The Zvox AV357 sound bar is on sale at Amazon

There are two reasons why you need a sound bar in your living room. First, your TV’s built-in speakers aren’t very good. Second, it is difficult to hear TV conversation (see reason one). Surely you have noticed that sometimes you have to turn up the volume just to catch what is being said, and then everything else seems too loud. Any sound bar will help, but the Zvox AV357 sound bar will help a full: It is specifically designed to amplify voices. Originally priced at $250, the Zvox AV357 is currently on sale for just $150 – the lowest price on record.

Amazon

Zvox AV357 24″ Wooden Soundbar

$150$250Save $100

Tired of reading closed captions? The Zvox AV357 has 12 levels of voice amplification goodness, so you can catch every spoken word, with no reading required. This is the lowest price in the history of the product.

$150 at Amazon

Zvox has a number of these “AccuVoice” soundbars in its line, but the AV357 is one of the few enclosed in a wood veneer case. If you’re not a fan of the black metal look of most electronics, this might suit your décor better.

It measures 24 inches wide and is designed to sit in front of your TV; this particular sound bar cannot be mounted on the wall, unless you provide it with its own shelf.

Zvox provides one of the best instruction manuals I’ve seen, with large print, clear illustrations and lots of setup information. It clearly explains how the sound bar connects to your TV’s optical audio port. Unfortunately, there’s no HDMI option here, which means you might not be able to control the soundbar with your existing TV remote or cable box – without a bit of hoop jumping anyway. The AV357 can be manually programmed to accept volume and mute commands from most clickers.

If you don’t want to mess with that, the Zvox remote is excellent, with clearly labeled tactile buttons.

The unit has a total of three speakers, including one center dedicated to vocals. Some electronic wizardry is also at work in the form of AccuVoice tech Zvox, which really helps to isolate and improve dialogue. While I haven’t tested this exact model, I’ve tried many other Zvox speakers (including one that made Yahoo’s list of the best soundbars of 2023), and trust me when I say it works AccuVoice is very good. There’s also an output leveling feature designed to lower the volume of TV announcements and three levels of virtual surround sound (although using the latter will disable AccuVoice).

I especially like the large, easy-to-read LED display on the front of the soundbar. It uses numbers to show volume level and compression to help you through mode selections.

My only complaint is the lack of Bluetooth connectivity; you can’t use this as a speaker to stream music from your phone or tablet. (Zvox builds in an “Alexa-ready” feature, but that just means plugging in an Amazon Echo speaker.)

That limitation aside, the Zvox AV357 is a great choice for older TV viewers or anyone struggling with hearing problems. And at this price it’s hard to pass up.

Amazon

Zvox AV357 24″ Wooden Soundbar

$150$250Save $100

Tired of reading closed captions? The Zvox AV357 has 12 levels of voice amplification goodness, so you can catch every spoken word, with no reading required. This is the lowest price in the history of the product.

$150 at Amazon

If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping, of course. Not a member yet? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (By the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)

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First published 4 February 2023, 5:16 pm