Side by Side Comparison of: Samsung vs VIZIO

Replaced my aging Samsung sound bar with this bad boy. I have a 55" LG tv so anynet+ and Samsung features don't work with my tv. So I will not be reviewing those.

I was looking for a stylish sound solution that will add some sound separation and oomph to my movie and tv consumption. I also wanted to be HDMI CEC compatible.

I had no issues in installing the sound bar. Plugged in HDMI cable into ARC HDMI port on my TV. I made sure to get the latest HDMI cable from Amazon that is CEC certified.

After the sound bar was connected I plugged in the subwoofer into the power outlet and pressed the power button. It automatically connected to the sound bar.

After subwoofer paired with a sound bar I hit the power button on my tv remote which in fact turned my TV and sound bar. I was also able to control the sound bar with my tv remote and adjust the volume. My previous Samsung sound bar did not allow me to do that even with a HDMI connected to the TV.

The sound is much greater than my tv speakers. It is not an audiophile speakers nor a high end home theater system. Though it works great in the small living room and adds great atmosphere to my tv watching.

Defiantly best bang per buck ratio once again!

Great sound and bass for the price. Works well in an average sized living room. Takes it about 30-45 secs to power up once turning on the the TV. I do love the fact that it powers on and off with the TV, at least when connected via HDMI. Haven't tested it with an optical cable.

UPDATE: 12-24-16
1 year later this sound system still sounds great. No unexpected mechanical issues. No sound distortion. I love the bluetooth too. I can pair my computer or phone to it and blast some music through the living room. Seems to stay connected at least 20 feet away before it loses its signal for bluetooth. Works through at least 1 wall too. I still love this sound system.

Great product, very easy installation. I was looking for something which is not very powerful as I live in an apartment. This fits my requirement, sound is very crisp and clear and when listening to music the sub woofer makes sure you enjoy the song.

If you have a samsung tv then just using the HDMI cable through ARC port, you can control the sound bar using tv's remote including powering it on and off.

Works great. Installation and setup was super easy. A really great deal for $150 shipped.
Great addition for my Samsung 50" TV.

The HW-J450 Soundbar works flawlessly with my Samsung UN65UH8550 TV. Installation was extremely simple. Both the bar and subwoofer connect via bluetooth to the TV. When the TV is turned on, the other devices automatically power up and connect. The sound is vastly superior to that of the TV speakers. I could not be happier.

Let me start off by saying that I am not a professional review writer or tech savy and it has been along time since I have had a surround sound system. I must say that this Vizio product was really beyond my expectations!!! The set up is REALLY EASY !!! The Sound is AWESOME !!! I was skeptical at first as I was looking at a few other products that were more expensive as well. Before purchasing this system I did a lot of research and read a whole bunch of reviews not only on Amazon but other resources as well. Like I said I was a bit skeptical, mostly because of the price and I was looking for something that I could really enjoy. I will conclude by saying that this surround system fills my living room with awesome sound and has brought movie watching to a whole new level . I also use it to Bluetooth my music from my phone that works flawlessly and it sounds amazing. Did I mention The set up was SOOOOOO EASY !!! Set up in minutes the Bluetooth Sub and satellite speakers made this a breeze. I couldn't be happier with this product!!!Thank you Amazon and Vizio.

**** Update ****Still works great ... but this unit DOES NOT support Dolby Digital Plus. When I feed a DD+ signal in, I get only buzzing sound. Going through tech support they confirmed this.Some programs (like amazon fire tv) have something called Dolby Digital Plus Auto. The Auto means if the receiver does not support the DD+, it changes the signal to just Stereo. Luckily ... this soundbar does a good job of making stereo sound like surround, but it is not 5.1.I still like this system and at under $200 bucks ... is still 5 star IMHO.******end update******Very pleased with this and got it at a good price (watch price, it fluctuates a lot).Center and L & R speakers are in the front bar. Bar fits perfect under my 52" TV in the stand (sound bars are made in different length bars, so pick the right size).The subwoofer is wireless (but does plug into wall outlet) and the Rear R & L speakers plug into the subwoofer only (no extra power needed). This is great as you get no wires going from TV to back speakers.I have the Sub behind the couch and the Rear L & R on either side of the couch. So there are zero wires exposed anywhere!Sound is good. Bass is pretty decent, but not room shaking.I use this a lot for playing music from my phone, bluetooth connection works great.Remote is good, it has display to show you what input you are on and settings you are changing.Front speaker has a series of small circular lights which tell status, settings as well as volume level.I highly recommend this when it is reasonably priced.

For the money the performance is excellent. It should be noted that most TV's down convert or dumb down their audio signal coming from their optical digital output to 2.1 so in those cases the soundbar will receive only 2.1 channel audio. My Sony KLD52V5100 only puts out 2.1 audio from the optical output. Having said that the soundbar creates a faux 5.1 surround sound and unless one is a true audiophile they won't be able to tell the difference. The bass from the subwoofer is simply great. You can adust the center speaker level, bass and treble levels, subwoofer level, surround levels(rear speakers) and even surround balance on the rear speakers should your sitting location be not centered. The true volume option works great also if used. To get a TRUE 5.1 surround channel effect and if your TV only puts out 2.1 as mentioned earlier then simply use the audio sources optical digital out and connect it directly to the sound bar to achieve true 5.1. I did this by using my satellite receivers optical digital out which puts out true 5.1 directly to the optical digital input on the soundbar. TRUE Dolby, DTS 5.1 surround sound. For the money its a great buy and so simple to set up and adjust to ones on personal likes. The sound bar will show the Dolby or DTS logo briefly to indicate if the source to the soundbar is Dolby or DTS. Only the optical input or coaxial digital input on the soundbar will give you Dolby or DTS.

I wanted to replace an aging sound system, simplify things and clean up the wire clutter on my entertainment center. After reading various reviews of the Vizio S4251w-B4 Soundbar and it's wireless subwoofer and rear surrounds, I went ahead and ordered it on Black Friday weekend through Amazon.First the positives...1. The system was extremely easy to hook up and get operational. Making sound adjustments are easy using the included remote (I still need to tweak the system to my ear's liking).2. It's 5.1 channel surround sound is immersive and provides an enjoyable experience for movie watching. Last night, we were watching a movie and I thought someone was knocking on our rear door to the patio. I suddenly realized it was the movie soundtrack coming through the rear surrounds! Very realistic. Generally, the sound is "clean" and the surround effects usually don't interfere with voices from the center channel. My living room is large and the sound bar does a nice job of filling the room.3. The subwoofer is wireless and I can place it where I want it. Be aware the rear surround speakers do connect by cables to the subwoofer so the rear surrounds are not totally wireless.4. The rear surrounds, although small, do a great job of filling in the sound field when called upon by the system. I placed them in a window sill behind our seating we use while watching a movie; maybe later on I'll place them on stands. I was able to run the rear surround speaker wiring from the subwoofer to the speakers in a manner to where they were easily hidden.5. Streaming Netflix features with 5.1 channel surround sounds great through the system. I had to upgrade my blu ray player since my old player only had hdmi out; my HDTV doesn't pass through 5.1 channel surround sound. I purchased a Samsung blu ray player with digital audio coaxial output and hooked it's sound output directly to the sound bar. I also hooked up my DirecTV hd receiver to the sound bar via digital optical cable so I can get 5.1 channel surround sound on any programming that broadcasts in that format.6. Blu ray disks sound great!Now for a few minor negatives:1. I wish the included remote would have backlighting. It's difficult to see in the dark if you want to make an adjustment on the fly.2. I would like to get just a little more center channel output for voices; I'm confident that will come as I make very small adjustments to the sound bar's settings.3. The box was delivered and was fairly beat up to the point where I took pictures in case the sound bar was damaged during shipping. Amazon slapped shipping labels directly on the Vizio product carton and didn't put the carton inside a shipping box. Very disappointing.Overall, I am extremely pleased with this "budget" sound bar and feel it's performance far exceeds the price I paid for it. I will use this system for movies and TV viewing so I can't give a fair review on how it would handle music from a cd or IPod, IPad or other portable device.

I read tons of reviews on sound systems in my price range and this one came out on top, so I decided to take the plunge. Boy am I glad I did. I built a few stereo systems in my younger days, ones that would be considered pretty good, and this one is GOOD. It has great clarity at low levels, which is important for me because my girlfriend and I live together and are on opposite schedules (she works nights), so low levels are necessary as to not disturb anyone sleeping. This thing is also fantastic at louder volumes, and our neighbors HAVE complained (yea we live in an apartment, but the walls aren't paper thin - I never hear our neighbors unless the windows are open, and they have two children in elementary).If you'd like to read a good review with lots of technical jargon and actual comparisons, see: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-budget-soundbar/ for more.

Purchased the Vizio4251w-B4 to replace a Toshiba SBX1250 sound bar that I was VERY unhappy with. I am very pleased with the performance os the Vizio and the $300-ish Amazon price tag is definitely worth it for the powerful, easy to use audio improvement over my TV's internal speakers. This system is not for audiophiles but for folks that want better (not world class) sound from their television without the fuss of a full-blown 'home theatre system.'Why did I buy a second sound bar inside a year? Because the remote on the Toshiba was absolutely worthless and there was no way to use a programmable, universal remote to make the Toshiba soundbar respond from across the room. Getting up off the sofa to physically press the buttons on the top of the sound bar was frustrating - so a good remote was definitely something I was looking for.Several reviews praised this Vizio model as a fix for all the things that plague most sound bar systems - and those reviews were spot on! The sound from the Vizio is great and it took me very little time to set up. There are a couple of set-up/installation niggling issues (most of which could be cleared up with a better owners manual) but I am very pleased with the performance and ease of use for the Vizio.Program the sound bar to read the volume up/down/mute commands from your TV/Satellite/Cable remote and you will probably never need the Vizio's (excellent) remote again after the first hour. Thumbs up!MINOR ISSUES1. I gather that my TV (a Samsung) doesn't push a Dolby 5.1 signal through the TV - which is fine. That is not the fault of this Vizio sound bar, but the instructions about "looking to see if the 5.1 light flashes on start up" didn't help me. I have no idea where on the soundbar that light is - since it isn't detailed anywhere in the manual. Not a big deal, since I've read the specs on my TV and it isn't capable of sending the 5.1 signal anyway.2. The two, wired satellite speakers that feed off the woofer are color coordinated - one blue and one grey. There is a blue or grey surround on the input jack on the back of each speaker, on the outputs from the subwoofer and similar colored rings on both ends of the cables - one blue and one grey. Sounds perfect, right? But, nowhere could I find which color was Left and which was Right. Maybe I am dim, but I didn't see the info in the manual/specs - either in the paper version in the box or the online PDF I downloaded. I had to power up the system up and then go into the settings (nice display on the Vizio remote is super-useful here) and shift the surround balance all the way left and then all the way right - and that is how I learned that the blue speaker should be positioned near my left ear as I sit on the sofa. Grey goes to the right. Why not include that in the manual?

Works great with my new 70" Samsung 4K tv. Only reason for 4 stars insteadof 5 is that there are many choices for variety of inpur and woofer, treble, sound effects, etc that I haven't figured out yet. Also, it was a bit confusing for a 65 year old man to hook up, but I got it. Adds a new dimension to rhe small TV speakers.

I honestly can't complain. I have an older Samsung Plasma flatscreen TV that I've had for many years now and every once in awhile I would hear a weird noise coming from the speakers on the TV so I decided to take the pressure off of my TV and a sound bar is cheaper than surround sound. Plus small apartment. Easy set up, easy use, great sound, but in all honesty no different sounding than my TV itself. A little bit more dynamic maybe. But that is either due to the great quality of Samsung TVs or the lower quality of their Sound Bars. I'm an optimist so I'm going with great quality.

The sound bar Really projects the sound. It's a few feet in front of me but it sounds like it's right in my face.

The SUB woofer however is CRAP. I think it serves it purpose and produces the lows but it sucks for music. So I'm not reviewing it for that. But overall great set, and the wireless has to be the biggest plus. AWW man thiat is the best part.

5 Star Sound Bar, 1 star sub

Better than tv speakers but not like a huge upgrade. the compatibility with vizio tv was more complicated than I signed up for. it was not as simple as it sounded. Something about CEC setting on your tv then PCP vs bitstream. The soundbar worked with tv, but not dvd player and/or netflix "smart tv." So good luck to you all, I put it on bitstream and hdmi out on the soundbar and ARC on the tv. Not a huge upgrade but enough that its worth the purchase. The subwoofer not that powerful but makes a difference in overall sound.

Sounds great! Obviously a huge improvement from TV speakers. Sub gives the full spectrum one desires. Setup was easy. Used optical cable as I have multiple devices feeding into my TV and so it was the only option. Haven't noticed any issues with audio being out of sync. Didn't give 5 stars because when watching a movie with with loud and quiet moments it was inconsistent. Had to ride the volume at times watching Empire Strikes Back via Apple TV. Bluetooth connection with my iPhone is great for playing music which includes volume adjustment. Love that I have that control no matter where I am in my two story condo. Auto power feature is also a nice feature. I bought this because of the positive reviews. So I'm doing the same and so far very pleased.

I bought this sound system a year ago, November 2015, and now I'm in a position to buy an inexpensive home theater system again. In 2015, it cost me $170 on a Black Friday deal. Here are my thoughts after an enthusiastic 12mos of use.I'm pretty savvy when it comes to setting up electronics, but I'll have to admit, the setup was a little tough for me. I don't blame Vizio, but it takes some troubleshooting to decide which cables and how to connect. They provided an ample selection of cables and they all worked just fine. The subwoofer and satellite speakers are easy to set up. You can mount the speakers to the wall, but mine are resting on shelves and connected straight to the subwoofer. This next time around, i'm going to buy elevated speaker stands.In action, the volume is easy to adjust and the inputs are simple to switch. It's great for listening to much from my phone or for video games or the TV. We've got a 1500sqft, 3BR home and the total volume is more than adequate to enjoy a cinema experience for movies. It might be a shade bass heavy, but that's how I would change the settings anyway.The remote control is horrible though. the LCD screen is tiny. There is no backlight, so you can't read it in the dark (if you need to adjust settings, input options or sound presets. It is nice that the volume level can be seen with discrete LEDs on the sound bar. Occasionally it's difficult to get the Bluetooth to pair with my phone, but I can't be certain if there are too many BT devices in the house conflicting, so I'm hesitant to blame the design on Vizio.However, here I am, rating this system at 4-stars and preparing to purchase again. Great blend of performance and value for the price.

VIZIO S4251w-B4 42-Inch 5.1 Channel Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer & Satellite Speakers (2013 Model)This setup sounds awesome. I got a great deal on this cause it was last years model when I bought it. The sound and volume capability are fantastic. I still get a kick out of it when a car door shuts and I automatically look toward the window,very realistic sound. I would give it five stars but I had a problem with the optical cable and can't get it to seat. That would have been alright, I thought I could just buy another one, but I can't find a replacement. The girl at Vizio thought I was some kind of idiot because it wouldn't sit properly. It's supposed to click when its seated and it won't click. I had it set up before but I had to disassemble and move it. I might try calling or chatting with Vizio again cause the girl kept to her troubleshooting matrix and didn't seem to have much practical knowledge of sound bars I have it hooked up with an audio cable but the optical would be better. Still sounds fantastic though.

I want a surround sound system in my living room but I didn't want to run any wires so I bought this 42" Vizio wireless sound bar and I didn't regret.Of course, it can't be compared to my Denon receiver surround sound system that I have setup in the theater room but this sound bar produces excellent surround sound for an unconventional quick setup surround sound system. The treble and bass are clear and pretty powerful for a little subwoofer, especially wireless. Very easy to setup, probably 10 minutes most. The reason I'm rating it 4 stars is because I believe this model was manufactured in 2012 or 2013 but there's no HDMI input which is ridiculous IMO. I think Vizio has included the HDMI port in the 2015 version.

I give the bar 5 stars as it sounds amazing. I give the sub 4 stars because every once and a while a specific note will distort or rattle at medium to high volume levels.NOW let's get to the rear speakers which I give 4 stars: When I first set the system up I was impressed with the sound. But when I put my ear close to the rears I noticed that they sounded different. Before I knew better I would describe the sound as broken, bad, low quality, underwater, choppy, muddy, and with muffled voices. I searched reviews and questions here and several people have commented the same, so I hope this review can help align peoples expectations of what the rears are supposed to sound like. Before I knew any better I thought they would sound the same as the fronts. But after research and getting a second opinion from my dad ,who is musical and knows better, I've discovered that the reason the rear speakers sound like they do is because they are (in true surround sound fashion) only playing ambient background sound. The voices sound quieter and muffled than the rest because it is trying to exclude them; you only want to hear voices coming from the front to create a theater effect. The rears are literally picking and choosing a few sounds from the rest. All together the system sounds great once balanced to the room they are in Personally I've concluded that the rears are fine and that surround sound is more for movies and not for listening to music. So when listening the music I turn off the rears. I gave the rears 4 stars because they seam a little cheap and they are playing through Bluetooth connection (not the best). My dad thinks these ones are a slightly on the "gimmick" side but you'd have too spend way more for a system with perfect rear speakers. I hope this helps some of you who had the same initial reaction to the rears as me. Overall and altogether it is hard to tell the deficiencies: 4 out of 5 stars

Compared to older 5.1 systems that required a lot of speaker wiring, this is quick and easy to deploy. The wireless sub & rear speakers work great and linked up with the system controls immediately upon plugging it in. Both my cable system box and my Xbox One are able to control the unit as well. Bluetooth works well and is able to connect to all my devices. Sound quality is good.Complaints are minor, but will affect some peoples' decision. Here they are.(1) The remote control has a small display that is not back-lit. In any dimly lit or dark situation, it's difficult to read the display.(2) Bluetooth can only pair with one device. To use it with my iPod or tablet, I have to re-pair the Bluetooth option to a different device. The remote should have had a "quick pair" button on it, instead of scrolling through the dozen-plus options on the hard-to-read remote screen every single time Bluetooth pairing to various devices is desired.(3) The volume LEDs on the front of the control bar are so small, they're a difficult to see.(4) The volume control increments up & down too quickly. With only one or two clicks of the remote to increase sound, volume increases dramatically. If you have a house with small children or light sleepers, it's hard to keep the sound from increasing from very soft to too loud during quieter hours of the day.(5) Sound quality falls off with noticeable distortion above 80% volume. Since I almost never play it that loud, this is negligible to me.Fix that handful of problems, and this is easily a five-star product.

***Update - 7/13/2017*** 3 years and counting...System is still going strong. No issues, especially while using the optical port for sound. For electronics, this was one of the best purchases I ever made. Because this one has worked so flawlessly, I ended up getting another set (newer model) for another TV. If you can find a set, pull the trigger, you won't regret it.Caveat: Only two days in after adjusting to listening preferences so these are FIRST impressions. I will update review and/or score after a few months worth of usage. I plan on using the setup daily.Pros: Good sound for $250. I've spent quite a few dollars on the traditional man cave setup so the $ spent here for the bedroom for a sound bar, two satellites, and a sub was nice. The additional surround sound from the two satellites is a nice compliment to the sound bar. You can really notice it when you turn the surround speakers 'down' or off altogether. Inclusion of every cable that could possibly be useful or helpful. Bluetooth has already proven useful...not only for sub but for streaming music from phone.Cons: Digital interface on remote functional but no remote back lighting is annoying - especially with lights off. Don't expect to get AVR-like digital read-outs from remote; minimalistic is the word of the day. Satellite speakers MUST plug into the sub. Really wish they had been bluetooth capable like the sub, which would have opened up more placement opportunities. As it stands, if you have a larger master bedroom, being beholden to speaker wires may be a hindrance.I like it so far. Worlds better than the TV speakers! Good lows and clear mids and highs. Have only used it for satellite programming so far. Will run it through the paces with bluray, Plex, and Roku in the coming days and weeks.

This is the 2nd unit I purchased in "Like-New" condition through Amazon Warehouse Deals due to a 20% off during their pre-Prime Day promotion. The 1st unit worked well with the exception of the sub-woofer which would intermittently shut off and come back on again. I contacted Samsung which help me troubleshoot the issue, all they did was assist with resetting the sub-woofer connection which did not help. I should add the unit was far from "Like-New" with blemishes, animal hair, and a couple of candy wrappers. I returned that one and the same day I re-ordered another "Like-New" unit since CS offered to discount another 20% due to the 1st unit being defective and since I've had good experiences with items being virtually new every time through warehouse deals. The 2nd unit arrived the very next and the soundbar itself looked new, with the exception of the sub-woofer and all the accessories that looked like it was re-packed in a rush. Low and behold, the sub did not work... not even intermittently. I went ahead and tried resetting the sub with virtually no difference. At this point I'm resigned to keep it since I need a good soundbar and it was priced very well. I'm going to file a claim with Samsung to see if they will repair/replace the sub.

I was somewhat disappointed in this sound bar's performance.I can barely hear the sub woofer(even after I adjusted the bass level and sub volume to the max level). The LG sound bar is much better quality. I have the samsung in a room half the size the LG is in. And the LG rocks the whole room with its sub woofer(you can't adjust the bass level on the LG and you don't need to).It's definitely worth the price difference. I purchased the Lg when it was on sale for $180. It was $280 at the time I purchased this Samsung($198). Based on the reviews, I thought this was a equal product. Boy was I wrong. Get the LG!!! You will be glad you did.

A much better option than the speakers provided on my TV, but I wouldn't say that this is the best I've ever heard. There is about a 2-4 second delay before the sound bar syncs up with the TV after using it for about a month, before that it synced up perfectly with no delay. Also there has been times when the sound would start glitching for no reason.

This is a pain to hook up frankly, and the directions are poor. I just wasn't in the mood to hook up a full on surround sound so I figured I would just get this. It works, but the sound is not all that great. If I had it to do over again, I would not bother with this thing.

This Sound-bar is not bad but doesn't look like 300W though. It definitely has a better sound than my Samsung UN50HU8550 4k TV but not as good as I expected. May be because sub-woofer is where it lacks the thump. It says it has 6 levels for sub-woofer but 1st 4 are useless. You don't feel that the sub-woofer is on. I have to always keep it at level 6 (top level) to enjoy movies.

My take --
Decent as an entry level sound-bar but could have been better mainly sub-woofer could have been made lot better.
But yes, very good in terms of compatibility with my tv. Automatically goes off when I switch off my tv, starts and connect automatically and quickly when I switch on the tv and can be operated with tv remote only. Full marks to Samsung there.

While this is certainly better than the built in speakers on any flat panel TV, it certainly leaves something to be desired. First off, let me say that the form factor and ease of setup and use of this sound bar is great! The wireless subwoofer with satellite speakers was a smart idea. The sound quality is pretty decent, but I wouldn't call it amazing. I purchased this unit to replace a 15 year old Onkyo 5.1 system that I was too big for the room I had it in. This unit pales in comparison to that older unit in terms or sound quality. There are only two real problems with this sound bar (for me). The first one is that the difference between the volume levels is far too big. It gets loud quickly, and I have never set the volume louder than 4. For me, 3 is often too soft and 4 is often too lous, so I'm constantly switching back and forth. The second problem is that the subwoofer resets itself to max volume whenever you turn on the unit. It's a weird quirk and extremely annoying. It's easy enough to fix, but you'll have to do it nearly every time you turn the sound bar on and off. There's a few quirks as well. Every now and then, the unit will simply stop producing sound. This happens the most often when I pause my DVR for a minute or two. I've now had the sound bar for just over a month, and I am considering switching to something else. Yesterday, my other half told me they hated it (I wouldn't go that far, but have a high tolerance for fidgety things).

This sound bar is very good once you figure it out. As is usual for most products the instructions that come with the product hardly ever tell the whole story. There is a "quick set-up" guide, if you are lucky that will be all you need. If you have any issue I'd suggest checking their web site for support. There are lots of "secret" settings on the sound bar, on your TV, and on your cable box, that can give unexpected results, both good and bad. I tried the phone support and had to convince the person I wasn't a total idiot before I was treated to some moderately useful advice. Probably just having a bad day, but you aren't allowed to pass that attitude on to the customer. One thing I did get out of the conversation was to check their web support. That worked.

I'd give this a 4.5/5 if it weren't for issues connecting with my laptop.The bass is pretty overpowering even when I lower the bass setting but sound is crisp and clear. It has a really neat Night mode feature which dims the bass, perfect for apartment use during off hours. I have trouble getting it to connect with my laptops BT. Works flawlessly with my iPhone but takes fidgeting around to get it to connect with my laptop most of the time... I need to forget the device then reestablish connect and click reconnect most of the time.I've also had several instance where I thought my phone wasn't working but it has automatically connected to the bar which is turned off and is trying to push sound through that instead of the phone speaker. I just need to hit disconnectin my iPhones BT settings to fix it but it's another annoyance.

I purchased the refurbished unit which was described as follows: " - A refurbished VIZIO sound bar is a sound bar that has been returned to the manufacturer, refurbished, tested, and certified to work as If purchased new. This includes proper packaging, labeling, and the inclusion of all necessary accessories inside the box - VIZIO refurbished items may have minor cosmetic damage.I was amazed at the unit I received, which had a packing that was clearly nothing like from the original manufacturer. Yes, there were a couple of scuffs, the worst being the separation of the soundbar front from the back at the right corner. I suspect the attachment was broken, but it did not affect the sound or functioning so I am willing to forgive and forget. There were no manuals but just a copy of one page of the manual, which described how you link the bar to the sub woofer and how to do Bluetooth pairing. Again, the instructions were on the web, so I am willing to forgive. The original speaker wires (which are 12 feet) were missing, and was substituted with two wires each 6 feet long, so the required separation of the speakers were impossible. I had two speaker wires each at $10 purchased through Amazon, which took a couple of days. The AAA batteries which they claim was provided were not, so a trip to the local drug store solved that problem. No template to attach the speakers or the soundbar, and certainly no hardware. If this was "Factory certified", shame on you Vizio; if it was not, then you misled me into this purchase. After assembly, the unit is performing as expected, and therefore the 3 star rating. I buy factory refurbished goods, because of the savings as well as the fact that I am giving a home for a product dumped by someone else. This is clearly an out-lier, I will still buy factory refurbished units in the future. I will re-post my satisfaction of the unit itself in a few days after I have had a chance to use it

I bought this about 15 months ago and have had plenty of time to suss out what the pros and cons are for me.Pro:GREAT soundflexible ways to connect to audio sourceInconspicuous appearanceCons:Not very clear instructionsSometimes have difficulty getting it to connect to sourcesThe RCA wire between the sub and the satellite speakers is TERRIBLE!Customer service leaves something to be desired.My main issue really has been the sub to satellite wires. In both wires, the metal jacket on the rca plug broke off and got lodged inside the outlet on the subwoofer. One of them came right out and I was able to gorilla glue it back onto the plug tip. The other one got lodge inside the outlet and it took (I kid you not) 6 months of different trial and error to get that thing out of there. I tried using sharp objects, pushing from below, sticky tape, and exacto knife, gorilla glue on a toothpick , you name it. Keep in mind, I had to disassemble the sub woofer a little to get the circuit board out to do all this. When I contacted Vizio for help (specifically that I needed a new subwoofer board since the chunk of metal was stuck inside mine) they referred me to three outside vendors who sell their parts. First of all, if you supply s***ty cables and they break apart, you should just give me a new board and be glad I'm not just returing the whole shebang. Secondly, if you're going to be a douche about it and just expect me to pay for the parts myself, at least refer me to a vendor who actually sells the part that I told you I needed - none of the sites sell the subwoofer board. So much for that.Eventually, by some act of God, I got the second metal tip out and when I tried to gorilla glue that one back on , the plastic tip broke off in my hand. So now I at least have a working subwoofer board but will have to buy new RCA cables. I certainly won't buy the OEM ones but will get some better quality ones off Amazon.It's too bad that they dropped the ball on this, because the sound (when I can actually use it) IS really good.

It's a pain to connect via Bluetooth to this sound bar. I've tried from my MacBook, my Nexus phone, and my iPad. It always takes multiple attempts to actually connect to the soundbar, even when I'm right next to it. When it finally does connect, the sound will drop periodically while listening to music. It gets flaky and I often just opt to listen to music on my crappy iPad speakers because those at least stream the music without stutters or lag.This soundbar is also not very intelligent. Every time you turn it on, you have to change the subwoofer settings and then change them back to what they were, because when it first starts, the subwoofer is at max. We always turn the subwoofer to its lowest setting because we live in an apartment. When we turn the soundbar on, the setting shows that it's at the lowest setting, but the bass from the subwoofer is ridiculous. When you turn the subwoofer setting up via the remote then turn it back down to the minimum, the bass gets noticeably lower. I wish the device wouldn't lie to me and say it's on the minimum setting when it clearly is not.Otherwise, the sound is fine and the soundbar works okay.

I like the sound bar. It worked pretty well for the most part. It was easy to set up. But I have a major problem with the quality. It stopped powering on completely after 1 year and not even 2 months. Of course the warranty was only 1 year. It's not like it suffered abuse of any kind, it sat on top of my media cabinet and was dusted regularly. I was a fan of Samsung products because I felt like they were quality. But not anymore. After letting them know of the problem, I thought they'd offer me an exchange or a free look at it, or maybe a discount on another. Nothing. They didn't offer me anything. So let this be a lesson to everyone, be cautious with purchasing this sound bar. Unless you like replacing sound bars every year. I guess maybe rich people wouldn't mind. I personally don't like spending $150 for something that lasts one year. 2 stars for working, and getting back to me in a reasonable amount of time to tell me that they won't help with their stupid, broken, inferior product. Cheers.

I bought this system trusting that Samsung products are reliable, but I was wrong. The soundbar works nicely, and it connects well to the subwoofer. However, as big as the subwoofer is, it should've been able to shake my small room at max capacity. It barely vibrates at all !!! Even though the subwoofer sucks, it's still makes the soundbar sound better if you use them together. My Logitech Speaker System Z323 with Subwoofer sound better than these two and it was way cheaper. I will be contacting Amazon/Samsung to see if I can exchange or return this item. Very disappointed.

I've always been very brand loyal to Samsung, so this was a disappointing review to write. I purchased this after a lot of research because it's a great price point and I've always liked the name. The installation wasn't too difficult, but admittedly took longer than I felt it should have for someone who knows what they're doing. The wireless sub connected effortlessly to the unit, which was helpful. Unfortunately, that's the only good thing I have to say about the sub. It was very weak, and with all the appropriate settings jacked to the max I still couldn't get it to be anything more than barely audible. I'm not expecting for it to sound like one of those cars going down the street with a 12" cannon in the back seat, but when a t-rex stomps his foot on the ground I want to feel it in my groin. I played around with the placement of the sub, understanding that can have a great affect on how the sound is reverberated... no luck. The sound bar itself was fine and easy to use. The HDMI (ARC) connection didn't sound nearly as good as the optical, so I didn't take advantage of the ability to sync the volume adjustments with the tv. In the end, i don't care about having an extra remote or any of the fancy bells and whistles. I only care about how it sounds, and this didn't meet my standards. I was disappointed enough that I returned it to Amazon, which I've typically never had to do with a large purchase that I thoroughly researched. I can't stay mad at you Samsung, you still make a fantastic tv.

I read a number of great reviews on this soundbar but I had to return it. My issues may have been linked to my cable provider but the reason I returned was as follows: I have Comcast, and there not a way to program their remote to the soundbar via the optical cable. It only works through the HDMI ARC port. I have a Samsung UHD TV, so the speaker and TV discovered each other immediately.

Next- very little sound from the sub woofer. Even watching a move. I was paired properly.

The biggest reason for the return was the sound from the speaker and what was on the screen were delayed. The soundbar has a nice feature to deal with this, but I could not just adjust it once and then that setting carryover, Nope every channel was different and I was a constant struggle. Even if you corrected the delay and then shut the tv off, the setting was not retained.

So back this went and I got a Yamaha YAS-105 which works very well

Setup was very easy. Soundbar had clear, defined sound with good options to modify to sports or cinema settings. Woofer had no punch at all and to get any "push" you had to crank the volume on the soundbar to uncomfortable volume levels to get even a little response from the woofer. Returned it.

I bought two of these, one as a gift and one for myself. This was a year and a half passed. Speakers sound good still, but the remote in one is useless. The LED screen went out (by the way, the remote is a pain anyway. Hard to see as is not backlit). There is NO other way to adjust these speakers or change the input of the remote goes out. So far I have tried to order a replacement remote once... and the replacement had the same issue. I would avoid these speakers .

I received the sound bar, sub and satellite speakers about 1 week ago and was fairly disappoint. First off the package came damaged and all of the items were very loose in the box. Once I opened the box and inspected all the items I realized that they were in way worse condition than "Like New" as claimed. All the speakers have little rips/tears in the mesh over the, the sub-woofer has weird stickers/sticky circles all over the top of it and the remote is very difficult to read/ make our the selection. The backing of the sound bar seems to be loose or not held together that well and, quite frankly, I am not so sure that the sound is of the quality that it should be. I am not huge into sound quality, but I expected better based on the reviews and research I did, so I am not sure if the quality on these speakers is “like new” either.Overall I was misled by the reviews and description. This has been my worst experience buying from Amazon by far. With the great reviews of the product and the LG Wearhouse, I expected to receive a product that is much closer to new condition than what I received which seems like it has been used heavily. In the end these are speakers and that is why I trusted the reviews and quality description; speakers usually sit in a room and face little to no physical contact/damage. The set I received surely wasn’t handled correctly with tears in the mesh, poor assembly, stains on the sub and a poor quality remote.Normally I am not one to complain, but I really do enjoy buying off Amazon and feel that I received a product that would not likely meet their or LG’s quality standards. For the money it cost, I feel major regret for not buying new because what I received is a far cry from new quality. Perhaps this is what to expect when buying used equipment, however I feel what I received is more to the “like old” end of the spectrum rather than “like new” as described and reviewed

I am very disappointed with VIZIO on this product. They are capable of so much more than this. I saw the various folks complain about the issue whereby the signal is lost when you switch inputs, but I figured it was a rare anomaly, which any product could potentially suffer from. However, my unit is also experiencing the same issue, only worse. I tried shutting it, and the audio source, off and then back on again and even that doesn't work. Only after I reset the sound bar back to factory settings does it again work. VIZIO has been selling this unit since at least July of 2015 and they haven't bothered to address the issue by recalling the products back in and shipping out a fixed model. Let the consumers figure out which units are bad and we will let them waste their time and money in swapping them out for us. That negative has nearly wiped out the good will from a unit that otherwise works fine.

I bought this refurb model as I was very happy with a non-refurb version of this model and wanted to save a bit of cash.The refurb bluetooth range is horrible compared with the exact same new model I have.With the refurb model, the connection drops intermittently if I take my phone 10 feet away from the speaker bar. With the non-refurb model, I can take my phone to a separate floor and it still plays music consistently.The return policy doesn't cover bluetooth connectivity, so I'm stuck with a very mediocre sound experience.I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 star because the sound quality over bluetooth is good when I keep my phone within ~10 feet of the sound bar.

As others have, when I received the item, it appeared as though the box had been previously opened and then poorly retaped up with packing tape. When I opened the box, the four speakers were there, but there was no remote or cables inside, making the sound bar useless. I called amazon to fix it, and the first customer service representative was less than helpful (rare for amazon), but the manager was more than helpful. I'll update my review once I get everything sorted out.

I've had this soundbar for about 4 months now. The two little side speakers are a joke. They hardly put out any sound at all. Maybe if you're using them in a 7 x 7 foot room you'd hear them. Otherwise, it's a waste. As if that wasn't enough, now, after four months of use, the sound keeps cutting off from the soundbar. I have to turn it on and off several times and even then the sound sometimes cuts out in the middle of what I'm watching. Even when it was working, there was a time lag between what I was seeing and what I was hearing.Unfortunately, it's too late to return this piece of crap for a refund. Save your money on this one.I gave two stars because it did arrive in a timely manner and was well packaged. That, unfortunately, is the best I can say for this set of speakers.UPDATE: I'm on the phone with technical support right now. First I went to their website for troubleshooting and was directed to download a firmware update and install it onto a thumb drive which I was instructed to insert into the back of the soundbar. I did all that was instructed and now I'm getting no sound at all. Technical support has taken me through a number of repetitive steps, none of which have resulted in my getting sound back yet. I will update if (and when) that happens.UPDATE #2: It's now been two days since speaking with Technical Support. They couldn't help me get the sound back on my sound bar and said that the download was in fact causing some soundbars to malfunction. The only solution was to send me a "re-certified" soundbar. But first I would have to send back my nonfunctioning unit. The rep said they would email me a label to return it to them and that I should be receiving the label within the next 5 minutes. It's now 12 hours later, and I have not received the mailing label.I will say that everyone I've spoken with in Customer Service has been extremely nice and apologetic. Hopefully this means this issue will be satisfactorily resolved soon. Will update as new developments occur.UPDATE #3: After much back and forth, I finally sent back the defective soundbar. I had to send it in two separate boxes as I had to damage the original box in order to open it. I bubble wrapped the items, and double boxed them, to make sure they arrived undamaged. I took photos as I had a feeling they would try to say they arrived damaged. I sent the items Fedex Ground. I checked the tracking number and saw that they arrived the following day at the Vizio warehouse, which is located in California, not too far from me. Sure enough, I received an email saying they had received the items and that they are damaged. So now I think they're going to try to say that they can't replace them because they received them in damaged condition.UPDATE #4: I just hung up the phone from another call to Vizio trying to resolve the situation satisfactorily, again to no avail. I was told by a representative that, since the unit arrived at the warehouse damaged, the warranty has been voided and, if I want, at my expense, they can return the same unit back to me. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was put on hold. Forty minutes later, after being on hold and listening to the same song being looped, I was switched back to another representative (not a supervisor) and told that there was no record of the previous conversation and could I repeat what transpired. I hung up out of frustration and because I have things to do. However, I will be calling back again later, as I refuse to just eat almost $300!My advice to you if you're considering purchasing this: DON'T BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP! Save yourself lots of frustration and lost time and buy something more reliable.

Worked great for 3 months and then the audio started to cut out intermittently. At first I thought is was the audio source (the TV or or cable box) but it does the same thing regardless of the input source or method of audio input (Bluetooth, HDMI, SoundConnect are the only ones I've tried). Now it does it all the time for 15-20 seconds at a time. Samsung tech support asks for the same information I already supplied and has not replied to me in the last 3 weeks. Save yourself the headache an go with a different brand (or go to Best Buy so you can return the heap of junk when it fails).

Extremely poor performance. Less than half the volume and fullness of sound than the 310 watt model (of which I have 2). The only stated difference is that this subwoofer has 140 w of power, while the 310 watt model's subwoofer has 150w, but the difference is HUGE, believe me! I would go with another model. Avoid this one or you'll regret it.

My speakers were old. Loved replacing them with a slim sleak look. The sound quality is not great. Cannot get the words and lips to sinc. Maybe a more expensive version would work better but would not recommend these.

I was very disappointed with the sound on these speakers. The subwoofer is barely audible. I don't want my bass rattling the windows or shaking my couch, but it should at least be moderately audible. Unfortunately there's no way to adjust gain or crossover. There isn't even an on/off switch. Plugging it in turns it on (assuming the soundbar is on). I have these hooked up to a Samsung 60" 6500 series TV via Samsung's SoundConnect wireless connectivity. The stadium sound setting on the TV is actually much better than the same setting on the soundbar. I've tried tweaking the setting, but overall I'm very dissatisfied with the sound quality of the J450 speakers.

The equipment didn't work. the sound was very weak almost non hearable. I returned equipment for credit to my account. I have not received credit for the return.

The clicker that comes with this unit is needlessly complex, and its liquid crystal display is nearly impossible to read except in the absolute best lighting conditions, which aren't exactly conducive to watching a movie.But it did work -- for a week. Then all of a sudden it just stopped working. So back to amazon.com it went.

Purchased the refurbished soundbar from XtraSaver. Received this item an hour back. The sub-woofer is dead and won't turn on. Tried pairing it following the instruction but that did not work either. The pairing indicator (LED) won't turn up even after pressing and holding the pairing button on the sub-woofer for more that 5 seconds.So called up Vizio for help and here comes the bummer. Although this item is refurbished, XtraSaver is NOT AUTHORIZED with Vizio and this item DOES NOT HAVE A WARRANTY from Vizio. So technically XtraSaver is lying by claiming this refurbished?Have requested refund. Let's see how that goes.*First bad experience from an Amazon purchase. Well everything has a first time I guess.Update==================================Bought the same model from amazon again which is the 2013 version and not refurbished. Differences between the two1. The DTS Circle sound did not work properly in this one. The splitting was awkward, probably based on decibel levels. The 2013 version does a way better job.2. The BLUETOOTH connectivity did not function properly. Had to connect my laptop everytime. The 2013 connects automatically after the first sync. Also the sub-woofer was delivering higher bass when connected via BLUETOOTH compared to the audio cable. This problem does not exist in the 2013 model.3. The remote had to pointed directly towards the speaker to make it work. The 2013 remote works better.4. Wall mounting fittings for the rear speakers were absent in the package. @013 model came with all the fittings.Summery- This refurbished version is $191 and you have to pay around $30 for shipment. There's no point not buying the 2013 version which is $ 180 right now (I paid $169 a couple of weeks back). Also, my conversation with the vizio customer support reveals that the third party sellers on amazon are NOT vizio authorized. Which means vizio products purchased from them are NOT covered under vizio warranty.This is my hunch- the third party sellers merely got the casing and assembled using cheaper chips and programs which results in a much worse out put.

And yet, I won't send it back. Because I'm lazy.But yes, I am one of thousands (millions?) of dupes who bought this product and deal with it just automatically going silent. Between songs playing on my iPhone. Between commercials on TV. Whenever it damn well feels like it.I did read a reviewer on this thread who claimed that turning off the VZtvRmt setting would fix this mildly irritating (read: infuriating) "feature". Do not believe the lies. I have repeated this process over and over again, only to find that I am in fact insane because it hasn't worked once. I reset the sound bar to factory settings: no dice.So, I'll keep living a life where I have to power down my sound bar then back up again any time I want it to do its most basic function: play sounds. But VIZIO, if you read these (doubtful), know that I hate your product with the fiery hatred of 1,000 suns.

This sound bar was a problem from day one. I should have returned it then, but made the mistake of thinking one of my friends could make it work. The volume control is a joke, there is no 'control'. It goes way up with the slightest touch one day and then the next I can fiddle with it for several minutes to get any sound at all. Not until this month am I able to purchase a replacement (different manufacturer) and then found out it is beyond refund or replacement. My bad, I guess.

Update - Round 2: Amazon sent a replacement. Still very easy to setup. Still works for about 30 minutes before sound starts cutting out. This time both the sound bar and the base module stopped working intermittently. I am returning and going with another brand.I bought the Vizio soundbar when I moved to a new house with built ins that would not fit my receiver and 5.1 system. The 42 inch system had good reviews on Amazon and some tech sites said the sound quality was great for the price. Setup is very easy. It only took a few minutes to run wires and pair with my universal remote. Bluetooth pairing is also very easy. I only set up the soundbar and the wireless sub to begin with but the sound was still very good while it lasted. I started up a BluRay and sat back to enjoy but about 30 minutes into the movie I noticed the base was significantly diminished. It turns out the sub was no longer operating properly in fact all it was doing was thumping at a regular interval which is worse than just shutting off. I've spent the better part of a month trying to trouble shoot the issue to no avail. I'm giving up and returning it if I can. Very disappointing.

This was nice at first and everything worked as advertised but about 3 months into owning it the sound would just drop off randomly and not come back until I powered it or the tv off. I'm a professional AV guy and followed the instructions exactly as they are written to update the firmware and still no luck. I then called tech support at Vizio and went through various steps to do the update and yet again got nowhere. The final straw was when I noticed that it won't even pair with my cell phone anymore. It's not right that a unit only 6 or 7 months old just stops working. I was really happy with it at first but now I'm kicking myself for buying this and will pass the word on to my friends and family that Vizio is a brand to stay away from.