TV picture quality has been increasing each year, with movies and TV programs looking better than ever. Unfortunately, the built-in speakers in most new flat-screen TVs don’t match the beautiful graphics on display. This is an especially difficult problem for the millions of hearing-impaired Americans. Having difficulty differentiating between background noise and meaningful dialogue can ruin a show. Turning up the volume can only help so much when the background noise is increasing the same amount as the dialogue.
Luckily, nowadays there is a wide variety of great soundbars for the hearing impaired. These TV speakers focus on amplifying the audio you want to hear while keeping annoying background noises to a minimum. With these specifically designed speakers, you can enjoy crystal clear audio like never before.
But how can you decide which options are the best for your hearing needs?
There are a few key characteristics that you want to keep in mind when searching for the best soundbar for hearing impaired users. Check out the following guide to ensure that you are buying the best speaker possible.
Buyers Guide
Before purchasing a soundbar, look at the ports on your television the speaker will be connecting to. You need to make sure that they are compatible with each other. Most of these products come with HDMI ports or a digital Toslink cable, which offers the best connection between devices. This ensures no lag time between picture and sound.
Ease of Integration to Home Theatre Set-Up
Most customers find the setup process a breeze. Even the least tech-savvy individuals should have no issues during the connection process. But, if you are planning on integrating the soundbar into an existing surround sound system, not all speakers work together. Also, if you have a wall-mounted TV, it can be more difficult to connect the necessary wires if the ports are located on the back.
Key Characteristics to Keep in Mind:
Design
Having a display panel can be especially useful to those suffering from hearing loss. It makes it easier to accurately adjust your audio settings and volume to your liking, without needing to rely on the sound alone. Many models come with a LED light panel on the front.
This allows for ease of switching between audio modes, as well as the volume control. The other key aspect of the design to keep in mind is the weight and size of the speaker itself. If you have a tv stand with limited space or are planning on mounting the speaker, look at the dimensions and the weight you have space for ahead of time.
Subwoofer
The subwoofer is what emphasizes those low notes and bass in music and tv programs. Many speakers come with internal subwoofers that offer a decent range of bass but lack a full feeling sound. It is possible to buy some speaker packages that are compatible with exterior subwoofer add-ons. However, the price is typically higher for these home theatre systems.
Sound
For hearing impaired viewers, the sound quality itself is the most important aspect of the speaker. If you want to enjoy your favorite program without the use of your hearing aids, finding a speaker that emphasizes dialogue is essential. The most frustrating aspect of a normal speaker is any increase in dialogue volume comes with an increase in background volume.
Luckily, companies like ZVOX, Samsung, and others have developed some of the best soundbars for dialogue clarity on the market. With adjustable levels of voice boosting, you can find the best audio setting for your specific hearing needs. If you have trouble hearing higher-pitched sounds, it may be beneficial to look into a set of tweeter speakers for your home audio system as well.
Price
While you always want the best deal available, it can be difficult to match a low price with a high-quality soundbar for the hearing impaired. When searching for your speaker, don’t always search for the cheapest options. Cheap often means that the quality of the product is not as high as it may claim.
Lower quality brands can lead to more problems down the road compared to a higher-priced, more established brand. Fortunately, many products offer both great sound quality and voice clarity while also not breaking your budget.
Alternatives
You can also check out TV Ears Assisted Listening Headphones
The Best TV Speakers for Hard of Hearing
ZVOX is an industry leader in providing TV sound amplifiers for the hard of hearing. ZVOX decided to make a new design after realizing that millions of Americans were getting tired of increases in background music. They wanted a speaker that makes the voices “jump out” for optimal clarity.
This speaker comes with AccuVoice hearing aid technology that has six different levels of voice boost. It can be used on furniture or wall-mounted easily with the hanger slots located on the back of the speaker. With a 17” width and only weighing 2.8 lbs and a variety of colors including Titanium, Copper, and Black it can match any decor in your home theatre.
The AV203 also has a disappearing LED display that will turn itself off after a few minutes without use, so it doesn’t distract when below your screen. With a strong and acoustically friendly aluminum exterior, this speaker offers maximum internal sound without reducing the exterior acoustic quality. ZVOX prides itself on a clear setup process and ease of use, with a user manual of only 1 page, this speaker couldn’t be much easier to get working.
For a sale price of $199.99, this is a great option that offers clear and high-quality audio that won’t break the bank.
If you are looking for a smaller speaker that for use in tighter places, like with a TV in the kitchen, the Accuvoice Mini could be a great option for you. While it can be connected to any full-size TV and provide a deep range of sound, the true advantage of this speaker is it weighs less than one pound!
It still maintains the AccuVoice hearing technology and six levels of VoiceBoost that the larger AV203 offers. The sound may not be as loud or deep, but it still helps immensely with sorting out the audio from meaningless background noise.
Another great aspect about this speaker is the price comes in at $99.99! This soundbar comes with great dialogue-enhancing technology at an affordable price. If you are looking for a speaker on a budget that will still clarify audio, this is a great option.
The Samsung HW-Q60R delivers a great, room-filling, sound thanks to the exterior wireless subwoofer. This allows for the bass and lower frequency noises to stay sharp to your ear while increasing the volume and sound quality alike. If you are looking for the best wireless tv speakers for the hearing impaired, this might be it.
A dedicated center channel in the soundbar has the sole purpose of playing dialogue to ensure that you never miss a word. It also comes with a TV sound enhancer called “Directional Sound”. This feature allows sound to play through different openings on the top of the soundbar. The sound comes from different parts of the speaker depending on the action on your screen, giving an immersive entertainment experience.
This product is also great for more than just watching your favorite TV show. There is a Game Mode Pro which enhances the experience for any hearing-impaired gamer. This makes it feel like you are in the middle of the action in the video game you are playing. Bluetooth capability also means you can easily shift from device to device.
If you want to play music or other programs through your phone or computer, it will be no problem. If you have a QLED TV with Bluetooth capabilities, you can also ditch the chords completely. This no-cord look gives your soundbar and TV set up a less cluttered-looking configuration.
The only potential downside for this speaker is the size. The width of 43.3” inches and the additional exterior subwoofer can take up a lot of space, so make sure you have enough room first. For all-around use, this home audio system provides enough audio modes to accompany any form of entertainment.
Samsung did a great job with this speaker and subwoofer combo. Its price is a little bit higher, however, it comes with many features you cannot find anywhere else. At $341.19, this is one of the best tv speakers for the hearing impaired.
This is the most economical speaker that we have reviewed so far, but that doesn’t mean the sound quality is low. This speaker comes with three different audio options, including music, movie, and dialogue. This allows hearing-impaired to better understand what they are listening to. It also comes with every customer’s favorite option, a worry-free 90- day home trial!
If you are unsure of the product or find that you are still having trouble understanding the dialogue on your TV, you can return the speaker with no problem. This is something that can be difficult to find with what many other manufacturers do not offer.
The Bestisan also comes with Bluetooth capabilities, so you can connect to multiple devices. However, keep in mind it does need to use a Digital Optical Cable if you are going to be connecting it to a television. The 34” inch length makes it the second-largest soundbar we have reviewed. Make sure the necessary space is available before purchasing.
At $78.81 and the 3-month home trial, this is the perfect soundbar to purchase on a budget, or if you are unsure how much of a help the soundbar would be to you.
The final soundbar is from one of the best speaker manufacturers in the world: Sonos. They added cutting-edge technology that not only makes this one of the best sounding and clearest speakers, but also one of the easiest to use. With voice control and the option to download an app on your phone, you can control this soundbar in a variety of ways. It also has been tuned by sound engineers to guarantee, clear sounding human voice throughout any form of entertainment.
This speaker has a compact size of 25.6” inches so it will fit on most TV stands with ease. It also has an easy setup process that only takes connecting two cords and a few minutes of your time. Before you are experiencing beautifully clear audio. The Sonos-Beam uses HDMI compatibility to connect to your TV. Or if your TV has Bluetooth capabilities it can connect via Beam technologies as well.
Sonos has been an industry leader in speaker technology for decades. They aim to ensure the highest possible sound quality for their listeners. This speaker is no different. The price-tag of $399.99 can seem like a lot, but the quality is unmatched.
Bottom Line
Watching TV and struggling to understand the dialogue due to low quality in standard TV speakers can be frustrating. Thanks to these speakers for the hearing impaired, it is also completely avoidable.
There are many affordable, high-quality, TV speakers for the hearing impaired on the market. The speaker with the best voice clarity is the ZVOX AV203. Their AccuVoice technology provides great clarity between background noise and dialogue.
For the overall highest sound quality, we recommend the Sonos-Beam Soundbar. With crystal clear audio, getting lost in the middle of conversations will become a thing of the past. Finally, if you are looking for the best speaker on a budget, we recommend trying out the Bestisan Bluetooth Soundbar.
