The Zvox AV357 soundbar is available for purchase from Amazon

There are two reasons why you need a soundbar in your living room. First, your TV’s built-in speakers aren’t very good. Second, TV dialogue can be hard to hear (see reason one). You’ve probably noticed that sometimes you have to turn up the volume to catch what’s being said, and then everything else seems way too loud. Any soundbar will help, but the Zvox AV357 soundbar will help a lot: It is specially designed to amplify voices. Originally priced at $250, the Zvox AV357 is currently on sale for just $150 – its lowest price ever.

Amazon

Zvox AV357 24-inch wooden TV soundbar

$150$250Save $100

Tired of reading subtitles? The Zvox AV357 features 12 levels of voice-boosting goodness so you can catch every word spoken, no reading required. This is the lowest price in the product’s history.

$150 at Amazon

Zvox has a number of these “AccuVoice” soundbars in its range, but the AV357 is one of the few enclosed in a wood veneer enclosure. If you’re not a fan of the typical black-metal look of most electronics, you might find this suits your interior better.

It’s 24 inches wide and is designed to sit in front of your TV; this particular soundbar can’t be wall mounted unless you provide your own shelf for it.

The Zvox Accuvoice soundbar boosts the voice level of all your favorite shows and movies. (Photo: Amazon)

Zvox provides one of the better manuals I’ve seen, with large print, clear illustrations, and plenty of setup information. It clearly explains how the soundbar is connected to the optical audio port of your TV. Unfortunately, there’s no HDMI option here, which means you may not be able to control the soundbar with your existing TV or cable box remote – not without jumping a little hoop anyway. The AV357 can be manually programmed to accept volume and mute commands from most clickers.

If you don’t want to mess with that, Zvox’s remote control is excellent, with clearly labeled tactile buttons.

The device consists of a total of three loudspeakers, including a central one that is especially for voices. There’s also some electronic wizardry at work in the form of Zvox’s AccuVoice technology, which helps to really isolate and amplify dialogue. While I haven’t tested this exact model, I’ve tried several other Zvox speakers (including one that was on Yahoo’s list of the best soundbars of 2023), and believe me when I say that AccuVoice works really well. There’s also an output leveling feature designed to lower the volume of TV commercials and three levels of virtual surround sound (although using the latter will disable AccuVoice).

Zvox AV355 sound bar — The Zvox AV355 soundbar’s large, easy-to-read display lets you see the volume level at a glance. It’s a small thing, but very welcome. (Photo: Rick Broida/Yahoo)

I especially like the large, easy-to-read LED display on the front of the soundbar. It uses numbers to represent volume level and abbreviations to help you select modes.

My only real complaint is the lack of Bluetooth connectivity; You can’t use this as a speaker to stream music from your phone or tablet. (Zvox touts an “Alexa-ready” feature, but that just means plugging in an Amazon Echo speaker.)

That limitation aside, the Zvox AV357 is an excellent choice for older TV viewers or anyone struggling with hearing issues. And at this price, it’s hard to pass up.

Amazon

Zvox AV357 24-inch wooden TV soundbar

$150$250Save $100

Tired of reading subtitles? The Zvox AV357 features 12 levels of voice-boosting goodness so you can catch every word spoken, no reading required. This is the lowest price in the product’s history.

$150 at Amazon

Of course, if you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping. not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your 30-day free trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)