VIZIO SB3651-E6B 5.1 Soundbar Home Speaker System


VIZIO SB3651-E6B 5.1 Soundbar Home Speaker System

These are great for the money.

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Picked up the E6 (maybe this E6B is slightly different) on Woot a few months ago, couldnā€™t be happier with the quality for the price. Make sure to get satellite speaker stands!

Canā€™t recommended these, sounds is pretty good but encoding problems mentored in other reviews have turned out to be a real PITA in our house.

Ignorance is bliss, but not when discussing this system. Would this system send audio to my Bluetooth headphones, or would it just receive input from a Bluetooth device? Cheers and thanks in advance.

I can verify that if you use the hdmi pass-through or ARC, this will NOT allow 4k video to pass to your tv. other than that, pretty great sound, but such a deal breaker

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These are trash. I bought one, also refurbished, early last year. Iā€™ve had nothing but problems with it. I had to swap it 3 times with Vizio support because it would cut off randomly. And now thereā€™s a huge issue with audio sync in game mode and randomly muting. But Iā€™m out of warranty now so theyā€™ll do nothing for me.

Highly advise you donā€™t buy.

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Hey. Order one of the ā€˜refurbsā€™ and you may get the one I sent back that didnā€™t work. Who knows it may work for you.

But really, these are ā€˜Mehā€™ ā€¦ I really like the functionality (few wires), but had problems with the first one they sent me (wouldnā€™t power on!) and now am having trouble with the optical cable input after the warranty ended on the second. When it does work, though, it sounds pretty good (Iā€™m no audiophile, though).

Also have this. Fantastic- especially for the price.

Iā€™m a vizio lifer, and it actually stems from a tv that failed within the warranty time limit. My tv died on a Sunday, so I dug out the manual and called the support line. Someone picked up the phone (again, on a Sunday) I never spoke to a robot, ever. They scheduled an appointment for about a week later. The woman who came to my house was, simultaneously, a Barbadian grandmother, and a former marine drill sergeant whoā€™s boyfriend raced for pink slips on the weekend, which is how she got the Fast and Furious car that brought her to my house. She said the problem was one of two things, so she quickly replaced both. The TV lasted me another 8 years or so, and when it died I promptly bought another vizio.

I have 2 of the 2.1 systems like this. You will not find a system under $200 that compares in sound quality. As far as the pass through and ARC and encoding problemsā€¦ just use the optical out from the TV. This is only a 5.1 system thatā€™s <$150, HDMI pass though is not going to give you any audible advantages and in fact, may cause more issues than using the optical out.

Hi there. I skimmed the manual and it looks like Bluetooth is for streaming music from other devices:

Your sound bar supports music streaming from smartphones, tablets, and computers with Bluetooth capability.

I recently switched from an LG 5.1 home theater in a box - LHB326 that i was not using the rear speakers to this soundbar with the wireless rear speakers. I do appreciate finally having surround sound again, but the audio quality is nowhere near that simple LG system. Iā€™m kind of torn on what I want to do, the LG system had so many problems on its own and the Vizio just works better. However, Iā€™m really missing that full sound, the Vizio just sounds thin and flat.

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FWIW:

The sound quality isnā€™t phenomenal. But with some tuning, itā€™s very good for the money.

The sub is tiny. But, I had it under the bed, and it was PERFECT there. Nice and butt-thumpy. And itā€™s the right size to fit under most beds.

Hdmi is only 1.4- so 1080p and Dolby digital only. Again, not a deal breaker for the price. Especially if you get it for a garage TV or workout room TV.

The ā€œBā€ designator, according to Vizio, indicates the model is a ā€œb gradeā€ refurb unit.

Tl;Dr - for the right uses, this is a hell of a soundbar for $130, and if I hadnā€™t just jumped on the jbl link deal that bb had the other day, Iā€™d be in for at least 1 if not 2.

Edit: I should add I am a life long Vizio fan. I have the SB46514-F6 46" 5.1.4 atmos setup, a quantum x p series, and a quantum m series. I love their products.

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I also have trouble recommending these. Support is beyond pathetic ā€“ no one at Vizio even seems to know what this product is, and, if they lose paring with the base (they have), Iā€™ve yet to be able to re-pair them.

I have this from Costco. Thereā€™s a reason costco carries it; for the price it canā€™t be beat. I used to think i was an audiophile but i also know real audiophiles are full of it; for a while we had downsized to literally just an Echo Spot as our living room sound and it was more than tolerable, they really get a lot of sound out of that tiny enclosure. If i wanted great sound iā€™d listen to my Q7ā€™s Bose system (which THUMPS).

Anyway, iā€™d had my eye on this wireless setup for a while and the price was too good to pass up at ~150 or so. Itā€™s obviously a HUGE upgrade from the Spot, and even from my previous, also budget but wired surround system. The bass is loud and clear enough and the surround itself works well. I use the optical out from my old Panasonic 50" plasma and it works perfectly - it even sometimes* turns itself on when the tv turns on. (*This isnā€™t consistent, but by setting up my cable remote to talk to the bar, a simple press of the volume-up button turns the bar on, and turns it off with the cable remoteā€™s tv power button.)

There are some connection issues, the bluetooth is spotty, and the phone app doesnā€™t work well when it works at all. I tried using all the features, but after having to reset it a number of times to get it to connect to the sub/speakers, i just leave it on the defaults; it sounds great, and it hasnā€™t crapped out in a while. If it does, a power cycle (not a reset) usually fixes it. And instead of bluetooth, i just use an old 1/8" stereo cable to connect the Spot when i want more oomph. Way simpler.

This is an item if iā€™d paid more for it, iā€™d be upset with the issues, but at the price itā€™s just an occasional annoyance. If you NEED 4k passthru or whatever (i donā€™t), youā€™ll have to pony up for a pricier unit, thatā€™s just the way of the world.

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Bought this same item in March, but is was an ā€œE6Cā€ refurb - this one is ā€œE6Bā€. Item was dead on arrival. Vizio claimed they were not responsible under any warranty. Woot provided a full refund. Maybe a ā€œBā€ refurb is more likely to work?

As others have said, this is great for the money. There are plenty of professional reviews that can share that sentiment.

You might struggle to set it up with multiple 4K devices. The HDMI ARC support doesnā€™t allow 4K or HDR. Thatā€™s probably why these units are showing up here on Woot: theyā€™re out of date tech.

I have mine set up with a PS4 Pro and Vizio Quantum X tv using the TVā€™s ARC passthrough. PS4 ā€”HDMIā€”> TV ā€”HDMI ARCā€”> Soundbar. It took a lot of research, but mostly trial & error to figure out how to get 4K HDR and 5.1 surround sound to go from the PS4 to the speakers. The TV doesnā€™t support uncompressed audio through its ARC port, so it is downgraded to Dolby Digital. I believe youā€™d need a higher end tv with an eARC port to get a full quality passthrough. If these were better/expensive speakers, Iā€™d be upset, but they would also probably have better hardware ports and it wouldnā€™t be an issue.

Hope that helps anyone else wondering if it is right for them.

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Mine is working 4k. I have a PS4 ARC to Sony TV with a Amazon box. They all work 4k, the communication sometimes doesnā€™t work right and you have to cycle the components off and on.

Helloā€¦i liked its connectivity features. This soundbar is packed with inputs and that includes one HDMI port. Thereā€™s also an HDMI out that supports ARC, for a one-cable connection to your TV. If you donā€™t use HDMI ARC, you can rely on optical-digital, coaxial-digital and analog stereo 3.5mm connections. This soundbar also has a USB input, plus thereā€™s plenty of wireless connectivity with support for SmartCast functionality and Bluetooth.