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Help! The sound from our new Sony flat panel TV is awful.......?

We have recently bought a Sony KDL-32W5810 flat panel TV and although after reading many reviews on various flat panel TV's we were aware that the sound would not be very good, we were not expecting it to be as bad as it is. The picture is great, the space saving and movability a big bonus, BUT compared to our previous Panasonic CRT tele the sound is really crap. Very 'woolly at low levels and distorts at high levels. In fact we were almost tempted to sell the Sony and keep the old CRT tv ! Well we are not going that route but we neither have the money (just retired on fairly basic pension) nor, for that matter the space, for a full home cinema surround sound system. We are not looking for deep Bass just clear sound in both speech and music comparable at least to that you got on premium brand CRT televisions. Can anyone suggest the most economical options for us. We do NOT want to have wires strung all over the place. We are aware of the existence of 'sound bars' but the reviews we have seen of the 'affordable to us' ones do not seem very encouraging.

Public Comments

1. Are you aware that there are several different sound settings, try the other settings. Sound is not usually a problem with CRT but you should have bought a larger model they do have better speakers.
2. Well return the new tv and tell them the sound is rubbish. Get a refund or a different tv - don't let them fob you off with trying another of the same tv. Have a look on the "which" website. They often have good reviews for all level of budgets and see if you can find a decent tv on there.
3. Maybe you just have to change the sound settings
4. Have you tried adjusting the audio settings,there should be instructions in the manual on how to change these. Sound Mode - Dynamic / Standard / Clear Voice Surround Mode - Cinema / Music / Sports/Game
5. Modern plasma and LCD televisions all have poor sound quality, when compared to the old CRT sets. This is because they are much thinner, so the speakers have to be physically smaller and the sound is pretty feeble. However, TV manufacturers expect that the majority of owners will connect their flat panel set to a surround sound system, of some description (about 90% of owners will do this). Therefore, sound quality from the built-in speakers is not high on the agenda. The TVs are made for the majority, I'm afraid.
6. DONT RETURN THE TV! The tv is fine! Trust me when I say this because I mean this with all honsety, the sound is not going to get any better than on those SONY's. Did you actually expect the sound to be good on ANY flat panel tv? The sound in those tv's (even the five thousand dollar ones) is simply horrible because the manufacturer only spends like 2 dollars on those speakers (I wish i were kidding). They expect that the only thing the customer will use those speakers for is to test the channels on startup (and yet they still have enough sense of humor to put audio settings in the menu). The sound is horrible and will pretty much always be horrible on those televisions. Your only solution to getting anything above a horrible sound these days is to buy a separate audio system. Look around and ask around for one of these that matches your needs. Based on your question you may not want 5.1 dolby digital but maybe something as simply as attaching an old stereo you may already have to your tv for sound. You can be very creative and depending on what you already have, you dont have to spend much. You can get these two speaker (nothing more than 2 speakers in the front by the tv) systems for quite cheap or like I said you can try working with an old stereo or whatever sound system you have at home. Electronics are still very integrable with each other so you have a lot of options for how you can solve this. If your picture is looking great that's all you should worry about when it comes to these LCD displays. As you can even see, the technical term for these "televisions" is LCD display because its supposed to function simply as a display for your picture. The sad fact is that manufacturers still assume that a person with enough money to buy an hd flat panel tv will also probably have a decent sound system hooked up. Its unfortunate you didnt know this but your tv is fine.....you are simply listening to speakers that cost less than your morning coffee. Good luck and seriously....try an old stereo or sound system and use even some rca cables if you have no other choice and the sound will be way better and you might not have to return anything or buy anything new.
7. It is possible that the set has a fault, or you could try adjusting the sound configuration (get there from the set's set up menu). The basic problem is that flat panels have small loudspeakers and you're comparing it to something that had decent loudspeakers. The small speakers built into the telly just can't physically shift enough air to generate a good bass sound. Part of the problem is because they're designed by Japanese folk who are brilliant electronic engineers but don't have the tradition of European music which is much more "bassy" than the oriental sounds. In other words, they wouldn't see anything wrong with the way the set sounds. The manufacturer will assume that anyone serious about the sound will invest in a Home Cinema surround sound hi-fi system and connect the telly to that. This is a reasonable assumption. Notwithstanding your (very justifiable) comment about cost and wires all over the place (my wife hates those too). You must buy some reasonable size external speakers. They don't have to be expensive because almost anything (apart from iPod types) will be better than the built in ones. Most sets have loudspeaker sockets (or spring loaded wire connectors) on the back. You don't need to have masses of wires just a pair to each external speaker, discretely routed behind the tv support stalk. If you decide to use external loudspeakers it is essential that they match the output power and impedence of the tv set. Somewhere in the instruction manual there will be a specification for the loudspeakers. It should quote an "impedence" figure (in Ohms) and maximum power (in Watts). This may also be moulded onto the back panel near the sockets (in black plastic against the black background). Your new ones must match the impedence figure (ohms) very closely or the results could be horrible at any volume. If your new ones are not able to handle the maximum power (Watts) then you won't be able to "turn it up" or it'll distort. The best thing would be for you to visit a Sony shop (they exist in most large shopping malls in big towns) and speak to one of the manufacturer's personnel. They'll point you at the right things for the job.