Sound Base Sound

[espookid]

I am interested in buying a sound base for my sony tv but not to have it loud just to hear more clearly ,none of the sales topics cover low volume clarity so can anyone help ? Will it help clarify the sound for an old man!

[catsrcool]

If you have a Richer Sounds nearby I suggest you go and have a demo and then you can hear for yourself and not rely on a written review.

[gingejbee]

^^^ I completely agree both with Richer Sounds AND trying one out for yourself before purchase.
I have a Yamaha soundbar (Which? Best Buy) which has a "Clear Voice" button...which really does make the spoken word "stand out" from the background....but you really need to try equipment out to see if it helps with your own hearing.

[Hopkirk]

Sound bar I think you mean.

We have one for our Samsung and it definitely improves sound quality, but not necessarily clarity. You need to try one out.

Modern TVs hide the speakers round the back, in order to get a super slim frame. As a result you are hearing sound bounced off the wall.

One negative is that on ours the TV remote cannot be set to control the sound bar, so you end up with two remote controls.

[Togo]

You don't say if you wear a hearing aid espookid, if so a loop is a great help.(I am told) If is just general age related hearing loss (mine is selective) firstly are you using a sound system of any kind now, say a surround sound system either 5:1 or 4:1.? If so you can adjust the sound levels in the set up menu and optimize the centre channel. This has the effect of lowering the left and right music and background levels and enhancing speech and dialogue. If you are just wanting to improve your sound quality on your sony tv I think you may want to look at the sony HT-XT1 sound bar. This incorporates separate voice mode emphasises speech in three levels, one of which boosts frequencies that the elderly find difficult to hear. It appears to get good reviews and is not too pricey.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/sony-ht-xt1-review

On offer at Amazon.

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

[ivor4781]

hopkirk
"Sound bar I think you mean."
that's very pedantic of you
don't think gingejbee will be very impressed

[espookid]

Well thanks for the answers and I did mean sound base .It was the sony ht-xt1 I have been looking at .Although I am 67 my hearing has suffered from a life of machines and I don't in fact have an aid I do suffer from lack of distinction and the speech seems to be the worst frequencies .My question was based on the fact that my wife hates the TV on too loud which for me seems to help Thanks to TOGO and the mention of the voice modes which was something I hadn't picked up on .I have been to the local dealers but they show in a totally different environment so I came out undecided

[Togo]

Ta espookid, same here. We have a blu ray with a 5:1 sound system and "She who must be obeyed" hates the TV on loud. I set it up so that the middle front speaker is set to give higher speech levels, and compromise is reached. When I am home alone I let it rip.

[Hopkirk]

My apologies, I had never heard one called a sound base before, but I know that that this is a common term.

[ivor4781]

hopkirk
info...Soundbases are often rated by the weight of the TV they can support, and because of the extra space, will often have better audio processing than soundbars.
(from the net)

[mjwman]

Sound base term is fine. Sound Bars and Sound bases are different.
Sound bar has a separate bass wooffer unit whereas a sound base sits under the tv and is integral.

[espookid]

Just for TOGO I have indeed bought a sound base from Ebay but I found one made in Canada that was on offer and when I read up the reviews it seemed pretty good .It arrived a few days ago and I am trilled to bits -so is the wife -so all is good .By the way it is a PSB alpha v21 if you are at all interested