I saw all of these other more negative reviews, and wanted to post my experience. Also note that I got this on an Amazon Goldbox deal for $52, so my review is based on this price point.
Firstly, the soundbar was packaged well, wrapped in foam with foam pieces around the end, and the box itself shipped in a larger box with paper padding. The soundbar looks new - no evidence of any prior owners like you sometimes get with refurbished products. The remote was wrapped, with separate wrapped batteries. It came with a digital optical cable, a digital coaxial cable, and stereo (red/white) RCA cables, so that you could hook it up no matter what output your TV supports (they get extra points for coming with a digital optical cable! Even my 5.1 surround Samsung unit didn't come with one).
Setup was easy, and it perfectly matches the horizontal space my 32" LG TV takes up (the soundbar was for a smaller TV in the bedroom with a Chromecast hooked up to it). I simply plugged the provided digital optical cable into my TV's optical output, and into the input on the soundbar, then plugged the soundbar into the wall.
I started casting some music to the Chromecast, and the soundbar switched to the appropriate input automatically. The sound quality is leaps and bounds over the built in speakers of my LG TV. I read the instruction manual (took ~5 minutes - very well written manual - clear and concise), and tweaked the sound a bit. Bass and Treble can be adjusted -6/0/+6, and the settings that sounded best to my ears were +4 Bass (to compensate for no subwoofer) and +1 Treble. With these settings you get a surprisingly large amount of Bass (certainly more than my TV speakers provided) and very clear highs and mids. I only have the soundbar turned up to maybe 10% of the maximum volume and it's plenty loud - the power this little bar can put out is good. I also have the DTS TruVolume option turned on, since it's for the bedroom and this allows me to keep the volume quiter on the soundbar while still hearing the lower volume parts of a show/movie. The DTS TruSurround I kept turned off - I didn't like how it sounded. That's my one true negative - the TruSurround option just makes the sound more muddled - you lose the bass even if you crank it to +6, and it mixes the treble and mid more closely together. I didn't buy the bar for a surround sound replacement though, so I won't remove a star.
Perfectly for me, my LG remote's power button and volume buttons turn on/off the soundbar and turn the volume up/down. So turning on/off my TV also turns on/off the soundbar, and I can use my TV remote to change the volume, so after setup I was able to stow the soundbar remote away. The remote has a Bluetooth pairing button on it, but the top of the soundbar does as well, so I wasn't losing that functionality. Speaking of the Bluetooth pairing, it was simple. Hold the Bluetooth button down for 5 seconds, and the soundbar's LEDs start running up and down, letting you know it's in "pairing" mode. My phone saw it right way, and paired immediately. Range seems about the same as my Amazon Echo - just fine. I don't see myself using the Bluetooth feature often with the Chromecast, but I wanted to test it for this review.
I think the negative reviews for this product didn't know how to set it up properly. For 2.0 units you should always (in my opinion) tweak the treble/bass settings to accommodate for the missing woofer. This unit makes it so easy to do too. Also, my LG TV's audio options (fake surround, ClearVoice, etc.) were initially affecting the output to the soundbar, making it sound much worse. I went into the audio options and disabled the TV speakers (which disabled these additional options) and the audio coming out of this soundbar is excellent now. Other reviewers need to be cognizant of the fact that your TV's audio settings may be affecting the quality of the sound pushed to the soundbar, and since most are designed for the tinny television speakers in the TV, it makes the sound coming out of the bar worse.
All in all, for $52, this is a great unit if you're looking to add great sound to a smaller TV set (fits my 32" TV exactly). Has great volume range, sounds great, has Bluetooth, and (for me at least) works with my television remote, so I don't have to keep two remotes on my nightstand. If you can find it on sale again, it's definitely worth the price. It might even be worth the regular $99, though I haven't researched what else is available at the price range - there may be better options. For $52 though, you can't go wrong with this Vizio.
P.S. - even though the soundbar doesn't come with a subwoofer, it still has a subwoofer output. This means at any point in the future, if you buy an RCA powered subwoofer, you can add it to this soundbar to turn it from a 2.0 setup into a 2.1. I like that it has the option.
| Brand Name | VIZIO |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 4.5 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 29 x 3 x 3 inches |
| Item model number | SB2920-C6 |
| Batteries | 2 AAA batteries required. (included) |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color Name | Black |
| Special Features | Wireless, bass_boost |
| Speaker Type | Soundbar |
| Item Weight | 4.5 Pounds |
| Number Of Items | 1 |
