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I'm looking for a simple solution to get better quality audio from my HDTV. Low cost but effective. Simple stereo, not surround. Low cost: below $200.
I have several thousand dollars in electronics and several thousand dollars in speakers tied to the tv but I don't want to power up the system to watch WRAL nor do I want my 5 year olds playing with my amps to watch cartoons My expectations are that the sound is better than the base tv speakers. that's it.

Boston Acoustics makes a soundbar with a small wireless powered sub that that integrates easily and learns your remote for seamless use. Turn on the tv and you are set. Disable the tv sound and use the audio outs or plug it into the earphone jack. http://reviews.cnet.com/surround-speake ... 72358.html Refurbs are under $200. The attractiveness of this option is that the soundbar can sit on top of my large center channel speaker and not stand out too much. The ugly little sub can be hidden behind my larger sub tower. The other option is to just add inexpensive powered speakers, but I'd probably lose an octave of bass compared to the soundbar option. The lack of bass is what the tv's speakers suffer from.

So, have any of you bridged this problem with a simple and cost effective solution? Any recommendations or 'stay away' froms?

-Chris

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I'm interested as well. I've got no interest in going down the surround sound path just yet, but it would be great to improve on the crummy speakers in the television.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

i have two set of computer speakers w/ subs sitting here, i used to have one hooked up to my tivo for audio and it worked great. anyone who wants is welcome to borrow them to play with.

This is the opposite of what you asked, but when I upgraded two years ago I went with a cheap amp (Sony STR810) that would do full pass through HDMI, and a 5.1 channel Infiniti sound system (T-???) and I couldn't be happier. I only needed 3 HDMI cables to hook the whole thing up (including cable box and DVD player) and I use the whole system everytime I watch TV. It works great and sounds decent. Best is I only spent ~500 on the amp and speakers together.

So, in conclusion, I would recommend just buying a complete system that you can use all the time, sounds pretty good, and you aren't heart broken if one of the pieces fails and needs to be replaced.

Also, since I mounted everything up high my kid and future children won't be able to touch it. Win for me.



I would imagine you could find an amp even cheaper now that could do the same thing.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

Of all places, I was at a hotel this past week, and the room had a TV that had Virtual Surround Sound setup fairly well. I was impressed with it, and think that it could be used in place of a full system when watching general TV.

The boston acoustic model that you linked to doesn't do this, I haven't looked but if there was a model that did support it, I would probably opt for that.

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Michael,... Yeah, I already have that type of set up and can run the audio through either a 125w or 150w/ch system with a 500w sub. I am looking to turn the tv on and have the sound without going through my home theater setup.

Karl: I just picked up a Klipsch sub and satellite setup to run stereo through from my earphone connection. I'll let you know how it sounds. I'm not a klipsch fan but for 139 I'll try it. I listened to Bose too and their satellite system at BJs for $200 sounded decent too. I'll try that if the Klipsch don't meet my expectations.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Karl,

The Klipsch sub would be OK if:
-you currently don't have a 2.1 system and did not want to spend a lot.
-you have a headphone jack or other line out analog signal that tracks with the volume setting on your tv and that volume setting automatically adjusts to maintain the same volume, regardless of commercials or changing channels.

I tried the Klipsch out today but my tv does not have a headphone jack. I chose one of the analog outputs in its place. When changing channels/commercial time the volume changes caused the amp to at times double the volume. I returned it because of this. I unfortunately found out after the fact that my tv volume was not set to regulate the change in volume from station to station or during commercials so I did not get to test it out in a regulated fashion. For the brief amount of time that I had it hooked up it did accomplish my goal: Its sound was much better than what my TV produces and the bass that standard tv's cut out was present and sounded fairly decent (not looking for audiophile quality here). I ended up running the tv audio through my 5.1 setup after all. The money saved went towards a blue ray player

If you have no other audio option and can regulate the line out to the Klipsch's preamp it's worth a try. You'll need a special cable to go from your RCA audio outs to the Klipsch's 3.5mm input. This is that cable:
http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/EP4485526.htm

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Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.