Home Theater Geeks 454 Transcript
Please be advised this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word for word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-supported version of the show.
00:00 - Scott Wilkinson (Host)
In this episode of Home Theater Geeks I answer a question from Daniel, who has a nine-year-old soundbar that just died. He wants to get another one, but which one? I'll tell him. Stick around Podcasts you love From people you trust. This is TWIT, daniel, who writes is there a reliable place to read about soundbars?
00:46
I have a nine-year-old Vizio soundbar with wireless subwoofer and rear speakers. It works great, except the ARC HDMI port died, so I need to use the soundbar remote to change the volume. The TV and the cable box remotes will not let me assign a separate sound source for the volume control. I hear you on that one. I'm dealing with the same issue myself in my bedroom. He goes on. My TiVo would separate the volume control, but my cable company is discontinuing cable cards this month. Dang, I'm not even sure how I'm going to watch TV without my TiVo. I hear you on that one too.
01:31
I was looking at the Vizio M51AXJ6 for $250. It does 5.1 with Atmos. Or maybe the M512AH6 for $385. I don't see much difference. Both are rated as the best under $300 or $500. On ratingscom that's R-T-I-N-G-S dot com, but ratings mentions that they have connectivity issues. Consumer Reports lists the Hisense AX5125H as the best 5.1. I really don't want to spend a lot. Vizio has served me well, but I'm concerned about buying a two-year-old model with possible connectivity issues, and the 2024 Vizio in my price range does not offer 5.1 or HDMI in and out. Most only have HDMI out. I need the in.
02:35
Well, daniel, you've asked a lot of questions there, but I think I can answer them fairly succinctly. I like ratings dot com. You asked about a place to go for soundbar reviews and stuff and I like ratings dot com. They started with TVs but they've since expanded into a lot of product categories and soundbars is one of them and they do a great job, I think, with their reviews and they. They they're very comprehensive. They do a lot of measurements and they reveal everything in their reviews. They're great. In fact, I would check out their best soundbars list. We'll put the link in the show notes, but it's easy to find if you go to rt ing scom to find. If you go to rtingscom and go to soundbars and best soundbars, this page gives you a summary of their favorites and a link to the full reviews. Now here's a trick.
03:37
Model numbers in consumer electronics can be interesting. They can be very confusing, but they can also be revealing and illuminating if you know what to look for. So, for example, in the Vizio model numbers, almost all of their products have a model number and then it ends with a letter and a number, and the letter after the dash is these two characters come after. A dash indicates the model year. Now I don't know the exact code, but the J model is a year newer than the H model. I don't think they used I and the newest models that I saw on Vizio's website are K, but all of those are more expensive than your budget.
04:30
So let me tell you first about the Vizio M51AX-J6, which is one of the ones you're interested in. Here's a picture of it. It's 5.1. That is correct. It has a wireless subwoofer and two surround speakers that you put near the back of the room. It is 5.1. It does not have any up firing drivers to bounce Dolby Atmos overhead sounds off your ceiling and down into your listening area. It accepts Dolby Atmos signals, but it does not actually reproduce any overhead sounds. Interestingly, this particular model is a Digital Trends recommended product for 2021. So that's a little strange, because if the current models are K and J is one year back from that, if K is 2024 or even 2023, j would be 2023 or 2022. Sorry for all that. Maybe Digital Trends got it early and called it for 2021. In any event, it's a recommended product from Digital Trends, which is a source I like and trust, so you know they think it's good.
06:02
The M512AH6, which is the other one you were interested in, a little more expensive, have a picture of that as well, and it looks almost identical. It has a wireless subwoofer. It has two surround speakers, if you can that. The side, the top, on the top, the two areas on the right and left are darker. That means that they're covered with a grill and that means that they have upfiring drivers that send Atmos sound up to the ceiling and bouncing back down to your seat, assuming you have a ceiling that will reflect the sound in that way. If you have a cathedral ceiling or a false ceiling with a lot of acoustic absorption in it, that ain't going to work, but you know that you're looking for low cost here, so this will do it, especially if you have a reflective flat ceiling.
07:15
Um, and that's the only difference between them, that that is a difference. You said you couldn't see much difference between them and there is, uh, in fact the difference between them, which is the m512 has an up firing driver. That's why it's. There's another part of the model number 512 means five main channels, three front and two surrounds, one subwoofer and two overhead channels. The m51 only has 5.1, but it does accept dolby Atmos signals. Okay, fine, now both have one HDMI input as well as an HDMI output. So that solves that problem that you wanted.
08:04
And I should say also that the two surround speakers they connect with wires to the subwoofer. Your current Vizio probably is the same. So they're not truly wireless. They have to connect to the subwoofer, although I will tell you that truly wireless surround speakers still have to plug into the wall, so they're not truly wireless either. They got to have AC power, okay. So I looked up the M51AX-J6 on Amazon and it's 300 bucks. The M512AH6, which is one model year earlier, is $400 at Amazon and Best Buy. So they're a little more than you thought, at least as far as I could tell. Now I also read the ratings reviews on both of these and I didn't see anything about connectivity issues. So I'm not sure what you're referring to there. I would say either one of them would be fine.
09:07
Now I also looked at the Hisense AX5125H, which is a 5.1.2 soundbar. Notice in the model number here it has 5, 1, 2, and then another 5, for whatever reason. Here's a picture of it. And it also has a wireless subwoofer and wireless surround speakers In this case, truly wireless, well, in the sense that they don't connect to the subwoofer with wires. Instead they have to be plugged in. It also has one HDMI input and an output.
09:46
Ratings mixed use rating is 7.7. The M512A-86 is 7.8. So slightly higher in specific use cases. Rating says Vizio is better because it has a few more surround enhancement features and better latency. But I would say the Hisense is no slouch and it lists on Amazon. Sells on Amazon for $350.
10:16
Now, if you really want to save some money more money ratings recommends the Vizio V51H6, which is 5.1, does not support Atmos, has no HDMI input, but it's only 200 bucks on Amazon. So if you can stretch to the M512AH6, I would do that. Or if you want to save 50 bucks, the Hisense AX5125H would be the way to go. 5125h would be the way to go. So there, I sure hope that helps with your quest for a new soundbar. Now, if you have a question for me, please send it along to htg at twittv and I will answer as many as I can right here on the show. And, as always, we thank you for your support of the TwiT Network with your membership in Club TWiT, which gives you access to all the Club TWiT shows in their video form, which lets you see all the cool graphics that people come up with. Not that this show had a lot of cool graphics, but let you see something. Let you see something. Anyway, I look forward to seeing you next time. Until then, geek out.
