Bought the VIZIO SB3621n-E8M 36" 2.1 Sound Bar System,

[sanford12]

The wife went to the dentist to get a crown and I went to Best Buy and bought a sound bar. We've both complained about not being able to hear dialog at times with just the TV speakers so after some research I settled on the Vizio SB3621n-E8M. Now this one comes with a small sub and it does a nice job. I've done the multi channel system and to be frank I'm done with that. We never listened at room shaking levels anyway so it was way overkill.



I was the first one home so hooked it up threw in 2009 Star Trek reboot blue ray to test it out. For what they're asking for this piece it punches way above it's price point. Clean full sound and the dialog was nice and clear. So I'm sitting there watching when the wife comes in. She thought I was playing music and when I showed her the sound bar she said that really sounds good. Sounds just as good with regular over the air TV and streaming video. Steve Guttenberg did a review of it and said it sounds good with music. We'll have to see about that.

Tried the bluetooth for music and it was OK nothing special. I'll have to give the usb input a try.

 

[the skipper]

Glad to hear you enjoy it. Sound Bars serve a very valid purpose and fill a niche in the market. Like many others, you're not satisfied with the sound these thin TV's produce and want something better but don't want the complexity of a full blown HT system. They want a small, simple solution and these fit the bill perfectly

But remember, they exist to augment TV sound, not to replace a "hi fi" system. That may take a bit more. Consider the fact that it plays music at all a freebie.

 

[sanford12]

That's where some people go wrong with unrealistic expectations of what a soundbar is capable of. This one fits the bill for our needs. I stopped watching The Voice but may give it a listen to see how it sounds. Maybe Austin city limits will be a good test also.

 

[tjohnusa]

I recently upgraded my living room tv to 4k and decided to go with a soundbar. I picked up a Samsung with the wireless sub and since I have rear speakers with wires run through the walls I wanted something with surround. This unit was around $140 and a wireless surround kit was on sale for $60. It replaces a full pioneer receiver with various main speakers and doesn't sound as good as that but is adequate since I don't watch that setup much anyway....the wife prefers this look. Before this I didn't spend much time looking at sound bars but was shocked at what the prices were for some of the "high end" units.

 

[toxcrusadr]

I had another thread going recently about sound bars and just ran across this one. This thing does seem like a winner for the price. CNET says it's the best one under $300 that they've heard, a bargain for about $129. Has a 5" sub.

I'm hoping to find one locally at Target tonight and will find out how good it is!