In the soundbar world, many companies offer dialogue enhancement modes to make speech easier to understand. However, few companies focus on this aspect of TV audio as much as Zvox.
The latest product, the $ 300 Zvox AccuVoice AV157 TV speaker, leverages the company's existing AccuVoice hearing aid technology and then enhances dialogue enhancement with the new SuperVoice technology.
When AccuVoice is about making it easier to understand actors on the screen by making their voices easier to hear, SuperVoice, according to Zvox, performs exactly the opposite function for the background noise of a given scene, forcing it further into the background, in which it competes less with the dialogue.
Between these two technologies, you get 12 levels of dialogue improvement - six levels each - six more than Zvox's best speaker to date, the AV155.
AccuVoice might sound like marketing, but it's the real deal - Zvox uses the same technology in its line of Food and Drug Administration approved hearing aids.
In line with the previous Zvox TV speaker models, the AV157 is not designed for typical soundbar functions such as HDMI-ARC connections or Dolby Atmos. Instead, things are relatively simple, with an optical connection, a 3.5mm line-in jack for audio sources like phones or iPods, and a 3.5mm out that can be used for headphones or a subwoofer connection can.
In the event that you are concerned that it may not be possible to reproduce great sound, Zvox assures us that the three full-range drivers of the AV157 and PhaseCue's virtual surround technology can deliver "room-filling 3D sound from a small housing".
Cleverly, the AV157 offers more speech enhancement than your TV. If you have an Amazon Echo speaker like the Echo Dot, you can plug it into the AV157's Line In jack. When Alexa responds to your voice commands, the Zvox speaker automatically lowers its own volume so you can better hear what Alexa is saying when she answers.
The AV157 has its own slim remote control and a large, easy-to-read LED display that is hidden behind the loudspeaker grille. It lights up when you make changes to the settings on the remote control.
We've looked at Zvox's technologies in the past, and the company's AV200 is currently our pick for the best soundbar for dialogue. However, once we have a chance to review the AV157, we can update this recommendation.
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