The 4 Best Sounding TVs - Summer 2024 Reviews

The best-sounding TV we've tested is the Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED, an amazing TV loaded with modern features. It uses a 70W 2.2.2 channel speaker system with two midrange drivers, two tweeters, two beam tweeters, and two subwoofers. Its well-balanced sound profile makes dialogue clear and easy to understand. It gets very loud, with little compression and very little distortion at high volume levels. It supports eARC and a wide range of audio formats, including DTS:X via DTS-HD MA, which is great as it's the most commonly supported format on UHD Blu-ray movies. The TV also has Sony's S-Center speaker input, which allows you to use the TV's built-in speakers as a center channel when paired with certain Sony soundbars and receivers.

Additionally, the TV has excellent picture quality. It delivers deep blacks that are as close to OLEDs as you can currently get, with minimal blooming thanks to its incredible local dimming control. The BRAVIA 9 is also one of the brightest TVs on the market, so it easily overcomes glare in well-lit rooms, and highlights in HDR content really stand out. The TV also delivers vibrant and lifelike colors thanks to its wide color gamut, so you get an impressive HDR experience whether you're gaming or watching movies.

If the BRAVIA 9 is too pricey and you want a Sony TV that still sounds good, you could opt for the Sony X93L/X93CL instead. It's not as loud as the BRAVIA 9, and the sound profile isn't as well-balanced, but it's still good for built-in speakers, and there's minimal distortion. The X93L isn't as bright, but it's still bright enough to overcome glare. It also can't display blacks as deeply as the BRAVIA 9 but still provides deep enough blacks in a dark room for an impactful experience.

The best-sounding OLED TV we've tested is the LG G3 OLED. It's an impressive TV that delivers fantastic visuals with good sound quality due to its 60W 4.2 speaker setup. It has a very good frequency response, but like most TVs, it doesn't have much bass. It does get very loud, however, and it sounds good all the way to its maximum volume, although it has more distortion at high volume levels than the Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED. Still, it sounds very clear at moderate listening levels due to its balanced sound profile, making dialogue clear and easy to understand. It also supports eARC, which is great if you connect it to a home theater system or soundbar. It also can upmix audio into a virtual 9.1.2 channel setup.

Of course, it also delivers fantastic picture quality thanks to its OLED panel. Blacks are perfectly deep and uniform in a dark room, which is great for watching movies as there's no distracting blooming or haloing around bright objects or subtitles. It can display a wide color gamut with HDR content, which looks incredibly vivid and lifelike. The TV's MLA technology makes it one of the brightest OLEDs on the market, so it looks great even in very bright rooms. Its predecessor, the LG G1 OLED, sounds better overall, especially with its surprisingly good bass. Sadly, it's now very hard to find, as it's discontinued. Of course, the G3 has many advantages over the older model; it's brighter, has better image processing, and supports advanced DTS and DTS:X audio formats.

The LG G4 OLED is now available. Like its predecessor, it has 60W 4.2 channel speakers built-in, but they can be virtually upmixed to 11.1.2 using the new α11 AI Sound Pro feature. Outside of that, the speakers sound almost the same as they do on the G3. Since the G4 is very expensive at launch, you're better off getting the G3 while it's on sale.

The Hisense U8/U8K is the best-sounding mid-range TV we've tested. It's a great TV overall, available in a few different sizes, from 55 to 100 inches, and it combines its great picture quality with satisfactory sound quality. It features a 50W 2.1.2 channel speaker setup and has a decent frequency response with a well-balanced sound profile that delivers clear dialogue, which is great for watching the news or TV shows. It also gets quite loud, although at the cost of some distortion and pumping artifacts at max volume. That said, not everyone is sensitive to this. If you plan on using an external soundbar or home theater system, it supports eARC audio passthrough with all major formats.

It delivers worse sound quality than the Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED but still has excellent overall picture quality. It's almost as bright as the Sony, and although its contrast isn't as good, it still provides very deep blacks in a dark room. It has worse accuracy and image processing than the BRAVIA 9, but it's certainly not bad in those aspects. It uses the user-friendly Google TV smart platform, which is easy to use and has a huge selection of streaming apps, so you can easily find your favorite streaming content.

The Hisense U8N is now available and uses the same 50W 2.1.2 channel speaker setup as the U8K. Since it's very expensive initially, you're better off getting the cheaper U8K while it's on sale if sound is your primary concern.

The Hisense U6/U6K is the best budget TV with decent sound quality that we've tested. It's a simple TV with satisfactory overall performance and offers great value for its price. It features a 20W 2.0 channel speaker setup, and surprisingly, it has an alright sound quality for a budget-friendly TV, as most other low-cost options have mediocre sound. It gets fairly loud and has a well-balanced sound profile, meaning it's a good choice for listening to dialogue, but like most TVs, it doesn't produce much bass, so get a soundbar for the best sound possible. If you do, the TV supports many Dolby and DTS audio formats for passthrough over eARC, although it can't pass through some 7.1 audio formats like DTS:X and DTS-HD MA.

Like the Hisense U8/U8K, it uses the user-friendly Google TV platform. It has a bunch of apps you can download, and the mic built into the remote gives you access to the Google Assistant and Alexa voice assistant features. It also has decent overall picture quality with deep blacks, helped by a sub-par but functional local dimming feature, so it looks great in a dark room. It has okay peak brightness in HDR and good peak brightness in SDR, with decent reflection handling, so it's capable enough for bright rooms.

The 2024 Hisense U6N is now available but uses the same 20W 2.0 channel speaker setup as its predecessor. Since the TV is very expensive at launch, you're better off saving money and getting the cheaper U6K while it's on sale.