28 Aug How to Enhance Your New Flat Screen Sound
Flat Screen Sound
I think the easiest way to help my clients and friends select the best audio enhancement for their new high resolution flat screen sound is to break the options down into three catagories. Good, better, and best.
A good and cost effective way to get improved flat screen sound for a video display larger than 40” diagonal is a sound bar. Since the speakers that are built into the modern day flat screen TV are completely insufficient, a good quality sound bar is practically essential. One of the good choices that is affordable, sonically pleasing, and versatile is made by Bluesound. The Pulse by Bluesound is an active sound bar with built in amps and all three front speakers that are necessary for surround sound. This sound bar has wide range and volume capability. It also can stream music from your computer and be controlled by your smart phone. This makes it very convenient to use, and can be expanded to become part of a whole house streaming music solution.
A better option is a custom made sound bar from a great specialty speaker brand called Leon. Leon specializes in solutions that provide enhanced sound for flat screen TVs that also look great. What Leon brings to the table is a custom sized sound bar that matches exactly the size of your TV. We have installed them with every size flat screen from 32” all the way up to 80”. The sound bar truly looks like it came out of the same box as the TV and was made specifically to mount right below it. The sound quality can be decided upon by our client, based on budget and expectations. There are no less than three levels of sonic performance to choose from. And we can either specify models with no amps and use an A/V receiver or install models with built-in amps.
The best solution for flat screen sound accompaniment that is as high resolution as your new 4K TV is a complete 5.1 or 7.1 surround system. The sound bar that I recommended above can be part of this equation or not. If so, then we just need to add a pair of rear channel speakers, a subwoofer, an a/v receiver, and a universal home remote.
If better performance is desired, then scratch the sound bar and replace it with three individual speakers for the front of the room. A sound bar can be utilized for the center speaker or not. Ideally all three front speakers should be of equal quality and from the same brand and design. All three could be flush mounted in either walls or ceilings (a nice addition after a proper room tuning). The rest of the equation stays the same.
How to decide which is right for you. Some of the parameters that we consider are, size and layout of the room. The budget that is available for the project is a major factor as well. And finally, the performance levels that are desired by our client for their flat screen sound needs. A demonstration in our showroom is highly recommended and will help clarify the information presented above.