Your TV is set up all WRONG – five ways to improve audio without a soundbar

ARE you wanting to improve your TVs sound quality without forking out the cash for an expensive soundbar?

Here’s five tips to conquer muffled audio, according to experts at consumer organisation Which?.

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Firstly, most smart TVs these days have different sound modes to choose from and one of them will likely prioritise dialogue.

It’s sometimes called ‘Clear Voice’, and can be changed to become the default setting on your telly.

If you don’t have a smart TV but have Prime Video, you can also do this with Amazon’s new audio menu.

Secondly, some TVs will let you adjust how wide the dynamic range is – this is the setting that flattens the range of volume.

It means the loudest and quietest sounds are more consistent and equal.

Thirdly, it’s important to check your downmix is set to stereo, otherwise the TV could be sending dialogue to a speaker that doesn’t exist.

“Most TVs output in stereo but the audio signals they receive are often intended for five speaker surround-sound setups,” Which? experts explained.

“The TV downmixes the sound to make the audio work with two stereo speakers.”

A fourth tip would be to Bluetooth connect a set of headphones to the telly, so you can independently adjust the volume.

Some TVs may even let you connect hearing aids to the sound system.

The last thing you can consider – which would be much more expensive than simply getting a soundbar – is getting a new TV altogether.

It sounds ridiculous, but the flatscreen TVs which are common today often have worse speakers than some of its boxier predecessors.

A thin screen means thin speakers that lack the power of the deeper ones inside the colossal big-box TVs of the past.

So, you can consider getting a new – or second-hand – TV that has chunkier speakers that better fit your audio needs.

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