TV advice needed
At present we have a 'cheap' TV which we use in the caravan. The picture is good but the sound is poor so we use a sound bar. We are about to change our caravan and don't have room for the sound bar and so we are thinking of investing in a Avtex TV. Question is, is the sound good? As the Avtex is a more expensive bit of kit I'm thinking the sound would also be superior, but am interested in the views of those that have one. Many thanks in advance.
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The problem we have found with poor sound is that the majority of speakers are at the back of the tv , so most of the sound seems to be going to the rear,
We have now got a Linsar tv from John Lewis, with the speakers mounted as part of the stand facing forward , which we have on a swivel bracket in the caravan
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What about getting a set of speakers that could plug into the headphone socket of the TV. I had small one that run of batteries connected to my computer in the old days and the sound was excellent and a lot cheaper than a new TV.
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We have an Avtex TV and don't have any problem with the sound. Obviously I can't judge it against other makes of LV type TV's as I have no experience.
David
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Thank you for your comments (especially DavidK). The reason I'm asking is that we are changing our 'van and don't have room for the sound bar we currently use (and need to use as the sound on our present cheap TV is awful). So we are thinking about getting a better quality TV which would probably have superior sound - hence we are looking at Avtex models. We are only interested in comments from those of you who have experience of an Avtex TV in your 'van. Sorry but just wanted to make that clear.
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Mine is OK Nev, in fact its sitting about 5 foot from me right now in my 'study'. Its always either here or moved into the 'van if I'm off gallivanting round the Club sites. The only complaint is that its never told me Ive won the lottery, so, if I could afford a replacement then ,,,,,,,,
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The issue is the speaker size. They are tiny for all modern TVs even decent ones. Avtex are the same as others, tiny speakers, poor sound.
I have one of these:
https://celloelectronics.com/product/22-smart-full-hd-traveller-tv-with-satellite-tuner/
Terrestrial, Sat, Smart, all bases covered. Sound OK for me, weighs very little and very low power consumption. If you want better sound without extra kit then bluetooth the sound to your radio with one of these. (assuming you have Bluetooth radio) then you get stereo TV or music through big speakers.
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Phishing - have you actually tried that bluetooth transmitter? The only reason I ask is that I have a similar set-up with my tv at home - using headphones - but the system is 'low latency' which means there is virtually no time lag between the sound and the picture ( a couple of milliseconds, which is undetectable by the brain). Otherwise you do get a noticeable delay between the speech you hear and what you are looking at on the screen. Doesn't matter if you are just listening to music but watching tv is different. Just wondered?
Another point - our Avtex TV is currently mounted on a bracket in front of the bulkhead alongside the caravan door and the sound is perfect but in our last van when the same TV was on a freestanding worktop with nothing behind it, the sound was less than satisfactory. Presumably, with our current set-up, there is a degree of the sound 'bouncing back' from the wall, which has improved things considerably.
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Another point - our Avtex TV is currently mounted on a bracket in front of the bulkhead alongside the caravan door and the sound is perfect but in our last van when the same TV was on a freestanding worktop with nothing behind it, the sound was less than satisfactory. Presumably, with our current set-up, there is a degree of the sound 'bouncing back' from the wall, which has improved things considerably.
I would agree with this. Our Avtex in the caravan was OK but not great, where it was sat on a surface with not much behind. In the MH the sound is much better. The TV is on a bracket with a wall a few inches behind, which perhaps reflects the sound. Although we are also a bit closer than we would have been in the caravan.
I don't think, whatever the TV, it will in anyway compare to the sound bar. Occasionally on our home TV the sound bar does not immediately activate and it reverts to TV speakers. It sounds terrible compared to the bar.
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+1 for the lead. About £2 from the Internet if you don't already have one lying about.
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We have an Avtex 16DRS the one with the inbuilt satellite function,but ours was purchased mainly for using it off grid.These tv’s have a low current drain on 12v.
As for sound I have no issues at all,but what I do like is the viewing angle of the screen sitting in either off side or near side is superb.
My only issue is I wish I had purchased the 18” version.
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Our recently acquired 32" LG TV has built in the ability to switch the sound to its own bluetooth transmitter.
I use this on occasions via a headset as I have very poor hearing, and when my wife does not need or wish to be involved.
That could be used to drive more compact speakers that you might be able to house better than the present sound bar?
It is also a very good TV set generally and being smart could be used streaming from a phone etc. The downside is it is a mains TV, but other TVs could offer the bluetooth feature.
The details probably are somewhere in this manual? It is easily set up intuitly anyway.
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Phishing's idea of using a bluetooth audio dongle paired to a sound bar is a good one. I have such a rechargable dongle which just plugs into the headphone socket on the TV and and gives 8 hours listening. I use it paired to Bluetooth headphones when my wife doesn't want to hear what I'm listening to.
I would be wary of using any method which requires the cab radio to be powered up unless you are confident it will not flatten your engine battery.
peedee
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It can also be quite good advice for caravan users who are off grid, in that "car radios" can be disproportionately heavy users of battery power, here along with the TV itself.
Their development unlike portable radios, seems never to have been focused on power minimisation, possibly as there was no need in their intended market.Clearly, at least with a caravan this is of no importance if on an EHU.
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Yes but not for TV, as I said the sound is OK for me. I do have the advantage of it being on a cabinet to the side of the door with a closed hard surface to the side and the back so the sound does bounce. As you point out the sound needs to be reflected as virtually all the TVs have rear facing speakers.
The other way is to pair the headunit and TV (if it is a smart one) this should remove the lag.
If the BT solution is not good for you then the hard wired solution will certainly work with the radio headunit,. I went out of the van under the floor through a vent, cross the van (tied to a pipe if you can, not the cable bundle) and up behind the kitchen duct into the OH locker next to the radio. Excellent TV sound from the van speakers even though they are cheap paper ones.
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Another way of achieving an improved sound is to connect the TV to the caravans on board speakers using a simple cable into the radio auxiliary if they are not two far apart. The sound is quite good as the speakers are usually spread apart.We manage to hide the cable inside the wall cupboards.
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Have found that MOH does not like to listen/watch the programmes that I do, so have routed a 4 metre. cable from set to headphones, via the overhead cupboard units,so they either of us can watch and listen, via headphones, without disturbing the other who may wish to navel gaze or read a book.
Of course if we both wish to watch and listen we merely pull the plug.
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As I said earlier - it won't work unless they are 'low latency' - otherwise you get a noticeable time lag between the picture and the sound. Low latency headphones are usually a lot more expensive than 'normal' ones but they do work. I have this system on my home TV.
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