vizio vsb200

Try varying the crossover control b/w 150-180Hz until you find the point that gives the best overall sound.

Because the four 3" midbass drivers on the soundbar can't go lower than around 150Hz.

User's Manual for the VSB200

The manual lists the sizes and the number of drivers.

The manual does not list the true freq response of the sound bar but I used my test CDs to measure it and it showed ~ 150-18,000Hz +/-3dB.

Nope, if we consider the +/- 3dB @ 1W/1m it definitely can't go down to 60Hz. It could only go down to around 150Hz coupled with the room response, that's the reason I suggested you varied the X-over freq control from 150-180Hz to see which point would give the best sound in your room.

Yep, please set the Crossover Freq control to 150Hz 1st then change it to 160Hz to see which one you like better. Just set the bass volume control to the point that the bass does not overpower the rest of the audio. This depends on the volume of your room, the furniture in the room, how loud you like to listen to the bass so it's hard to tell what would be the right level setting. You will need to do some experiments with the settings to find the right ones for you and your room.

The phase setting is very simple. Depending on the location of the sub in the room, sometimes we need to set the phase to reverse to get better bass response. You need to play some music or a movie that has lots of bass then alternately switch the phase control b/w the Normal and Reverse positions. The setting that gives better bass is the right one.

I am happy for you, too. I agree with you the soundbar with the added subwoofer does sound really good, especially for the money we paid for it. I had 2 VSB200's, one for me and the 2nd one for my GF. I am running an AR 150W 8" subwoofer that I bought several years ago before Audiovox took over AR with my VSB200. For my GF, I bought her a 100W 10" Sony sub. Both sound very good and we're very happy with our SB's.

I can confirm that the VSB200 does not send the audio signal that's crossed over @ 110Hz to the Sub Out jack. I tried the surround effect but did not like it.

If you use the optical connection, set it to pass through or PCM.

You're right, DVD/BD movies would give lower and tighter bass than regular TV programs. Mine was set at 1:00 so it's about what you set yours @.

Edit: If you have HD cable channels, they should give the bass that rivals the bass from DVD/BD movies.

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The HD channels on my DTV have plenty & very good lows. The SD channels also have good lows but less solid and not as low.

How did you connect the cable box to the soundbar? Maybe there is something wrong with the connection.

If you set the TV's optical out to Pass-Through, try changing it to PCM to see if it will improve the bass output.

Also,

- Placing the subwoofer close to a wall will emphasize the bass. Placing the sub in one of the corners in the room will even make the bass stronger.

- The Polk subwoofer has 2 line-in jacks but the VSB200 has only 1 subwoofer line-out jack. I suggest you use a Y adapter like this one to connect them to get fuller bass from the sub.

I suggest you also connect the cable box to the sound bar via 1 of the 2 RCA input connections on the SB then select that input to see if the sound from the cable box gets any better.

Maybe you had too high expectation.

The graph on that page showed @ 90dB SPL @1 meter, the -3dB point of the lower frequency end was around 150Hz (the author said it's 155Hz) and the useful upper end (~ -3dB) was about 18KHz so the graph also agrees with what I found when measuring my VSB200 (coupled with the room response in my room). At 85dB, the frequency response of the sound bar gets much better but 85dB is a very low level to consider given the weak built-in amps on the SB.

But that's for the VSB210WS, not the VSB200. I believe the 2 are pretty close in sonic performance.

Edit: I just checked the Vizio website. The 200 and the 210WS are actually the same SB with the added wireless sub for the 210WS.

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