Thinking of buying a new TV.I do not want to buy a sound bar as well. Some TV,s seem to have rubbish sound but good picture.
What is the best make (and/or) model TV thinking up to 55" range for sound quality ?
Thanks in advance for any advice

brian_k7 - 2020-10-21 09:47:00

This is 100% subjective in my opinion. Some people will come in and say the inbuilt speakers on a TV are fine for watching TV, which it probably is. In saying that, even a cheap sound bar will sound better than pretty much the speakers built into any TV. Why would you want to have a TV where the picture looks amazing, but the sound is like listening to a transistor radio?

There is no way to tell you what sound you think is best. You will probably actually go and listen to some TVs instore. I could say that something sounds crap and you might think it sounds amazing.... each to their own.

cube_guy - 2020-10-21 10:51:00

According to "Consumer" the best 55" sound rated TV's are the;
LG. OLED55CXPVA, rated 80% for sound.
Sony. KD55A8G, also 80 for sound.
and are also in there top three 55" tvs

Edited by shinedog at 11:21 am, Wed 21 Oct

shinedog - 2020-10-21 11:20:00

Most TVs don't have great sound. You don't have to get a sound bar to get good sound. Almost any sound system (you probably need one with an optical input) will be a huge improvement

duncb - 2020-10-21 15:19:00

If you just watch Seven Sharp, the news and other reality TV shows it won't matter.

If you like watching movies or watching music videos or streaming Youtube then IMO you need a soundbar and subwoofer at the least.

sw20 - 2020-10-21 15:40:00

shinedog wrote:

According to "Consumer" the best 55" sound rated TV's are the;
LG. OLED55CXPVA, rated 80% for sound.
Sony. KD55A8G, also 80 for sound.
and are also in there top three 55" tvs

We have the LG OLED 55" and love it. Though ours is hooked up to stereo speakers so can't comment on the sound. Picture is crystal clear, and the monitor is super thin.

lyl_guy - 2020-10-21 16:03:00

Bought a Samsung 58 inch and Sony Soundbar/ subby . Best thing we did as even for normal TV show it is a vast improvement - but we also watch a lot of movies.

benthecat - 2020-10-21 17:31:00

WE have an LG 55" it's about 3-4 years old. We went instore and listened to various TVs prior to purchase. This one was great. We neither want nor need a soundbar. Waste of money and not right when you pay $1500 for a Tv that you can't hear properly - that's a bad joke.

nice_lady - 2020-10-21 17:55:00

nice_lady wrote:

WE have an LG 55" it's about 3-4 years old. We went instore and listened to various TVs prior to purchase. This one was great. We neither want nor need a soundbar. Waste of money and not right when you pay $1500 for a Tv that you can't hear properly - that's a bad joke.

Politely disagree with that. We tried with and without a sound bar and the difference, especially for movies, is huge.

benthecat - 2020-10-21 22:34:00

I purchased a sound bar for my TV. I'd never go back to TV speakers.

namtak - 2020-10-21 23:25:00

nice_lady wrote:

WE have an LG 55" it's about 3-4 years old. We went instore and listened to various TVs prior to purchase. This one was great. We neither want nor need a soundbar. Waste of money and not right when you pay $1500 for a Tv that you can't hear properly - that's a bad joke.

I am looking at a LG 55 NANO , not cheap but I will maybe try without a sound bar. As I stated in my O.P. I do not want a sound bar .
The LG emote seems to be the only one that has "point at the screen" to operate and select functions too which saves typing in

brian_k7 - 2020-10-23 17:37:00

You can get an LG App which goes on your smartphone and has most or all of the functionalities of the actual remote.

Edited by nice_lady at 6:03 pm, Fri 23 Oct

nice_lady - 2020-10-23 17:56:00

nice_lady wrote:

You can get an LG App which goes on your smartphone and has most or all of the functionalities of the actual remote.

Bought the LG55NANO86 , will install it today hopefully

brian_k7 - 2020-10-25 06:55:00

We just have the hifi in the same area as the TV, so can use the youtube etc for listening to music.

tygertung - 2020-10-25 07:49:00

benthecat wrote:

Politely disagree with that. We tried with and without a sound bar and the difference, especially for movies, is huge.

What we get from the TV is perfectly fine for us.

nice_lady - 2020-10-25 09:12:00

duncb wrote:

Most TVs don't have great sound. You don't have to get a sound bar to get good sound. Almost any sound system (you probably need one with an optical input) will be a huge improvement

Our previous tv we could play sound through stereo speakers and this made speech and everything really so much clearer for me (seem to be getting deaf as I age) . However couldn’t manage this with the LG tv we purchased a couple of years ago so perhaps this optical input item may be the solution are they readily available and where please?

eljayv - 2020-10-25 09:53:00

The member deleted this message.

lyl_guy - 2020-10-25 10:09:00

For eljayv - Sorry, just posted slightly wrong info - here's what we bought to hook up our older stereo (with great sound system!) to new TV:
Digital to Analog Converter DAC Digital SPDIF Toslink to Analog Stereo Audio L/R Converter Adapter https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?archive=1&
id=2402737382
And this cable to connect it: https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?archive=1&
id=2398033690
A 5 Meter SPDIF Toslink fibre optic optical stereo audio sound cable cord. I had to google to find how to connect it up, but we did it without any tech expert to help.

Edited by lyl_guy at 10:18 am, Sun 25 Oct

lyl_guy - 2020-10-25 10:17:00

nice_lady wrote:

What we get from the TV is perfectly fine for us.

As you keep saying. Clearly low expectations.

sw20 - 2020-10-25 11:25:00

sw20 wrote:

As you keep saying. Clearly low expectations.

Don't be insulting. Just we are quite happy with what we have. I watch very little tv and have no need of surround sound or whatever.

Edited by nice_lady at 11:29 am, Sun 25 Oct

nice_lady - 2020-10-25 11:27:00

I use this for movies, connects via cable or Bluetooth and amazing sound. Cost $80 from Aliexpress several years ago.

https://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/full/1423605368.jpg

peanuts37 - 2020-10-25 11:41:00

nice_lady wrote:

What we get from the TV is perfectly fine for us.

Had the LG55Nano86 running now for a couple of days and yes like you , we are very happy with the sound so see no need to buy a sound bar. This TV sound is the best we heard and better at home than in store.

brian_k7 - 2020-10-27 08:24:00

????

nice_lady - 2020-10-27 09:04:00

its all personal preference. I have a decent Panasonic TV from 2017 which I dont think has great sound (others in the house didnt care though). I typically hook my TVs up to my receiver and speakers anyway

csador - 2020-10-29 20:34:00

I run my TV sound through my denon amp with a pair of B&W DM330i's and Mordaunt Short MS55Ti's. Could never go back to tinnie transistor radio sound of the onboard speakers.

muppet_slayer - 2020-10-29 21:02:00

brian_k7 wrote:

This TV sound is the best we heard and better at home than in store.

Sounding better than in the store is not that much of a benchmark, unless your lounge room is also 3000 square meters in size and also filled with all the usual noise that comes with being in a store!

cube_guy - 2020-10-29 21:24:00

muppet_slayer wrote:

I run my TV sound through my denon amp with a pair of B&W DM330i's and Mordaunt Short MS55Ti's. Could never go back to tinnie transistor radio sound of the onboard speakers.

Our TV doesn't have any kind of 'tinny transistor radio' sound. We would not have bought it if it did. We only listen to Tv programs and movies etc, not rock concerts and therefore an expensive sound bar/amp/speakers are superfluous to our listening experience, (cost of such is not any issue we just don't want nor need it). As someone above said - it's all subjective.

Edited by nice_lady at 2:03 pm, Fri 30 Oct

nice_lady - 2020-10-30 14:02:00

cube_guy wrote:

Sounding better than in the store is not that much of a benchmark, unless your lounge room is also 3000 square meters in size and also filled with all the usual noise that comes with being in a store!

Well THEY think it's better and are happy with that in fact they said they are very happy so that's what matters.

nice_lady - 2020-10-30 14:04:00

nice_lady wrote:

Our TV doesn't have any kind of 'tinny transistor radio' sound. We would not have bought it if it did. We only listen to Tv programs and movies etc, not rock concerts and therefore an expensive sound bar/amp/speakers are superfluous to our listening experience, (cost of such is not any issue we just don't want nor need it). As someone above said - it's all subjective.

Fair enough. Each to their own I guess.

muppet_slayer - 2020-10-30 15:29:00

nice_lady wrote:

Well THEY think it's better and are happy with that in fact they said they are very happy so that's what matters.

Of course it is, and good for them. But the benchmark of "it sounds better at home than in the store" means absolutely 0 as every single TV anywhere will sound better at home unless you are recreating the same awful sound environment that you have in the store. That was my point.

cube_guy - 2020-10-30 16:34:00

cube_guy wrote:

Of course it is, and good for them. But the benchmark of "it sounds better at home than in the store" means absolutely 0 as every single TV anywhere will sound better at home unless you are recreating the same awful sound environment that you have in the store. That was my point.

Allow me to refer you to post #11:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.as
px?id=1840139&topic=3

nice_lady - 2020-10-30 16:40:00

At the end of the day 'little' speakers are only going to perform to a certain level. They would be no bigger than 2" i'd say

Hooking up an amp and speakers like I have takes it far beyond that, almost cinema quality if you use surround sound.

Hearing the difference you won't go back. If you've never heard it then you might settle for the onboard speakers.

muppet_slayer - 2020-11-01 15:46:00