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Big fan of HD tv's;BUT

Carta

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Companies charge a large price their Great tv's, but why can't they attach a great speaker?
65/75" tv that looks Fantastic; but sound SUCKS...This happens with all companies..Therefore U must buy a sound bar or surround sound to compensate.....Another added cost..

When reading online, they say b/c the screens are so thin, they cheated on sound...C'mon, U can send a man to the moon, but u can't create a great speaker for a tv.....Gimme a Break!!!

IMO, just another way to screw the customer....
OK, I'm through venting..
 

bluehende

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I am with you. Buying a soundbar though has given us a nice bluetooth way to play our music also.
 

PGtime

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Agreed that the new TV's have terrible sound. The only exceptions I am aware of are the 2 Sony OLED flagship TV's (A8G & A9G), which have decent sound via speakers that are directly behind their (supposedly) acoustically transparent screens. I've listened to them and they sound pretty good. Of course, they are not cheap... but, you don't have to buy a sound bar or connect to a receiver.
 

isisdave

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I agree, but sound from TVs has to come from the bottom or back of the "box." Your sound bar is facing right at you, plus it probably has that big sub-woofer somewhere. Still, we think our Samsung 65 from a few years ago has pretty darn good sound.

We HAVE noticed that some audio sources are just terrible and require us to turn on captioning sometimes. The sound bar doesn't help -- makes it louder, but not clearer. The highs seem to be missing. Others are just fine.
 

PGtime

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I agree, but sound from TVs has to come from the bottom or back of the "box." Your sound bar is facing right at you, plus it probably has that big sub-woofer somewhere. Still, we think our Samsung 65 from a few years ago has pretty darn good sound.

We HAVE noticed that some audio sources are just terrible and require us to turn on captioning sometimes. The sound bar doesn't help -- makes it louder, but not clearer. The highs seem to be missing. Others are just fine.

If you DO purchase a sound bar AND you struggle to understand the dialog, ensure it is at least a 3.0 or 3.1 as opposed to a 2.0 or 2.1

For those who do not know, the .1 denotes the subwoofer, which you can decide if you need or not. But, the 2. means you only have a right and left speaker. The 3. denotes whether the sound bar has a dedicated center (i.e. a 3rd speaker), which is used primarily for the dialog.
 

Ken555

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TVs never had great speakers. Want good sound? It’s an optional accessory and has a corresponding cost.




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jme

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TVs never had great speakers. Want good sound? It’s an optional accessory and has a corresponding cost.
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Bottom line, they want everyone to buy a separate sound system.
Probably worth it if you enjoy using the big TV, and we do.
We got a Samsung soundbar, and it's decent.
 
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Ken555

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Bottom line, they want everyone to buy a separate sound system.
Probably worth it if you enjoy using the big TV, and we do.
We got a Samsung soundbar, and it's decent.

Years ago I installed a 5.1 system in my living room with front and ceiling/rear speakers in wall, hidden cables, etc. I wanted great sound, and I got it.

I bought a simple Bose sound bar a few years ago when it was being discontinued for the bedroom, and for the ~2 hours I watch per month there it’s perfectly fine. They make decent products.

I installed a couple ZVOX sound bars for my folks in recent years, and they make excellent products. They also have newer models with the capability to make it easier to hear dialogue, and is intended for people that have a more difficult time hearing.

There are many options available. Of course, this semi recurring complaint that TVs don’t have good sound is truly without merit. It wasn’t an issue when there wasn’t stereo TV, was it? Now we watch movies at home and expect good sound...again, the manufacturers never included good speakers, so why expect them to do something they never did before?


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Ralph Sir Edward

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The external speakers will outlast the TV. . .

I run my audio output through a Denon micro receiver (a M38, which I replaced the speakers with a pair of 40 year old speakers. . .)

Works just fine. . . .
 

jme

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Years ago I installed a 5.1 system in my living room with front and ceiling/rear speakers in wall, hidden cables, etc. I wanted great sound, and I got it.

I bought a simple Bose sound bar a few years ago when it was being discontinued for the bedroom, and for the ~2 hours I watch per month there it’s perfectly fine. They make decent products.

I installed a couple ZVOX sound bars for my folks in recent years, and they make excellent products. They also have newer models with the capability to make it easier to hear dialogue, and is intended for people that have a more difficult time hearing.

There are many options available. Of course, this semi recurring complaint that TVs don’t have good sound is truly without merit. It wasn’t an issue when there wasn’t stereo TV, was it? Now we watch movies at home and expect good sound...again, the manufacturers never included good speakers, so why expect them to do something they never did before?


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Always enjoy and appreciate your expert electronics advice....wish I was as knowledgeable & conversant with everything out there.
 

Talent312

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We use an AV receiver and 5.1 sound system for our TV. But...
For some odd reason, the receiver takes it upon itself to link up (bluetooth) with our Amazon Echo ("Alexa") at odd times. As soon as we realize what the two of 'em are up to, we close it down and return to our regular programming.
.
 

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When you’ve got a tv that is sometimes thinner than 2”, it’s next to impossible to put good sound in it! Wouldn’t be surprised to see speakers eliminated completely in the future.
 

Ken555

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When you’ve got a tv that is sometimes thinner than 2”, it’s next to impossible to put good sound in it! Wouldn’t be surprised to see speakers eliminated completely in the future.

I bought a new LG OLED TV recently (it’s amazing) and is almost unbelievably thin. However, it actually has decent sound which surprised me. But of course, it doesn’t compare to my stereo setup nor would be as good as almost any sound bar.

You can buy TVs without speakers and have been able to for years. These were historically marketed to corporate sales for presentation purposes but these monitors are sometimes very good options. Sadly, the prices are often more than consumer TVs so typically isn’t considered for homes.


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Carta

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I can see people agree that sound really SUCKS..For future tv"s, how about attaching 2 speakers on either side to create better sound..

I've seen the miniature Bose that create pretty good sound..Just attach molded drop down speakers to new tv's...Maybe I should just patent my idea..
 

Panina

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I have the bose surround for years and have been really happy. Always think to upgrade but have had no need to, the sound is great.
 

Ken555

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I've seen the miniature Bose that create pretty good sound..Just attach molded drop down speakers to new tv's...Maybe I should just patent my idea..

Sound bars are much better and more elegant. Sound bars are affordable and expensive, and there are a variety of options. It won’t be as good as discrete multiple speakers for true surround, but it’s definitely better than nothing.

I recall seeing attached external speakers on some Sony TVs back in the 90s.


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Carta

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Ken555, As I recall there was no HDTV in the 90's....I had a Sony when it took 2 men and a boy to lift....My whole point is::::Make better sound for people that spend $1200+ for tv's
 

Ken555

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Ken555, As I recall there was no HDTV in the 90's....I had a Sony when it took 2 men and a boy to lift....My whole point is::::Make better sound for people that spend $1200+ for tv's

Yes, but there were $2000 TVs with optional external speakers. I had a fantastic Mitsubishi 32” that cost quite a lot, and still didn’t have great speakers (I had a stereo connected even back then).

You’re not paying for audio quality. You’re paying for the display.


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PigsDad

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I've seen the miniature Bose that create pretty good sound..Just attach molded drop down speakers to new tv's...Maybe I should just patent my idea..
I had an HP HDTV (yes, HP made TVs for a few years) around 2006(?) that had detachable speakers. I'm guessing getting a patent for your idea wouldn't go far...

Personally, I like my audio system to be separate from my TV / monitor. A good audio system can last 20+ years and still be great, whereas video is constantly changing. It wasn't that long ago when 480P or 720P was considered a good HD TV; now we are at 4K. Where will TVs be in 20 years? I would rather pay for good audio once and not every time I upgrade a TV.

Kurt

BTW, I never attached those detachable speakers on my HP TV -- my audio system was much better, so they were completely wasted on me.
 

easyrider

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Way back in 1992 I had the 10ft satellite dish with a receiver that would recognize the Yamaha receiver which included a surround sound speaker system. Somewhere before 2000 we switched to Dish and our Yamaha still worked fine.

Now that we have a tivo I haven't figured out how to input the tivo sound to the Yamaha. I ended up purchasing a sound bar. I like the soundbar. It pairs with my phone and tv. I thought about getting another receiver but the one I have works great for loud music and does control my deck speakers, the four house speakers and a sub woofer. I'm also getting to the point I really don't care and the sound bar was an easy fix for my immediate problem.

Bill
 

artringwald

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We have an A/V receiver to switch the multiple video inputs, so we just mute the TV speakers and use the stereo speakers. The Comcast remote turns on the TV and receiver with the same button, and controls the receivers volume.
 

rapmarks

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We have a different problem with sound. On certain stations, the lips move and the sound comes on a few seconds later. This is the most annoying way to watch a program such as jeopardy.
 

artringwald

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When it’s time for a change, you should consider ZVOX. https://zvox.com/pages/accuvoice


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I highly recommend the ZVOX speakers. We don't use it all the time, but I need it when there's dialog with accents and poor audio recording. The AccuVoice technology is amazing. They also sell hearing "amplifiers" that are 80% as good as custom hearing aids at 20% of the price.
 
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