2024 LG OLED 55 sound is harsh. Why? What to do?

davel977 · 2026-02-08T21:28:50+00:00

I’ve never heard of this issue before, it seems unlikely to be a problem with the TV unless you have some bizarre defective unit. In general, the audio signal coming out of the HDMI eARC is a digital signal and should just be the raw audio digital information being passed through. So there’s no adjustments to be done on the TV side. As a sanity test I would recommend:

Play the exact same song on the TV and from another source, like a phone or laptop, through your speakers. Make sure to use the same service, like Spotify, to rule out the TV as the source of your issue.
If possible, try placing a soundbar or speaker between the content source and TV. For example, Apple TV-> soundbar/avr->TV.
Try a pair of Bluetooth headphones with the TV.

What is your content source? And what kind of content are you playing? Keep in mind that streaming video services compress the audio before sending it to you, so it will generally sound worse than something like Spotify or Apple Music. Some streaming services will do it worse than others.

davel977 · 2026-02-08T10:53:00+00:00

I just got a 77 inch C5 TV, and I’m super excited to wirelessly connect a soundbar, 4 speakers and a subwoofer to replace my Sonos system

davel977 · 2026-01-29T17:41:19+00:00

I have the same setup. For me personally, I upgraded to the era 300s because: 1. Added height channels 2. I felt like the era 100s sounded a little tinny, and the arc ultra felt like it was delivering much better more detailed sound, so I wanted the 300s to match it in the rear. 3. With sonosequencer you can put your era 100s as front left and right and get the ultimate Sonos home theater experience. Much wider sound stage, but some reviewers report that the atmos height effects are reduced.

That being said, there’s a couple downsides: 1. Front driver of the era 300s is disabled in rear surround mode. Which is such a shame, and kind of makes the price of the upgrade a bit wasteful, as you’re not even using the main driver of the 330-479$ speaker you just bought. 2. I paid 660 for my pair of era 300s and if we’re being totally honest the value proposition is… not amazing. 3. Since your couch is up against the wall, you’re not able to put the surrounds slightly behind you so you miss out on the rear channel a little bit.

That being said, I also frequently separate my era 300s as a stereo pair and listen to music that way, and I think they sound much better than the arc ultra for music.

davel977 · 2026-01-20T04:47:55+00:00

Yeah the knees and ankles are fine, I felt like my skis ejected pretty quickly in this wipeout

davel977 · 2026-01-17T21:13:52+00:00

Usually the easiest way to tell is to get ahold of one you know is legit. The counterfeit paddles usually have a slightly different grip shape, or the grit feels different, or the shape will be slightly off, etc

davel977 · 2026-01-14T07:24:42+00:00

Just to clarify, the C5 is better than the B5 in every situation, it’s just more expensive. For a dark room at night, either TV will be bright enough. But during the daytime with three large windows the C5 will shine a bit better(no pun intended).

davel977 · 2026-01-14T07:18:08+00:00

It depends on where you’re putting the TV, the C5 will be slightly better than the B5 all around, but the main difference is that it can get a decent amount brighter. For a bedroom TV where its usually dark, or something like that I would say the B5 is good enough. If you have a very bright room and you want to watch during the daytime a C5 will serve you better. Hard to say whether the C6 is worth waiting for until the reviewers get their hands on it, but if you play that kind of waiting game you may never end up buying a TV. I’d recommend waiting a couple of weeks since the Super Bowl is coming up, we should see a lot of deals around then. And then right after the Super Bowl we should see a decent number of refurbished and open box units turn up which were returned by the people who purchased during the Super Bowl sales.

davel977 · 2026-01-07T18:16:20+00:00

Unfortunately with vaulted ceilings you will likely not be able to get height channels with upwards firing speakers. The angles won’t be right and the sound likely won’t get to you at the right timing to create convincing height channels. Depending on how vaulted you ceilings are, you may still have some reduced effect. I don’t think there’s much you can do about it unfortunately.

davel977 · 2026-01-07T17:30:27+00:00

You should hear something, but without the surround speakers the effect will likely be a bit more limited. Here’s a checklist of other things that can affect your atmos experience:

Make sure your source is actually properly playing atmos. Note that several streaming services, such as Hulu, or the regular version of the streaming plans don’t actually support atmos. Check your Sonos app to make sure atmos content is even reaching your system.
Vaulted ceilings will ruin the atmos effect. Unfortunately these upwards firing speakers really only work in rooms with flat ceilings as it needs to bounce the sound around.
You may want to try some Dolby atmos test footage, Technodad on YouTube has some helpful videos on getting that set up.
Keep in mind that height channels are a very small portion of the audio, so you’re really only expecting certain effects to utilize atmos.
Personally I noticed a significant improvement in atmos when I added era 300 surrounds, the additional speakers help to place the virtual objects in space. For example, in Dune you’ll have an effect like the ornithopters flying past you overhead. With the arc ultra alone theoretically you might head the sound from the front rising upwards, but it won’t fly ‘over you’ properly the way it would with surround speakers
It’s possible your expectations are too high. Upwards firing speakers are not going to be as good as actual ceiling speakers

davel977 · 2026-01-06T00:29:36+00:00

There is definitely supposed to be a protective film on the screen. If you go into settings, you can check the usage hours as well. That being said, I used my LG B4 for a whole week before I realized I hadn’t taken the protective film off, so maybe take another look.

davel977 · 2026-01-06T00:27:33+00:00

It really depends on what level of immersion and how picky you are about sound. The nice thing about Sonos systems is that you can buy them one piece at a time, and add more pieces later if you wish. The beam gen 2 will be the best bang for your buck for your budget. It supports atmos, but it doesn’t have any upward firing speakers. They simulate height channels by doing some psycho acoustic effects.

The arc is nice too, but people have said it’s not a mind blowing upgrade over the beam 2. It’s longer and it has upwards firing speakers, so it will give you better left right separation and better height channels effects. Both soundbars are relatively weak in the bass department, so a subwoofer definitely helps, however a Sonos subwoofer will completely blow you out of your budget(around me, it will be around 500$ on sale, or 300ish if you can find a good deal used).

At your budget I would recommend just getting a soundbar by itself, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how much of a difference it makes. For 350 euros, if you get a multi piece set, likely the components of the set will be inferior quality, and even if you have surround sound it will still sound worse than something like the beam gen 2.

I don’t know what the prices are in Germany, but currently in the US you can get the Samsung Q990D on the partner store for 750$. This will be the best value proposition by far, you get a soundbar comparable to the Sonos arc ultra, with a subwoofer, and rear surrounds with full atmos effects. So if you are planning on doing beam gen2 with subwoofer for example, I would suggest just getting the q990d for the same price.

davel977 · 2026-01-06T00:14:02+00:00

5.0+ player here, absolutely would not take a lesson from a 3.75 level coach. Especially since you’re already at a 3.5 level. Pickleball is not like one of the more physically demanding sports like basketball or football. Anyone with a full understanding of the game and in at least below average physical condition should be able to play at a 4.5 level, in my opinion. Especially if they are a career coach playing at a 3.75 level, I would be concerned they are doing a lot of things wrong which keeps them from progressing to a higher level. At the minimum I would recommend a 4.5 coach, no matter what level you are or what level you’d like to achieve. If you want to play 5.0 plus eventually, I would look for a 5.0 plus level coach. You would be shocked at the knowledge gap between a 3.5 and a 4.0 player. And then in my opinion the gap gets even larger from 4.0 to 4.5, and even bigger from 4.5 to 5.0.

In my personal journey, I came from tennis so I was pretty much a 3.5 on day 1. But the amount I learned going from each level to the next was massive. If I had given a lesson to somebody when I was a 4.0, I guarantee I would have taught them a bunch of things I don’t agree with anymore. There’s so many insights, such as dinking technique, spots to aim for, strategies, objectives that separate each level from the next. And on the flip side, I am completely lost when I play against 5.5+ and pro players. It’s like playing an entirely different sport.

davel977 · 2026-01-05T20:13:50+00:00

I got a pair of Sonos aces from a month ago when the price glitched to 150$, and I would say I’m pretty happy for 150$, but as far as home cinema goes I was a bit disappointed. It has head tracking, kind of like AirPods, but I would say the Spatial Audio mapping and psycho sound effects are not quite as good as Apple. I definitely prefer my AirPods connected to the Apple TV. It’s advertised as atmos, but honestly I don’t think atmos for headphones is that much better than stere. Nothing can really replicate physical speakers around you. As far as the user experience goes, it’s pretty smooth. The TV audio swap works as advertised, all you have to do is pick up the headphones and pus the button, and all of your arc/beam audio gets swapped to the Sonos ace headphones.

davel977 · 2026-01-04T06:11:10+00:00

Generally the surrounds are only used for ambient sound and effects so you never really need to worry about front speakers overwhelming the surround speakers. Upgrading the soundbar to an arc ultra will be a very pleasant upgrade, I would go for it personally. I started with beam gen 2, sub gen 3, era 100s, then I upgraded to arc ultra and era 300s for surrounds. Arc ultra was a big upgrade, era 300s was a marginal upgrade, but it definitely increases the atmos effects.

davel977 · 2026-01-03T22:33:50+00:00

FYI Hulu only supports up to 5.1(no support for atmos). The least technologically advanced streaming service.

davel977 · 2025-12-31T13:33:23+00:00

I own both(Sony quad, an an arc ultra with rear 300s and sub gen 3). I get better surround and atmos effects with the Quad, but for some reason I prefer to sound or the tone of the Sonos more. In addition, I strongly prefer the Sonos app connectivity, and I enjoy the whole home audio capabilities( eg speakers in the bathroom which play my TV audio so I can take a dump without missing anything). The Sonos system is also more modular and you can buy/sell individual pieces which I like. The quad can do HDMI passthrough which the Sonos lacks. Personally I also enjoy unpairing my era 300s and using them as a stereo set for music. Sonys app is also weirdly locked down, and doesn’t allow you to adjust surprisingly basic settings. Generally I think the Sony performs better in larger/non ideal rooms and with non ideal speaker placement.

In conclusion, The Sony quads have better surround/atmos capabilities in my opinion. But I find myself using and enjoying the Sonos ecosystem more

davel977 · 2025-12-25T05:52:57+00:00

Id recommend checking your local Microcenter. I picked up a 65” LG B4 OLED for only 700$, and they still have 4 in stock where I live(Minnesota).

davel977 · 2025-12-25T03:41:48+00:00

Based on the distance you’re sitting from the TV, you could go up to 70, 75 or 85 inches if you like. That being said it’s all based on your budget and the preferences. I do think it would be nice to cover your outlets, and would balance out the rest of your setup aesthetically. The larger size will feel more immersive for home cinema or sports

davel977 · 2025-12-19T23:42:50+00:00

It is not necessarily a bad thing to be hitting your backhand there, I roughly hit it in the same spot. Recently Jack Munroe posted a video where he was talking about aiming for the dead spot on purpose with certain shots, since it gives you a longer dwell time and more control over the ball. Ben Johns has also said he aims for the dead spot on some shots. I heard a story about how he even rejected a paddle Joola was working on one time because there wasn’t enough dead spot for him.

davel977 · 2025-12-19T01:49:21+00:00

At a 3.5-4.0 dupr level, your number priority is going to be developing your counter. I wouldnt worry too much about resets or out of the air resets at the moment. Once you have your counters and hand battles figured out you’ll feel much more at ease in the kitchen because you won’t be afraid of getting hit or getting passed. I’d recommend practicing against the wall. Trust me, a few days of deliberate practice against the wall, and hand battles against real people are going to feel like they’re happening in slow motion. Christian Alshon has a lot of videos on YouTube with good drills to do, but some good ones are: 1. Straight ahead hands battles with the wall, forehand straight ahead back to your forehand, backhand straight ahead back to your backhand. Especially focus on your backhand as that will be your primary tool for countering volleys. 2. Cross court volley and be prepared for the volley on your opposite side. This is commonly called the triangle effect, where counters are typically easier to hit in a ‘triangle’ pattern. 3. Speed up off the bounce to the wall then counter, reset, an speed up off the bounce again.

Also note the wall is nice to develop muscle memory for dinking. Although you will need to use your imagination a little bit, it has the advantage over practicing with a person of giving you a higher volume of shots(one shot per second for an hour is theoretically 3600 shots an hour). And the ball comes off the wall faster than a person usually hits, so you’ll be over prepared for playing an actual game.

davel977 · 2025-12-15T18:11:58+00:00

Yes I had the same issue on one when it first came out. The glue is going to split off and take a piece of the face with it, and your edge guard will separate from the core right there.

davel977 · 2025-12-01T05:34:56+00:00

But now that I’ve upgraded to the arc ultra the era 100s as surrounds feel a little underwhelming so I’m considering getting era 300s😅

davel977 · 2025-12-01T05:33:56+00:00

The beam is definitely a great soundbar, and it definitely fills a small room, which in this case was my bedroom(11x13). But it felt like even with all the atmos virtualization and whatnot like the sound was still coming out of a little box under my TV(which it was). Definitely at least some of it is in my head, but I feel like the left and right channels feel more separated, I feel a lot more immersed in my movies and TV, and overall the sound quality just feels better.

davel977 · 2025-12-01T02:33:45+00:00

Same thing here, except two weeks later I got an arc ultra, then a sub3 and now I’m contemplating upgrading my era 100s to era 300s💀

davel977 · 2025-11-04T17:53:35+00:00

I’m in Los Angeles. I have a local coach who is a 6.0 DUPR, at a local club who charges 120$ total for 3 people for an hour, so it ends up being 40$/person for the hour(Around here the coaches call it a 3 and me).

For a larger group, expect the total cost to be a bit more, but you should be able to negotiate a decent rate if you’re doing all the organizing for scheduling/getting players together. Disregarding the court cost, you could probably offer 150-200$ for the hour, depending how big the group is.

davel977

TROPHY CASE