[Jeffhs]

I wish today's flat-screen HDTVs had their speakers mounted as the older Zeniths, not to mention other 1950s-'80s consoles had (below the CRT). (I had a 23" Zenith b&w TV in the early 1970s, with a large 6x9 oval speaker directly below the CRT; the sound was so good I eventually patched an FM radio tuner into the TV's audio system, across the volume control.)

As it is now, the speakers on just about all flat-screen HDTVs, including my 32" Insignia, are mounted so that they project sound downward, rather than directly to the viewer's ears. I find this very annoying with my set, as it means I must increase the volume much higher than normal to be able to hear the sound as it should be heard. I am all but totally deaf in one ear due to a brain injury at birth; I can hear in the one good ear (my left), but it certainly isn't the same as if my hearing were normal in both ears.

I am presently using a pair of wireless headphones to work around this problem; they work very well, as I expected. I wouldn't be concerned about this at all except for the fact that I live in an apartment building, and must be very careful how loud I set my TV sound. The wireless headphones seem to have solved the problem, allowing me to turn up the volume as loud as I need to with no concerns about disturbing my neighbors.

BTW, the wireless headphones have one huge advantage over the TV's own speakers in that the sound is much clearer through the headphones. For that reason, I would have gotten the wireless headphones I have now even if my hearing were normal in both ears.