VIZIO VSB210WS Soundbar
Product Description
Product Overview Be the envy of all your friends! Continuing to raise the bar in home electronics, VIZIO brings you the NEW VSB210WS Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer. Designed for home theater enthusiasts, this Sound Bar is the complete audio solution giving you a Wireless Subwoofer that can be placed anywhere* and cutting edge sound technologies such as SRS TruSurroundHD SRS TruVolume delivering the High Definition experience you’ve always desired! Your friends will be so green with envy they may never go home. VIZIO – Where Vision Meets Value!Subwoofer can be placed up to 60ft with clear line of sight Additional Features of the Sound Bar with Subwoofer: SRSTruSurround HD – Experience rich bass and clear dialog SRSTruVolume – Monitors and balances sound levels so you no longer have to experience volume ups and downs Four 3-Inch High-Efficiency hand built mid/bass transducers Two 3/4-Inch High Performance aluminum dome neodymium tweeters Subwoofer Frequency Response: 35Hz up to 80Hz 6.5-Inch long throw (high excursion) driver Subwoofer placement anywhere within 60 ft of sound bar – clear line of sight High-Performance 32-Bit 150MHz DSP Audio Engine Impressive Sound Pressure Level measuring 90dB SPL (1W @ 1M)SPEAKER BAR DIMENSIONS 39.95-Inch (W) X 4.82-Inch (H) X 4.33-Inch (D) SUBWOOFER DIMENSIONS 11.18-Inch (W) X 12.77-Inch (H) X 11.84-Inch (D)
Features:
- Speakers Included:2
- Speaker Features: Headphone Jack
- Impedance: 8 ohms
- Sensitivity: 92 dB
- Frequency Response: 35Hz-20kHz
- Peak Power Handling: 0 Watts
- Wired Connectivity: Optical, RCA
- Speaker Enclosure Type: Ported Plastic
- Tweeters: 2
- Tweeter Speaker Size: 0.75 “
- Tweeter Type: Dome
- Midranges: 4
- Woofers: 1
- A/V Equipment Compatibility: Home Stereo
- Computer Platform Compatibility: PC
- Material: Plastic
- Warranty Description: 1 Year Limited Manufacturer Warranty on Parts and Labor
Price At Amazon.com: $255.00
Average User Rating: 4.0
No of Reviews: 12
Click Below To Buy at Amazon.com
VIZIO VSB210WS Soundbar
Casey C. Parsons
22 Dec, 2009
I bought this sound bar for my brother. IT SOUNDS TERRIBLE. I had low expectations, as I knew it would be a far cry from a multi-speaker system, but it still let me down. The sound is much worse than the built in TV speakers. Sure it’s louder, but comes with lots of mud. And the simulated surround sound just sounds like standing in a long echoing hallway…with the TV all the way at the other end.
User Rating: 1 / 5
Michael S. Rubin
22 Dec, 2009
This product works as advertised with a great big caveat: It’s not a good match for Dish TV.
Specifically, I wanted to buy an aftermarket sound system to work with my Vizio VX42L television (which lacks variable audio outputs) and my Dish TV receiver. My goal was to have a single remote control govern power on and off, volume up and down, and channel up and down, as my wife won’t use a remote control that requires operation of anything more complex than that.
There IS a way to map a device like the Soundbar as an AUX device on the Dish learning remote and then to have the remote control the Soundbar’s volume rather than the television’s. To do that, Vizio only would have had to provide a three-digit remote code. However, Vizio chose not to do so. (It does provide four- and five-digit codes for use with other remotes.) Further, the Dish TV’s “search code” function did not recognize the Soundbar. As a result, we need to use two remote controls (one to change channels and the other to control volume) when using this product with Dish.
Since no one wants to add ever more remote controls to the collection, especially just to control volume, this unit is a non-starter with Dish, and buyer beware if you want to use it with a Dish setup. If you are not a Dish user, it probably will meet your needs, with decent sound for a decent price. I disagree with the reviewer who said that the sound is muddier than the original set, at least when the original set is Vizio’s VX42L, which sounds pretty muddy itself.
User Rating: 3 / 5
William Oterson
22 Dec, 2009
An excellent value. I’ve a Vizio Lcd TV/monitor and the sound bar improves the treble noticeably. And the wireless woofer is incomparable. However, one star removed as I’ve found the remote to be almost useless. Available at Sams and [...] slightly below internet retail. I recommend it. Read the comments and a little adjustment will help correct the problem with the remote.
User Rating: 4 / 5
nerdindenial
22 Dec, 2009
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.
User Rating: 3 / 5
Richard Hagins
22 Dec, 2009
My stereo of 10 years finally died so I started shopping around for a new one. After a couple weeks of research I purchased a fancy all-in-one 5.1 system. After spending about two hours setting it up I just wasn’t THAT impressed. Also, I found that there were just too many speakers and wires and settings to mess with. So, I took it back and figured I would try Vizio’s all in one; after all, the reviews had been really good. I heard one at the store and wasn’t impressed, but after spending 15 minutes setting it up at home I was really blown away. It seemed to have higher highs and lower lows than the 5.1 system. The system is basic, but where I think you miss out on features you gain with quality sound. It obviously lacks the true behind your head sound, but I can honestly say that I like the sound this unit generates over the much higher priced and feature rich Sony 5.1 that I tried. If you just want quality sound with very little clutter and simplistic features, I woldn’t hesitate to give the Vizio Soundbar a spin.
Pros:
Simple Set-up
No wire mess and takes up very little space
Quality Sound
Surprisingly Good Quality Craftsmanship
Can place the sub-woofer anywhere in the room
Can control sub-woofer volume separately
Looks Great
Fairly Priced
Cons:
The remote is small
The light indicators take some getting used to, but not an issue for me
Huh…I can’t think of any more…Go buy one!!!
User Rating: 5 / 5
Bradley Patterson
18 Dec, 2010
I just purchased the Sound Bar as an upgrade to my current home theatre. I have a Samsung DLP and a Sony Home Theatre. No matter what I do, I cannot stop the incessant echoing the Sound Bar creates. In addition, the vocal levels are too low and the surrounding sounds are too high. You have to crank it up to MAX just to hear people talking and then the surrounding sounds blow everyone out of the room. Something needs to be done with this product to improve the quality. I doubt returning this item for an exchange would prove beneficial. This can’t be solved until it is retooled from the manufacturing side IMO. Very disappointed as this Christmas gift was a bust.
Bradley Patterson
18 Dec, 2010
I should add to my previous post. I have tried the TV volume only with the Sound Bar…it echoes. DVD player…it echoes. BluRay player…it echoes. Home theatre…it echoes.
The only way this Sound Bar works well right now is back in the box it was shipped in.