Audio probs with new plas TV....help pls!!

mumof2

Philips 42" Plasma: I don't like the sound, my old tv was better. Is this normal that it sounds so muffed/ background noisier than the characters speaking??

Would hooking up a Stereo system to it improve it, and if so which type, does it need to be Wi-Fi???

Dont know about linking up these kind of things and don't have anyone handy to tell me either!!

Thanks for advice.

Kashkai

Perhaps I'm a closet conspiracy theorist but I believe that most lcd/plasma tvs manufactured today have terrible sound for a reason (I'm basing this on the 2 samsungs I've bought and the Toshiba tv my father has) because the manufacturers want us to also buy the "home theatre" speaker systems that they also manufacture :rolleyes:.

The sound off both my samsungs is very poor and luckily for me, I have a great home theatre set up that I bought separately, i.e. its not a samsung offering.

You can spend anything from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand euros on a home theatre system so you'll have to decide if you really want want/need one. They are great for movies but a bit superfluous for the likes of coronation street, sport etc, so decide what you'd be listening to before spending good money on a system that you won't really need.

If you do decide you want one, you would do worse than look at the richersounds website as they do all kinds of home theatre systems to suit most budgets. A basic system is comprised of a centre speaker that sits under the tv, 2 speakers that sit either side of the tv and 2 rear speakers that are placed behind where you sit. You will also get a subwoofer which is a large rectangular box that provides the "boom" from explosions etc. These speakers are all connected by wire to an amplifier that may/may not have an inbuilt dvd/blu ray player. Your sky/ntl/tv ariel signal is also connected to the amplifier. This amplifier sends the video signal to your tv while outputting the sound through the speakers to give you the surround sound effect. You can also get wireless rear speakers (so you won't have to run speaker wires around your room) but they can be prone to interference. Home theatre systems also come with just 2 speakers that supposedly project the sound around your room so you get the impression taht you are listening to a full surround sound system. You could get one of these if you don't fancy running speaker wire around the room.

mumof2

I think your right about your theory on the quality of sound on the latest TV's!!;)

Will have a look at the Richer Sounds Website..... have also been looking at a Sony Stereo system, supposed to be good as well..........

Appreciate the advice:D

chiefwiggum

i have the same problem i have a 52 a 42 and a 32 all lcd and sound is rubbish especially when watching dvds or playing ps3

axton1

The sound output on a lot of the mass market tvs is poor.
The more high end tvs like Sagem (sadly out of production) upper end Hitachi etc have a much better sound.

But if you want 5.1 surround with no rears and no wires you could look at the Soundmatters Mainstage hd unit all one box, *** has a special setting for voice programmes : news documentaries etc where you normally have to crank the vol so much there is all sorts of rubbish in the background.
There is a small sub builtin to the mainstage and can be upgraded with an active sub /which in turn can be linked to another.
I found the quality quite good considering the size see www.soundmatters.com

mumof2

Have just finished setting up the Sony Bravia DAVDZ260, and am very happy with it. Just have to understand how the surround sound works, as it appears not to work all the time which surprised me actually. However I have yet to test it out with the Playstation, which im looking forward to......
Thanks for all tips!!