kokomo wrote:
Did you also point out the option to connect high quality amp/speakers to the Samsung and vastly improve the sound? And all for a fraction of the cost of B&O. Just in the interests of fairness I mean!
Many people connect their TVs to surround sound systems and the TV's speakers are switched off. My son for example has his large Panasonic plasma connected to a Jamo surround system and the sound is awsome.
But just as many (and I would bet many more) people don't, as they don't see (hear) any problem. They are just too excited after gotten rid of their old cube TV to notice that they need to struggle to even make sense of what the news anchor is saying. The sound in just about every flat TV excluding Beovisions and a few high end models is abysmal. And the manufacturers know it and will not do anything about it - all the buyers of the lower end TVs care is price per inch. Therefore it is totally pointless to compare or even talk about the sound of these TVs. There is a tiny cheap D class audio amp that relies on the flat 1.5" inch driver to filter it and shoot what is left to the rear wall of your book case.
The biggest problem is that the manufacturers don't even try to make it easier to improve the situation. Sure you can buy a home theather system (which I guess is part of the motivation for the useless TV audio) but how convenient will it be? In most cases you're left with two remotes and operating the systems separately, or buying and configuring a universal remote you'll never be able to teach your wife to use.
What one could hope for would be at least:
- a volume controlled pre out from the TV - missing from almost every one of them! So not a chance of using a non-remote controlled external amp
- perhaps a trigger output or a switched AC outlet for an external amp
- how about even connectors for external passive speakers? Granted, then the TV would need to have a real amplifier, costing perhaps tens of dollars...
Now, in the case of a Beovision, a bad sound would be totally untolerable - rather omit internal speakers completely - and they seem to still realize that. One has to wonder though if there is still some invention to be made that could've improved the sound in BV10.