Hear the TV Without Blasting It: 4 Fixes for Seniors

Why louder does not mean clearer

Disabling hearing loss affects 22 percent of adults 65 to 74 and 55 percent of those 75 and older, and age is the strongest predictor of hearing loss among adults.¹ The common form, presbycusis, comes on gradually and “may make it hard for a person to tolerate loud sounds or to understand what others are saying.”²

That sentence explains the whole TV problem. High frequencies go first, and consonants live in the high frequencies. Turning the volume up makes the music, the car chases, and the laugh track louder, but the “s” and “t” and “f” that make words into words stay muddy. So the volume climbs until the neighbors complain, and the dialogue still disappears. One caregiver on a forum described a father who “watches a lot of television and the sound level will make a normal hearing person’s ears bleed.”⁶

The fixes below either deliver the sound to your ears at your own level, or lift the voices out of the background before the sound leaves the TV. Start with the free one.

Fix 0: captions, today

Press the CC or Subtitles button on the remote, or go to Settings, then Accessibility, then Captions. Make the text large. Do it in each streaming app too.

Captions are a legal requirement, not a favor. The National Association of the Deaf notes that “since 2006, all new, non-exempt, English-language television programming must be closed captioned,” and that programs first shown on TV with captions must be “captioned when later shown online.”³ Everything you watch has them. Most people who leave captions on for a week stop noticing them and stop missing lines. Do this before spending a dollar on any of the next three.

Fix 1: a wireless TV headset

This is the product built for the volume war. A small base plugs into the TV’s audio output and sends the sound by infrared or radio to a lightweight headset, usually the under-the-chin style that does not press on the ears. You turn your headset up; the TV stays at a normal level for everyone else. Most add a tone control that boosts the voice range.

The forum thread above is a fair picture of how it goes in real houses. The top answer was “TV Ears,” from a commenter who added, “I use them as well, as I have hearing loss, too, and my husband has very acute hearing.”⁶ Another commenter on a different thread described a husband who resisted the headset until he found he could wear it into the bathroom and not miss a play.

• Good: your own volume, the room keeps normal TV sound, and the voice boost helps with the consonant problem.
• Watch for: infrared models need line of sight to the base, so a headset that works in the recliner may cut out in the kitchen. Battery life and comfort over a long evening matter more than the spec sheet suggests; the common complaints are pressure and headaches from heavier headsets.
• Best for: someone who will not or cannot wear hearing aids and watches TV with others.

Fix 2: Bluetooth headphones and a transmitter

If you already own comfortable Bluetooth headphones, you may not need a special headset. Many newer TVs pair Bluetooth headphones in the settings menu. Older TVs do not, so you add a Bluetooth transmitter, a matchbox-sized device that plugs into the TV’s optical or headphone output and sends sound to any Bluetooth headphones.

• Best for: a person who lives alone and already has headphones they like.

Fix 3: a dialogue-clarifying TV speaker

For the person who will not put anything on their head, the fix sits under the TV. A dialogue-clarifying speaker processes the sound before it comes out, lifting the voices and pushing down the music. ZVOX, the best-known maker, describes its AccuVoice processing as using “advanced algorithms to lift voices above background noise and music,” and calls it “like a hearing aid for your TV.”⁴ Its AV157 speaker offers 12 levels, “combining six levels of AccuVoice and six levels of SuperVoice technology,” connects by optical or 3.5mm cable, is 17 inches wide, and includes Output Leveling that reduces “sudden volume spikes when switching channels or during commercial breaks.”⁴ List price is $249.99, often on sale for $199.99.⁴

• Good: nothing to wear, nothing to charge, and everyone in the room gets the clearer voices. The commercial-leveling feature alone is worth it in a house where the ads blast.
• Watch for: it is still one speaker for the whole room, so if two people need very different volumes, it does not solve that. And the voice boost at high levels sounds thin for music and movies; keep the setting low for films and high for the news.
• Best for: a couple where one person hears fine, anyone who refuses headphones, and anyone whose main complaint is commercials.

Fix 4: a streamer straight into hearing aids

If you already wear hearing aids, stop here; this is the right answer. Every major brand sells a small TV streamer that plugs into the TV’s optical output and sends the sound wirelessly into the aids. Phonak’s version, the TV Connector, “sends audio signals within a 15 meter (50 ft) radius wirelessly to the hearing aids,” accepts an optical (Toslink) or analog 3.5mm cable, has its own volume up and down buttons, and pairs by pressing a Connect button with the aids within 3 feet.⁵ Oticon, ReSound, Starkey, and others sell the equivalent.

The reason this beats everything else is that the hearing aids keep doing what they were fitted to do. A headset boosts the voice range in general; your aids boost exactly the frequencies you have lost. The TV stays at a normal level for the room, and a second person with compatible aids can usually pair to the same streamer.

• Watch for: brand lock. A Phonak streamer works with Phonak aids. Ask your audiologist which streamer matches yours, and whether the clinic needs to set it up. Some TVs output Dolby audio on the optical port; the streamer may need the TV’s audio output set to stereo or PCM, which is a one-time menu change.⁵
• Best for: anyone with hearing aids, full stop. Our guide to hearing aids and the smart home covers phones and speakers the same way.

Which one, in one minute

Before buying anything, look at the back of the TV. You want an optical output (a small square port, often with a tiny door) or a headphone jack; headsets, speakers, and streamers all use one of those. A TV with only HDMI ARC needs an inexpensive adapter or a device that supports ARC, which is worth knowing before the box arrives.

The part that is not about the TV

A TV fix treats the evening. It does not treat the hearing loss, and that matters beyond the living room. The National Institute on Aging reports that an analysis of several studies “found that people who used hearing restorative devices (such as hearing aids and cochlear implants) had a lower risk of long-term cognitive decline compared to people with uncorrected hearing loss.”² Yet among older adults who could benefit from hearing aids, “fewer than 1 in 3 (30%) has ever used them.”¹

The TV is often the first place a reluctant person admits the problem, and the first fix they accept. Use that. Once the headset or speaker is working, the next conversation is a hearing test, and our guides to over-the-counter hearing aids and home modifications for hearing loss cover what comes after. If the volume war is one of several signs that daily life is getting harder, signs it is time for more help puts it in context.

Key takeaways

• Louder is not clearer: age-related hearing loss takes the consonants, so the volume climbs and the words still vanish.
• Captions first, free, large text, in every app.
• Hearing aids: buy your brand’s TV streamer. It sends the TV into the aids at 50 feet with its own volume.
• No hearing aids: a wireless TV headset for your own volume, or a dialogue-clarifying speaker if you will not wear one.
• Bluetooth headphones work with a low-latency transmitter, but usually mute the room.
• Then get the hearing tested. Uncorrected loss carries risks the TV fix does not address.

What’s next

• Already wear hearing aids? Stream everything, not just the TV: hearing aids and the smart home.
• Ready for the next step: OTC hearing aids versus amplifiers.
• Make the rest of the house work for hearing loss: home modifications for hearing loss.
• Keep the phone calls coming through too: technology to help seniors stay connected.

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Reviewed by John Smith, CAPS, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist. This guide is general consumer information, not medical advice. Hearing loss should be evaluated by an audiologist, who can also tell you which TV streamer matches your hearing aids and set it up if the brand requires it.