- Feb 14, 2004
- 49,987
- 6,299
- 136
I've been eyeing soundbars for my living room TV for awhile. The Vizio models have gotten surprisingly good reviews, so I've kept my eye on those. I ran across three of them at Sam's Club yesterday & bit the bullet on the 38" 2.1 system. My thought process was basically like this:
1. A 2.0 soundbar would be a nice upgrade from the built-in TV speakers for ~$80, but I know that a sub adds a TON to the sound; plus, just having small drivers won't give you any of that mid-range/mid-bass, which is what makes systems like the Bose cubes shine - take away the sub and they're not so hot!
2. A 2.1 soundbar is nice, especially with the wireless sub that you can position anywhere for convenience, but the 5.1 model adds a pair of speakers to the wireless sub, so you don't have to run any wires in your living room - super convenient. It's twice the price of the 2.0 soundbar system, however ($150).
3. The 5.1 soundbar is nice (wireless sub + 2 speakers that plug into it), but we're getting into the ~$275 range here and honestly, the rear speakers don't add all that much. So that's an extra $125 just for a pair of rear speakers. Well, plus a center speaker.
Vizio also has a 3.0 soundbar (no sub), but that wasn't available at the store: (also costs as much as the 5.1 system, $275 - I think it has an added integrated bass module of some kind for a bit of added oomph)
http://www.vizio.com/audio/s5430wc2.html
I was leaning towards the 5.1, but I wanted (1) convenience, and (2) a low price for the living room TV, so I opted for the 2.1. They also have it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-S3821w-C...dp/B00CO07C5U/
It comes in a weird-shaped box, kind of like a guitar or something. Whatever. Setup was ridiculously easy - unboxing literally took more time than setup did! The soundbar & subwoofer both use the same type of power cord, so you can use them on either one. They include all the cables you need (analog & digital, including Coaxial Digital & TOSlink Optical Digital), which was awesome.
I have my DLP TV on a couple of IKEA stands, so I had enough of a lip to stick the soundbar in front of the TV & then loop the wires underneath - power to the surge protector, coaxial digital audio (the single orange RCA jack) to the TV's output (handy!). Popped the batteries in the remote (included, nice). Plugged the sub into another power jack...and that was it! There's a sync button on the sub & soundbar, pretty easy. Worked right away, no fuss, no hassle. Computer speakers are harder to setup than these were due to the extra wiring they have, haha.
The sound is definitely a step up from the TV's built-in speakers. It's not as full as I'd like for things like say the news, but you also don't have a mid-bass speaker in there (and you also don't have the size, which is nice) - I'm assuming they're just using some two-inch full-range drivers or something. I'm curious as to how the 5.1/3.0 soundbar would sound with that center speaker - it lacks a bit of the vocal oomph that I was looking for.
However, it has a really big, room-filling sound once once you crank it more than halfway up. Like that really nice cinematic sound that you get from a nice 5.1 sound. That sub helps a LOT! I turned it off a few times to see how it sounded without the sub (it has an on/off switch on the sub, very convenient) and it makes a HUGE difference in overall sound quality. The sub is really more of a mis-bass than a bass subwoofer, but it will make the room vibrate a bit at high volumes.
Overall, it's a REALLY nice upgrade from the stock TV speakers. I would say this is worth the $150 because of the convenience (easy setup & wireless sub "just works") and because it gives you a really nice sound improvement without any real effort. High WAF as well. Plus it has Bluetooth built-in, so that makes it a convenient wireless living room speaker for your smartphone, tablet, or computer. I wish that vocals had more punch, but I don't know if even the 3.0/5.1 would have that (center speaker) due to the small speaker size & no mid-range speaker built in (due to the cabinet size), so I'm not too worried about it - I didn't want to pay double to find out (they didn't have any demo models setup of those units). So, $150 to give a nice boost to stuff like Netflix movies off my Roku & whatnot...pretty good deal. No hassles!
Side note, my buddy has a Samsung 2.1 wireless soundbar system & said it works great for outdoor parties...just bring it outside & hook it up to your phone via Bluetooth and you've got a nice little outside music system. Hadn't even thought about using it for that...I usually use a small boombox with a minijack cable, but this would be even more convenient!
1. A 2.0 soundbar would be a nice upgrade from the built-in TV speakers for ~$80, but I know that a sub adds a TON to the sound; plus, just having small drivers won't give you any of that mid-range/mid-bass, which is what makes systems like the Bose cubes shine - take away the sub and they're not so hot!
2. A 2.1 soundbar is nice, especially with the wireless sub that you can position anywhere for convenience, but the 5.1 model adds a pair of speakers to the wireless sub, so you don't have to run any wires in your living room - super convenient. It's twice the price of the 2.0 soundbar system, however ($150).
3. The 5.1 soundbar is nice (wireless sub + 2 speakers that plug into it), but we're getting into the ~$275 range here and honestly, the rear speakers don't add all that much. So that's an extra $125 just for a pair of rear speakers. Well, plus a center speaker.
Vizio also has a 3.0 soundbar (no sub), but that wasn't available at the store: (also costs as much as the 5.1 system, $275 - I think it has an added integrated bass module of some kind for a bit of added oomph)
http://www.vizio.com/audio/s5430wc2.html
I was leaning towards the 5.1, but I wanted (1) convenience, and (2) a low price for the living room TV, so I opted for the 2.1. They also have it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-S3821w-C...dp/B00CO07C5U/
It comes in a weird-shaped box, kind of like a guitar or something. Whatever. Setup was ridiculously easy - unboxing literally took more time than setup did! The soundbar & subwoofer both use the same type of power cord, so you can use them on either one. They include all the cables you need (analog & digital, including Coaxial Digital & TOSlink Optical Digital), which was awesome.
I have my DLP TV on a couple of IKEA stands, so I had enough of a lip to stick the soundbar in front of the TV & then loop the wires underneath - power to the surge protector, coaxial digital audio (the single orange RCA jack) to the TV's output (handy!). Popped the batteries in the remote (included, nice). Plugged the sub into another power jack...and that was it! There's a sync button on the sub & soundbar, pretty easy. Worked right away, no fuss, no hassle. Computer speakers are harder to setup than these were due to the extra wiring they have, haha.
The sound is definitely a step up from the TV's built-in speakers. It's not as full as I'd like for things like say the news, but you also don't have a mid-bass speaker in there (and you also don't have the size, which is nice) - I'm assuming they're just using some two-inch full-range drivers or something. I'm curious as to how the 5.1/3.0 soundbar would sound with that center speaker - it lacks a bit of the vocal oomph that I was looking for.
However, it has a really big, room-filling sound once once you crank it more than halfway up. Like that really nice cinematic sound that you get from a nice 5.1 sound. That sub helps a LOT! I turned it off a few times to see how it sounded without the sub (it has an on/off switch on the sub, very convenient) and it makes a HUGE difference in overall sound quality. The sub is really more of a mis-bass than a bass subwoofer, but it will make the room vibrate a bit at high volumes.
Overall, it's a REALLY nice upgrade from the stock TV speakers. I would say this is worth the $150 because of the convenience (easy setup & wireless sub "just works") and because it gives you a really nice sound improvement without any real effort. High WAF as well. Plus it has Bluetooth built-in, so that makes it a convenient wireless living room speaker for your smartphone, tablet, or computer. I wish that vocals had more punch, but I don't know if even the 3.0/5.1 would have that (center speaker) due to the small speaker size & no mid-range speaker built in (due to the cabinet size), so I'm not too worried about it - I didn't want to pay double to find out (they didn't have any demo models setup of those units). So, $150 to give a nice boost to stuff like Netflix movies off my Roku & whatnot...pretty good deal. No hassles!
Side note, my buddy has a Samsung 2.1 wireless soundbar system & said it works great for outdoor parties...just bring it outside & hook it up to your phone via Bluetooth and you've got a nice little outside music system. Hadn't even thought about using it for that...I usually use a small boombox with a minijack cable, but this would be even more convenient!
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