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22 Mar, 2016
Great sound in a small package for a low price - perfect for a bedroom
3 of 3 found this helpful I am using this with a Pioneer wired subwoofer in a bedroom to replace a Visio VSB-200 soundbar that died. To save space I mount it above the TV.
Pros:
1. Is was easy to set up and get running. I just remounted it where the old soundbar was, and transferred the cables to the new soundbar. The mounting bolts are in a different location than the old soundbar, so it took some cursing to get the bolts in.
2. It uses the same remote codes as the VSB-200 it replaced.
3. It sounds surprisingly good for its size. The sound is often nearly as good as the home theater sound in the family room.
4. It does not need a subwoofer for good sound except for shows with a lot of special effects or loud deep bass music. You could omit a subwoofer to save space or money.
5. It supports Dolby Digital, unlike the VSB-200.
6. It powers itself off after a while when there is no audio input (a feature that can be disabled).
Cons:
1. I can't get the auto-power-on to work -- not a big deal because my DirecTV remote turns it on, and Vol+ on my Sony remote turns it on.
2. I am using digital audio input, and the sound is slightly delayed. I get an echo effect if the TV sound and the soundbar are both on.
3. Some deep male voices have a boominess that you have to get used to. I wish it had a flatter low end frequency response.
4. It has separate bass and treble controls, but they do not seem to affect frequency ranges that are useful. The best sound is at the center settings.
5. The simulated SRS surround sound does not work as well as the VSB-200 version. This one does not fool me into thinking sounds are coming from behind me like the VSB-200 did.
6. Voices are not always clear in loud scenes that started with 5.1 channel audio sources. I might have been happier with the version of this soundbar that has a separate center channel speaker (the 3.0 channel soundbar).
The cons are all minor issues. Overall I am very pleased with the soundbar. It was a great bargain.