Will a soundbar help me? (struggling to hear TV dialogue)

womble12345

I have a LG 43UK6300PLB TV, it is basically a 2018 model that I bought for £300 so its bottom of the range. I struggle with hearing the dialogue/speech on some shows so I turn the volume up and then when an action sequence occurs and you get explosions the volume is too high and my wife moans at me so I am constantly juggling the volume up and down. Will a soundbar help to highlight the dialogue? If so what features in a soundbar do I need to prioritise to get?

stinky_daddy

Why can't you put the subtitles on instead of having the tv blaring? It will certainly save you money 

womble12345

stinky_daddy said:

Why can't you put the subtitles on instead of having the tv blaring? It will certainly save you money 

Good point, I would rather avoid reading subtitles. I dont mind spending a bit of money on a soundbar if its likely to help.

Browntoa

I have a LG soundbar on my TV , it does make speech clearer on my LG TV .

kazwookie

OH bought a sound bar recently,  I have 2 hearing aids, and the Bloo** thing has some sort of bass, and it is awful, I can lip read, the speach on the telly runs out of time with the sounds.

OH reckons I am nagging, but it spoils my enjoyment.

OH is away currently, I hardly have the telly on it (to me)  is that bad.

Save your money and forget it.

Sandtree

Looking at your manual, have you tried using the Clear Voice sound mode?
Cannot see on your particular TV but some do have dynamic volume control designed for late night viewing etc which reduces the volume of peak sound scenes to avoid your issue issues when listening at volume.

Most flat panel TVs have fairly poor sound due to the basic physics of the amount space they have for drivers etc. Clearly the more budget probably the worse they are. Soundbars can help notably as they typically have much more room for better drivers, can point at you etc however you can run a similar issue that go for a budget model but claiming to do all the bells and whistles like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X and it will probably still be a step up but not as far as it could have been.

another_casualty

womble12345 said:

I have a LG 43UK6300PLB TV, it is basically a 2018 model that I bought for £300 so its bottom of the range. I struggle with hearing the dialogue/speech on some shows so I turn the volume up and then when an action sequence occurs and you get explosions the volume is too high and my wife moans at me so I am constantly juggling the volume up and down. Will a soundbar help to highlight the dialogue? If so what features in a soundbar do I need to prioritise to get?

A sound bar is the way to go imho , and richer sounds are very knowledgeable and would steer you in the right direction .

one other thing that may / may not  be  on your tv is ' stable sound ' . Have a look on your preferences on your tv and see if it's included . If so, select 'on' . This feature avoids the sound going up and down when you may have the misfortune of watching commercials . It should help with the action sequences you have mentioned etc ..

another_casualty

Forgot to mention ; if you have a stereo near the tv, you could plug tv into that and you wouldn't need a soundbar ..

flaneurs_lobster

Had the same problem w/a 10 yo Panasonic plasma set. Tried fixing w/a cheap (£50-ish) Panasonic soundbar, not much difference. Replaced w/ a Samsung bar that has fixed problems, great sound, clear dialog and decent "sound stage" from multiple speakers. Downside is it costs as much as OP's TV (albeit I got a refurb w/ £100 off at Richer Sounds). 

If you have an HDMI ARC socket on your TV to connect to it makes life far simpler for on/off, volume control etc. 

shiraz99

Just be aware that on some shows on some channels, especially American shows, the dialogue can be very difficult to hear regardless, they're just very poorly broadcast.

womble12345

Sandtree said:

Looking at your manual, have you tried using the Clear Voice sound mode?
Cannot see on your particular TV but some do have dynamic volume control designed for late night viewing etc which reduces the volume of peak sound scenes to avoid your issue issues when listening at volume.

Most flat panel TVs have fairly poor sound due to the basic physics of the amount space they have for drivers etc. Clearly the more budget probably the worse they are. Soundbars can help notably as they typically have much more room for better drivers, can point at you etc however you can run a similar issue that go for a budget model but claiming to do all the bells and whistles like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X and it will probably still be a step up but not as far as it could have been.

I did activate Clear Voice a while ago and I thought at the time it improved things but recently I have noticed the issue so either the placebo effect has ended or one of the kids have turned the setting off, I will check. Thanks.