I’m 75% convinced to buy this. We need a soundbar for a TV with crap sound that we’d like to upgrade but it doesn’t need to be anything special. This 3.5mm jack is so odd though. Fortumately, this TV has a headphone jack itself so connecting the two should be straight-forward. Guess I’ll just need to get my Harmony reprogrammed to control everything again (was hoping to bring it down to the mancave).
hmm, now I’m not sure if I’m gonna buy this or not anymore. Now it’s a toss-up between this and the Pinnacle PBAR 6200 175W for $120 over in tech.Woot Plus. Would I be correct to assume that the Pinnacle is a vastly superior product?
its a steal for $50, i grabbed it last time they had it. i was tired of the 5.1 clutter and i’m so glad i made the switch. this offers very impressive sound and surround simulation that i would not have expected, even at $100 amazon wants for it. grab this!
I bought one of these at a previous Woot offering.
It’s well made and looks nice.
I used it with a Samsung 24" (small!) TV and the benefit was wild, both in volume and clarity. With an air conditioner running inside the room, this sound bar was the difference between audible acceptable sound and having to push the TV so hard, it distorted.
I also tried it with a 47" Vizio. The Vizio is an older model which has pretty rotten sound. The sound bar had much better audio quality and volume than the Vizio. It was quite striking, especially with passages of music. It’s really enjoyable! Off course, the built in sound in this Vizio TV is really execrable so with better TV’s, your experience may vary.
Some other things:
like someone noted, the only input method is 3.5mm stereo plugs. However there is an inexpensive adapter cord which converts the 3.5mm plug to two RCA plugs (right and left channels) and that works fine. For some reason, the earphone out 3.5mm socket in the Vizio did not give enough volume. But the two RCA audio out jacks did.
Another issue is the surround sound. It worked fine with the Samsung. With the Vizio, it depends. Sometimes it’s OK. Other times, the sound is tinny and the dialog is faint and hard to understand. This is solved by shutting off surround on the TV and also on the sound bar. We don’t really miss it much. We’d rather hear the dialogue clearly.
Music is outstanding but you must use the “cinema” equalization setting on the sound bar to get it to sound right. That’s OK with me.
This sound bar will work with computers, iPhones (the volume was a bit low) and of course, any TV with RCA jack audio out or with an earphone jack if the output is sufficient.
I recommend this thing. For the price, you can’t beat it. And with the TV’s I tried it on, it worked extremely well.
The only thing missing is bluetooth. If you need that, get the SB30 on eBay (typically $100 including shipping) or Amazon. I am thinking of getting one but I am not sure it will work with my iPhone and iPad. I plan to try.
… oh… forgot to mention that this uses the HDSS technology, whatever that is. Wikipedia is your friend, more or less.
HDSS really seems to make a difference in volume and clarity. I also have a DK-AP7NW miniature iPod/iPhone dock (old connector only) and it is AMAZING. You can sometimes get that for $50 on eBay.
** Does anyone know if there is some knockoff or similar idea to HDSS? Which works the same? **
I really like this and it does not seem to be widely available outside of a few Sharp models and some small speakers.
I own the SB30 version (adds bluetooth) and it works pretty well.
FYI, leave the volume on the soundbar low and control it with your TV volume. Until I lowered the sound on the sound bar and turned up my TV volume it would shut off because of the “Auto Off” feature. FWIW, I wish I could turn that feature off. But overall a good upgrade from the TV speakers.
Alright, noob soundbar question. Does this sidebar mount directly to the bottom of most HDTV’s or will I have to have the option of either sticking it to the wall and laying it on top of my dresser?
Question from a non-tech savvy person: I’m looking for something to use to play my iphone music in the living room during parties/get-togethers and like the idea that this is inexpensive and also works on my TV. You said that it was a bit quiet when using an iphone. How quiet is quiet? Do you think it would work well for my purpose?
I’ve been keeping an eye out for a decent soundbar for my tv for a while, and am glad I snagged one of these before it sold out today (already missed it at the wootplus sale). Definitely looking forward to trying it out!
On a side note: This is my first woot since April, and am glad that I can still find a good deal here!
I got mine today and I am not impressed with the sound. Kinda crappy if you ask me. Maybe it should have been in a bag of crap.!! It will work for regular TV but I’ll still fire up the big 12" speakers for movies.
Anyone been able to get another universal remote to operate the soundbar volume? Can you share working codes? I love the sound so far, but wife is unwilling to accept yet another separate remote (she’s right this time).
FYI, I’m trying to use a DirecTV RC65, which has the ability to control audio receivers and other Sharp soundbars (i.e. SB200).
