It is amazing to think of how viewing television has changed in a few short years. Affordable, flat-panel designs with stunning picture quality have arrived. With progress, however, comes challenge. Thin televisions can only be packaged with thin sounding amplifiers and speakers. Modern day televisions have taken a gigantic leap forward in picture quality and aesthetics while sound quality has taken a step backward.
What are the options for improving TV sound quality? One approach is to purchase an amplified speaker (sound bar) and place it near the TV. Another conventional solution is to purchase a “theater in a box” system. Theater in a box systems offer surround sound and typically consist of five small speakers and a subwoofer. Sound bars and theater in a box systems improve TV sound by offering more volume and increased bass response. They provide a simple and inexpensive path to improved TV sound. What is frequently overlooked is how cheaply built most of them are. Sound bars and theater in a box systems do not compete with seriously designed speakers. With the aid of extensive research and development, speaker specialists deliver a product that is in a different league – offering life-like sound with better definition and clarity.
We often hear comments from end users that theater in a box systems are OK for television and movies, but listening to music is more satisfying on their older stereo in another room. This same older stereo would likely sound great for television and movies as well. The improved sound can be largely attributed to better performance in the amplifier and utilization of a speaker designed by a company that specializes in the speaker category. Contrary to what you might think, many of these speakers from world-class manufacturers are very reasonably priced.
There is another way to assemble better sound for your TV. For the price of many theater in a box systems, you could purchase a surround sound receiver and start with two nice speakers (check your closet, you may already have some or use those beloved speakers from your stereo system). You might find that two high performance speakers offer better sound quality than the five speakers in your theater in a box. And if you wish to pursue surround sound down the road, simply add more speakers to your receiver.
