Do I need a soundbar with my new TV?

Vizio tv’s are notorious for poor sound quality. I find that with a good sound bar I can hear much better than with sound from the original tv speakers. Seems like tv manufacturers are putting their priorities in the vision part and the aural seems to suffer by comparison.

@Raudrive said:

Never heard of Sonos, they are impressive.

I’m a Sonos fanatic and constantly have music streaming throughout my house with speakers in every room. They also do a great job with the TV with my 5.1 setup.

I replaced a Bose system and have been impressed by Sonos sound quality, the versatility of playing music so many different ways, controlling what is playing in different rooms and the ability to continually add to the system. Over the past couple years I’ve added speakers whenever there was a sale and now have music in every room in the house.

Nothing else streams so many different choices. I use Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Primephonic (Classical) and my own music library on my computer. There are dozens more options.

Also, Sonos tech support is amazing. You can get a quick answer on their forum or direct email and speak to a live and knowledgeable person on the phone with minimal wait times.

@Raudrive Regarding those 1 star reviews on Amazon: Please note that all of those are in a cluster from 2-1/2 years ago when Zvox had a production issue with a batch those 200 units. Plus it seems like some of those do not understand that with Amazon acting as the middleman between them and the manufacturer, getting a replacement or refund is simply going to take longer than a day or two, something that could be avoided by dealing direct with the manufacturer.

@jazzpete Maybe the manaufacturers’ priorities are selling you a TV today and selling you a soundbar tomorrow?

Have any members used the Sonos soundbar that improved speech recognition?
Or any other soundbar other than the Zvox.

I have a large Visio sound bar attached through the fibre optical port of my Sony TV. The nice thing about the Visio soundbar is that I can make many adjustments to the sound quality until I am satisfied. It is set for enhanced speech and clarity and it does a great job. It isn’t quite a clear as when I am using my Sennheiser RS 195 headphones which are made for profound hearing problems, but I don’t like wearing these large, heavy headphones all the time.

Thanks for sharing this information.

Zvox seems to be geared almost entirely toward hearing speech while Sonos is chiefly aimed at music. Sonos is also more expensive, especially when you take advantage of the key aspect of purchasing additional speakers to spread around the house. I remember considering Zvox a few years ago and ended up getting hearing aids instead (which helped me understand speech on TV with my previous stereo equipment).

I understand and agree.
My wife has a tuff time with speech watching TV with her aids in. So the soundbar is hopefully the answer. The soundbar might just help me too.

I get superb sound on my LG OLED55C8 with the following Sony soundbar and matching surround speakers:

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-3-1ch-Wireless-Subwoofer-HT-Z9F/dp/B0793HNSQG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3MFFKCAUK1LRG&keywords=sony+ht-z9f+soundbar&qid=1573537397&sprefix=Sony+ht-+z%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-39

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-3-1ch-Wireless-Subwoofer-HT-Z9F/dp/B0793HNSQG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3MFFKCAUK1LRG&keywords=sony+ht-z9f+soundbar&qid=1573537397&sprefix=Sony+ht-+z%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-3

Dolby Atmos from the soundbar, which gives the effect of sound bouncing off the ceiling, coupled with the subwoofer, and add-on surround speakers, provide a truly outstanding audio experience. And the remote has various settings that can prioritize dialogue and the treble range. Lowering or turning off the sub, when desired, can also help make voices sharp and clear. For me, at least, no need for a streamer with this setup.

Get an iPhone and you’ll never have to worry about spyware, or privacy in general. Just don’t stay logged into a Google or Facebook account.

^^^
Couple of articles raise the spectre of concern with iPhones:
Apple Security Warning re IOS134

IOS vs Android Pros/Cons2

Secret Backdoor Found in iPhone1 (maybe a bit dated as it’s from 2015)

First article:
Talks about the current iOS 13 update being incompatible with iPhones 5+ years old. So even with all of the great changes in iOS 13, Apple has managed to maintain compatibility with at least 5 different hardware iterations of iPhones. Android updates often do not even support one or two iterations of various manufacturers’ smartphones. Because Apple controls both the hardware and the operating system software, they are able to offer many more years of compatibility. I believe the “risk” to “millions” referred to in this article applies to a certain hacked Chinese website which temporarily affected some Chinese-speaking users on 5+ -year-old iPhones. In the overall scope of things, not a significant problem at all.

Second article:
“Apple is doing a better job than Google at vetting apps for malicious code before they are allowed into their official app store, and it appears that iPhone and iPad users are much more likely to be running an up-to-date version of their operating system than their often abandoned Android-loving cousins. And there’s no argument that there is a thriving culture of undesirable Android adware and malware that simply doesn’t exist in large numbers for iOS.”

Third article:
Article is 5 years old Allegations about a “back door” are vague and unsubstantiated. Plus, if anything, Apple has doubled and tripled down on security since that time. No one has a more secure mobile or computing platform than Apple.

I think most would agree that Apple’s platform is more secure. I, and I think many would object to your “you’ll NEVER (emphasis mine) have to worry about spyware.” iPhones are good–they are not perfect.