RCA 42 inch RCA LED42A45RQ - Horrible Sound.

[HoosierGuy]

My family bought our brother a 42 inch RCA LED42A45RQ TV. The audio from the TV sounds horrible. Is this a defect or a problem in all these TVs? Is there anything we can do to improve the audio? Playing around with the settings does not help at all, not at all. It really sounds like a piece of crap. The sound is like it is coming from a coffee can. Ugh.

[PhoneMatt]

A quick and cheap fix is to attach a set of computer speakers to the headphone jack on the TV. On most sets, this will disable the built in speakers, so that you can still use your remote to control the volume.
I think that most manufacturers assume that people will hook their sets up to an amplifier and external speakers, but as a stopgap measure, the computer speakers will be a great improvement over the built in speakers.

[neomaine]

hoosierguy,

Yup, the thinner TVs get, the worse the built-in audio will be. There's just no room to put anything even half way decent. And sorry, but RCA is at the low end of the TV brand spectrum. Some other LCD/LED makers may put in better components, but realistically, audio is very poor to acceptable-for-now across the board. I've got a high-end Sharp and I consider the audio very very poor. But, knew that going in and planned on my current AVR for audio.

For audio out options on this TV you have audio L/R and SPDIF.

Very Low cost:
- Have an old stereo or boombox with detachable speakers laying around? Very easy to snip off the ends of the speaker cable and put on some RCA jacks to attach to the TV. You'll have to check the user manual to see if the L/R audio jacks are powered or not. If not, this option won't work.

Low cost:
- Some PC speakers as mentioned before. You can find anything from $25 to $200 that'll work. Without a mini-audio jack out on the TV you'll need to get a Y splitter for the L/R audio to mini-audio jack for the speakers. Generally, these are powered so you should be all set regardless if the L/R audio out on the TV is powered or not.
Note: One site shows that it has a headphone jack. This could be used as your audio out for powered PC speakers.

Medium cost:
- Look for a low end HTIB. Probably in the $200-$500 range. You'll have a couple of choices here. Towards the low end, look for something with at least SPDIF. You'd still use the multiple inputs of the TV and the HTIB as simply your audio out. On the higher end (or low end AVR) find one with enough inputs based on your needs and use it as your AVR. For a small room an adequate HTIB can be a very good answer. Though usually not much power (numbers here a largely marketing, HTIB with it's amp, speakers and sometimes a DVD or BluRay player can be a very good solution.

High cost:
- This is where things get expensive, quick. AVR setups run anywhere from $500 to tens of thousands of dollars for EACH of the components. I consider mine to be very nice - at least compared to any family and friends yet I know that compared to the people who actually know their stuff, it's the low end. But man, does it sound good to me.

Happy hunting!

[pinetop]

You could buy cheap a sound bar at Walmart or Target.

[edDV]

You could buy cheap a sound bar at Walmart or Target.

Pinetop beat me to it.

Sound bars are available at several quality levels. These take SPDIF in and give a left center right sound field. Some add

- "surroundsound" processing for fake surround.
- wireless of wired links to real surround speakers.
- separate subwoofer.

[jagabo]

On one HDTV I disconnected the internal speakers, and ran wires out to a pair of external speakers. On another I connected a pair of M-Audio powered monitors to the headphone output. I also use a smart power switch so that the speakers power on and off with the TV. Like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Conserve-Smart-F7C007q-Energy-Saving/dp/B003P2UMQ2/

[johns0]

On my 37" sanyo hdtv i ran the coax audio out to my 5.1 receiver and havent listened to the builtin speakers yet and that was 3 years ago.

[HoosierGuy]

Looks like we are going to get one of those speaker bars.

[Noahtuck]

Yeah every lcd/led i have looked at sounds like crap, not like there is any room to put anything more than laptop speakers in them!!

I was always laugh when people give LCD/LED tv's good reviews and then slam the sound
It's not like there is room to put bigger speakers with huge magnets in them like the good ol' CRT's!!
LOL!!

I was thinking of trying out this one for my 46" LED so i don't have to fire up my surround system just to watch tv and the little sub will at least give you a little low end to fill the sound out even if it won't pound on movies, but then that's what my full surround system is for.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Philips-HSB2313A-F7-300-Watt-HDMI-SoundBar/15779976

If it's good i may get one for my bedroom 26" LED.
I usually only have that on when i am going to bed so it's not such a big deal.

But i HATE watching TV on my 46" and hearing a laptop

This one is cheaper but it does not have a sub or remote.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/iLive-IT082B/17655302?findingMethod=rr

Must be kind of new as there are no reviews yet.

[edDV]

The fact known to pros but lost on the typical consumer is audio quality is half or more of the "experience". If audio is sub-par, then great video will not be appreciated. Fix your audio first.

[Noahtuck]

Fix your audio first.

Did someone say to fix his video first ??

I thought the only point anywhere in this thread was "audio" ?