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After a weekend with my new Vizio SB4051 this is what I've found:
REMOTE: I was able to finally get the soundbar to "learn" my TV remote's volume +/- and mute features. HOWEVER this only worked when the bar was connected to my TV via optical and optical only. Once I would add an HDMI source, PS4 and/or even just the TV HDMI ARC>Sound bar HDMI ARC, my TV control's functionality went away. Is that strange or what? Then to top it off, even with optical and HDMI sources hooked up to the bar my TV remote's volume control features would work ONLY during bluetooth music playback....say what???
As another poster said (sma), during the remote learning process my bar would blink twice telling me it can read/receive my TV remote's signal, but as I said above, if any HDMI source is connected to bar, no go. Is this a deal breaker? Hmmm, no I guess. Since I have to lift my arm to change channels (bar blocks IR eye on TV) I guess I can also lift arm up to control volume. But boy oh boy would be more convenient if I could just control volume with out having to lift my arm up...yes I am lazy
BLUETOOTH: Listened to music for hours by streaming from my ipad. Early on I noticed the music sound did fade in and out. But then I noticed all kinds of message notifications coming through my ipad. Once I disabled those the music fading went away. I did notice, however, that some songs would play louder than others, but overall the ability to finally stream music to a system that is not a tiny single bluetooth speaker is very much welcomed and the sound was way better. This, of course, was expected when compared to a tiny single speaker. I see myself streaming music daily through this system as soon as I walk in the house. I like having background music on, and unlike movies/TV programming (continue reading below), all speakers perform well at low volumes during music playback.
MOVIES: Re-watched Frozen for the Nteenth time. This is were the system shines. Immersive sound that wraps around you and makes you feel like you are in the theater. It is evident to me that this system was made to be played at medium to loud volumes. When I have it at low volumes (1-2 LEDs lit) the rear satellites struggle to push sound out. When I put my ears directly to them, I can hear slight static/buzzing which Vizio reps told me it was normal. But once you crank the volume up, that static disappears. I dont expect to watch movies at low volumes, but when I watch TV at night that's when the volume has to be low. Speaking of TV watching...
TV (OTA): I am a cable cutter so I only get a few channels via my antenna. Mostly networks. OTA is great for 2 things. 1.The HD picture is far superior to any cable (box) company I've ever watched since it is uncompressed and 2.All OTA programming on the major networks are coded 5.1 audio. Now, I am not sure why, but the sound quality of the OTA programming is not the same as the blurays or even the streaming movies I watched. During OTA TV programming, the rear satellites "kind of" struggle to put sound out. It could be the shows coding is not as good as a movie audio coding and the rears get "forgotten" during TV programs. It could also be that most of my TV watching takes place at lower volumes since it's at night and the kids are sleeping. But even when I raised the volume during TV programming, the rears were not as "involved" as they were during movies.
OVERALL: I like this system. For me it is a big upgrade from my old 2.1 set up. If Vizio sold the 40" as a 3.1 system (i.e. eliminate the satellites) I may consider that over this because we dont watch a lot of movies. Granted, my kids are young and as they get older I suspect movie watching will increase two fold. I am afraid of "downgrading" to the SB3851 simply b/c I am so impressed with the bar itself. The dialogue clarity, the base (not the sub, but the base in the bar) is very audible and good, and the loudness it can get up to...simply great. It is my understanding that the 38" speakers/frequencies are smaller than the 40" though I could be wrong. I have 90 days for return window. Although I'm not 100% is a keeper the needle is certainly moving that way.
Hope you guys find my opinions useful.
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Post time 2017-5-11 15:23:54
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