Unfortunately, when a TV is 'field tested' in the store, the one thing that cannot properly be checked is how it sounds.
There is no doubt that this TV has some brilliant features and is capable of stunning picture quality. But the sound from the internal speakers, oh my God, I have read reviews elsewhere where the sound is described is 'thin' or 'poor'. It is neither of these, it is utterly, utterly abyssmal !!!
I cannot understand why Sony even bothered to install speakers into the housing of this set at all. Music sounds pathetic, and speech is totally, totally unintelligible. The audio quality is so bad that the adjustments available to 'enhance' the sound from the internal speakers make very little difference. I would be surprised if other owners of this TV do not even slightly agree with me on this.
So, we are forced to find an alternative solution at additional cost, so that speech can be heard more clearly and film and TV dramas can be heard in a more involving way. I am using a Sharp HTSB250 sound bar. This offers a massive improvement in audio clarity at a very good price.
It is a pity that none of the sound enhancements available to the internal speakers, which gain no benefit whatsoever, are available to external speakers when using the headphone jack. Sadly, and through no fault of the TV, the speech quality of the BBC News and Sky News channels is generally quite poor. The sound can be quite muffled from some, though not all, news readers and reporters. For this reason I have to have the treble adjustment of the Sharp sound bar turned up to maximum. Luckily, this sound bar is one of very few where the bass and treble can be adjusted independently of the TV, and just as well.
I am quite happy with the arrangement I have for acceptable sound from the HX803, although rather irritated that a) the internal speakers sound terrible, and b) the TV broadcasters don't help by transmitting poor quality sound in the first place half the time.
