Vizio VSB200 Soundbar - Page 2

1649 posts and you're calling me weird? Believe it or not, this is part of a research project for me and from time to time, I can't help but "chime in". Once the job is complete, I'm gone.

Out of curiosity, I used the forum once for assistance with a grounding problem on a system and "stumped the band".

For that matter, no one at Rotel or Equity could (or wanted to) figure it out either.

JP

I replaced the analog cable from my dvr with the fiber optic cable, and I noticed a fairly significant improvement. Not sure how to describe it, other than there is a marked improvement in clarity of the individuals sounds.
Well worth investing in the fiber optic cable, imo.

I installed the sound bar with an optical cable. Cable from my soundbar to my tv. I have a cable box and a dvd player also. They told me to hook it up to my tv. I get the same sound out of the sound bar as I was getting from my tv, no differance. What am I doing wrong. I seen another post where it said make sure your tv is set to PCM(what is that) I cant find it on my tv settings. I have a 42" LG lcd tv

Chooch,

You can Google PCM to find out more about it -- I'm not sure myself off the top of my head. Re: your prob, check to make sure your soundbar is set to the correct input. If you can't get the optical cable to work, try the RCA jack; there's not a whole lot of difference.

Good luck!

Jim

How do you hook this up if all the components (DVD/ CABLE BOX)
Are connected using a HDMI cable. The VIZIO only has RCA inputs.

I could be wrong but I think you're supposed to hook your components(dvd/cable/etc) to the tv, then use the matching audio out from the tv to your soundbar audio inputs. The website says that soundbar has a TOSLINK input, I'm thinking that would be better than RCA, assuming your tv can output that.

You can use that option, or, what I've done, is
run the audio rca lines from my dvd player, & dvd recorder to the Vizio, and run a fiber optic cable from
my dvr to the toslink connector on the vizio.
Used the tv menu to turn off the sound from the tv.
All of the video still goes to the tv via HDMI, but the
audio goes direct to the vizio soundbar.
Personally, it sounds better to me that way.

I'm using the Vizio VSB200 (no sub) in the bedroom. Have both a Dish receiver and Panasonic BD player feeding my 32" display through HDMI. I take the optical out of the TV and feed to the Vizio.
I also have analog RCA's from the BD player (stereo out) to the Input 1 of the Vizio for listening to CDs. Very pleased with the audio quality.
I have a small JBL sub I plan to hook up at some point. I've written Vizio support to see if they recommend a x-over setting or if the sub output has a fixed low pass filter.
For a small room setup this 'bar' does a very good job, looks good, and is a breeze to set up.

The Vizio soundbar doesn't play nice with my Vizio TV. Apparently, the TV doesn't output the correct PCM signal over the optical for anything but the Clear QAM channels.

Does anyone have any tips on setting up the soundbar with a logitech harmony? I am having issues with the remote not remembering which Input it was on and cycling 1 to far, but only when switching between activities not when starting from all off.

edit: The Harmony does a much better job if I just have everything on Input1, it doesn't try to cycle all the way around with each activity change.

I am looking at this soundbar for use with Pio KRP 500Monitor. Anyone else use this product for their tv monitor and get good results?

Right. Something tells me this is some audio nerd who lives with his parents and doesn't mind having a spider web of wires strewn about the place so he can feel cool that he gets to lay in bed and hear "Watchmen" in 7.1.

I actually packed up an expensive 6.1 system to go for something similiar to this Vizio with a subwoofer attached. I'm a lifelong musician and music fan with a pretty decent ear and the de-cluttering and simplified look in my home was well worth any loss in audio quality.

Surprised that it wouldn't work right with a Vizio tv.
Do you have something like a Direc-tv or Dishnet DVR or Receiver that you could just run your audio from instead of the tv?
I have my optical running from my Dish Dvr to the soundbar, and it works perfectly.

If the soundbar remote is not remembering the input it was on - I'm not sure what the problem could be, because I've never had that problem at all.
If the place where you purchased it, doesn't have
a restocking fee, you might want to consider swapping it out for another one.

I'm surprised too. It works great with my Samsung 32" BR tv. I use optical out from the TV to the 'bar' for both satellite broadcasts and BD/DVD playback.
For CDs, I use my BD player and the stereo out jacks to the 'bar'. I agree, it seems like the soundbar is defective somehow.

Is it possible to control the volume of the soundbar through the sound on the TV. ie. turn off the TV speakers and connect the TV to the soundbar and when you change the volume on the TV using TV remote it changes the volume on the soundbar? I have a Vizio TV also.. Or is my only option a universal remote?

I use a universal for my BR system. Just easier that way as I have a BD player and a Dish DVR hooked up.
Whether you can control the volume of Vizio through your TV depends on whether your particular display has a variable audio output. I would think that would be explained in the manual for it.

Any difference if I output RCA over Optical?

I use optical to the 'bar' from my display for Sat TV and DVDs.

I use analog stereo from my BD player to the 'bar' for CD listening. Everything sounds great!

I have optical running from my dish dvr to the optical connection on the soundbar, and I think it's a littel better sound, but it's not a huge difference.
Main thing, is that it provides another output for me.
Neither my dvd player, nor my dvd recorder have optical outputs, so I run rca from them to the soundbar, bypassing the tv with everything.

I just received my Pioneer 500M today and hooked up the sound bar but cannot get any sound. The tv is only a monitor with no speakers 9W+9W Audio Amplifier, and has - AUDIO 1 R/L (Audio 1) - AUDIO 2 (Audio 2) connections. Not sure what I am missing to get this to work as I tried connecting the audio cables to both inputs on the bar and tried connecting to the bar from both audio inputs from the tv.

edit: I had to connect to the cable box audio out and now it works.

If your TV has a "variable" output option, the TV volume can control the soundbar volume. If it doesn't, the soundbar will be its own volume independent of the TV.

However, some remotes can "learn" the soundbar and then have the volume controls only control the soundbar.

Oddly, my 47" Vizio remote would turn the soundbar on/off, but the volume never would go to the soundbar, only the TV (I had it learned on the AUDIO button). Weird.

Remember, the soundbar has to stay plugged in, even when off, or it automatically defaults to Input 1.

Have been using this feature but can't really say it helps much. I notice SOME attenuation, but I still get pretty loud vol jumps which makes me have to jump up and grab the remote

Yeah, I dunno whats up with that. It would sure be more convenient to be able to control my Vizio soundbar with my Vizio 47" TV remote. You would think the left hand would know what the right hand was up to

I bought a new VSB200 today at WALMART . At first I couldn't get the volume to work with my cable box remote which was important to me due to the cheese factor of the Vizio remote and also I didn't want yet another remote to have to keep track of. I tried a second set of output RCA jacks on the back of my TV and was happy to find it worked like a charm. My problem now is that I found the left side of the sound bar isnt working,not working with either set of outputs or my optic cable....hmmmm. i tried switching left/right cables to rule out a faulty cable as well. looks like I will be making a trip back to the store tomorrow. I am quite impressed with the audio from the Sound Bar,can't wait to hear it with both sides working. BTW I am using a powered sub with it. Has anyone else had this issue? Thanks
NASH

The first VSB200 I brought home from Wal-Mart didn't work at all. I suspect it may have been the floor model which they stuck back in a box. I returned it the same day and got another. Have had no probs since.

Thanks for the response,I am returning mine today for an exchange.
NASH

Brought the new VSB200 home after the exchange of the first one(left side didnt work on that one)WOW this little speaker is really quite impressive to me. Not in contention with my 5.1 system in the theater room but cost about 5 times less. It works well for my living room. I have it paired with a 100w sub,Samsung 3600 Blu Ray player and my old trusty 52" RCA (1080i) tv. I will be getting a 1080p TV in the near future,then I will use HDMI and fiber optic cables instead.

I was able to connect my Blu ray player and cable box to my TV inputs then run RCA's to the Vizio via some variable output jacks from the tv and control the volume with my cable remote control.Alot more desirable then the chessy little remote that comes with the sound bar.
BTW the IR eye is behind some foam tape along with the LED lights at the right front of the speaker......remove the foam tape and the remote works a lot better, no problem getting it to change volume at around 20 feet away.

At $148 dollars I am very happy with the VSB200.
NASH

My experience is that it doesn't work 100% of the time, but my guess is that it probably works at least 95% of the time for me.

Well, that was a pretty cool little trick. While I was non-plussed about wrecking a part of the original design (the foam tape), I was pretty fed-up with the weak cheese of a remote this rig comes with. It works better now with the foam removed, better too when pointing at an angle to the sound bar.

Re: the SRS TruVolume control, it has a bit of a limiting effect, but the solution is not there yet IMO. Today I went in the Vizio audio setup and turned the DRC (audio compression) to full. So, between the SRS and the DRC, you would think the leaps in vol will be a bit more controlled. We'll see...

Btw, if you remove the foam tape as described above, be advised all the lights will be brighter -- actually a good thing I think.

Even with the mentioned quirks, this baby STILL gets a great sound for the $.

So I don't screw something up....
How did you go about removing the foam tape?
In other words - where do you take the soundbar
apart at?