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Can a stereo soundbar enhance dialogue?

post #1 of 4
11/16/09 at 10:10am
Thread Starter 
I'm doing some research on a soundbar for my father-in-law.  He has difficulty hearing dialogue using built-in TV speakers. 

I know a standard x.1 system would help things out greatly, but those are out of the question, he just won't go for the complexity.  I also discovered that there are two kinds of sound bars - one accepts all the signals from a surround system and tries to compensate for postitioning; the other accepts stereo and slightly enhances the sound.  Since the former requires a receiver/amplifier, I'm only considering the latter.

So, does anyone have any experience with these?  Will I be able to significantly enhance the dialogue/virtual center channel using a stereo based sound bar?  Thanks.
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post #2 of 4
11/17/09 at 9:06am
Al I an interested in one of these as well. What brand are you currently looking at?
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post #3 of 4
11/17/09 at 11:24am

I'm not so sure you'll be able to enhance the "center channel" from a source (stereo) that has no discrete center channel audio stream.  While it's true that a 2.1 sound bar will produce a better overall soundfield when compared to the TVs built-in speakers, it's still dealing with the same stereo source material.  An overall improvement in clarity and dynamic range may be possible, but you won't be able to do anything to enhance or increase the volume of the "virtual" center separately from the rest of the soundstage.

Have you looked at the soundbars available from Sony?  The HTCT-100 and HTCT-500 both decode Dolby Digital and DTS exactly how an A/V receiver would (it even does the video switching and analog-digital conversion to HDMI).  While I've not seen/heard one personally, it's something that's come to my attention in recent weeks that I feel is a worthwhile option for people who don't want to go to all the trouble of a full 5.1 or 7.1 surround system.  In looking at the manual, it does allow for individual speaker level adjustments (including center), and it also contain a wide variety of "preset" listening modes, including "News" which is described as "Produces the announcer's voice clearly."  It also has a "Night Mode" which may also help equalize the dialog with the rest of the sound.

EDIT: In taking a closer look at the manual for the HTCT-100 I see that it does not include as wide a variety of listening modes as the 500 - i.e. the "News" mode is not available on the 100.  It does still include a Night Mode and allows level adjustments.

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post #4 of 4
11/18/09 at 5:10am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Jason.  I have to confess I'm not a big fan of Sony, so I didn't even look at their offerings.  But those models seem like they do fit the bill, particularly the HTCT-500.  Other productsI had looked at had a wide range of connection options, audio processing, and compexity; these seem to be in the middle ground.  I'm somewhat concerned about the compexity (for my father-in-law, otherewise it would be fine).  Some of the other I had seen treated the soundbar as an extension of the TV, this one treats it as more of a receiver; but I think that's the price I'm going to have to pay to get the audio processing features.

Matt, I didn't do very much investigation before I realized I was covering new territory and dropped back to punt.  But of the ones I looked at (on-line) I liked the Polk the best if I were getting one for myself.  Its just the speaker, doesn't include amplification processing.  So you connect it to your receiver using all 5 speaker channels, and it compensates for placement.  (Polk also offers an integrated receiver/speaker combo, but I didn't like it as much as the Sonys Jason mentioned as it only allows for stereo inputs.)
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