Improve voice dialogue on TV

[Relentless81]

Hi,

I just sold my Soundbar, although it sounded great for films etc it didn't do what I need it to do which is improve voice clarity because I really struggle to hear what people are saying especially in films.

I'm not interested in bass or virtual surround and dont have the room for a sub and multiple speakers, I am interested in voice clarity and clear sound for films and TV shows in a compact all in one unit.

Has anyone else been where I am and bought something that improved voice?

Bose Solo 5 any good? Conflicting reviews on that one but compact. Yamaha YAS-107? Ugly and quite big. Both are all in one units with voice clarity settings.

Budget around £200 but can spend more if it will get me what I need. Really hoping someone has bought something for the same reason and was happy with it?

Thanks

 

[Relentless81]

Oh no, I was afraid AVR's were going to get mentioned, starts to get expensive and I dont really have the room for it all plus a toddler to ruin the speakers or pull them down.

Are there any soundbar options or is AVR and 3.0 the only route to guarantee what I'm after?

Definitely not interested in 5.1

What I dont get about having a centre channel so 3.0 is that how will every source know I have a dedicated centre channel? Do I set the AVR to 3.0 and it does all the work no matter what the source is?

 

[Relentless81]

Sources are a HTPC with HDMI out for BluRay etc and TV via Optical.

I'm willing to consider any option that improve voice because its very frustrating for me but I dont need it to be loud or room shaking bass, just clarity. Smaller the better too.

I tried Night Mode on my last Soundbar it was awful. Am I better off getting an AVR and 2.0 speakers with a "feature" that improves voice, or an AVR with 3.0 speakers and increase the centre channel or just risk another soundbar

Thanks for the help so far

 

[Relentless81]

Expensive? Not so much. There is a Onkyo AVR in MM just now for £20. That would do the job you are looking for. And 2 stereo and one centre Cambridge Audio speakers too, coming in at £115 for the 3. So £135 all in for a much nicer sounding set-up than all but the most expensive soundbars, I would wager.

Can't help you with space though. What is your TV sitting on? If it's wall mounted, what are your sources sitting on? Most stands for such equipment can take an AVR with ease. Wall mount the stereo speakers? The person selling the speakers is also selling stands for them for £20, you could always try and negotiate them into the deal for the 3 speakers. Keep the grill on the centre to help prevent curious fingers. I have a 3 & 5 year old. Curious as George. And they have never poked out my tweeters yet. But I do keep my grills on the speakers.

Sounds interesting I will have a look. So AVR is the way to go then by the sounds of things. Not one Soundbar mentioned so far!

TV is in a corner on a corner cabinet, its a tall cabinet with cupboard at the bottom and a gap in the middle where the HTPC is with not much room for anything else. TV is sat on top of the cabinet and its not got loads of depth so the TV takes up 90% of the top.

What setup do you have and what do I need to look out for if I want to buy new so that I know I'll be getting 3 channel out no matter what the source is?

 

[Relentless81]

you can do downmix yourself using an htpc with MPC-HC, or probably incorporate in plex/kodi transscoders.

What do you mean by this please. You mean downmix the 5.1 source to 2.0/3.0 within Kodi settings? I think there is a setting for that but I'm worried it will sound messy and if it would be better for Kodi to output 5.1 and let the AVR downmix or have I got this all completely wrong?

 

[Relentless81]

I have a set of 5.0 Onkyo speakers sitting in my spare room doing nothing, if you can collect them from SE London you are welcome to them to give it a try alongside say that £20 Onkyo amp in the MM.

Much appreciated, I'm in Manchester but thanks for the offer.

yes, see earlier post -
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/31121257
you can make some checkout of impact using ffmpeg, before investing time in kodi config, but no reason it will be worse than an avr (processing power+algorithms on an htpc can match avr)

Sorry I appreciate the info but thats way beyond my audio knowledge, I just want to know how best to get decent voice and sound clarity from a relatively inexpensive setup and if its best to downmix in the software or let the AVR do it. Are you saying an AVR isnt worth it because a HTPC can do it?

 

[Relentless81]

Ruling out an AVR I dont have the room for it in my cabinet and the cost is too high after looking last night

Arent there any Active speakers with Optical in from the TV, Satalites or anything small? Cant find anything by googling apart from the Q Acoustics mentioned above but they discontinued

 

[Relentless81]

there has to be a solution without all the gimmicks though. The settings are fine but ill be paying for features ill never use.

I'm mostly amazed at the lack of active speakers with an optical input, there are literally none designed for a TV