Gadgetory

soundbars are all about simplicity but simplicity comes with a trade-off even the best sound bars can't create true surround sound like a 5.1 speaker system unless of course your sound bar comes with rear speakers which is the idea behind videos latest sound bar hey I'm Matthew Muscovy ak from see Matt in the $500 Vizio s 54:51 wc2 is the company's new 5.1 sound bar which comes with two rear speakers to create a real surround sound experience it's a truly massive system with the sound bar itself coming in at 54 inches long designed to match TVs that are 55 inches and larger it's also a little over 4 inches tall which could be a problem if it blocks the remote sensor on your TV that's not going to be a problem if your wall mounting but otherwise you're gonna need to boost up your TV somehow so your remote signals can reach the wireless subwoofer is designed to be placed in the back of the room where you can connect the two rear speakers using the included speaker cables it's a smart design since it eliminates the need to run speakers from the front of the room to the back although you're still gonna have some wires that you need to hide the included remote is also a cut above the competition mostly due to the built-in display that means you get visual feedback right on the remote instead of needing to squint across the room at a display on the sound bar and the vizio does have a neat display on the sound bar as well with a series of white LED lights that light up when you adjust the volume and make other tweaks the videos features are pretty great too with plenty of inputs including two HDMI ports optical coaxial analog and mini Jack usually HDMI inputs aren't that big of a plus on the sound bar because you can always use your TV as a switcher but here they actually matter that's because most TVs dumb down incoming audio signals to stereo so on this system you wouldn't get the full surround sound effect there's also a built-in Bluetooth so you can wirelessly stream audio from smartphones and tablets as for sound quality the vizio jumbo-sized really makes a difference the ultra wide sound bar gives you more stereo separation and the bigger stuff gives you more base and you don't have to be an audiophile to appreciate the surround sound of the rear speakers which make a huge difference on movies that are heavy with special effects when we put it head-to-head with Sony's HTC T 770 there was no contest in terms of surround sound ambience on movies and the video even held up well with music too the big question with this system is really just its size the sound bar itself is too big for most living rooms and you do lose some of the simplicity of a sound bar once you start adding rear speakers and additional wires and the $500 price is high too especially when Vizio makes a 42 inch 5.1 sound bar that's selling for about half the price but if you have the space and you want the best performance the Vizio gets you closer to the cinema experience than any other sound bar out there without the full clutter of a home theater in a box system that's a truly impressive feat and that's worth the five hundred dollar price tag I'm Matthew moscovia from CNET and this is the Vizio s 54-51 W 2 C 2