All the new flat panel TVs have lousy sound, mainly because there's no room in the chassis for better speakers.

sushipup -- Ah, that's probably what we're noticing. The Sony 'skinny' is hooked into our surround sound, so of course it sounds great! I wonder if there's a 'fix' for the small screen -- a 'sound add-on'?

Our little fix is a Bose system with 2 very small speakers and a sub-woofer for about $600. You an get cheaper sound bars for less, but we tried one and it didn't sound great. We were not concerned with massive theater-quality sound, but there's very little in between.

I wonder if computer speakers would work?

Hi again. (I don't know whether to address you as Sushi or Pup! Or perhaps you have a discriminating dog? LOL)

Thanks for the Bose tip. I guess we could put the 'works' in the bottom of the buffet where the DirecTV gizmo is located.

Do you have a small-screen TV or are you speaking of your main viewing TV? We watch anything important on the larger-screen Sony. (By 'important' I mean Tea Time Matinee when we view programs we've recorded or DVD's of cozy British mysteries! LOL)

No, it's a 47" LG. Sounds lousy. So does the 37" Panasonic in the other room, but we use that very little.

There are a few unusual things that can make smaller thin profile TV speakers sound even worse than normal.

Some speakers seem to need a break in period so leave the TV sound on for extended periods over a couple of weeks.

Check to see if there is a sound equalizer multi adjustment available via your TV remote. Sometimes this feature will be present but not covered very well in the manual.

Cable signal connections may cause problems. The sound from one of my smaller LCD TVs improved somewhat after a two way splitter tap off for cable internet was installed on the line going to its cable box.

laat2 -- Thanks for the tips!

I'm hoping our DS will be here next week to help me. I'll pass on the idea about the splitter and sound adjustment potential. I'm not sure if the sound has improved with use or if I'm just becoming resigned to it. (sigh) Still dissatisfied with the picture.

I've realized that this is connected to our old DirecTV box and dish -- no HD, so I guess an HDMI cable *couldn't* make a difference.

Chisue, I came *that* close to buying the Visio 26" over the Black Friday for $200, since my 23 year old LXI is starting to have tuner problems (what a great set it has been!). I decided to make do with my daughter's old 19" for a while. Glad to see your comments. I had read that the Vizios had tinny sound in several reviews.

Plus I just grit my teeth at the thought that the new set will probably only last 5-10 years. Well, I need to remind myself that the new sets are proportionally much cheaper to buy, too---I paid $199 for that LXI in 1987 and it was a fab bargain at that price.

CR rates JVC and Sony as the most reliable in the larger sizes, and Sanyo as a best buy. Unfortunately as has always been the case, they don't really look at the smaller and less expensive models.