I found 7 low-cost ways to make my TV sound a lot better (even without a soundbar)

Source: ZDNet

Many of the biggest upgrades to TV audio come from treating your room, not buying expensive speakers or soundbars. The good news is you don’t need professional acoustic treatments or a big budget to make a noticeable difference.

Simple changes using items you already own—or can pick up inexpensively—can help your TV sound better. Your TV may also have a few overlooked settings that can further improve audio quality.

Also: Why TVs look bright and vibrant in stores, but dull in your living room

Soft materials and surfaces

Sound waves love to bounce off hard surfaces like walls, floors, and ceilings. This can cause annoying echoes, tinny‑sounding music and dialogue, and generally muddled audio as sound waves move around the room and collide. Thankfully, you can easily combat this by filling the room with furniture and decorations made of soft materials.

Cloth, leather, and other fabrics absorb sound rather than reflect it, helping reduce the number of sound waves bouncing around the room. Couches, rugs, throw pillows, blankets, and even canvas art on the walls can all play a vital role in the acoustics of your home theater or living room.

With just a little rearranging, you can massively improve your TV audio for free.

Sound‑deadening curtains and studio foam

If noise from outside your home is a problem—traffic, loud neighbors, etc.—even the most expensive OLED could sound terrible. Sound‑deadening curtains are an affordable way to block some of that external noise. Made from layers of heavy material, they won’t completely eliminate outside noise but will reduce it to a more manageable level.

Also: This hidden TV feature tracks your viewing – here’s how to turn it off (no matter what brand)

Acoustic foam has become much more affordable. Packs of foam tiles or a pair of corner bass traps can be bought cheaply on sites like Amazon to create strategic reflection and absorption points in your room. Installation usually only requires a can of spray adhesive, so you can treat your space in a few minutes.

Built‑in calibration settings

Many new smart TVs let you set up specific sound configurations for wall mounting and for use with a TV stand. Since many TVs are built with rear‑ and downward‑firing speakers, it’s important to tell the screen which ones to prioritize.

For Fire TV

• Settings > Display & Sounds > AV Sync Tuning

  Calibrates visual and audio syncing for wall‑mounted Amazon Fire TVs, helping reduce latency issues caused by reflecting sound.

For Hisense

• Settings > Sound > Sound Mode Settings > Wall Mount setup

For LG

• Settings > Sounds > Additional Settings > Installation Type: WALL MOUNT

For Samsung

• Settings > Sound Settings > SpaceFit ON

  OR

• Settings > Sound > Expert settings > Auto Volume ON > Optimized Mode ON

  SpaceFit activates a built‑in sensor that automatically monitors ambient sound and adjusts settings and volume for the best listening experience.

Also: The 4 streaming services I swear by – and my bill is just $40 a month

For Sony

• Settings > Display & Sound > Sound > Acoustic Auto Calibration ON

  Toggles the auto‑calibration system, which uses built‑in sensors to monitor ambient noise levels and how sound reflects from surfaces behind or beneath the TV.

For TCL

• Settings > Display & Sounds > Audio > Mount Configuration: Wall

For Roku TV

• Settings > Audio > Optimize for wall‑mounted TV