straydog Posted May 5, 2008 Posted May 5, 2008 I have read that the in built speakers on the Panasonic TH-50PX70A aren't the best and the sound quality from them isn't great. I understand that most people would use a home theatre amp etc but how bad is the onboard sound? Are they adequate for watching tv? I don't have a suitable amp at the moment and if I buy this tv I wouldn't really want to have to use an amp/speaker setup all the time. If I were to connect it to an amp, is there any way to control the volume from the tv remote or do you have to use 2 remotes?
diesel Posted May 5, 2008 Posted May 5, 2008 The sound isn't that bad, but if you want a better experience then a HT setup is the go. For normal day-to-day viewing the inbuilt speakers are OK. As for controlling a HT setup, if you purchase a Panasonic HT you can use the one remote. But the best bet is to spend $74 and get a Harmony 525 Universal remote. It'll integrate all your gear and make everything a whole lot easier to use and has reasonably high WAF and kids can use it too.
straydog Posted May 5, 2008 Author Posted May 5, 2008 If I got an amplifier with HDMI, could the tv remote control the amp volume or does that only work if the amp has viera link? Is there any way I could use something like Logitech Z-2300 pc speakers and still control the volume from the tv remote?
diesel Posted May 5, 2008 Posted May 5, 2008 If I got an amplifier with HDMI, could the tv remote control the amp volume or does that only work if the amp has viera link?Is there any way I could use something like Logitech Z-2300 pc speakers and still control the volume from the tv remote? Whilst I believe HDMI has the protocols to allow this, it's most likely you would only be able to do that with like branded gear, eg Panny TV and HTiB, Samsung TV and Samsung DVD etc As for the logitech speakers I am not sure how they work, but if they can be controlled by IR remote, then the Logitech harmony Universal remote will do the job.
PBExceed Posted May 5, 2008 Posted May 5, 2008 The inbuilt speakers are absolutely fine for normal FTA viewing. As you attempt to increase the volume, then the sound quality drops off - but nothing more than I would expect from any inbuilt speakers. If I want to watch a movie, or watch something special, then I would turn on my HT. My kids often watch their SD DVDs early on the weekend mornings and they rarely turn on the HT. In the past, watching the same movies on a Panasonic 80cm CRT, they would have definitely turned on the HT. I think the sound quality of both sets would be similar, but the picture is just so much bigger on a 127cm screen that normal sound is less of an issue. Of course, a big screen and big sound is also going to be better......
straydog Posted May 5, 2008 Author Posted May 5, 2008 The inbuilt speakers are absolutely fine for normal FTA viewing. As you attempt to increase the volume, then the sound quality drops off - but nothing more than I would expect from any inbuilt speakers. If I want to watch a movie, or watch something special, then I would turn on my HT. My kids often watch their SD DVDs early on the weekend mornings and they rarely turn on the HT. In the past, watching the same movies on a Panasonic 80cm CRT, they would have definitely turned on the HT. I think the sound quality of both sets would be similar, but the picture is just so much bigger on a 127cm screen that normal sound is less of an issue. Of course, a big screen and big sound is also going to be better...... Thanks for that. So you would say that the sound quality would be similar to the average 68cm crt tv? Is there an acceptable level of bass? Its almost impossible to test in the shops due to all the other noise and large area. I would be happy to use a HT amp for special occasions but don't want to have to use it all the time.
nearly there Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 So how does that compare with the sound on the 700 Panasonic. Is the 700 similar of much better thanks
kulfi Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 The sound from any flat panel TV is acceptable but not great. No subwoofers, tweeters etc. Just the two basic speakers. How much can you squeeze into such a small space ?
diesel Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 The sound from any flat panel TV is acceptable but not great. No subwoofers, tweeters etc. Just the two basic speakers. How much can you squeeze into such a small space ? Not quite right Kulfi. My Panasonic PX600 has two tweeters, and two subwoofers built in - 4 speakers in total. The PX700 also was similar and I imagine (but need to check) that the PZ series of Full HD plasmas also have the extra speakers. The sound is pretty good, certainly better than the PX60 or PX70 screens. The 65" models get 6 speakers, 2 tweeters, 2 midrange and 2 subwoofers. So how does that compare with the sound on the 700 Panasonic. Is the 700 similar of much better
kulfi Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 My Panasonic PX600 has two tweeters, and two subwoofers built in - 4 speakers in total. The PX700 also was similar and I imagine (but need to check) that the PZ series of Full HD plasmas also have the extra speakers. The sound is pretty good, certainly better than the PX60 or PX70 screens. The 65" models get 6 speakers, 2 tweeters, 2 midrange and 2 subwoofers. I stand corrected. I was trying to say that most flat panel TVs don't have such a good audio setup (as the PX600/700) and the power output of the speakers/woofers etc is lower than some of the big stuff they used to put on CRTs. I had a 68 cm LG with huge dual woofers, 8 speakers and a tweeter in between the two woofers. My budget didn't go high enough so I settled for a bigger panel size and plugged in an external Logitech surround system to make up for it.
digitalhome Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 I have read that the in built speakers on the Panasonic TH-50PX70A aren't the best and the sound quality from them isn't great. I understand that most people would use a home theatre amp etc but how bad is the onboard sound? Are they adequate for watching tv? I don't have a suitable amp at the moment and if I buy this tv I wouldn't really want to have to use an amp/speaker setup all the time. If I were to connect it to an amp, is there any way to control the volume from the tv remote or do you have to use 2 remotes? If you think the sound is bad on a Panasonic panel then you need to tune your ears to any of the offerings from Samsung! They are terrible IMO.
diesel Posted May 6, 2008 Posted May 6, 2008 Wonder what the sound quality will be like on the new LG screens which have the glass all the way to the edge - and two 10w speakers? 50PG60UD
achw Posted May 7, 2008 Posted May 7, 2008 i have the 50px70 connected to the home theatre - and when i bought the tv, i planned to use the home theatre for sound. almost 1 year on, i rarely bother with the home theatre when watching any free to air tv. the logitech 525 remote has 2 programmed buttons - 1 for tv, and another for tv with av receiver for sound. i only ever use the 1st button. it's not even laziness that stops me pressing the extra buttons to turn on the receiver since the remote does it all for me with 1 button press. i guess that implies the tv's speakers are fine. or i'm not fussy. take your pick!
Yapab Posted May 7, 2008 Posted May 7, 2008 I cant comment on that particular TV, but with my 68CM CRT which has NICAM / DTE sound its not bad for daily watching... but honestly it is only about 20% of a decent HT system. Id say the best sounding tv would only be about 50% of an average HTIB. As suggested by a previous poster, I am getting a Logitech Harmony 525 remote soon. Yesterday I hooked up my HTIB to my HTPC via optical and now have to use two different remotes for the volume/channel changes. Very annoying. But I would never go back to the tv for sound, even for watching normal channels/tv, the Pro Logic 2 really does make even ch2 sources sound a lot more "alive". Yapa
diesel Posted May 7, 2008 Posted May 7, 2008 As suggested by a previous poster, I am getting a Logitech Harmony 525 remote soon. Yesterday I hooked up my HTIB to my HTPC via optical and now have to use two different remotes for the volume/channel changes. Very annoying.But I would never go back to the tv for sound, even for watching normal channels/tv, the Pro Logic 2 really does make even ch2 sources sound a lot more "alive". Definitely agree that the 525 makes life a whole lot easier. I too have two "Activities" setup - one for standard TV through the PVR and the other includes the HT for 5.1 (when broadcast). Most of the time I only use the TV speakers as well but with "trusurround" function turned on for that "fuller" sound experience.
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