Samsung PN51E8000 3D Smart Plasma HDTV Review

Audio Quality

Samsung's made a lot of improvements to their 2012 television line-up. One thing they've yet to improve, however, is their standard audio quality. Like all of Samsung's 2012 TVs, the E8000 features two embedded 10w speakers. The audio they provide has ample loudness for a single person, assuming they're sitting fairly close. Yet, loudness aside, the crispness of treble and bass sounds--clarity in booming explosions, or the metallic rattle of machine gun fire--is severely lacking. We recently reviewed Panasonic's flagship, the P65VT50, which featured an audio system boasting dual 8-train speakers and an integrated sub-woofer. Coming from that (which sounded superb), the E8000's standard speaker set-up simply feels lacking.

The audio is just average, to be sure, but for an MSRP of $3699 we hope for more than average in every area of a TV's design.