VIZIO - SmartCast 5.1 Channel Sound Bar System with 5-1/4" Wireless Subwoofer - Black

INITIALLY*☆ I got this item as a compact unit *EXPERIMENT* to replace a 12Yr. old Bulky/Heavy Sony Amp. 5.1 surround sound system that is hooked up to my Sony 51in. 3D TV. I wanted to make sure this item was in service for a couple of months so that I could provide an accurate review and my initial excitement would not bias the review. The only reason I did not give it a 5-star rating was because of the display mode. It is just simply a series of vertical LED dots so, you have to have the manual chart in order to understand the display. *☆This item is actually my 2nd unit. The first one was purchased back in mid-october 2019.

When I saw the Box I was kind of worried that it wouldn't be loud enough karma boy was I wrong my whole house shakes! Plus it comes with every chord you could possibly need I have never seen a company actually include the court for the device and then some. And the app is flawless.

Excellent surround sound system that is reasonably priced. Easy to set up on my wife’s VizioTV. Would recommend it to anybody looking to improve the sound quality of their Vizio TV.

Easy to hook up, works good sounds better then the surround sound we just got rid of before we bought this one good price too.

great value for the money. Installed in my bedroom and I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of sound. This allows me to have true 5.1 sound without a bunch of clutter or wires. Don’t be fooled by the size of 5” sub, let me tell you that bass was bumping, I used the Rocketfish SB mount so it could mount to the bottom of my tv, looks like the sb is floating... k. I’ll shut up great product for the cost!!

Amazing sound, the rear speakers make movies feel like the theater. Only negative is that the sound bar turns off automatically sometimes and then when you use the remote or manually power it on it won’t turn on. So I have to unplug it and plug it in again to get power. Not sure why this happens but pretty inconvenient.

I live in a condo where I have people below me. This system is absolutely perfect for my situation. It gives true surround sound, and the ability to adjust everything to your liking. This unit gives a very immersive experience without shaking the entire living room (it can get pretty rumbly if you want). For me or anyone in a situation where you want a quality sound experience, but don't want to anger your neighbors, this system is perfect. With the way I have adjusted the subwoofer and other settings, It sounds great and there is enough bass, while at the same time, not too much that it bothers anyone.. I am able to enjoy a surround sound experience well into the middle of the night (usually 3am or better) and no neighbor is ever bothered by it. I have had more high end systems in the past but this system is one of my favorites.

After reading numerous reviews on a number of soundbars, I settled on this one. While I almost purchased the cheaper Vizio 36" soundbar system, I wanted the built-in Chromecast Audio and HDMI-ARC of this model. I'm glad I chose this system - I've been using the Chromecast Audio function nearly every day, and the overall sound and user experience of this model is excellent. It took me a day or two of tweaking the sound settings to my liking, but this system really does sound excellent with both movies and music. The dedicated center channel speaker is great for dialogue, and the surround sound is pretty neat. This system gets LOUD and puts out tons of base - so much so that I've had to turn down the subwoofer so as not to disturb my neighbors. You certainly won't be wanting for loudness/volume. Thankfully the audio and dialogue is clear enough that I can keep the volume at lower levels without struggling to hear things. Using HDMI-ARC has successfully allowed me to control volume with my Roku TV remote. The TV also turns the soundbar on and off when the TV turns on and off, which is nice. It means that I only need the Roku TV remote, and didn't have to purchase another universal remote. That said, the Vizio remote is very responsive, and I do use it, mostly to control volume and play/pause/skip when listening to music via Chromecast. I only have a few complaints. While the wifi/Chromecast/Vizio app control works most of the time, they aren't perfect and occasionally become unresponsive. It's unclear if it's the soundbar or my wifi network, but perfect reliability is hard to come by with wifi devices anyway. Trying to connect a few times, or trying through the Vizio app instead of Spotify (or vice versa) often helps. If all else fails, a router reboot and soundbar reboot can help. Again, in my experience, this is par for the course with wifi-connected products, and probably has more to do with using wifi in an apartment complex than with the soundbar itself. Second, the soundbar does randomly turn off every now and again. This has only happened while watching TV for longer periods of time without adjusting the volume. SlingTV on my Roku TV seems to be a particular culprit. I have the soundbar connected via HDMI-ARC, and some internet sleuthing suggests that this may be an HDMI-ARC quirk. It's a little annoying, and it would be nice if Vizio would release a bug fix, but the soundbar turns back on almost instantly with the remote, so I'll live. Finally, as some reviews point out, this system is not plug-and-play. Since it really is a 5.1 system, there's a lot of tweaking of speaker levels, bass/treble/sub levels, etc. to be done to produce the best sound. I found the default settings to be too heavy on the low and high ends for both music and movies, but after adjusting things, I'm quite pleased with the sound. The Vizio app is a huge boon, much easier to adjust settings in the app than with the remote. The soundbar automatically switches from Movie to Music sound profiles (and bass/treble settings) as you switch between inputs, which is great, but the sub/speaker level settings don't switch - so you'll have to tune these settings to best balance music and movies. Even with a few quibbles, I'm pleased with this system, and I agree with the reviewers that list this as the best system under $500 or so.