Soundbar anyone?

[#1]

Apparently I'm not alone in frustration with tv sound, and am looking for a soundbar in hope of improving on the crappy onboard speakers..
TV is a flatscreen Panasonic, so not too desperately old. Current Panasonic offering, however, apparently requires ARC HDMI, whatever that may be. Well it's got HDMI but  not ARC - the need for which is embedded as note 6 way down in the spec and only surfaced due to other guys posting their aggravation.
Can any of you folks recommend an effective alternative please?   

[#2]

This article has some suggestions......
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/a-cheap-and-easy-fix-for-crummy-hdtv-speakers/
that does not include a sound bar...... just utilize the Phone output socket.... and a pair of "powered" speakers like you had for your computer... 

[#3]

I've got a Pana TV and sound bar. You might want to check, but I believe "ARC" HDMI is not mandatory on the TV, and you would just lose the benefit of the TV's sound output automatically switching when you power up the soundbar if you just use a standard HDMI.

[#4]

If the TV doesn't have ARC (Audio Return Channel) on an HDMI port then an alternative audio out socket such as an optical Toslink to a suitably equipped Sound-bar may be a solution.

[#5]

I got an optical audio cable for my tv and plugged it into the optical audio input of the surround sound speaker unit on my stereo which has since been replaced by an all in one bluray surround sound unit and still have the optical audio link (toslink) cable running through it to give much better sound than any sound bar could ever give, the bonus being the cable cost less than £5 and used stuff I already had in the house

[#6]

I have a fairly aged Panasonic 32" which has pretty poor onboard speakers. The set is enclosed in a wooden cabinet which is just wide enough to get it in. The Pan Soundbar is much too long to get it in and is far too expensive. I did have a spare pair of Tannoy quite decent speakers so I put them alongside the cabinet and bought one of the quite cheap tiny amplifiers from Amazon with leads and a lead with the proper little audio plugs to connect to the socket on the back of the TV which is active all the time. The improcement in the sound is quite remerkable, you can hear all sorts of nice things which were quite absent from the set itself. For convenience, I control the mains to the amplifier using a remotely operated plug-in 13amp outlet using its remopte handset, I dont fancy leaving it all the time. So it generally is only used when the advantage  of clear speach and vivid width left and right effect can be enjoyed.

[#7]

Thanks for some interesting thoughts re alternatives. Might try lifting the Logitech speakers currently (!) attached to this pc to see if they are compatible. I do have a drawer full of accumulated cables, including several audio ones, but that well-known law dictates that not one of them will be the right one.

[#8]

I tried a couple of small speakers which a use for my laptop but it made no difference so to the tinny sound on my new tv,so I'm a bit concerned about getting a soundbar it could be a waste of money

[#9]

Was the sound being routed to the new speakers only and not to the new speakers and the TV?
I have quite a large 7.1 system but if the TV speakers aren't disabled it messes up the overall sound.

[#10]

Yeah you have to setup the sound output so that the headphone jack disables the tv speakers, just make sure that the sound is turned way down if your using laptop speakers or you might be overdriving them and causing distortion,
The optical output option always disables the tv speakers and the majority of stuff has optical audio input

[#11]

Do I have to go into sound settings to disable the tv speakers,or just use the remote to turn the sound down to let the laptop speakers kick in. Not to good at my age at setting things up but thanks anyway for your help

[#12]

Some tv's you have to go into sound settings for it

[#13]

Thinks......... Using the TV remote to "turn down the sound"... will do that on "both" sound channels....i.e...  tv speakers...... and anything plugged into the headphone outlet socket....
You need to DISABLE the tv speakers  on plugging in the headphone ( remote speakers ). to the outlet socket.. ( same kinda thing as on the computer/laptop )...

[#14]

I have just plugged my speakers into the headphone jack on the TV and there is no sound coming from the TV speakers, it is coming from my old laptop speakers and these speakers are at fault same tinny sound.

[#15]

could be the speakers are not up to the job could be the TV's audio channel is borked, unless you get good sound from another tv through the same speakers there's no real way to test them, what make and how old is the tv ?