The Vizio and Sony are good units. My first choice would be the JVC TH-BA-1, the unit that I currently own. All of these can be found at Amazon or other on-line retailers for under $250.
As the pimary purose of a soundbar is to give you enhanced sound over your TV's built in speakers, any of the three above should more than meet that criteria. I have listened to the Vizio and Sony in other people's homes and the do a good job. Owned both last year's Vizio and last year's Sony. Still have the Vizo doing service in the master bedroom.
I think that I prefer the sound of this year's Vizio just slightly over the Sony 150, but since my listening was not done at the same time, same room or with the same material, my decision could easily reverse itself. The Sony has the option to have all of your devices connected via HDMI which offers the possibility of cleaner sound. In practice, I am not sure that that holds true, or if it does if it is discernable at this level.
The JVC has two optical ports which would allow you to connect both your DVD and HD-DVR directly to the soundbar. The JVC has the most detailed sound of the three units as well as the fastest bass. Since none of the so-called subs on these units actually goes into sub-woofer territory, the speed of he JVC's woofer makes a major difference when presented with low frequency transients. And most people will never miss the octave and one half of bass from the low end on any of these woofers.
The Sony and Vizio are 3.1 units that synthisize 5.1. The JVC is a 4.1 unit which plays L-R and LR-RR sounds discretely and synthisizes only the center channel. Probably why it has somewhat more detail than the others.
As the pimary purose of a soundbar is to give you enhanced sound over your TV's built in speakers, any of the three above should more than meet that criteria. I have listened to the Vizio and Sony in other people's homes and the do a good job. Owned both last year's Vizio and last year's Sony. Still have the Vizo doing service in the master bedroom.
I think that I prefer the sound of this year's Vizio just slightly over the Sony 150, but since my listening was not done at the same time, same room or with the same material, my decision could easily reverse itself. The Sony has the option to have all of your devices connected via HDMI which offers the possibility of cleaner sound. In practice, I am not sure that that holds true, or if it does if it is discernable at this level.
The JVC has two optical ports which would allow you to connect both your DVD and HD-DVR directly to the soundbar. The JVC has the most detailed sound of the three units as well as the fastest bass. Since none of the so-called subs on these units actually goes into sub-woofer territory, the speed of he JVC's woofer makes a major difference when presented with low frequency transients. And most people will never miss the octave and one half of bass from the low end on any of these woofers.
The Sony and Vizio are 3.1 units that synthisize 5.1. The JVC is a 4.1 unit which plays L-R and LR-RR sounds discretely and synthisizes only the center channel. Probably why it has somewhat more detail than the others.
