Vizio SB36512-F6 Soundbar Review & Comments

Good review Steve, the Amstrad of home cinema has taken its time hitting these shores! Perhaps a bit harsh but they are from the stack em high and sell em cheap background.That said if they don't pack up and leave after 6 months could be a shrewd buy.
 
Good review Steve, the Amstrad of home cinema has taken its time hitting these shores! Perhaps a bit harsh but they are from the stack em high and sell em cheap background.That said if they don't pack up and leave after 6 months could be a shrewd buy.
I really hope they don't pack up and leave :)
In my opinion, what the UK market offers in terms of soundbars is overpriced.
 
Amazing value, worth keeping an eye on price-wise. Who is going to be selling it?
 
Great to see new companies (to our shores) producing good products!
 
Amazing value, worth keeping an eye on price-wise. Who is going to be selling it?
I thinks they have a direct marketing model.
 
Good review and good price. Wireless speakers would be the icing as wiring from front to back is awkward for me.
@Steve I notice it has DTS Virtual X, is this the "surround upmix" mentioned on the review & did you try this on stereo/5.1 soundtracks? My LG SK5R uses this mode to great effect on normal tv/streaming etc
 
I‘m interested in this. I currently have a Yamaha YSP-2500. Can the Vizio compete with the front soundstage of my yamaha? I’d like to have the atmos immersion, but if I’m severely downgrading the forward firing sound then it’s probably not worth it. I don’t really want to spend what Samsung are asking for their version.
 
Steve you say it's a pity (paraphrasing) that DTS.Xis not included, but how could it when there's no eARC? There no streaming services that offer DTS that know of, so it would have to be blu-ray/uhd blu-ray which wont's work with arc... or am i missing something?
 
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the review. This seems to show that Atmos soundbars are coming along nicely in the sound department.
I am interested in getting something along these lines, having recently seen reviews for the LG SN11RG and having read your review of the Samsung Q90R bar.
The wireless rears are the clincher for me as I need a tidy solution, but want the full immersion that upfiring rears will bring.
I also looked at the JBL 9 bar, which has battery operated rears, but the review for it said there was issues with clear dialogue and drop outs with the rears connection. Hopefully that is something that can improve a time goes by. Battery rears would really seal it for me.
The fact that the Samsung scores well for music is a bonus.
Will you be reviewing the LG in the near future?
For me at least, eARC doesn't represent an issue as I will plug my blu ray player direct to the soundbar for audio and send the video out through the dedicated HDMI port.
 
Steve you say it's a pity (paraphrasing) that DTS.Xis not included, but how could it when there's no eARC? There no streaming services that offer DTS that know of, so it would have to be blu-ray/uhd blu-ray which wont's work with arc... or am i missing something?

You plug your Blu-ray player directly into the bar.
 
The Beosound Stage soundbar is a black rectangle with an aluminium frame, but that costs £1300 quid, and has B&O on the box, so it was described as ‘sumptuous Scandinavian styling‘. This one has a simple understated design but it’s cheap and only a Vizio, so it’s ‘pedestrian’. A bit of brand psychology at work there I think...
 
Steve you say it's a pity (paraphrasing) that DTS.Xis not included, but how could it when there's no eARC? There no streaming services that offer DTS that know of, so it would have to be blu-ray/uhd blu-ray which wont's work with arc... or am i missing something?
If it did support DTS:X you wouldn't need eARC, because you can connect your Blu-ray player to the soundbar's HDMI input.
 
The Beosound Stage soundbar is a black rectangle with an aluminium frame, but that costs £1300 quid, and has B&O on the box, so it was described as ‘sumptuous Scandinavian styling‘. This one has a simple understated design but it’s cheap and only a Vizio, so it’s ‘pedestrian’. A bit of brand psychology at work there I think...
Not really, the build quality is very different and B&O offer plenty of other finishes as well. Besides, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
 
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the review. This seems to show that Atmos soundbars are coming along nicely in the sound department.
I am interested in getting something along these lines, having recently seen reviews for the LG SN11RG and having read your review of the Samsung Q90R bar.
The wireless rears are the clincher for me as I need a tidy solution, but want the full immersion that upfiring rears will bring.
I also looked at the JBL 9 bar, which has battery operated rears, but the review for it said there was issues with clear dialogue and drop outs with the rears connection. Hopefully that is something that can improve a time goes by. Battery rears would really seal it for me.
The fact that the Samsung scores well for music is a bonus.
Will you be reviewing the LG in the near future?
For me at least, eARC doesn't represent an issue as I will plug my blu ray player direct to the soundbar for audio and send the video out through the dedicated HDMI port.
I'm currently writing up my review of the JBL 9.1 and I had no problems with dialogue clarity or drop outs. In fact, I thought it was really impressive in terms of features, performance and price.
 
I‘m interested in this. I currently have a Yamaha YSP-2500. Can the Vizio compete with the front soundstage of my yamaha? I’d like to have the atmos immersion, but if I’m severely downgrading the forward firing sound then it’s probably not worth it. I don’t really want to spend what Samsung are asking for their version.
The YSP-2500 has a bigger front soundstage, but the SB36512 trumps it in terms of immersion.
 
I'm currently writing up my review of the JBL 9.1 and I had no problems with dialogue clarity or drop outs. In fact, I thought it was really impressive in terms of features, performance and price.

I have the JBL 9.1 so I'm looking forward to your review. It's always nice to have your purchase backed up by (hopefully) good reviews.
 
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Good review and good price. Wireless speakers would be the icing as wiring from front to back is awkward for me.
@Steve I notice it has DTS Virtual X, is this the "surround upmix" mentioned on the review & did you try this on stereo/5.1 soundtracks? My LG SK5R uses this mode to great effect on normal tv/streaming etc
You can choose between up-mixing non-Atmos tracks using the upward-firing drivers (Dolby Surround) or you can up-mix using virtual heights (DTS Virtual:X). Personally I think it makes more sense to use the former rather than the latter, because you'll get better results.
 
I'm pretty sure my Q Acoustics full 5.1 setup cost less than this. I could see the appeal of this if the rear speakers were wireless, but they're not.
 
I'm currently writing up my review of the JBL 9.1 and I had no problems with dialogue clarity or drop outs. In fact, I thought it was really impressive in terms of features, performance and price.
thanks for the reply Steve, glad that you are reviewing the JBL I will be very interested to read that one, as I mentioned earlier, battery powered rears are an absolute god send, particularly as they are rated for 10 hours run time, and to hear what you make of the sound overall from that set up.
 

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