I bought the VSB210WS and Sony KDL-46VL160 LCD TV (on a Simplicity large full-motion mount) in October 2009. They are used with a Comcast HD cable box and a Sony DVD player. I wanted a simple system that was easy for the kids to operate. That is, I want sound from the TV speakers and the Vizio sound bar at the same time, without going into a menu to select the sound mode (of course I usually turn the TV sound way down when the sound bar is on). My setup has HDMI cables from the Comcast cable box to the TV and from the Sony DVD player to the TV. Then I tried to use a single optical audio cable from the TV to the soundbar, but ended up having to use an RCA cable instead (see below). I had a surprising amount of trouble setting up the Vizio soundbar, despite reading the manuals and having setup a number of surround sound systems over the past 15 years. The problems I found were:
1. The S/PDIF optical audio input is recessed into the back of the Vizio, requiring a special cable with small diameter end shells (unlike the first 2 cables I bought, which would not snap in). I recommend that you buy all of your cables in advance from a value-priced online firm, and make sure they are long enough and the desired color, or you will end up driving around a lot and paying a lot more, as I unfortunately did.
2. The S/PDIF optical audio could not be made to work coming from the Sony TV because the Visio sound bar has no Dolby decoder chip and will only accept 2 channel sound. Setting the Sony TV's Sound Output to "external speaker" and "fixed" level was not sufficient. First I thought my unit was defective, but then I read reviews on the Costco site ([...]) which say that my Sony TV and Comcast cable box and Sony DVD player need to be set to 2.1 mode instead of the normal 5.1 in order for the optical audio to work. The TV does not have this setting, so it is impossible to use the optical audio cable for the setup I described above. So I just bought a 10 foot RCA cable and used analog audio from the TV to the sound bar, which works fine for this system. I had to set the TV audio output setting at "Fixed" and "TV Speakers" to make the system perform as I described in the fourth sentence of this review.
One more setup issue - you have to play around (at least once) with the TVOL or TSHD button on the sound bar remote to get any volume; just operating the VOL+ and VOL- button is not sufficient. I wish the unit had a visible power-on LED, because it is often difficult to tell whether it is turned off or not when you are done using it.
3. My Sony remote controls cannot control the VSB210WS (Sony does not have codes for it). This is more of a Sony issue, but still increases complexity and may cause me to buy another $200 Harmony One remote. I've heard the Comcast remote will work, but I am out of buttons to program on it.
The "center channel" voices and music are a big improvement over the TV alone, and the bass from the subwoofer, while a little boomy and muddy compared to a $500 or $1000 unit, greatly enhances the movie experience. If I had it to do over again, I might look at other options (perhaps with a mid-range universal remote), but it's difficult to beat this system for the price.Get more detail about VIZIO VSB210WS Universal HD Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer.
No comments:
Post a Comment