Inexpensive Sound Bar or Frugal Alternative

My 42" LCD TV has speakers in the back and I sometimes have to tune the volume up to 50+ to hear it from a distance. I don't have a home theater system, so I've looked into sound bars, but they are expensive and I don't need a subwoofer that comes with most of them. Is there a less expensive alternative to a sound bar or one that has decent sound with no subwoofer? Will computer speakers work?

If volume is your main concern, there are plenty of options. Decent computer speakers will get the job done.

the LG soundbar with bluetooth sub can be found for $250, not sure if that's expensive for you, but it's pretty cool and works great

Thanks for the suggestions on computer speakers or a 2.1 setup, but the back of my tv only has a digital optical out connection and a red/white audio input I wish they made computer speakers with these type of connections.

Moby99 said:   Thanks for the suggestions on computer speakers or a 2.1 setup, but the back of my tv only has a digital optical out connection and a red/white audio input I wish they made computer speakers with these type of connections.

dangit

if you had the audio out you could simply get a RCA/3.5mm adapter

You have it backwards. The poster is describing most new low end TVs that have onboard sound. They take audio in, but out is only THEIR onboard speakers or the optical out he described. No red/white audio out. There is usually no other choice. My 50" LG plasma I purchased 6 months ago is the same way.

I found a Vizio sound bar cheap at WalMart for $80. It has an optical connector. Woofer weighs a ton, but good sound. Remote is bizarre, however.

There appear to be many 'Confused and/or Uninformed' folks chiming in with misinformation. (Thus, no QUOTEs.)

For ~2 years before I bought my first *REAL* HDTV (Panasonic TC-L32C3 32" LCD) in August 2011, I kept looking, to no avail, for a set with S-Video IN and Analog Audio OUT in order to utilize my current Video Switches (Composite, S-Video, Component, Analog Audio) and high-end Onkyo TX-SV-919THX 5-Port S-Video / Analog Audio receiver. IIRC, the majority of the first and second tier sets had neither. Only the third tier, and mostly the smaller screens, had a 3.5mm Analog Audio OUT (aka Headphone Jack). And the 'El-Cheapo' Sylvania 19" LCD that I bought ~5 years ago from Target per a FW Hot Deal also had a S-Video IN. I bought the Sylvania 19" LCD HDTV and an 'Open Box' Panasonic DMR-EZ17 DVDR to 'Experiment' with ATSC and ClearQAM.

Regarding Analog Audio IN, this is *ALWAYS* accompanied by Composite and/or Component Video IN. But, recent reading appears to indicate *ANY* Analog Inputs will soon be gone, leaving just HDMI with its HDCP.

My Panasonic 32" LCD has:

1. 2 HDMI IN (Expanded to 6 via 2 Meritline 3-Port Automatic Switches)
   
2. 1 COMPONENT SHARED Y/Video w/COMPOSITE 1 w/SHARED Analog Audio IN (Expanded to 7 via 2 Philips 4-Port Automatic Switches)
   
3. 2 COMPOSITE w/Analog Audio IN w/COMPOSITE 1 SHARED w/COMPONENT
   
4. 1 Digital TOSLink Audio OUT

I tried a ~$20 Digital (TOSLink or Coaxial) to Analog Audio Adapter but even with the TV volume @ Max it was unsatisfactory.

My next idea was a LT $10 USB-to-Analog 7.1 Sound Adapter w/two 3.5mm OUTPUTS from Meritline that allows me to feed an Altec Lansing 4.1 Computer Speaker Set (using just one). This works well for WMC and Hauppauge PVR-1212 TotalMedia Extreme playback through a dedicated laptop with external storage via a Gigabit LAN.

My Sylvania 19" LCD has:

1. 2 HDMI IN
   
2. 1 COMPONENT w/Analog Audio IN
   
3. 1 S-VIDEO w/SHARED Analog Audio IN
   
4. 1 COMPOSITE w/SHARED Analog Audio IN
   
5. 1 Coaxial Digital Audio OUT
   
6. 1 Analog Audio OUT (via 3.5mm headphone jack, which feeds a Meritline 1-to-2 Splitter:
   - 1 goes to an Altec Lansing 2.1 Computer Speaker Set
   - 1 goes to a Staples Wireless Headphone Transmitter

3.5mm-to-RCA Adapters and Cables have been available for a LONG time.

The ~$80 Vizio Sound Bar has been on my 'Round Tuit Shopping List' for a while now to amplify the HDMI Inputs (FiOS HD STB, Media Streamers, Blu-Ray Player, 3 Magnavox DVDRs w/HDD) to the TV via the TOSLink OUT and the COMPONENT Inputs (Pioneer DVD Player, Panasonic DVDR, 3 ReplayTVs) which I forgot to check before I returned the D-to-A Converter Box . Short of buying a new receiver with multiple HDMI Inputs, it's, AFAICT, the least expensive way to boost the volume of a current model HDTV.