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Willie Greer
- June 22, 2021
Your soundbar should elevate your listening experience, but what if your buy doesn’t handle sound ranges inaudible to the hard of hearing? We’ve tested the best soundbars for hearing impaired individuals and compiled our reviews to help you pick the one you need.
AV100
- Patented hearing tech
- 6 levels of voice boost
- 30-day home trial
- BMR speaker drive units
- Built-in subwoofer
- Flexible and easy to use
Sound Bar
- 3D surround sound system
- Advanced built-in sub
- Bluetooth 5.0 technology
At A Glance: Our Top 3 Picks for TV Soundbars for Hearing Impaired
- Best Overall: Q Acoustics M4 Soundbar with Built in Subwoofer
- Premium Choice: ZVOX AccuVoice AV100
- Best For Budget: BYL 80Watt 34-Inch Soundbar
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Reviews of The Best Soundbars For The Hearing Impaired
ZVOX AccuVoice AV100
The ZVOX AccuVoice AV100 is our team’s premium pick not for the price, but for the features. There is patented hearing aid technology within the device that comes with 6 levels of voice boost to enhance dialogue clarity.
The new and improved remote control is larger, and while some may think it’s cumbersome, the larger surface gives room for larger and more clearly labeled buttons.
As the brand states, it’s clarity that’s important and not loudness, which is why the AV100 focuses on improving the audio details instead of creating louder acoustics.
What We Like
- Patented hearing technology
- 6 levels of voice boost
- Larger remote
- Output Leveling (OL) feature
- PhaseCue Virtual Surround
- Plug and play design
What We Don't Like
- The various modes are not labeled
- Not the best for a very large TV
BYL 80Watt 34-Inch Soundbar
This beautifully designed soundbar comes with a built-in subwoofer that does lower tones justice compared to TV speakers. Plus, the DSP technology helps the hearing impaired enjoy a better viewing experience when watching TV.
Another amazing feature about the BYL 80 Watt Soundbar is the 3D sound system, which adds multiple layers to your home theater experience. The levels create a successful mix of high and low frequencies to get that simulated surround sound.
The voices pop with this speaker as well, not like what normal TV speakers provide. The boost in the voices is significant, so hearing-impaired individuals get to enjoy clear sound.
It also comes with advanced 5.0 Bluetooth technology that can connect wirelessly to other devices for seamless streaming from online services.
During our tests, the soundbar is easy to use with either the included remote or the control panel. Overall, it’s a great pick for those with hearing loss.
What We Like
- 3D surround sound system
- DSP technology feature
- Built-in subwoofer makes the bass pop
- Wireless 5.0 Bluetooth technology
- Clear voice output makes it great for the hearing impaired
- Works well with remote control or the integrated buttons
- You can set it to music, movie and dialogue modes
What We Don't Like
- No visual indicators
Q Acoustics M4 Soundbar with Built in Subwoofer
This Q Acoustics M4 soundbar is larger than usual and can resemble a sound base. The increase in size is due to the built-in BMR technology, which is capable of high fidelity audio for greater clarity.
The technology also allows speakers to perform at sonic levels. As such, this design allows the soundbar to disperse sound in multiple directions, covering a wider range.
This will funnel sound in your direction no matter where you choose to sit as you’re watching TV. This can be important for people with hearing loss, especially if their impairment is one-sided.
The soundbar also has basic features in place like Bluetooth for connecting to your TV and wireless streaming. Plus, it has multiple methods of connection, including digital optical and RCA.
What We Like
- Easy to use plug-and-play design
- BMR technology
- Soundbar has built-in subwoofer for heavy bass
- Multi-directional sound
- Bluetooth for streaming
- Multiple connections
- Lightweight for the size
What We Don't Like
- Takes up more space than slimmer sound bars
Soundbar for the Hearing Impaired Buying Guide
For finding the best soundbar for hearing impaired individuals, sound levels and adjustments are two of the most important factors to look at. However, there are other things to consider. To know what these factors are, our guide would help you find a good upgrade to your TV speakers.
Need affordable options? These soundbars that go for under four hundred will not disappoint.
Design
The design is important for your home setup. If you have a lot of room, the Q Acoustics M4 is a great choice, especially since it features a built-in subwoofer. If you are simply short on space, the oblong design also works well with flat screen TVs. And if you have more space, you can build upon the system and integrate rear satellite speakers and subwoofers, you can get even more variety in sound quality and settings as well.
Do you want a display panel? Soundbars without a volume control display can be an issue if you have hearing loss. An LCD display or indicator lights can help you see your settings clearly, whether it’s speaker volume or modes.
The soundbar should also be lightweight for ease of placement. Whether you plan to mount it or set it on your entertainment unit, it’s best to have a lightweight soundbar for easy handling. And then there are vertical soundbars.
Sound
For the hearing impaired, the sound quality is important when choosing among the best soundbars and speakers. Voices should be clear for you to enjoy watching TV even without the use of a hearing aid, which is your main purpose for the upgrade.
AccuVoice technology is a great help for the hearing impaired. Their coveted hearing aid technology and AccuVoice 3D sound system are preferred by many people.
Other devices may have DSP or BMR technology in place as well, and both offer a voice boost to TV sound. All these systems make the voice stand out from the background sounds so dialogues are crystal clear.
When choosing a soundbar for people with hearing loss, many also look for sound modes to fully enjoy the output sound. For example, movie mode enhances voice clarity and sound effects to make a film more enjoyable.
So whether you’re watching TV shows or listening to music, the speakers will offer the best quality and output that you need.
Also, pay attention to the tweeters and whether or not the sound levels are adjustable. For hearing impaired people who find higher notes less detectable in TV speakers, good tweeters on a speaker can have a big impact.
Subwoofer
Speaking of sound quality, the subwoofer, be it external or internal, can have a noticeable influence on the bass frequencies [1]. If you have a hard time hearing the low notes or you’re simply without your hearing aids, a subwoofer can make a good difference.
There are built-in subwoofers and external ones that can be added to your speaker system as well. However, it’s important to understand that a built-in one is less powerful and room-filling than external subwoofers.
Some soundbars can also be a part of an entire system, together with high end home theater speakers.
Connections
While this is not necessarily related to hearing loss, you need to make sure that the connections on your TV and your soundbar are compatible for the operation to be seamless.
In all the reviews we’ve made, the best soundbars have a digital optical connection because there’s no lag time. It’s capable of handling advanced audio technology like Dolby Atmos as well.
We also recommend HDMI ARC since it can work better in providing high-quality sound with no latency. If you like watching without hearing any time delay, HDMI is the right connection to use.
Control
Soundbar devices usually come with their own remote control. But if the speakers can be configured with a universal remote, you can do without multiple remotes. If your soundbar has a compatible app, that can also be used to control and adjust the settings.
Bluetooth
Most soundbars come with Bluetooth, allowing it to connect to Bluetooth-enabled TVs. But aside from wireless connection, using Bluetooth also allows you to stream content from mobile devices.
Price
When people read reviews, many like to look at the price and go for one that fits the budget. While price can be a deciding factor, you should look at other features as well. This includes things like sound quality, range, and ease of use. Options like ZVOX also offer clear voice technology for clarity.
Online sources like customer reviews can also determine if a soundbar is great for the price. So, it would also be wise to read reviews like this one to get a full grasp of what you’re getting.
Our Top Pick: Q Acoustics M4 Soundbar with Built in Subwoofer
The Q Acoustics M4 soundbar takes the top spot for its impressive audio quality, which is thanks to its built-in BMR technology. Our experts found its performance and features are both impressive compared to other soundbars in this niche.
The clarity and performance in sonic levels on this gadget allow immersive listening as the sound is dispersed widely in multiple directions. This is an amazing help for those that are hard of hearing. And with features like wireless streaming, good connectivity, and overall great performance, this is an excellent choice that ticks all the boxes.
You don’t have to go over what you can afford to achieve quality sound. These recommended budget soundbars should deliver great audio to your ears.
