Sound Bar for TV 10 January 2022 at 3:40PM in TV MoneySaving 9 replies 161 views

castle96

My TV sound is wooly. Sometimes I think I am going deaf (I'm not!). Know nothing about SB's but obviously need one. TV is modern 1 yr old and hung on wall. SB would need to be fixed to wall above TV (are there fixings on SB for this?)
Not looking to spend > £50 - 100 - any recommendations?)
One piece required. No separate 'boxes/woofers'
Q re connection to TV. I have 1x spare HDMI port. Is that Ok? What is 'optical... bluetooth...... Is HDMI OK ? Confused. TIA

castle96

Q-this one say..
Buy PHILIPS TAB5305/10 2.1 Wireless Sound Bar | Free Delivery | Currys

It connects by HDMI - good. Can fix to wall - good. I can bung the woofer anywhere in the room - good, but how does the woofer connect.. It says "wireless". Does that me the woofer and the SB will just connect automatically?? 
What is a good 'comparison' when looking/comparing? Is it Watts?

giraffe69

My woofer connects via Bluetooth. Not sure if it would connect via another method but this one flawless so far(3 years).

castle96

thanks for that, but my Qs above?

frederick1950

Realistically for £50-£100: don't expect much improvement.
Optical is exactly as it sounds ....
basically a Toslink fibre optic cable.
Don't get to hung up on watts 
Make sure any spec. state the wattage as RMS .
30 watts rms  per channel should be adequate but at your price  point expect some distortion.

castle96

thanks....

getmore4less

Which TV do you have?

Which wall mount do you have?

castle96

Hiscense 50" 1 yr old. The all mount fittings would need to come with the bar. It would be mounted above the TV (this is already wall mounted

cx6

If you connect the soundbar via 'optical' then you are connecting it digitally, bypassing the DAC in the TV and using the DAC in the soundbar. If you get a decent soundbar, then in this mode all the audio processing is done there and you might get a good improvement.

If you connect it via eg phono or 3.5mm jack then you are connecting it analogue-ly and using the DAC in the TV. In this mode, the sound bar is pretty much acting like and extension speaker and if the TV electronics are mediocre you won't hear much better sound quality

For your budget, you may get more if you buy second hand eg eBay

Jaybee_16

castle96 said:

My TV sound is wooly. Sometimes I think I am going deaf (I'm not!). Know nothing about SB's but obviously need one. TV is modern 1 yr old and hung on wall. SB would need to be fixed to wall above TV (are there fixings on SB for this?)
Not looking to spend > £50 - 100 - any recommendations?)
One piece required. No separate 'boxes/woofers'
Q re connection to TV. I have 1x spare HDMI port. Is that Ok? What is 'optical... bluetooth...... Is HDMI OK ? Confused. TIA

Same as the OP, I thought the sound on my tv was also a bit 'wooly', except I may be going deaf. 
Looked into the sound settings on my tv and found one option shown as 'clear speech' or something similar. Selected that option and it made a big difference. 

My telly is an LG, less than a year old.