Last week, my 5-year-old soundbar suddenly stopped working. While I was trying to finalize a new one, I had no option but to use my TV's built-in speakers for a few days. That's when I remembered why I had bought the soundbar in the first place. The TV speakers sounded terrible out of the box and were basically unusable for anything other than casual YouTube videos.

In fact, I spend a lot of my free time on YouTube, so the TV audio wasn't even an option for me. That said, I was stuck with it until my new soundbar arrived. I was forced to explore the audio settings, hoping for some improvements, so I didn't have to curse the TV every single time. With a few toggles, I made the TV speakers somewhat usable. Most people consider TV speakers beyond salvage, so they don't think the audio settings can make a difference. However, it's worth trying — after all, you've got nothing to lose.

Sound Mode: A good place to start

Choose from some presets

Almost every TV has a set of audio profiles, which you can choose from, depending on the content you're watching. The default is usually "Standard," but it's rarely the best-sounding mode for your TV speakers. My Hisense TV had the usual sound modes in the audio settings, and I found that I had been using the Standard mode before I switched to the soundbar.

I changed it to the "Theatre" mode, which enhanced the bass and made the background music more immersive, ideal for watching movies. This mode might be named Movie or Cinema on your TV. You can experiment with other modes, such as "Music," which tries to boost the dynamic range, "Speech," which reduces the bass and isolates the mid-to-high frequencies to make dialogues clearer, or "Sports," which enhances the crowd noise and makes the commentator's voice clearer. The sound modes can't fix everything wrong with the TV speakers, but they're a good place to start.

Dolby Atmos: It depends on your sound system

Leave it disabled on the built-in speakers

You should only turn Dolby Atmos on if your soundbar or speaker system actually supports it. Dolby Atmos creates a 3D soundscape around you when your sound system has the proper hardware, such as dedicated 5-channel or 7-channel speakers, up-firing speakers, or physical rear channels. If you're trying to improve your TV's built-in speakers, though, it's better to leave Dolby Atmos disabled.

Otherwise, the TV tries to simulate 3D audio, and without the necessary internals to do it properly, it just results in unnatural or hollow audio. I had it turned on in the audio settings, so I promptly disabled it, leading to an overall better experience. Alternatively, your TV might support Dolby Atmos via software, which could be better than not using spatial audio at all. Try that before disabling Dolby Atmos completely.

Auto Volume: Handy in a few situations

It can keep things consistent

This one is a bit tricky, since it's not automatically better in every scenario. Auto Volume Control/Audio Leveler/Volume Leveler is used to stabilize the sound levels, ensuring the audio volume stays consistent. For instance, you won't struggle to hear silent whispers or brace yourself from loud explosions while watching a movie. Auto Volume compresses the difference between high and low audio levels, so you're not surprised by sudden commercials or when changing channels. It also helps keep the audio consistent during late-night viewing, so you don't end up waking others in the house.

The catch is that Auto Volume can flatten the soundscape, which can reduce dynamic range when you're watching content on a high-quality sound system. You can keep it enabled for regular content, and turn it off during movies and TV shows. I kept it disabled, as I wanted the natural audio experience without artificial stabilization.

Dialogue Enhancement: When you can't hear the lines

A necessary evil in this day and age

Dialogue Boost or Video Enhance, as it might be called on some TVs, works by isolating and enhancing dialogue while suppressing booming sounds and music. It's basically a band-aid for the terrible soundscape seen in modern movies and shows, where it becomes nearly impossible to make out what the actors are saying.

If you're experiencing the same problem, dialogue enhancement can make the content somewhat better. Note that not every TV has this setting. My Hisense TV doesn't have it, but my Apple TV 4K 3rd gen has the "Enhance Dialogue" setting, which yields decent results. Again, dialogue enhancement can suppress other sounds in your content, so you may not like the overall audio quality. Experiment with it to see if you like the setting on or off.

Virtual Surround Sound: Worth checking out

It can be useful on the built-in speakers

In the absence of a high-quality sound system, turning "Virtual Surround Sound" on is generally recommended if you're unsatisfied with the default audio. With a dedicated soundbar or speaker system, keep it off to avoid additional processing that can degrade audio quality. Surround sound will usually improve the audio on your built-in speakers by bouncing sound around and boosting audio channels. It will artificially enhance the soundstage, making it feel fuller, to an extent.

Your mileage depends on the quality of the TV's speakers. Lower-end TVs might not improve the audio quality at all, distorting the sound instead. On mid-range and high-end models, the implementation is likely to be better, so you can keep it enabled if the results are positive. The surround sound implementation on your TV might be a proprietary format, such as Dolby Atmos, or one specific to your TV's manufacturer.

Your TV's built-in speakers might not be as bad as you think

Depending on your TV model, you may have several audio settings to improve the default audio quality. Even low-end TVs have many of the settings on this list, so you can certainly experiment until you find the right combination. Most of these settings are best left disabled if you have a decent soundbar or speaker setup. On the stock speakers, though, it's worth checking out what these settings can do.