Does anybody else find the sound quality, especially voice, coming out of the latest flat screen TV’s to be poor. I do have a bit of hearing loss but not a lot…. the soundbar I own (8 years old) isn’t a lot better when it comes to voice. I have seen soundbars on line at Best Buy and Amazon that feature models that have an adjustable voice control. Anybody have any experience with these units??
This is funny timing. I just bought one last week. This is the one I got. It helps a lot with dialog BUT not quite as much as I had hoped going by the reviews. Still pretty happy with it. Not sure there is much else out there that could help with my poor hearing.
On a side note, once I got the sound bar and connected it to the TV the wife decided I should get a new TV to go with it. 
REALLY HAPPY with the TV however…can’t believe the picture!
I have 100% hearing loss in one ear and mild loss in the other. I have a hearing aid in the bad ear that transmits to the hearing aid in my other ear. Dialog is difficult for me at “normal” volume levels. On our main TV I have had a Zvox sound bar for about 4 years and it definitely makes a difference compared to our other TV’s.
I have Bose sound system connected to the TV and also a Low Latency Bluetooth transmitter. The Transmitter transmits to a Low Latency speaker next to my wife’s chair. The Low Latency combination was about $100 and makes the voices much easier to hear.
We recently bought a vizio for our new addition and the sound qualiy is poor, it varies so much. Some shows are super quiet and hard to hear, others are loud or the sound will go quiet to loud depending on a scene. Interested in this topic as well. Im dont have the greatest hearing either.
^ music and commercials are loud, voices are soft to “what did he say?”
I thought it was just me.
I used to be really into my stereo and TV video and audio. But I have been long pasted by, not keeping up with the industry, just changes too fast.
JBL used to be in 90% of theaters, not sure today, but I think they still have quality speakers.
My son is now big into audio/video, next generation, and he is a big Sonos fan, but they are spendy. You kind of get what you pay for. I was looking for a sound bar about a year ago, same type situation as you, and did a ton of research, and seemed that Samsung had a very good product for the price. Unfortunately, I started reading all the user reviews you can find a Google, and quality of product was not very good for Samsung. Sony and LG are kind of the best middle of the road, but both have very good and very bad products, have to know which one you are buying, do go cheapest. Bose spends a lot of money on advertising, gets a lot of fanfare, but experts knock their actual sound quality. Sennheiser is another high quality bar, higher cost.
I know, a lot of crap information, likely not as useful as I thought. But if I were buying today, I would buy Sonos.
^ music and commercials are loud, voices are soft to “what did he say?”
I thought it was just me.
Those Hamm’s bears have always been known to mumble,,,,
HRG
^ music and commercials are loud, voices are soft to “what did he say?”
I thought it was just me.
It’s not you, it’s not the tv. This happens on tv or a full blown home theater system. Seems like some jackwagon wanted to make sure the commercials got your attention.
I have it narrowed down to a couple products at this point. Polk Audio and Zvox both have a voice level adjustment on their units. I will try both and the Sonos this weekend at the store. Will let you know how they compare and sound. Sonos is pricey but they have good reviews….problem is I don’t see a dialog level adjustment available on the Sonos. Heard all are in stock nearby.
Will let you know and thanks for the free advice.
I have it narrowed down to a couple products at this point. Polk Audio and Zvox both have a voice level adjustment on their units. I will try both and the Sonos this weekend at the store. Will let you know how they compare and sound. Sonos is pricey but they have good reviews….problem is I don’t see a dialog level adjustment available on the Sonos. Heard all are in stock nearby.
Will let you know and thanks for the free advice.
Will be waiting to hear your results, been struggling with this issue for several years due to poor hearing.
One question, are most of the sound bars wireless? Is there any difference in quality between hard wired and wireless? Don’t need any thing high ended just want to be able to understand words.
On a side note and not to sound like a old man, which I am getting closer. Any younger people on here that are around loud noises (gun shots, engines, chains saws) wear your hearing protection. May not seem like a big deal now but it’s no fun when you get older. Done preaching
There is an audio output menu on my tv. The default setting sucked. For example watching sports the crowd noise would flood over the announcer. There are 5-6 different settings. Found one that works will for me. Might be worth a look.
Toshiba 50 inch.
-J.
I just got a Samgung 65 inch Q8 even thou there is an adjustment to keep volume consistent yea the voices do not stand out very well. Some programs are better then others. Never had a sound bar but may have to look into one waiting for the verdict how well Bartman`s turns out.
I just bought and set up the Polk Signa S2 soundbar. $149 plus tax. The voice enhancement does work. It also has a wireless subwoofer. I am about 80% satisfied but I am keeping it. The setup is very easy if you are just using the digital optical cable. But….. you can’t adjust the volume or turn it on with other remotes. To accomplish this you need to connect it to the TV with the HDMI cable they provide. Your TV must have an ARC HDMI port to enable all these features. Plus, you may have to get into your TV setup menu and enable your TV to push sound thru the ARC HDMI port. I’m an old guy and if it wasn’t for YouTube I never would have figured out all this stuff.
Bottom line is this gadget helps a lot.
Out of the box our Sony Bravia had poor voice quality and I was disappointed until I found the sound adjustments which allowed quite a range of adjustments beyond bass/treble. I was able to find a good adjustment that pushed the voice audio above the background (effects, music etc). Even if you go with a sound bar, I suggest going through all the sound adjustments and you’ll likely find improvement.
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