Help with second speaker on TV for hearing impaired

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
While your specification calls for only one speaker, having a speaker on each side of the listening position seat, near ear level, might provide much better listening at lower volume levels. That has been my experience.
If the chair is a "wing back" style the speakers can be hidden in the wings and not even be at all obtrusive.
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
My Dad had the same issue, trouble hearing the TV. If they're willing to wear headphones, a good set of wireless headphones helps the hearing impaired person significantly, and doesn't blast everyone else out of the room. We plugged my Dad's headphones into an auxiliary output that provided audio to the headphones AND kept the TV speakers on so his girlfriend could still hear the regular TV. So to go this route you would need to make sure the TV or whatever device provides the audio has the ability to provide audio through an aux output while keeping the TV speakers on at the same time. We used regular analog wireless, not Bluetooth or any other digitally encoded type.
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,674
I am an old geezer (75) with normal-for-my-age high frequency hearing loss. My hearing aids boost treble sounds three times as much as your stereo with its treble tone control at maximum. The hearing aids also provide features that ordinary hearing does not have selected with a button on either one such as noise reduction, compression of very loud sounds, front, back, left and right directionality, extra gain to hear very faint sounds and muting.
 

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Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
You mentioned the TV is a Samsung. Unless stereo is critical here is what I would do:
"No matter what remote came with your TV, you can still check if it's Bluetooth compatible by looking in your settings menu. From Settings, select Sound, and then select Sound Output. If the option Bluetooth Speaker List appears, then your TV supports Bluetooth.
If this doesn't match with your TV and you still aren't sure, you can always consult your user manual".

If the TV is Bluetooth enabled and most newer sets are I would just get an Oontz Bluetooth Portable Speaker and incorporate it. They and similar are available from dozens of sources. I have one which was given to me and the sound quality and volume is really quite good for a little box. With a smart TV which offers Bluetooth audio out all you is a simple Bluetooth speaker. They make for small and compact and you can run on the batteries which last a long time or power it with a 5 volt wall wart.

Ron
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,674
I heard the demo of a Bose little portable Bluetooth speaker at Cosco and almost choked when I saw the very high price. But it sounded very good. I told my son to go and hear it but instead he bought me a cheap Chinese knock-off that looked the same.
The cheap one was not very loud and produced no bass so I gave it back to my son. The price difference was almost 10 times.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
I heard the demo of a Bose little portable Bluetooth speaker at Cosco and almost choked when I saw the very high price. But it sounded very good. I told my son to go and hear it but instead he bought me a cheap Chinese knock-off that looked the same.
The cheap one was not very loud and produced no bass so I gave it back to my son. The price difference was almost 10 times.
I figure it this way. I am a 70 year old male with exposure to flight deck operations, jet engines and gunfire. I am lucky I still have hearing and eyesight. I will never qualify as an audiophile as my response is always "sounds good to me". :)

Ron
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
I can see no reason to waste money on a blue tooth system when you have the pieces to do it otherwise.
I guess if someone considers $26 and problem solved a waste of money then cool with me. I merely tossed it out a simple wireless solution. Absolutely nothing to wire or do. Doesn't get any simpler. There is a reason they call them smart TVs. Matters not to me, I played the game 30 years ago with a hard of hearing father-in-law and today's solutions are much easier turn key off the shelf than running wires under the floor and putting a speaker in a wall behind his chair.

Ron
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
I guess if someone considers $26 and problem solved a waste of money then cool with me. I merely tossed it out a simple wireless solution. Absolutely nothing to wire or do. Doesn't get any simpler. There is a reason they call them smart TVs. Matters not to me, I played the game 30 years ago with a hard of hearing father-in-law and today's solutions are much easier turn key off the shelf than running wires under the floor and putting a speaker in a wall behind his chair.

Ron
Any other solution is likely to cost more than $26. And take much more time to get working. In the meantime, the unfortunate person the TS is trying to help can’t hear his favorite TV show.
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,674
When I got old I was rebuilt so now I am a bionic young man.
1) My arteries got clogged causing a heart attack but since the local hospital is very close to my home then they quickly put in two stents to open the clogs and saved my life. Then I passed all their heart tests.
2) I became blinded with cataracts in both eyes but the new synthetic replacement lenses in them give perfect vision better than the originals. I like watching my new UHD 4k widescreen smart TV with hifi sound.
3) My hearing is improved with the high-tech hearing aids. I like hearing hifi music.
4) My weight is down to when I was an active 18 years old so now I can move like that and have plenty of endurance again. My dog and grandsons can run very fast but I can keep up. Younger people than me (75) are in wheel chairs.
5) My brain can keep up with the blazingly fast solid state hard drive in my computer.
6) I have more answers than my Hey Google assistant.
 

jos touw

Joined Jan 13, 2019
2
Possibly a good solution. However, and I've seen this, the cat sits in front of the IR transmitter and your headphones go quiet. Or the dog. Or another person blocks the IR signal. Still, when sitting watching TV, there's not a lot of people moving around. And the transmitter can be located above head height to avoid a lot of the problems with IR shadow's.
Happy days until someone uses the remote and deafens the listener with a burst of clicking noise?
 

Audioguru again

Joined Oct 21, 2019
6,674
Hearing aids usually do not produce frequencies below 250Hz. My Phonak hearing aids can receive bluetooth but the "speakers" are in earmolds (to eliminate feedback squealing) that are vented for air pressure relief and for low frequencies.
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,176
Any other solution is likely to cost more than $26. And take much more time to get working. In the meantime, the unfortunate person the TS is trying to help can’t hear his favorite TV show.
The difference is that I seem to have all of the parts and pieces to do things already on hand. So buying something to duplicate what I already have on hand seems like a waste. For those folks who have nothing in the line of parts and materials things are different.
And with BlueTooth hearing aids, the battery consumption increases a fair amount when using it. But the big deal is that they do not sound anything close to natural. And no, there is no bass frequency at all.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
Yes, you already have pieces on hand. But they don’t work! So, you aren’t buying duplicate parts that don’t work. Because if you were, it wouldn’t work.

Reminds me of a story at GM. They were developing a system to produce a BOM for an automobile. Only, it was saying to build cars with one tire and three steering wheels.

One engineer got permission to go home, because all the arguing was producing nothing. On the plane, he had an ah-hah moment and sketched out his solution.

He flew back and was given the opportunity to present his solution. The room of engineers was silent, until one guy stood up and asked, “How long does your solution take?”. He replied, “Almost an hour.” (this was a long time ago).

The other engineer laughed and replied, “That’s useless. My solution only takes ten minutes.” And they all started arguing again.

Last I heard, the project was cancelled because it was impossible.
 
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