@excpa wrote:
I don't have blue tooth and my USB port is currently taken by Fire Stick in one TV and roku in the other. There seem to be a lot of colored jack openingson one TV. I'm not sure about the other. Which is better: a sound bar or individual external speakers?
If the TV is reasonably modern you likely have at least two audio outputs, one digital and one analog. There could also be a headphone jack. The colored jack openings would contain those outputs and be labeled as such.
Which is better: A sound bar or individual external speakers? It depends. A good quality sound bar will sound better than bad individual speakers. Really good individual speakers driven by a good amp/receiver will sound better than the best soundbar. If you want "movie theater" type sound then you'll end up spending a thousand dollars or more, in some cases a lot more, for a full on surround sound setup with a good subwoofer or two. A state of the art, surround sound system can run you into the tens of thousands of dollars, but will literally blow you out of your seat while watching movies.
Something to keep in mind with audio is that you can get really good sound, even surround sound for not too much money. To go from really good, to exceptional generally requires spending a lot more money. The vast majority of people are perfectly fine with really good sound.
You don't sound overly techy in your initial post, so the soundbar would likely be your best option. They are amazingly simple to setup and install and can deliver fine sound. Checking the reviews on sites like Amazon and Best Buy can help you narrow the field to find one with good sound and a good price. If you happen to have an old pair of computer speakers lying around and your TV has a headphone jack, (some do, some don't) you can try just plugging those speakers into the headpone jack and see if that gives you the sound you want.
Setting up a full on surround sound system requires precise speaker placement and proper balancing/timing of the surround sound speakers using a sound meter which can get a bit technical. Many receivers now come with the sound meter built in along with a microphone you place in the desired listening spot and the receiver then automatically calibrates everything for you, but proper speaker placement is still important.
To sum it all up, a soundbar is the easiest option and arguably the cheapest option and can give you really good sound if you get the right soundbar.
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