Official Vizio VHT210 Soundbar Owners Thread - Page 4

Dick - in case you are interested, Amazon has a number of optical switchers at a good price. This could make your life easier. A bunch under $20. One under $5.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...fix=optical+sw

Thank you very much! That is exactly what I need.

I've been shopping around for these, and Sam's club has these $50 cheaper than Target.

I just bought one from Sams for $200. The sound is decent out of it, but I don't have much to compare it to.

However: there is a very annoying whine that comes from the soundbar when I connect power. Even if the power is off and no input cables are attached, it whines. I tried a different outlet away from all the other equipment and get the same problem. I'm going to return this one and have to decide if I want to try another one or go with another make/model.

When I turn the soundbar off, the light on the woofer stays on. Is this ok or should I use the switch on the back of the woofer to turn the power off?

PS. We like the sound of the bar.

Thanks,
Henry

Just bought mine and it also has a annoying whine I was also wondering if this normal or should I take it back.

I have never heard a whine from last year's Vizio. This sounds like a defect. I would return and try another unit.

Just bought and returned one to Target. It would not link up with the woofer. They replaced it with a new one and it works fine. No whine. It really exceeded my expectations with the quality of the sound. Much improvement over the tv flat panel (Vizeo also) speakers.

Do not believer Vizeo has a very good QC program regarding this soundbar. I have read on other sites of issues with this model. That is why I got mine at Target where they have a 90 day return policy.

Advice, just keep taking it back til you get a good one!!

Good luck.

I exchanged it for another one from Sams. This one also has a very feint whine--no where near the volume of the prev one. I can hear it when I'm 1 ft away, whereas I could hear the whine from the prev one from 5 ft away. I may just keep this one since returning it isn't easy as Sams is a 45 minute drive. Plus it's not louder than the hard drive in my Tivo.

I did find it odd that the older VSB210WS is listed at $299.99 and newer VHT210 is $269.99 on Vizio's website. And a couple of weeks ago the VHT210 was about $30? lower there. Why would the new version be cheaper?

Vizio is obviously still showing the suggested retail for both. At various times you could find last year's model for $200-$250 from various retail and on-line outlets. I would not purchase direct from Vizio. As far as why the newer unit costs less, smaller drivers, less weight, less power, but improved sound and obvously some economies discovered in the manufacturing and distribution process.

This is my second attempt at using this sound bar. For my needs and room size, it doesn't get better than this. The sound is truly amazing, but the QC is sorely lacking at Vizio. I really want to make this work, but I'm growing tired of returning these sound bars.

The first one I bought had the annoying whine that others have mentioned here. It had this constant annoying electric whining that would constantly be happening even if the only thing plugged in was the power. I returned it to my local target and had to wait almost 3 weeks to get another one due to buying it on sale and wanting to get the discounted price. The new one sounds spectacular, no whining - but within 24 hours the blue lights behind the speaker grill that indicate volume, bass, treble, sub-woofer levels, etc. stopped working. Vizio tech support says bad unit - have to return this one too.

C'mon Vizio, this is pathetic......

Brought one of these home tonite. Spent the evening fiddling with it. I hear the whine. I have a vizio tv, so programming the tv's remote to operate was easy, however I can only control the volume with it. When I turn the tv off, the bar stays on. Is it ok to always leave the bar on, or not, and what about the sub? To turn off the sub it seems you have to flip the switch on the back. That's a pain. Not sure about the whine either.

Well I took the 210 back to Target because of the whine, and got an exchange. I hope this second one is okay, because it looks like Target is going to be unhelpful about a return. I was told by the customer service person that if the second one had a problem, I should contact Vizio. I became ambivalent about keeping this bar because it doesn't seem to be a rare problem, and all the the other complaints about it's QC.

Well, okay, so the second bar is better, and I'm satisfied. Thanks to davyo and drfreeman for your advice. I started out thinking my only option was a zvox or boston.
Also it took a second look to discover the input control on the vizio remote. I was looking for something that said audio, but my tv said av instead. All that being said, I've had to rethink the way I'm going to use this soundbar. I had hoped that it would integrate seamlessly with my TV so that it would simply replace the internal speakers, but it seems that if I didn't want to leave the bar on all the time, I would end up with either a few extra button pushes on the vizio remote or the speaker remote. Pity that the tv remote doesn't have an all on all off button like my comcast remote had. Not that turning the speaker on and off is a big deal, but I had planned to simply turn off the internal speaker, and set the remote to external, but that would have been too complicated for my wife to remember that she had to turn on the speaker when she turned on tv. So, I'll just leave the tv speaker on and she can listen to the tv the normal way, and when I want to watch, I'll turn on the bar.
I know, it's complicated.

I just want to say that I've been VERY disappointed with the VHT210 Soundbar System...

The first one I got... it had a real bad annoying whine to it...
Returned it for a new one at Sams and got a replacement...
The second one the whine was completely absent... awesome.
Things were going well and then a few days later the LED display indicators within the Soundbar stopped working/displaying completely.

Question, before I throw this thing thru the wall, is there a way to get the LED lights working again? It is annoying not seeing the volume level, or bass/sub/treb levels as well. It is a pain to pack up and drive all the way in town just to take it back to the store, but if I do, I promise I will switch it out for something other than Vizio.

Thanks in advanced to the help.

Thanks for suggestion Davyo.

I do like the sound from the Blu-Ray to the Soundbar via Digital Optical cables...
The Dolby Digital makes all the difference in the world... its a waste if you are not utilizing it.

With the player hooked up to the tv then audio relayed to the sound bar via normal rca cables... it sounds very mediocre at best.

Also FYI for people with the issues of the Sub not syncing.. always check first and foremost to make sure its in 'HUB' mode on the soundbar... its the number one overlooked setting that newbies don't realize.

As anyone had trouble with their soundbar volume going up and down? Our tv does this with the sound and while the vizio soundbar does it also the jvc doesn't (everything hooked up identically).

I currently have this soundbar connected to my TV (Panasonic G10) via optical cable. My PS3 and Uverse are both connected to the TV via HDMI. Would the sound be better if I connected them directly to the soundbar via the optical cable, or does it matter? I think the soundbar sounds pretty good already ... much better than my TV's built in speakers, just wondering if a direct connection would be even better.

Edit: The build quality of this soundbar is crap. I'm on my third one in four days ... the volume LED's stopped working on the first one and the second one had a loud buzzing sound when it was plugged in, even without being turned on. Hopefully my third one will be good, LOL.

Edit2: Aaaand the volume LED's stopped working on my third one. What a piece of crap.

Picked up this unit from Target on Sunday. Was liking it a lot in the new apartment. Went to boot it up this AM and the LED display on the front is out in less than a week Time to take it back and hopefully get one that lasts. I better not get grief for no box....

CRAZY!!!! Mine started working again today....We'll see how long they last.

This is how they are ... the LED's work randomly. Mine sometimes suddenly start working again then an hour later stop again.

To add my experience to that of others, I am on my third unit in less than a week. First one, after 24 hours the volume lights went out. This is something you absolutely need if you don't like to be blasted out of your chair when you turn up a quiet part of a movie too loud.

Second one, ALL lights stopped working after about an hour...back to Sam's Club. On my third one now, which has been going fine since last night. I really hope this one is a keeper because the simplicity, sound and price are PERFECT for what this thing is.

The QC however, is atrocious...

I was lucky with my 2009 Vizio soundbar. Have you considered the JVC BA-1. Most users who have compared the two prefer the JVC as it actually produces 5 channel sound and has a better woofer. Plus, I don't believe I have read or heard of any QC issues with the JVC. Current price is probably a little less than the Vizio.