TV audio is a very important factor in your viewing experience, and I often find that bad audio is worse than bad picture quality. It feels like there’s always something I can tweak to get some better-looking images, but audio is stuck being bad if I’m dealt a bad hand by my TV’s speakers. The answer for people with audio trouble is to grab a soundbar, and while I won’t argue with that, you might not actually need to go out and do that.

Soundbars are nice, don’t get me wrong, but they’re also a lot of marketing buzzwords. For example, you’ll see many high-end options advertise having Dolby Atmos. While that’s true, it’s not the full-fledged experience as that would mean you need to properly place speakers across your room. Most soundbars use upfiring speakers that bounce off your ceiling and reflect onto the listening area to simulate Atmos. Yes, that is Atmos, but I’d argue that it’s the worst way to experience it. There are many questions you have to ask yourself before you decide to go out and buy a new soundbar.

Connectivity

Bluetooth

Ports

HDMI eARC, Optic Digital Audio, 3.5mm AUX

Dimensions

31.89″ x 2.36″ x 3.86″

Buttons

On/Off, Input, Bluetooth, Vol-, Vol+

Brand

TCL

Figure out what audio formats you want

An important step

There’s a vast world of audio formats out there, ranging from Dolby Digital and Atmos to DTS-HD and DTS:X. Many soundbars cover these, but not all of them. You need to figure out exactly what you want your soundbar to do before you go out and buy one. Also, as I mentioned earlier, you need to be aware of limitations. Your Atmos soundbar will likely be using upfiring speakers, and that means you’ll want a ceiling height between 7.5 and 14 feet for the best experience, according to Dolby.

I say this because not every soundbar comes with access to these formats, especially if you’re looking at budget ones. The Fire TV Soundbar comes with Dolby Audio, but that’s more of a marketing term to get Dolby in the name. It doesn’t actually support Dolby Atmos due to it only being a 2.0 soundbar. For a lot of people, that doesn’t matter much, and if that describes you, then pretty much any soundbar is free game. If you want more audio formats, you’ll need to open up your budget and look at 5.1 soundbars.

Try fixing something on your own first

Maybe it’s a setting that needs to be turned off

TV audio is largely pretty bad, but you might be able to put off an upgrade for a little while if you can fix it yourself. You won’t suddenly be able to make your TV audio rival a soundbar or sound system, but you can do things to boost your dialogue, for instance. In your TV’s audio settings, look for something called Dialogue Boost, Dialogue Enhancer, or something similar. What this does is increase the dialogue clarity of what you’re watching, and it’ll help you hear voices. This is a common fix for people who have trouble hearing what’s being said and don’t want to use subtitles.

Another thing to be on the lookout for is energy-saving settings. For my Denon S760H receiver, that’s called Eco Mode, and it’s a terrible setting to have on for anybody who cares about their audio and picture quality. This mode will dim your screen and quiet your audio all under the guise of shaving some money off your monthly electricity bill. I haven’t done any actual price comparisons, but I can’t imagine it’s saving you a lot of money. Where I noticed it the most is my subwoofer as it becomes a muted mess when Eco Mode is turned on. I have a subwoofer to enhance my audio, and I can’t say it does that with this mode turned on. Do yourself a favor and turn off energy savings modes if you have them on.

Don’t fall for the soundbars with built-in subwoofers

Do you really think you can get great base out of a tiny bar?

A lot of soundbars come with wireless subwoofers that work quite well. Those are good picks for people who can fit a subwoofer into their room, but there are also soundbars with built-in subwoofers. Those are soundbars you should be wary of because those are almost always a marketing gimmick. I’m talking about the 2.1 and 3.1 soundbars, and what you might not realize is that the one at the end represents the subwoofer. You might be wondering how that’s possible since there isn’t a subwoofer included with the soundbar, and I’m wondering the same thing.

There’s just no way to get any sense of good bass without a dedicated subwoofer. I’m not saying it’ll be completely non-existent, but it won’t compete with a true subwoofer — even the ones that come bundled with soundbars. An example of this is Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus — for $250, I’d look elsewhere. If you want a soundbar to have good bass, you should definitely pick up one that comes with a dedicated one. To get the best bass, you need to do a lot of testing because, ideally, you don’t want to be able to pinpoint exactly where your bass is coming from. The bass is meant to blend in with the rest of your audio, so take some time and do some experimenting.

A stereo speaker setup can be cheaper and better

You don’t have to break the bank

I know how convenient a soundbar can be, especially since I used to use one. However, I wanted to upgrade to a Dolby Atmos setup, so that meant a soundbar was no longer in the cards. Doing that is obviously much more expensive than grabbing a modest soundbar, and even when you feel like all the work is done, there are always upgrades to be made. A soundbar is a purchase you make once and live with, so I can see the appeal.

What you might not be aware of is you can put together a very formidable stereo setup for cheaper than you’d think, and it will be much better than your TV audio, and it’ll probably be better than a soundbar. I put together a stereo setup for under $100, and you can too if you’re patient enough.

A stereo setup also doesn’t take up a lot of space like a true surround sound setup does. Going this route gives you something to grow into overtime. You can keep it with just two speakers, or you can add more if you’d like. A receiver also lets you plug in more devices to your TV, and it lets you handle modern audio formats better than your TV. There are many advantages to this, and you can go as expensive or as cheap as you’d like. Places like Goodwill have receivers for cheap, and you can find some cheaper, more modern options on Accessories4less, so you don’t have to pay full price if yu don’t want to.