New HDTV

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expat

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We just replaced our old CR TV with a new 32" Samsung HDTV
We are not 'big' TV watchers, so this was a bit of an extravagance.
First thing that Bugs us; The sound quality is the pits! I suffer from Tinnitus so reasonable sound is important. We commented about this to the sales person, and they tried to sell us a Sound Bar, but a 36" sound bar will not fit in the location where we want our TV (as I said, we are not big TV watchers, so do not want the TV to dominate the room) Besides, we do not want to shell out another $200 on a Sound Bar just to hear our New TV.

I did notice the TV had a 'Phones Jack' so I rigged a spare set of Amped Computer speakers to the outlet, But the Phones outlet IS NOT volume controlled
mad.gif
(we have to adjust the sound from the speakers units themselves, not by remote)

Second: I thought I might be able to plug-in our Ipad to the USB jack on the TV and watch stored video from the Ipad, on the new TV. But that does not seem to work either.
Anyone able to offer any suggestions?
Thanx.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
I did notice the TV had a 'Phones Jack' so I rigged a spare set of Amped Computer speakers to the outlet, But the Phones outlet IS NOT volume controlled
mad.gif
(we have to adjust the sound from the speakers units themselves, not by remote)

Make sure you read the instructions carefully. Most TVs allow you to change the audio out to be either fixed or variable (volume controlled). It's somewhere in the audio settings menu.

Quote:

Second: I thought I might be able to plug-in our Ipad to the USB jack on the TV and watch stored video from the Ipad, on the new TV. But that does not seem to work either.

You need an adapter that will convert the iPad output to HDMI:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC953ZM/A
 
Originally Posted By: expat
We just replaced our old CR TV with a new 32" Samsung HDTV
First thing that Bugs us; The sound quality is the pits!

My folks have a slightly smaller (i.e. maybe a 26") Samsung LCD in their kitchen and its sound is terrible too. Very tin-like and metallic sounding. And it's not a matter of the settings. I checked those out myself.
 
General problem with these flat panel thin bezel displays is that there is very little room for decent size speaker drivers and enclosures to make them sound decent. Our 60" Samsung LED is the same way. I couldn't stand the built-in speakers and bought a soundbar for it. In general these TVs are meant to be used with dedicated audio systems, I'm afraid. Your other option is to use wireless headphones.
 
It's 2011, you'd think they'd be able to make good quality sound still...

...but then again, you'd think they'd be able to make new Refrigerators last like the old ones also...
 
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
It's 2011, you'd think they'd be able to make good quality sound still...

When a 50" flat panel now costs under $500, something's gotta give. In addition, people want it to be super slim. That's contradictory to proper sound. Good sound needs size/volume.

Besides, manufacturers want to upsell you on separate home theater receivers and speaker systems. It's much easier to convince you to buy those if the built-in speakers sound like poop.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
It's 2011, you'd think they'd be able to make good quality sound still...

When a 50" flat panel now costs under $500, something's gotta give. In addition, people want it to be super slim. That's contradictory to proper sound. Good sound needs size/volume.

Besides, manufacturers want to upsell you on separate home theater receivers and speaker systems. It's much easier to convince you to buy those if the built-in speakers sound like poop.


Yea, I know. You'd think they would come up with something...
 
Originally Posted By: expat
Besides, we do not want to shell out another $200 on a Sound Bar just to hear our New TV.


Well, I can't offer you much other than a minor upgrade may be in order. I've never been a big fan of the speakers in TVs anyhow. Places like XS Cargo do have some rather bargain basement home theater systems from some of the bigger names. They're not great, and they won't rattle your walls. But, you can score them for under $200 easily and they're a cinch to set up. You might even be able to get the TV remote to run the volume, and barring that, it'll have a remote of it's own.

It's not an audiophile system by any stretch of the imagination, but I use a little garbage system like that for gaming and some movies, and it is a far sight beyond built in speakers, from today or yesterday.
 
I think the reason the sound sucks on flat panels is that the cabinet does not exactly invite large speakers and large speaker enclosures for making big sound.

My Panasonic sounds good, but I consider them top of the line and it's not really surprising. The really cheap TV's often sound really bad.
 
[/quote]
Make sure you read the instructions carefully. Most TVs allow you to change the audio out to be either fixed or variable (volume controlled). It's somewhere in the audio settings menu
[/quote]
Thank you,
But it does not look good, There seems to be an optical 'out' and a 'Phones jack' out, but I do not see anyway of adjusting output levels form the TV (via the remote)
There is a 'SPDIF' on/off setting and an Audio Delay?? slider But I do not know what that is ?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: tpitcher
It's 2011, you'd think they'd be able to make good quality sound still...

When a 50" flat panel now costs under $500, something's gotta give. In addition, people want it to be super slim. That's contradictory to proper sound. Good sound needs size/volume.

Besides, manufacturers want to upsell you on separate home theater receivers and speaker systems. It's much easier to convince you to buy those if the built-in speakers sound like poop.



+1
 
My audio was real bad on my LG, until I set the audio choice to the "music" setting. Night and day difference on my set. Also choose Auto Level control if it is a option. Inproved mine even more.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
expat, what is the model number of your TV?


Samsung 4000
 
Originally Posted By: expat
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
expat, what is the model number of your TV?


Samsung 4000

Looks like you were correct. No external audio variable volume control on this set. Your best bet may be to pick up a small 2-channel mini stereo with its own remote control in this case.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Didn't you listen to it in the store before you bought it ??

A store is not exactly a good audio auditioning environment. Besides, which 32" flat panel TV has good sound? I think you'll find that all of them sound equally bad for the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread.
 
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