Simple sound reinforcement?

labrat

Hi all,

It's been a long winter so I have been thinking about when my Grandpa will return from his winter retreat and once again have trouble hearing/understanding his TV. I have a pair of Infinity Enta 2 (think original RT600 - yeah I don't know what I was thinking when I bought these either) that are currently seeing minimal use that I am thinking of pairing with this http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=10586447 amp. By my thinking as long as the TV has a variable output (and that amp has a current sensing input) he will have a much better sound that will be "invisible" from an operational standpoint - that is very inportant since he already has trouble just running the TV/Sat rcv.

Don't spend a lot of time on this as I haven't bounced it off of him yet - just thinking while the winter drags on, but if anyone has tried something like this I would love to hear about it. Or, if someone with more experience than me could tell me if it would work well or not I would appreciate that as well.

Thanks much for any replies,

Scott

scottnbnj

it probably depends on the problem. if it's just really bad tv speaks or poor acoustics, then yeah. but, if he has a hearing problem, then maybe not.

i tried the same for my dad years ago with mission bookshelves and a denon receiver. it sounded really nice, but he said he couldn't hear the voices. he had hearing loss, and i think the wider frequency response and dynamics made it more difficult for him to hear. i think it's like how folks with hearing loss have more trouble hearing voices when there is more background noise.

it's worth a try though if you have stuff laying around.

)

Skynut

I think it is a good idea as long as the problem isn't with sound bouncing all around him and muffing up the original dialog.
Did that make sense?
In other words if his room acoustics are bouncing sound back at the listening position it will make it harder to understand the t.v.
Other than that I think you are onto a good idea.

mldennison

not really sure how many receivers in the budget arena have this but mine has a "late night" feature where dynamic range is compressed and the dialogue comes through much louder than the background stuff...that might help.

labrat

Thanks for the replies,

I think a big part of the original problem was way too much time spent on a tricycle tractor wihout a cab and not much for a muffler. He does have a loss of hearing range - can't hear women and children as well as men. Using that crude guide as a test one would assume that he has lost the upper ranges which is about all the relatively small tv speakers provide. Don't know if the wider range would help or hurt.

I also haven't considered room dynamics. May need to think a little more, or just set something temporary up and see if it helps.

Thanks again for the replies. It seems like polkies are usually really good at helping think through things audio.

Scott

WilliamM2

If his hearing is that bad, you may want to look into a set of wireless headphones.

My freind's dad has pretty bad hearing loss, he used to blast the TV very loudly to hear it, this of course annoyed his wife, and any visitors. We got him a set of wireless headphones, and now he can hear everything, and his wife can listen to the TV speakers at a normal level for a change.

labrat

Thanks William,

He lives by himself on a farm so I am not too worried about bothering anyone else. Visitors might be a different issue though . . .

Scott