SB36512-F6 Vizio Sound Bar (1 Viewer)

[Mike Mitsch]

We bought a SB36512-F6 Vizio sound bar at BestBuy for $299. We got it for my wife’s parents who are elderly and hard of hearing. The salesman recommended it due to it having rear speakers. He said the rear speakers could be put nearer to where my father-in-law sits and would be better for them.

Apparently it’s 5.1.2 and has Atmos. I really don’t know what these are or if these features make it better for our purposes. They had another Vizeo that was $100 less but was 5.1. It also had a 5” subwoofer vs the 6” in theSB36512-F6. Would it be any good?

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any other recommendations.

 

[Lord Dalek]

We bought a SB36512-F6 Vizio sound bar at BestBuy for $299. We got it for my wife’s parents who are elderly and hard of hearing. The salesman recommended it due to it having rear speakers. He said the rear speakers could be put nearer to where my father-in-law sits and would be better for them.

Congratulations, you got suckered. Rear speakers will not help your parents hearing problems as the majority of sounds will be coming from the center of the soundbar. Those rear channels are for surround effects and the upward firing atmos effects in this case.

 

[Mike Mitsch]

Congratulations, you got suckered. Rear speakers will not help your parents hearing problems as the majority of sounds will be coming from the center of the soundbar. Those rear channels are for surround effects and the upward firing atmos effects in this case.

Thank you for the warning!!! Actually it’s still in the box so I can take it back.

Would you have any suggestions we could get? We’d like to get some speakers near them. Are there any products you’d know that could be a fit?

Look forward to hearing from you!

 

[Mike Mitsch]

Congratulations, you got suckered. Rear speakers will not help your parents hearing problems as the majority of sounds will be coming from the center of the soundbar. Those rear channels are for surround effects and the upward firing atmos effects in this case.

I think I may have solved the speaker dilemma. I found a device on the web for people with hearing issues. You can see it at See on Amazon

I also found a used one on eBay for $32 and got it for a trial. I noticed that the connection is via a 3.5mm jack from the TV to RCA jacks to the unit. Even though the TCL model 65R625 65" has a jack, I also read that using it may cause issues with streaming channels. To allow the use of a digital optical cable I also got a Toslink converter, which you can see here See on Amazon

I guess if I use the converter I have to set the TV to PCM mode too.

Let me know your thoughts. Hopefully this will work.