Video Asylum

Posted by David Aiken (A) on December 22, 2008 at 20:17:57

In Reply to: RE: Surround sound for the hard of hearing posted by bob24 on December 22, 2008 at 16:09:34

OK, at that age I'd probably be looking at a good mono setup, especially if I could boost the mids a little bit or roll off both the bass and treble a little to accentuate the speech range. You could even try just doing that with the tone controls for the TV's own speakers.

I don't think you want to start playing around with surround receivers and surround systems given your parent's ages. At most consider hooking up a stereo pair of speakers to something like the smallest NAD receiver and turning both bass and treble controls down a bit to accentuate the mids a little more.

Also, try running the TV or amp in mono rather than stereo to see if that helps. It will also give them a bit more flexibility about where they sit or listen since you can position one speaker centrally in relation to the TV screen and stick the other in the kitchen or somewhere else so they can continue to listen as they move around the house a bit. They may very well appreciate that.

If your parents are conservative, you don't even want to go anywhere near a more complex setup than stereo.
David Aiken