TV speakers for seniors

Hearing can decline with age. For many, hearing loss, especially in the higher frequencies, begins in midlife. This doesn’t have to be debilitating, as the brain comes to terms with it and you don’t notice the difference from full-frequency hearing again until you artificially add the decreased frequencies. Many technologies do this by a preliminary hearing test that finds the weak frequencies and then boosts them accordingly.

Whether this artificial frequency enhancement is perceived as more pleasant and helpful is up to the individual. Often the sound perception then seems rather artificial and too treble-heavy, since the body has already adjusted to the condition with the hearing of less high frequencies.

The situation is different if hearing has deteriorated with age or due to listening to too much loud music, for example through heavy headphone use, to such an extent that a permanent hearing aid is needed to manage everyday life.

But back to normal hearing loss in old age. Are there TV speakers specifically for seniors? Yes, they exist in the form of hearing amplifiers or portable speakers that you can place next to you with the aim of hearing more directly and loudly as a result.

But is this really a satisfactory solution?

We don’t think so as it takes the seniors out of the community of those watching TV. If you have to put an extra speaker next to or in front of you, then you usually have to watch TV alone, as all other listeners with full hearing capacity do not benefit from this hearing aid, as it essentially only transmits to one listener. And they are not suitable as a replacement for a soundbar or HiFi system, as they necessitate certain compromises to the general sound quality.

A better solution is to connect a normal TV sound system to an auxiliary device that provides consistent volume and clear voice for everyone.

Whether young or old, no one wants to constantly counteract the volume variations in TV and streaming programs with the remote control. On top of that, dialogs are sometimes incomprehensible because voice is overlaid by music and noise.

The solution is the HDSX TV Sound Optimizer – a palm-sized device that improves TV sound by plugging it in between the TV and an auxiliary speaker, such as a soundbar. Using an external speaker for TV is generally recommended, as the TV speakers themselves usually have low sound quality and thus cannot produce a satisfactory sound experience.

The advantage of an external TV speaker system is that the soundbar or HiFi system itself provides a balanced sound quality for all and not, like a hearing amplifier, a sound geared only to those with poor hearing, which often sounds spiky and unnatural to those with normal hearing.

The HDSX TV Sound Optimizer takes advantage of this basic quality and enhances it with high-quality sound control for the benefit of all hearing abilities. It creates a uniform, consistent volume in real time, for example between loud commercials and quiet dialog in movies, and clear speech from actors by selectively emphasizing voice where it is overshadowed by music and noise. The sound control is inaudible and of benefit for all ages and hearing abilities. In this way, seniors also remain within the community and don’t feel excluded because of hearing.

In addition, a soundbar is positioned in front of or below the TV. This means that all viewers hear equally and that not only one listening position is preferred, as is the case with a sound amplifier.

The HDSX TV Sound Optimizer thus creates community amongst people of all generations and everyone benefits from this sound upgrade. Who really wants to constantly readjust the volume with the remote control and only understand half of the dialog?

Even the neighbors or sleeping children as well as non-TV watching family members in adjoining rooms benefit from the HDSX TV Sound Optimizer. Because without it, there is often the problem that the person who no longer hears so well simply hears too loudly when there is any doubt. The HDSX sound control in the Optimizer, on the other hand, generally allows you to listen a little more quietly, since you can be sure that there will be no more volume jumps up or down. Once you have found the ideal listening volume, it will not change. At the same time, the short-term dynamics so important for the film storyline are preserved, so that the sound remains interesting to listen to at all times.

If there is no TV sound system in the household, a simple sound bar, for example in the 2.1 version, is sufficient to bring the sound experience optimized by the HDSX TV Sound Optimizer into your own four walls.

The installation of the Optimizer is very simple and can be done in a few minutes: one cable connection goes from the TV to the Optimizer, another from the Optimizer to the external TV sound system. Then the USB power cable is attached between a free USB port on the TV and the Optimizer, and the cabling is done. The TV is now set to “PCM” and “eARC OFF” in its digital sound output format, the Optimizer is activated at the push of a button and the sound upgrade is active.

You decide on your desired volume and reliably hear clear voice on all TV, streaming and internet channels.