We’ve reviewed quite a few ZVOX soundbars, and one thing I have always appreciated about them is how they use technology to make it easier to understand what people are saying onscreen — even when explosions are happening in the background. Their latest is the ZVOX AccuVoice AV157 TV Speaker, and it adds the power of Alexa to their already powerful speakers.
Are you someone who typically winds up turning on the closed captioning when watching shows so you can catch most of the dialogue? ZVOX can help.
Their AccuVoice AV157 TV Speaker is a compact soundbar measuring 17 long by 3.3/8″deep by 2.8″ tall, so it doesn’t need a lot of room. Using ZVOX’s patented hearing aid algorithms, the AccuVoice AV157 TV Speaker has six levels of AccuVoice dialogue boost; the soundbar can enhance voices in your TV programs so that you can hear what’s being said.
The AV157 also has a new dialogue-clarifying technology — called SuperVoice — which reduces the level of background sound in TV programs.
The best way to understand our SuperVoice technology is to picture a stage. But instead of a row of actors, imagine a row of sounds. Our proprietary AccuVoice technology, that we introduced in 2016, clarifies voices and brings them forward on the stage. Our SuperVoice technology takes the other sound effects into the background – ‘pushing them backstage’ – so they don’t interfere with voice intelligibility. – Tom Hannaher, ZVOX founder
The AccuVoice AV157 speaker combines six levels of AccuVoice dialogue boost. It also allows the consumer to add SuperVoice algorithms to each of those levels – giving the user 12 levels of dialogue boost.
So whether you have no hearing issues at all but sometimes can’t make out what people are saying in your shows, or even if you have fairly serious hearing issues, the AV157 can help bring clarity to your flat-screen television’s dialogue.
Another feature is ZVOX’s new “AlexaReady.” With it, you can connect an Amazon Alexa Echo device to Input 2 so that it can be used while listening to TV programming. An example they give is while watching a football game, you could ask Alexa for the score in another game that you aren’t watching.
The AV157 will automatically turn down the sound of the game you are watching long enough for you to hear Alexa’s answer through the soundbar; then, the audio for your game will automatically resume at its previous level. That’s pretty clever!
The ZVOX AccuVoice AV157 TV Speaker includes a remote control, but it can also be programmed to work with most infrared universal remotes. It only takes one wire to hook it to your TV, and you have the option of using digital or analog cables.
The AV157 TV Speaker sells for $299.99, and it is available in black, espresso, and titanium finishes, so it will look great wherever you place it. You can learn more about it and order yours here.
