sound quality on flat screen TVs?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by cwon, Jan 1, 2011.

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  1. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    Well, that's absolutely the case for most models now. In order to get the sets thinner, they either have to fire down or in the thinnest sets, to the rear. There just isn't any room unless they have separate speakers or as some models have, a lower portion below the screen to allow speakers to fire forward.

    I just took a look at a Samsung 56" TV here and it's got some type of perhaps 7"x1" bar shaped speakers under the screen on each side of the pedestal post. These fire down through a very well ventilated base. This is a top model from about a year ago and it sounds acceptable for "TV" but not really "good", so I shudder to think what cheaper versions and the thinnest models would sound like on their own. These are not really designed to do anything more than "work" from an audio standpoint however. They are trying to create a video monitor which has as little border as possible so it looks good on the wall. It even looks good on its stand as it's mostly viewing area.

    My older Samsung plasma at home has completely detachable speakers and you can hang it as a monitor only and have a similarly narrow bezel or you can mount the speakers and get nice sound. That set is about 2" thick and the speakers are side mounted rather than a bottom mounting "speaker bar". The drivers are front firing and it's a two-way ported system, so it actually sounds really nice on its own. That was certainly one reason that I chose that model. It has speaker level outputs. So you can even choose higher end speakers to connect directly if you wanted to. The new LCD models mostly offer only line level and headphone level outs. Digital audio out via Toslink or HDMI is also an option.
    -Bill
     
  2. goldwax

    goldwax Rega | Cambridge | Denafrips | Luxman | Dynaudio

    Location:
    US of A
    I have a year-old 37" Vizio that has perfectly good picture and tolerable sound. My wife and kids are fine with using the built-in speakers, but since I had extra gear hanging around, I hooked it up to a Sherwood RX-4109 and some little thrift-store JBL P-20s on stands. I'd say it sounds 50 to 100 percent better that way. Could I live with the built-in speakers? Yes, but it's nice to have a bump up in SQ for movies and such.
     
  3. Davidmk5

    Davidmk5 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marlboro , ma. usa

    Me too !
     
  4. Obtuse1

    Obtuse1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    The speakers on my Panasonic Plasma are actually pretty good. Fine for general viewing, though I use my HT system for movies and such.

    I've heard plenty of flat screens where the speakers were absolutely dreadful, including from big names like Samsung and Sony.
     
  5. cwon

    cwon Active Member Thread Starter


    Thanks for the recommendation. I got a ZVox mini and, like you said, it's not as good as using my main system, but it'll do for most TV listening. It's easy to set up and unless technology obsoletes it, it'll work with the next TV I get.
     
  6. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    My Kuro 500a has a v good quality amp built in but no drivers.
    I go with a 3.0 Trifield Meridian system.
    But in emergency the Pioneer amp would be fine for 2.0 in an exterior system.
    Perhaps a small pair of PMC 's
    You get what you pay for,as ever
     
  7. Taurus

    Taurus Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    :thumbsup:

    Many 2.1 computer speaker systems actually sound quite good, not just for computer speakers but just plain sound good.
     
  8. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    You cant get 2.1 from 'computer speakers'
    Just sats and a feeble woofer
    .1 is earthquake stuff:angel:
     
  9. thxdave

    thxdave "One black, one white, one blonde"

    Well there's your problem right there! ;) Seriously, I can't imagine buying any flatscreen TV these days and even think about using the internal speakers. It's only going to get worse as the screens get thinner and thinner. If you really want good sound quality, you need to stick with Goldstar!! <just kidding>
     
  10. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    We use the TV speakers most of the time, but for movies we'll use the amp. Just need to get a long enough interconnect from TV to stereo amp; the Blu-Ray player audio track runs "ahead" of the onscreen image with the connection going straight to the amp!
     
  11. Turnaround

    Turnaround Senior Member

    Location:
    -
    I think halfway decent computer speakers sound better than the speakers in today's ultra-thin flatscreens.

    I use a soundbar with my flatscreen tv. An inexpensive soundbar sounds much better than the speakers in flatscreen tvs I have heard. Even plain dialogue sounds clearer and weightier. It's nice when you are watching a talk show to have decent sound when the musical guest comes up. A soundbar is more attractive than hooking up computer speakers (WAF).

    The difficulty with choosing a soundbar today is that few of them have HDMI or digital connections. Most of them only have RCA inputs for left and right. However, I'm sure the major manufacturers are catching up with this year's new models.
     
  12. cwon

    cwon Active Member Thread Starter

    After living with the ZVox mini for a while, I like it more and more as it's broken in. Definitely better than any in-set speakers I've heard, and well worth the $199 incl. shipping. Makes TV watching a lot more pleasurable.
    :thumbsup:
     
  13. shokhead

    shokhead Head shok and you still don't what it is. HA!

    Location:
    SoCal, Long Beach
    The news and shows sound just fine on my panasonic plasma speakers. When I watch a movie then the receiver comes on.
     
  14. filper

    filper Forum Resident

    The onboard sound on my 50" Panasonic plasma is sheet... just like I suspected.

    You need a HT sound thing.
     
  15. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I so hoped that our new Vizio TV's built in speakers would be at least acceptable - so to retire our old Sony HT In The Box system - but they aren't. The Sony system - which I bought on clearance probably 6-7 years ago for just over $100, and which isn't top of the line by any means - is ridiculously better.
     
  16. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    It's not so much that the sound is ahead; it's that the picture is behind (which is the same thing). It takes a split second for the player to process the files and pull out a coherent picture, but the sound is much easier to extract. As a result, the picture usually lags behind the soundtrack.

    You can fix this with a lot of digital receivers or surround decoders by delaying the sound a frame or two. Start with 1 frame (33 milliseconds) and then go from there. This should put everything back in sync.
     
  17. subatomic09

    subatomic09 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I have a 40" Samsung LN40A550. The picture quality is stunning in HD. I've never seen a TV with a better picture calibration menu. The PQ is so good, my sister and one of my good friends both bought the same set for their places. The speakers, on the other hand, are the worst I think I've heard from a TV. If there is anything more than dialogue and a simple backing track, the sound becomes cluttered and requires constant volume adjustment to hear the dialogue properly. This is true in my house, my sister's, and my friend's. Doesn't matter the size of the room, wall mount or pedestal,. Although there is a nice 5-band equalizer that helps, I think this flat screen absolutely requires at least a 2.1 system to bring the SQ to the same level as the PQ.

    If anyone has this TV, I HIGHLY recommend trying the picture calibration settings found here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1020612&highlight=calibration+samsung+550
     
  18. bru87tr

    bru87tr 80’s rule

    Location:
    MA
    My Sony 36" XBR800 HDTV died not long ago. Sure it was not a big screen but the picture could not be beat and the sound, wow! For internal speakers on this thing it was great as it had a built in subwoofer. Best internal speakers I ever heard from a tv.

    I now have an LG LCD and it was a shock sound wise, although it is prob better than others for what they stuff in there. I was actually quite suprised it sounded as good as it did, but compared to the Sony Tube, no contest!

    Glad I have surround sound. Guitar Hero breaks up on my TV speakers and had to hook up the wii on the surround. The sound on the TV was not even cranked up and GH music broke up.
     
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