Sound Bar for TV

in TV MoneySaving
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castle96castle96 Forumite
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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

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  • castle96castle96 Forumite
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    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?
  • giraffe69giraffe69 Forumite
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    My woofer connects via Bluetooth. Not sure if it would connect via another method but this one flawless so far(3 years).
  • castle96castle96 Forumite
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    thanks for that, but my Qs above?
  • frederick1950frederick1950 Forumite
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    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.
  • castle96castle96 Forumite
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    thanks....
  • getmore4lessgetmore4less Forumite
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    Which TV do you have?

    Which wall mount do you have?
  • castle96castle96 Forumite
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    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
  • edited 15 January 2022 at 1:24PM
    cx6cx6 Forumite
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    edited 15 January 2022 at 1:24PM
    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_16Jaybee_16 Forumite
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    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. 
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