3 Settings To Fix Muffled Speech On Your Samsung Smart TV

Attempting to balance your TV's volume level to try and somehow hear nearly silent dialogue without being blown away by unbelievably loud musical stabs is an unsatisfying battle. It can leave you in a state of constantly reaching for your remote to control your TV, or worrying about what your neighbors think about your taste in TV shows, which can quickly break your immersion in whatever you're watching. It's an unsatisfying experience, but, with the right settings, it's one that can often be fixed.

Depending on which model you own, Samsung TVs come packaged with their own settings that can help boost certain frequencies to help speech cut through the noise. This can be immensely useful while watching something that isn't mixed quite right. Similarly, they also offer a few features that help to level the playing field by reducing the volume of loud noises, like fight scenes, explosions, or car sounds, while boosting quieter sounds like speech in comparison. These settings are known as the Active Voice Amplifier and Auto Volume, and you can manually enable them.

Some other settings and troubleshooting methods might also be useful for trying to boost muffled speech while you're watching TV. For example, you might have some luck by playing with your TV's built-in equalizer, or trying to play around with the Adaptive Sound or Spatial Audio settings. If any of these settings aren't optimized correctly, it can make your audio sound muffled or unbalanced. You should also be on the lookout to see if you have any problems with your hardware. And, if all else fails, it might be time to take a look at your warranty or getting your TV repaired.

You can do a lot to fine-tune your Smart TV's audio, like adjusting the levels of high or low frequencies and changing the balance from left to right. However, that can quickly become overwhelming, and not every option will do a lot to fix muffled-sounding speech specifically. Thankfully, you can opt to try out three different sound presets known as Sound Modes on your TV instead of spending ages muddling through every option available. One of them is even designed to help boost voices specifically: Amplify mode.

Changing your Sound Mode is fairly straightforward. You have two options for doing so:

1. Press the Home button on your TV remote.

2. Navigate to Quick Settings.

3. Select Sound Mode and choose Amplify.

This option is only available on certain Samsung Smart TV models. If you don't have the Quick Settings menu on your device, then you're going to need to try heading through the full Settings menu instead:

1. Hit Home on your remote.

2. Open Settings and head to the Sound menu.

3. Scroll to Sound Mode and select Amplify.

Following these steps will switch your TV into the Amplify sound mode, which, despite the name, doesn't just make everything louder. It's actually designed to give mid and high frequencies a boost, which can help voices to cut through low, muddy audio. You could also give the Optimized Sound Mode a shot if you aren't happy with how Amplify sounds.

Depending on which model your Samsung Smart TV is, you might have access to a setting called the Active Voice Amplifier. This setting is a feature that helps to optimize and enhance your entertainment experience by analyzing your TV's audio and using that information to adjust levels in real-time, meaning it can raise volume levels when a scene contains quiet dialogue.

Active Voice Amplifier is tucked away in your settings, but exactly where your Samsung Smart TV's menu is hidden will depend on which model or generation of TV you own. Some models may also be missing the function altogether. For TVs made in 2025 or later, you can enable the setting using the following steps:

1. Open Settings and select All Settings, then scroll to Advanced Features and select it.

2. Select AI Mode Settings, then navigate to Adaptive Sound Settings.

3. Select Active Voice Amplifier or Active Voice Amplifier Pro.

If your Samsung Smart TV is a 2022, 2023, or 2024 model, then you can find the Active Voice Amplifier in the Intelligent Mode settings instead. You can find this by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Home page with your remote and open Settings, then select All Settings.

2. Open the General & Privacy menu, followed by Intelligent Mode Settings.

3. Select the Intelligent Mode option to toggle it on, then scroll down to Active Voice Amplifier.

Switching the Active Voice Amplifier on for models from 2020 and 2021 offers the most streamlined experience, but it still isn't the most intuitive setting to find. You can find it by navigating through the following menus:

1. Open Settings and select the General menu.

2. Navigate to Intelligent Mode Settings, and select Active Voice Amplifier to turn it on.

Another hidden feature you might not be using on your Samsung Smart TV is the Auto Volume setting. When enabled, this feature automatically equalizes sound from your TV. So long as you aren't using a sound bar or external speakers with your setup, then you can enable auto volume on select Samsung Smart TV models from your Settings menu. You can turn on Auto Volume for most Samsung Smart TVs using these steps:

1. Open your Settings and navigate to the Sound menu or tab.

2. Select Expert Settings and navigate to Auto Volume. You might need to scroll down or open a sub-menu.

3. Select Auto Volume to toggle it on.

You'll always find Auto Volume in your Sound settings if it's a feature that's included with your TV. However, how you get there will depend on which model your TV is. Depending on which one you own, you might need to pull up your Settings by navigating to the Home page first, or by pulling up your Smart Hub using your remote.

If you already had Auto Volume turned on when you noticed you were experiencing problems with muffled speech or quiet dialogue, then you might want to try switching it off. Sometimes Auto Volume can interfere with other sound settings or hardware that you may be using, like a sound bar, as it has the ability to prevent their separate volume and sound features from working correctly. You can switch it off by following the same steps you would use to turn it on.

If none of the features outlined above do the trick — or, if your TV doesn't have those features — then it's time to start troubleshooting. The best place to start is by checking if the culprit is actually what you're watching. Simply put, some shows and films have surprisingly bad volume mixing, or make some interesting stylistic choices, meaning you might not need to do anything else to your TV to hear dialogue better. Try switching shows for a minute to see if all you really need is a solid set of subtitles.

Now that you're sure the problem doesn't lie with what you're watching, it's worth taking some time to turn your attention to your hardware. Check if your speakers are blocked up anywhere, and if they're plugged in correctly. You also might need to try out some different wires or cables if you're using external speakers or receiving audio over your HDMI cable from another device like a games console or streaming stick. You might be surprised by how easy it is to hinder your ability to hear certain frequencies, so make sure you don't have any clutter or thick dust in the way.

The last thing you should try is doing some trial and error with your TV's other built-in sound settings. Open up your Settings menu and work your way through the Sound menu to see what is or isn't switched on. Some models have features, like Adaptive Sound or Spatial Audio settings like Dolby Atmos, that tweak your audio in different ways. They shouldn't make speech sound muffled, but they can impact the mix, so it's worth toggling them off to see if you prefer it.

In the case that nothing seems to help fix your TV's problem with muffled speech, you should reach out to Samsung Support. They should be able to help you get to the bottom of the issue. You can reach out to Samsung Support via your Samsung Account, which you can access by logging into the dashboard in your web browser. From there, you can contact support, register products, check your warranty coverage, and request repairs.

To use Samsung Support's repair service with your smart TV's warranty, you need to log in to your Samsung Account and register your product if you haven't already. After that, you can go to the repair service page to request a repair or find a local Samsung Support Center where a technician can take a look at your TV to find out what's wrong and repair your device. By using Samsung's official repair service, you're guaranteed that any replacement parts used will be genuine Samsung parts, and all technicians will be certified to Samsung's standards.

Samsung offers a limited warranty for home electronics like smart TVs to the original purchaser. To find out if your TV is still covered by a warranty, you should log in to your Samsung account or reach out to Samsung Support directly to find out more. Alternatively, you may be able to find out the exact length of your Standard Limited Warranty in your TV's User Manual. You'll also need to provide the dated bill of sale, such as a receipt or proof of delivery, when using an official Samsung repair service, so they can make sure you're still covered by the warranty.