For years my mum has struggled with hearing loss when watching TV and following conversations. She had a pair of prescribed hearing aids via the NHS but she couldn't get on with them at all and was quite self concioius about wearing them and they whistled all the time. The more discrete privately available high end hearing aids are really expensive. I think Sony and Seinheiser make them and they are about £1000-1500 but are very low profile.

I asked her to try my AirPods Pro 2's and the difference was night and day. I could whisper during a conversation and she could pick up eactly what I was saying. I bought her some Apple Air Pod 2s and it has definitly helped her. You need the specific models Apple air pod pro 2 or 3. They aren't cheap for headphones but I have found them to be very effective. I believe you also need an iphone 15 or later but not sure. I know they work with my iphone 15 pro.

You can also pair them with an Apple TV which I then use to steam IPTV content. As I have gotten older I have also found that I sometimes struggle to pick up mumbled dialogue in tv and films, these headphones completely iradicate that and I can watch my tv whilst my wife watches soap operas.

I would say that it's worth getting a hearing test if you aren't sure about your level of hearing loss. Or if you know someone who already has a pair of the headphones, you can actually do a hearing test with the headphones and phone. The hearing test customises the audio enhancement to your hearing loss profile.

They are a bit spendy and require you to buy a few apple devices to utilise them properly but my experience has been very positive. It's worth giving them a go.

On 12/2/2025 at 8:16 PM, NickyLouie said:

Most new smart TV can connect to a bluetooth speaker that you can basically keep right next you.

 

I do this as have wall fans and air cond going and don't want to have to blast the volume on my TV.

The only problem I have with that is the delay. It’s not much, but when watching a show it bothers me.

On 11/17/2025 at 2:21 PM, richsilver said:

I use good quality headphones when I watch TV. I find that works better than my hearing aids with my soundbar.

 

I fully agree. High quality over the ear headphones are clearer than a soundbar, which would be too loud for my wife. Good ones will have sound cancelling, so my wife can do whatever she wishes, and I don't hear her. NOTE: My Samsung smart Tv will only connect via Bluetooth to AKG or JBL headphones. Both brands owned by Samsung. Not sure if all Samsung TVs have that "feature"!! 😁 But even with headphones some dialogue is difficut to understand if they speak softly, too rapidly or there is background noise. Good luck!

buy bluetoothe hearing aids and you can connect direct to the TV or phone or guitar or whatever.

My sister's hearing aids have an integrated mic so she can hand's-free the phone.

A sound bar will definitely enhance the dialogue on a movie soundtrack, however the best way to enhance that significantly is through a home theater, and a very large and powerful center speaker.

Investing in a good receiver and high quality speakers is really worth it in the long term. I did that 17 years ago and though I replaced the receiver once, and the TV several times, the speakers are still like new.

People no longer enunciate, and the dialing is meant to sound cool, not to be understood.

And there are almost always things that are way too loud, once you get the dialog loud enough.

What annoys me is the level of the volume of a TV show or film isn't consistent. I put the volume at a suitable level then it comes to a dramatic bit and the volume blows my head off. Same with ads, at a higher volume level. As soon as ads start I am rushing for the remote to lower the volume or better still mute the sounds completely.

38 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

People no longer enunciate,

To true. I am often asking people to repeat what they say. I can hear perfectly well, that isn't the problem. It seems to be the norm now that words are slurred and merge words into each other. As for people on the phone speaking at 100 miles per hour. Usually scammers so not really too bothered. And why do they think that they speak English so well with that undecipherable Indian version of English.

On 11/16/2025 at 10:59 PM, baoxiang2025 said:

"I have hearing loss. I wear hearing aids, and even then I still need to put closed captions on the TV to follow the dialogue. My family tells me the volume is too loud, but that's the only option I have to follow the story. I’ve heard of soundbars being helpful. But is that true? Do soundbars really make hearing dialogue better?"

 

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. One in three people in the U.S. between the ages of 65 and 74 has hearing loss and may deal with the exact frustration. The challenge to understand TV dialogue is one of the most common complaints about hearing loss resulting in social isolation and loss of enjoyment. This article cuts through the confusion and investigates whether a TV soundbar is the answer for you or someone you love.

Soundbar might not solve it, as it's often the frequency responce that is the problem – apart from volume. If you sit closer to a speaker than others, it might help. Headphones can often be a great help for improved hearing. It's depending on the TV-model, if it's possible to use both heaphones and speaker; otherwise a splitter cable – changing the headphone signal to two lines – can send one audio-signal to a sound bar and another audio signal to a headphone driver, so you can adjust the headphone volume. Both splitter cable and headphone driver can be bought cheap from Lazada and probably also Shopee.

14 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Soundbar might not solve it, as it's often the frequency responce that is the problem – apart from volume.

I don't use a sound bar but I do use external speakers. Nothing fancy, just a pair I bought to use with the computer. The difference with the external speakers is noticable. The internal speakers in the tv are appalling in comparison.

Unfortunately, my tinnitus and I have years of experience with this. Without subtitles, it's almost hopeless.

I have tried several solutions.

Many new TVs have great pictures, but cheaper - weaker sound.

Special "TV Ears" -- Headphones with a special (Not bluetooth) wireless option that were supposed to emphasize the vocals. Expensive, and did not work well.

A good quality soundbar - Higher volume, but not helpful. Returned it.

What works for me - been using it for years.

Find a bluetooth speaker that has tone controls, so you can dial in what feels comfortable.

Set the speaker near your chair.

Most TVs have bluetooth. If not, you can usually figure out a bluetooth add on, or a long cable.

The tone controls can he hard to find - I use a box from "Sherman".

I try to minimize the use of headphones and earplugs. Use them too much, and it ends up degrading my hearing even more.

Good luck ...

14 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

I don't use a sound bar but I do use external speakers. Nothing fancy, just a pair I bought to use with the computer. The difference with the external speakers is noticable. The internal speakers in the tv are appalling in comparison.

If you can adjust the tone, less bass might do a difference. Hearing loss does generally affect frequency response, loosing the higher frequencies and thereby the understanding of vox (speak/vocals). Optimal hearing aid includes a personal frequency adjustment.

Short answer is No.

A good quality sound bar adjusts the phasing to the speakers to cancel or reinforce to signal to give the impression of direction
around a room. You will still require a physical speaker placed near you so not to upset others. I agree with what Carlyai says.

7 minutes ago, Alidiver said:

Short answer is No.

A good quality sound bar adjusts the phasing to the speakers to cancel or reinforce to signal to give the impression of direction
around a room. You will still require a physical speaker placed near you so not to upset others. I agree with what Carlyai says.

The better sound bars have satellite speakers that are generally located close to, and slightly behind the listeners.

I still recommend a decent hearing aid with bluetooth. The audiologist tunes each device to the individual ear, and the TV audio can go directly into the hearing aid via bluetooth.

On 12/2/2025 at 7:01 PM, Will Iam Not said:

There is usually a slight delay with Bluetooth, and a strange stereo perception. No problem if it is only sound, but when the sound and video are out of sync in a movie or TV, it is so annoying.

 

On some tv's you can adjust the sound, so that it matches perfectly with the pictures.

On 1/16/2026 at 9:27 PM, NoshowJones said:

If I am watching a movie or tv shows from the fifties and sixties, no matter how low the sound I can always hear the spoken words very clearly. Contrast that with TV series's this century, no matter how loud the volume there are certain words I cannot make out so will not watch unless I can get subtitles. That is something I just cannot understand.

You would think that sound systems in TV shows and movies would be much better nowadays than back in the fifties.

One of the problems is that modern tv series and movies are coded in 5.1 (or more) surround sound where absent a dedicated center channel, which is where 70% of the dialog is,, some sort of down conversion from 5.1 to 2.0 is necessary.

It is an extreme difference when watching Netflix from my iPad connected to my stereo (3.5mm to RCA cable) vs watching directly via the TV when it comes to dialogue.

On 11/17/2025 at 2:21 PM, richsilver said:

I use good quality headphones when I watch TV. I find that works better than my hearing aids with my soundbar.

 

Yes, but the headphones must be of good quality. Most modern TVs have Bluetooth capability, so you don't need a long cable. I connect mine to my Fire TV Stick (it supports Dolby Atmos), and I find this method very useful when travelling, plus I can't hear my GF snoring. 🤣 My Samsung soundbar does have a setting for amplifying the dialogue, but I didn't find that it helped much.

8 hours ago, khunPer said:

If you can adjust the tone, less bass might do a difference. Hearing loss does generally affect frequency response, loosing the higher frequencies and thereby the understanding of vox (speak/vocals). Optimal hearing aid includes a personal frequency adjustment.

Yes there is a tone control and I do adjust it for the best sound.

On 1/18/2026 at 8:15 AM, kbb said:

Unfortunately, my tinnitus and I have years of experience with this. Without subtitles, it's almost hopeless.

I have tried several solutions.

Many new TVs have great pictures, but cheaper - weaker sound.

Special "TV Ears" -- Headphones with a special (Not bluetooth) wireless option that were supposed to emphasize the vocals. Expensive, and did not work well.

A good quality soundbar - Higher volume, but not helpful. Returned it.

What works for me - been using it for years.

Find a bluetooth speaker that has tone controls, so you can dial in what feels comfortable.

Set the speaker near your chair.

Most TVs have bluetooth. If not, you can usually figure out a bluetooth add on, or a long cable.

The tone controls can he hard to find - I use a box from "Sherman".

I try to minimize the use of headphones and earplugs. Use them too much, and it ends up degrading my hearing even more.

Good luck ...

A software based graphic equaliser on your TV, or PC , would be better than built=in. I use Glyco X, both PC and Android. and Easy Effects built into Linux Zorin.

I did a frequency test and I cannot hear a sine wave above 9 kHz.

On 1/17/2026 at 12:39 AM, LukKrueng said:

This all should be done by the hearing aid. Modern hearing aids don't just amplify sounds, they are set according to what you refer to as the sound map of your ears and correct the needed frequencies as per that "map".

If you're wearing hearing aids and still can't hear properly it would mean you are either using off the shelf low end aids or your hearing aids were no configured properly.

This is solid advice overall 👍 especially the part about using an audiogram (“sound map”) to target the frequencies you actually struggle with, rather than just cranking volume.

One thing I’d add, though, is that while hearing aids should handle most of this in theory, TV audio is a common weak spot in practice. Compression, poor dialogue mixing, room acoustics, and distance all work against clarity—even with well-fit, modern aids. So it’s not always a sign of bad or low-end hearing aids if TV speech is still hard to follow.

On 2/8/2026 at 8:52 AM, baoxiang2025 said:

This is solid advice overall 👍 especially the part about using an audiogram (“sound map”) to target the frequencies you actually struggle with, rather than just cranking volume.

One thing I’d add, though, is that while hearing aids should handle most of this in theory, TV audio is a common weak spot in practice. Compression, poor dialogue mixing, room acoustics, and distance all work against clarity—even with well-fit, modern aids. So it’s not always a sign of bad or low-end hearing aids if TV speech is still hard to follow.

Lately I prefer the sound of my laptop, so I hook it to the TV using HDMI cable but have the sound out of the laptop which is clearer. If it is noisy I connect my hearing aids to the laptop and that improves.

I would say that:

SUBTITLES are MORE EFFECTIVE

Other than that, maybe try a cochlear implant which is connected directly to the audio source, via wireless connection.

But, first try a wireless hearing, one that does not require surgery.

Still, for high frequency loss, and consequent muffled speech comprehension, which depends upon clear hearing of the relevant frequencies of human speech, usually the higher frequencies, I really think that subtitles are the way to go.

Also, I was thinking of this, if one refuses to read subtitles...

BESIDES....ALL "Actors" Mumble, these days.

Even for those without hearing challenges, reading subtitles is becoming obligatory.

So many BAD ACTORS, these days, both in Hollywood, and in the US Gov...and...IN THE VALLEY...too.

On 1/17/2026 at 5:43 PM, spidermike007 said:

A sound bar will definitely enhance the dialogue on a movie soundtrack, however the best way to enhance that significantly is through a home theater, and a very large and powerful center speaker.

Investing in a good receiver and high quality speakers is really worth it in the long term. I did that 17 years ago and though I replaced the receiver once, and the TV several times, the speakers are still like new.

Yes and no. Adaptive mode, on Samsung soundbar, makes the central speaker clearer for dialogue. The same soundbar n standard mode is less clear. SO yes the size of central woofer is important, but the software can help a lot also.

39 minutes ago, khunphil said:

Yes and no. Adaptive mode, on Samsung soundbar, makes the central speaker clearer for dialogue. The same soundbar n standard mode is less clear. SO yes the size of central woofer is important, but the software can help a lot also.

I thought a woofer was for low frequencies and as you get older it's usually your high frequencies responses that trail off.

3 minutes ago, carlyai said:

I thought a woofer was for low frequencies and as you get older it's usually your high frequencies responses that trail off.

If the woofer is too loud, it can drown out the high frequencies.

Just now, Yellowtail said:

If the woofer is too loud, it can drown out the high frequencies.

It's a frequency response thinggy if I remember.

You have these passive networks that divert the low frequencies to the woofer and high fre, to the tweater.

The loudness is a product of the volume.

13 minutes ago, carlyai said:

I thought a woofer was for low frequencies and as you get older it's usually your high frequencies responses that trail off.

I think he meant to say central speaker, which is in my opinion the most important component in a home theater, besides a good amp or receiver.

8 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I think he meant to say central speaker, which is in my opinion the most important component in a home theater, besides a good amp or receiver.

I think you are correct, first time for everything...

22 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I think he meant to say central speaker, which is in my opinion the most important component in a home theater, besides a good amp or receiver.

Yes sorry, English is not my native language ;-) ... I meant speaker.