Tinny audio from a flat screen TV

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by peter, Sep 14, 2017.

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  1. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I was in Australia a couple of weeks ago and friends had picked up an $80 soundbar at Aldi (a supermarket chain) and could not get it working. They asked me to look at it. I did get it working and it was a (surprise) quite an improvement over the TV speakers (and it's not a cheap TV).
     
  2. Radar696

    Radar696 Member

    Location:
    North America
    My mom is having a similar problem.
    She has a flat screen TV and when she 1st purchased it things were fine.
    She had an inexpensive Sony all in one stereo system with an audio in function that didn't have any lag.
    We were able to place additional speakers at the other end of her living-room; her room is about 10' x 20'; so she could still hear the dialog in the show.
    Then that stereo died.
    The stereo she ended up getting to replace it has enough lag that you can't use it.
    Just sounds like an echo.
    I did get her a decent surround system but she made me put the real speakers away because they didn't play any dialog and she didn't like that.
    I convinced here to keep the soundbar since at least it projects into the room instead of back into the wall.
    It not enough though as her hearing has been fading these last couple of years.

    So does anyone know of a simple stereo system that she could afford that will allow her to hook up the audio with no lag and get her old speaker set up working again?
     
  3. skriefal

    skriefal Senior Member

    Location:
    SLC, Utah
    Some TVs have built-in bluetooth transmitters, allowing for the use of bluetooth wireless headphones. Does hers?

    Also - you may be able to turn off the TV's built-in speakers (or lower the volume to 0) when using the external speakers/stereo. That would eliminate the echo, but there may still be a visible lag between lips moving and hearing the audio (a "lip sync" delay).
     
  4. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    On my main TV, I connected the analog output to an Adcom amp which runs two floorstanding speakers. The digital output goes to a DAC and then to a wireless headphone set. The wireless headset has its own volume control. That gives us three options - TV audio, stereo, or headphones.
     
  5. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I wonder how many times a product can be recommended within the same thread!?;) ZVOX is inexpensive, simple and quick to set up, has various settings, one being 'dialog enhancer'. I've owned mine for years and I can't recall EVER reading a bad review. Great product!
     
    Bubbamike and beercanchicken like this.
  6. McGuy

    McGuy All Mc, all the time...

    Location:
    Chicago
  7. beercanchicken

    beercanchicken Legendary Stickman

    Location:
    Chicago
    I get overwhelemed by options. And then SBar vs. SBase. The Sbars looks pretty tall...
    I should just assume the bigger models will sound better?
     
  8. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I use the base. As far as which size to get, bigger doesn't always translate to better. I mean it does sound-wise, but I think the size of the TV factors into the equation (their larger unit's on a small screen tv would be overkill). For years, the ZVOX website has had a 'best of the year' contest where they choose the best looking installations. You might wanna give it a look as you'll see all different sizes in actual systems.
     
  9. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    There are a wide price / sound quality range of sond bars in yhe marketplace that will address your problem. They are a one-stop solution.
     
  10. Manny B.

    Manny B. New Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts

    Yes it really works I have one and nothing i've tried beats the clarity !
     
    beercanchicken likes this.
  11. Manny B.

    Manny B. New Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    The engineers at ZVOX are the same engineers as Cambridge sound works.
    I would look into the ZVOX brand they have hearing aid technology in their speakers that works extremely well.
     
  12. Manny B.

    Manny B. New Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    ZVOX has a 17 inch speaker I think its called AV200 that would be perfect for your 20 inch TV.
     
  13. peter

    peter Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    Many thanks Manny. The one I bought arrived, but I have yet to set it up.
     
  14. Manny B.

    Manny B. New Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    They have amazing customer support so if you have trouble I would call them.
     
  15. peter

    peter Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    Again, many thanks. Hopefully get to it this weekend.
     
  16. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    I have a Boston Acoustics Soundbar in my guest bedroom and it’s pretty good as long as you dial in the sub correctly. If you don’t it’s boomy and disjointed sounding. I got it from my 80 year old Mom of all people. Best Buy sold it to her with her TV and she never liked it.

    I had to buy an inexpensive Fiio dac to convert the sound output from the TV to rca inputs on the Soundbar.
     
  17. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    Bose knew that you can add a subwoofer to a clock radio and amaze the masses. It does work and sounds good for tv. Sound bars with subs can do the trick. My buddy has one, and I was pleasantly suprised.
     
  18. Manny B.

    Manny B. New Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts
    For future reference if she only uses it for cable TV use she could of plugged it directly into the cable box and those usually have RCA outputs.
     
    Sneaky Pete likes this.
  19. peter

    peter Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    Update:

    So, I finally installed the Insignia soundbar. I had to buy (wasn't expensive) a digital optical cable because the RCA jacks supplied by Insignia did not result in the soundbar providing any sound. I need to mention that the LG TV at issue here DOES NOT have either RCA inputs/output OR a digital optical connection on the back, so when I tried the RCA's, I had to connect them to the DISH Hopper device that provides the cable service to this TV. (Had I known that this TV did not have audio connections on the back, I would have bought something else.) Anyway, the DISH Hopper device DOES has a digital optical connection, so I connected the soundbar to that using the digital optical cable. The soundbar works and sounds great, but only on a very few channels!

    Any thoughts?

    Also, I find it disconcerting that I cannot activate the soundbar with my DISH remote. Indeed, the Insignia instruction book says that the soundbar will "likely" not be able to be accessed using whatever remote one might have.

    Two remotes? Really? One for the TV and one for the sound?
     
  20. Tartifless

    Tartifless Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Maybe the dish hopper sends surround 5.1 on channels that the soundbar cannot decode. Try looking in the settings if you can select stereo as default.
     
  21. peter

    peter Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    I understand. The Insignia instructions tell you to set the audio to PCM, but for the life of me, I could not figure out where to do that. I went into settings in BOTH the LG TV remote and the DISH remote. Tonight I will check again.

    Thanks.
     
  22. Tartifless

    Tartifless Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    As the soundbar is connected to the DVR I don't think the TV settings will change anything. Strange though that the TV does not have a sound output !

    Is there a manual with the hopper ?

    Maybe deactivate surround here:
    How to Set Hopper for Surround Sound | MyDISH | DISH Customer Support
     
  23. Tartifless

    Tartifless Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Also the hopper seems to have rca out, if you connect those to the soundbar it should work, did you select the right source on the soundbar ?

    As for remote you should invest in a universal remote like Logitech harmony
     
  24. peter

    peter Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    I thought I did, but no I wonder. Anyway, the digital optical cable is better anyway.
     
  25. peter

    peter Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    Yes. Will look at it tonight.

    That would be a nice quick fix.

    Many thanks.
     
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