting value from your old soundbar.
Turn your soundbar into a desktop speaker upgrade
It can't hurt
If you have a desktop setup with speakers, then even a cheap soundbar is probably better than the speakers you're currently using. Of course, if you put down a decent amount of money for a 2.1 PC speaker setup, there may be no need for this, but a soundbar on the back of your desk can provide good full-range sound without a subwoofer on the floor in your way.
If your old soundbar came with a wireless subwoofer, even better. PC speaker subwoofers are almost all still wired, which means your placement options are pretty limited. In my case, I ended up using my PC speaker subwoofer as a footstool!
Add audio to a monitor
If they won't give us small TVs, we'll make our own
If you have a monitor that accepts HDMI or DisplayPort, then you can send audio signals to that monitor. If it doesn't have any speakers, then you won't hear that sound. Bummer!
Many monitors these days have headphone jacks, which work just as well if you plug a pair of speakers into them. If your old soundbar has a 3.5mm audio input, you're sorted.
Even if the monitor has no audio jacks at all, you're still OK. All you need is an HDMI audio extractor.
These neat little gadgets divert the audio in an HDMI stream and pass the video on to the monitor. They allow you to connect speakers using HDMI, optical, or RCA connectors, depending on the model you buy. This might be a good investment anyway, because if you add a Fire Stick, then you've effectively created a small TV.
Make it a dedicated Bluetooth speaker
Save yourself from buying yet another speaker
For the past few years, soundbars have come with Bluetooth as a standard feature. Later versions of Bluetooth have low enough latency to make wireless audio from your TV a possibility, and it can make for some very neat setups.
Of course, your soundbar doesn't care whether the Bluetooth signal is coming from a TV, a phone, or any other type of Bluetooth audio device. For example, I use my current soundbars as Bluetooth speakers all the time already, playing music from my smartphone.
After you've liberated your old soundbar from your TV, it can keep doing duty as a dedicated Bluetooth speaker. But what if your soundbar doesn't have Bluetooth? You can turn any old speakers into Bluetooth speakers. Simply get a Bluetooth receiver, which can range from cheap models to ones that cost hundreds of dollars. Pick one according to your budget, needs, and quality capabilities of your old soundbar.
Pair it with a portable projector
The perfect pairing
Portable projectors have come a long way, and the sound on these devices has become quite serviceable. It's still not what I'd call good. It's fine for a presentation, but if you want to have a movie night somewhere, the tinny audio from a projector's built-in speakers probably won't cut it.
The only downside here is that your soundbar doesn't have battery power, so you'll need access to an outlet or you'll have to use a portable power station.
Move it outdoors
Just don't get it wet
Yes, your soundbar isn't weatherproof, but you can still use it somewhere outside your house where it won't be rained on directly. Since these speakers have so many mounting options, you could install them in your garage, under a porch, or in a pool house.
These also make sense since you can connect them to power without much hassle, and it's more convenient than carrying a portable Bluetooth speaker around every time you want to work on a project or have friends over for a swim.
If you haven't picked out a new soundbar yet, you should have a look at our list of the best soundbars first. There are some good bargains out there!
