Easy Fixes for TV Sound Issues

TV's come in a variety of styles and sizes to suit many media formats, however, they may still require a few adjustments to ensure your experience is the best it can be.

Change the settings

If you rely on your TV's built-in speakers, you may find that their sound is muddy or faint — especially when it comes to reproducing dialogue in movies. That's because movie sound is often designed to be listened to on a surround-sound system and suffers in quality when forced through a TV's small stereo speakers.

• Using your TV's remote control, navigate to the on-screen menu and select "Sound Settings." Most modern sets will have a number of options suited to different types of sound (movies, sports and so on). Try these first, and choose one that suits your ear.
• You can then tweak the settings to refine the sound. You may want to reduce the bass level — excessive bass can cause cabinets to rattle and introduce unpleasant distortion at higher listening levels. If the sound lacks "sparkle," try increasing the treble.
• Some TVs have a "Virtual Surround" mode that attempts to emulate the sound of a multi-speaker home cinema system. Unfortunately, these modes often tend to muddy the sound, so try switching them off and listen for an improvement.
• Try positioning your TV in the corner of a room, rather than flat against a wall. This creates an effect similar to cupping your hands around your mouth when speaking, and may help to intensify the TV's sound.
• If you have a hi-fi system in the same room as the TV, try routing the TV's audio signals to the stereo for superior results. Many TVs (and set-top boxes) have audio output ports. Connect an RCA cable of appropriate length from this to one of the spare auxiliary inputs of your hi-fi system.

Install a "soundbar"

Buying and installing a surround-sound system will give you the best audio experience when watching TV, but these systems are expensive and include multiple speakers, which make them unsuitable for small rooms.

A cheaper and neater solution is a "soundbar" — a narrow array of speakers that fits neatly beneath a TV and gives you some of the benefits of a full home theatre system.