VIZIO S5430W-C2 54-Inch 3.0 Soundbar
Price: $299.99.
This is the third sound bar that I have tested. While the $1000.00 Yamaha sound bar is better
than this one for spoofing the sound direction, it is not substantially better
in the face on front sounds. BTW when
they say 54" they mean 54" which with a 40" TV looks a bit
silly. Regardless of looks, the sound is
great. The setup was fairly straight
forward and I had excellent sound in less than 5 minutes.
Then it got more interesting. The programming of the unit was pretty
easy. Getting it to run on my Comcast
remote was not as easy as I hoped. It
took a few minutes to figure out the somewhat murky instructions. I know have the volume and mute working with
the Comcast remote. I struggled to no
avail to get the unit's on/off to synch with the Comcast remote. That is not a terrible hardship as it has an
econo mode which simply turns the sound bar after a period of no input. So you really only need the Vizio remote
once a day to turn the unit it on. Or
heaven forbid you could pry yourself out of your Barko Lounger and physically
turn the sound bar on.
The bluetooth synching worked very simply. It was so smooth that I didn't realize I was
connected. The music from my tablet
sounded great. When I wanted to switch
back to TV I overlooked the input button and had a momentary panic as I
couldn't figure out how to get back to the TV.
Then I looked a 1/4" to the left and saw the input button, had an
ahha moment and was back in the groove. So bluetooth works simply and well.
I played with the
center console section that is supposed to enhance dialogue. Frankly I didn't see any difference before
and after.
I'm not a sound engineer so no technical stuff here. The unit gives me high quality sound and
simple setup. I do wonder how well it
will sell at the $299.00 price tag when 50" screens are dropping so much
in price, the perceived value might not work when compared to the TV price.
►103dB of room-rocking, crystal clear sound with less than
1% total harmonic distortion
►Deep Bass Modules add serious low end frequency without the
need for an external subwoofer
►Connect to your TV with an easy, one-cable setup - HDMI-in,
HDMI-out (ARC), analog and digital input options (all cables included in the
box).
►Wirelessly stream your music from a smartphone or tablet
via Bluetooth. Sound ►Pressure Level measured using pink noise at 1 meter,
C-weighted. Total harmonic distortion calculated as electrical measurement of
amplifier distortion.
►Source Bluetooth playback device must be enabled with aptX
technology.
If reviewing a product, it may have been received free of charge. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.
Comments