[Jayan]

Hi, I've only just discovered this forum, & I've done a thorough search, but can't find any posts about my problem. I'll apologise in advance for this lengthy post too!

I bought a 28" Philips PW6006 which arrived a week ago. My old TV was a 19" mono (second-hand) I'm amazed by the picture quality of the new TV, but I'm having major problems with the sound. It's not easy to describe, but it's like a popping/buzzing sound at certain times. It's not there all the time, but often when people speak - especially on the news, or similar 'talky' programmes - it sounds like when someone's too close to a microphone, & music - especially background music in films sounds kind of echoey - like a radio thats not tuned in properly.

Some of the time I can get rid of it by altering the bass and treble, but often I can't get it right at all, & I'm missing the first few minutes of each programme trying to get the sound right. I've checked the delta volume thing, and made sure its set to 'UK' in the settings. I also tried the ariel directly into the TV with nothing else connected in case I had a faulty lead somewhere in the setup - didn't make any difference though.

The worst audio was on the TV-out from my pc, which usually runs through the video - that was just about unbearable. A sort of deep resonance which goes right through you, no matter how I adjust the bass and treble. I watched a whole film with the on screen menu showing, trying to get the sound to improve - without any luck. I've now connected that directly into the TV scart, & it's better, but not great, anyway I really need it to go through the video.

I have a cable box connected to the video via scart, & the video to the TV via RF (only 2 scarts on video - cable & pc) The only other thing worth mentioning is that we have a really strong TV signal round here - I have a little gizmo attached to the end of the ariel to reduce the strength of the signal as it used to interfere with video playback and the cable channels.

Now, I know I'm in a vast minority here, but I'm really not bothered about surround sound - or even stereo come to that. I chose this TV for the picture, & wouldn't have been bothered if it was mono. I'd read in reviews that the sound was OK, but not great. I thought that however 'poor' it was compared to pricier sets, that it would sound better than my old 19" mono set. How wrong can you be?

Now, the only thing stopping me from contacting the retailer - and I realise this may sound stupid - is the fact that because I've never owned a stereo TV before, I don't really know how they are supposed to sound. I'm disabled, so I bought the TV online - I can't get out to the shops - and I don't know anybody who could come round and listen to it, or who owns one themselves.

So, is this normal? With a stereo TV is it to be expected that you have to constantly adjust the sound settings when switching channels? I'm also worried that if they send an engineer round it would behave while he's there - some programmes are much worse than others, & I can hardly insist he comes round during 'Millionaire' - which was so bad it forced me to watch on the portable kitchen set!

Sorry again for the long post, but I would be really grateful if anyone can offer any suggestions - or let me know whether you think the set could be faulty & I should contact the retailer. TIA

[joecool]

you don't say what you have the bass and treble set to. the bass should be set at 60 and the treble about 70 if they are higher than this then lower them. also make sure incredible surround is off as this is rubbish and see if that helps.

[tom-m]

I set mine to treble 96, Bass 66 as I find if the bass is at least 30 digits lower than the treble the sound is less harsh.

The bass in this tv is seriously lacking! and I agree about the incredible surround, this should always be set to stereo!

[Jayan]

Thanks for the replies. I think I've tried just about every combination of bass and treble settings, and although some were better than others, none sounded very good

Since I made the first post though, I tried altering the balance through the speakers on the TV. As I turn it up to the right speaker, the sound gets worse and worse, but I've found that the further I turn it to the left, the better it sounds.

Does this mean there's something wrong with the right hand speaker, or is it that differents sounds (frequencies?) are put through different speakers - in which case would you expect there to be such a different quality in sound between the two speakers? So that the right hand one is unlistenable and the left one is fine?

Finally - and this is probably yet another stipid question - am I likely to damage the TV by having it set all the way to the left?

Once again, any help would be much appreciated

[gingerone]

It does sound like your right speaker is faulty, and no you won't damage the set by having the speaker set to the left.
I have this set and although I use a separate amp and speakers I have listened to the sound on the tv and although it's not of amazing quality I get none of the symptons you describe.
Contact the retailer and get it replaced the set is faulty.

[tom-m]

Definately sounds faulty Jayan, I think a replacement is in order! Hope you get it sorted.

[Jayan]

Thank-you very much for the help. It's much appreciated. I will be 'phoning the retailer first thing tomorrow. Hope they don't prove too difficult!