Top 10 Best Home Sound System

I had been tracking the previous Atmos soundbars from Vizio. They are relatively expensive at $900 and $500 - still much cheaper than top of the line LG and Sonos'. Sometimes I would see the smaller version go on sale for $300. Then I saw a very favorable review for this unit on RTINGS.com. Even better, the refurbished unit was only $175. I ordered it and low and behold, it's good.

Pros:
Very, very easy to set up.
Very clean and loud sound with a surprisingly good little sub. I own an 8 inch B&W, a 10 inch ELAC and a 10 inch SVS so I am used to deep bass.
The soundbar is also slimmer than any of the other Vizio soundbars I own and just slightly taller than the Yamaha soundbar it replaced.
There's a cool feature where a smart speaker can be connected to a separate line or Bluetooth connection. When the the smart speaker wants to "speak", the soundbard will reduce the main source volume and then bring the volume back afterwards. It actually worked.
It does accept an Atmos bitstream..
The surround is typical Vizio good.
Part of the remote is backlit.
ARC works from my TCL TV.
Very good features and value for the money.

Cons: (These are all minor)
For a soundbar with such good dialogue clarity, there's very little "air" and imaging in the front, even at close range. the Surround and Virtual Surround help but there's still a lack of focus.
Atmos sounds different but I couldn't detect any height. My main system (Yamaha, Monitor Audio, Definitive, SVS) is hyper-focused and Atmos is obvious.
The remote is a little hard to use. Not terrible but not something you will pick up in the dark to make a quick adjustment.
No ethernet or wifi streaming.
Typical crappy, Vizio LED status display.

Overall, Vizio makes good soundbars, especially since there are so many refurb units out there. None of the ones (5) I have purchased have every failed and Vizios are just shy of audiophile quality. Most soundbars are FAR inferior to the typical Vizio.

Highly recommended

I'm a big audio fan with too many speakers for one life time.
Was trying to go "modern" with this and this thing blew me away. Mind you I have a small office, but cranked it all the way to feel it and for the price, superb.
My samsung harmon kardon can't touch this model.
Super impressed

There aren't too many micro hi-fi systems around these days. In fact, I don't even know if Philips manufactures audio equipment for the US market anymore (this unit may be discontinued now).

But I had a Philips system that was 13 yrs old and it was time for a new one. The dimensions are perfect - this is smaller than a similar Sony system that's on the market - for the space I wanted to fill and so I got this. It's a sleekly designed system that looks nice, is truly compact, and works quite well (the sound is good considering this isn't a high-powered system) and the remote is fine.

Awesome speaker!!!

Sound Quality is amazing! I was surprised given the cheap price. The bass is great.

Controls are very easy. Connececting to Bluetooth is a breeze.

Before purchasing this system, l checked out the customer reviews. You read the 5 stars, you read the 1 star ratings. Somewhere in between, you get a gist of what you’re looking looking at. This PHILLIPS system filled my requirements to a tee and l am absolutely happy with it. As you can see in the photo l’ve posted, this system is a shelf system that l could use whilst laying in bed and checking out my iPad for the days news, stock market, social page, emails,etc. l blue toothed my phone playing my songs from my AMAZON MUSIC playlist, hooked up my iPod using the audio out of iPod to audio in on the PHILLIPS whilst hooking up the USB port to keep charging my iPod, played USB thumb drives, and of course CD’s. I don’t have any MP3 cd’s, l use the thumb drives. Although this system has a tuner, l rarely listen to radio. The audio quality of all formats is excellent. I have a JBL 2 speaker and a GOOGLE HOME speaker, but find the audio not nearly as robust as this system. 15 watts is good enough to listen to music, whilst laying in bed. Bass and drums come thru and the audio spectrum is even. You hear everything. Vocals, guitars, keys, horns...they’re all there. The PHILLIPS can’t compete with my stereo system in the living room, but l don’t need the power. If l want the whole neighborhood to hear my music, l blast my living room stereo setup. My PHILLIPS is for me, not the ‘hood. As l write this review, l am listening to my blue-toothed android phone AMAZON MUSIC playlist of songs from my junior high school years ( l graduated from jr high in ‘71 ) and, as Maxwell Smart would say, “loving it”. For me, the setup and remote control are intuitive for this system. I did not have to refer to the instruction sheet. Yes, this system won’t remember what track was the last one played on cd’s or any format, but that’s cool with me. I wanted a system that l could listen to that supports various formats. A system that l could use whilst lying in bed, A SYSTEM TO PLAY MUSIC THAT SOOTHES THE SAVAGE BREAST...

I researched this a bit. I saw some bad reviews and I took a chance anyway. There are some people that will never be happy with anything. I'm glad I bought this system. It's not going to be what you could get if you spent $5000 dollars but it's damn good for less than $200. I can't speak to how long it will las because I've only had it about 5 days but it sounds pretty good to me. If I had one bitch it would be that the back speaker wires could be about 10 feet longer, but that is very minor and easily fixed. The bass thumps.

I'm loving this theater sound system. I've had expensive theater sound systems in the past. I last had a sound bar and woofer. As I set up my mancave, the sound bar wasn't giving me the sound and feel. I was considering my old faithful Onkyo system. So in my search, the LED on the Rockville system caught my eye and the price. So for the price and the features, I purchased it. It came in and I installed it. Everything was great! I first connected using BT. I had an issue with reconnecting the BT every time I turned the system off. So I went with the RCA route. So I bought a DA Converter with Toslink connection because my TV didn't have RCA outputs. Connected everything and a God awful sound came out. Long story short, It wasn't in the paperwork of the Rockville system but I had to switch TV sound from digital to PCM. When I did that, Houston we have sound! I'll continue to enjoy watching movies and TV and feeling the full effect.

I read a lot of reviews for this sound system and some talked about the sound quality and the base being overpowering. I have watched many movies so far and while I can feel the base it is not overpowering. It makes the movie that much more enjoyable. After a few movies I noticed a buzzing sound that concerned me, but past experience and tests told me the buzzing was coming from the dvd player not the system.

It was easy to install, it came with an auxiliary jack to plug the sound cables into the tv and that is how we set it up. I am grateful for the other review that said you need to change where the sound is coming from on your tv; I started panicking when the system wouldn't work, until I remembered that info.

The cords were long enough to put around my room and I love the lights. The only thing that my dad wished it had was a mute button on the controller.

So I went from a Bose Cinemate 2 (2 speakers and a sub), to a fully wired surround sound system (Onkyo HTS 7700), then had downsized to a Yamaha YAS 207 (FANTASTIC for dialogue), to this awesome JBL Bar 5.1. My biggest reason for going to this is because we wanted to minimize, but I also really wanted surround sound.

This thing is AMAZING. Not only does it sound great, but it's just so awesome to show off. If you're thrown off by the whole battery part, don't be. Not only do they last long enough for a party, BUT they do have micro usb inputs that you could use to keep them powered. This means if you wanted to keep them "wireless", you could. I say "wireless" because you don't have to have them plugged into the soundbar or sub, but if you wanted to leave them unplugged, you'd have to power them somehow (micro usb). So it's awesome that you have that option. I thought I'd want to keep them unplugged and leave the surround sound around me, but I really only do that for movies or intense shows. It's super easy to take the speakers apart and put them WHEREVER you want. It automatically configures itself to be 5.1 when you separate the speakers.

-Setup: Extremely easy and quick. The hardest part was unwinding the microphone. You just take the 2 speakers off, place them where you would usually want them to be, then put the microphone a little behind where you would sit. In my case, on top of the back part of my couch. Then you hit the button on the remote and in less than a minute it's done. Your system is good to go.

-Ease of use: If your tv doesn't have an ARC HDMI port, upgrade to one that does. This is a life saver. Now you can control the volume with your tv remote. You'll only need the JBL remote when you want to configure the settings (calibrate, adjust volume specifically for the surround speakers, adjust base). I did all the adjustments I wanted, so I'm good to go with just the tv remote.

-Sound Quality: My wife and I always have trouble hearing dialogue (we're in our 20s/30s), so we usually have subtitles on to make sure we don't miss anything. That's why I LOVED my Yamaha YAS-207 soundbar. Unfortunately our ceiling and walls are too far apart to get the digital surround effect. This system does an incredible job at delivering clear dialog, along with strong (easily controllable) base, and great surround sound.

-Features: You can adjust everything with the remote. They made it super simple and dummy proof. There's been times where we were eating at the dining table with the tv on, and for fun I took the speakers off and put them on both sides of the table. Worked great, and it's just super cool to do. It's definitely a fun party trick that delivers.

I've only had it for a week, but I'll be sure to update this after using it more. I got it on sale for $599 and got the square trade protection for $20. All in all, I'm very happy with this system.

I bought this JBL 5.1 Surround Sound Bar system to go along with the refurbished 65” LG C8 OLED TV I also bought on Amazon. I think this sound system is phenomenal! I love the wireless detachable speakers, as they pack a lot of sound for their size. I see people complain that you have to charge them on the sound bar, but I don’t find it to be an issue at all. I just reattach them after I’m done watching TV, it only takes like 15 seconds to do! The bass is incredible on the sub woofer. If your TV has HDMI ARC capability, make sure to plug your HDMI cable from the sound bar into the HDMI ARC input on your TV. This allows you to turn the JBL system on/off and allows you to adjust the volume with your cable or TV remote, which is extremely convenient! When I turn my TV on, boom the JBL system turns on right with it! They supply wall mounts in the box for the sound bar and for the wireless detachable speakers, which were easy to setup for a completely inept handyman like myself.

Make sure that you use the calibration antenna that they give you. At first I thought the speakers were terrible, but after I followed the instructions for calibrating, it made the system work how it is supposed to.

After calibrating, here are the settings I found to give me the best sound quality: The “Movie” sound mode gave me the best treble/bass/mids for every type of media I watched on my TV. I always keep the wireless speakers at +6 setting, which is as high as they can go. I keep the sub woofer at 20 out of 30, and that is plenty enough of bass for me. As far as volume goes, anywhere between 18 - 27 is great depending on what you are watching. It goes all the way up to 47, so that tells you just how loud these speakers can get, they are LOUD.

I highly recommend the JBL 5.1 Surround Sound Bar. Make the purchase, you won’t regret it!

After drooling over the Sonos 5.1 (Beam) system at Best Buy, and trying/returning a couple other sound bars not worth mentioning, I was really hoping not to love JBL 5.1 so much- but for almost 1/3 of the price of Sonos (found a great Amazon warehouse deal), how can I not keep this!
The biggest shocker is how great music sounds through the bar with the satellite speakers attached (not so much in surround mode but who cares). You can play around with different sound modes and find a setting to suit your taste. The music mode is a bit thin for me, but standard and movie modes sound thick and rich which brings me to my next point...
The subwoofer is sick in an overkill kind of way like a drunk bass player who won’t turn his amp down. You really have to reign it in to keep from overpowering the mix. Thankfully, there’s a bass button on the remote to adjustments on the fly depending on content.
The remote could be better. Backlighting and treble controls would be great additions, and it feels a little light and cheap in the hand. Functionally, it’s great. I also appreciate the surround speaker volume controls. I’ve found lowering the surround level to 4 out of 6, keeping the sub under control, and boosting the bar volume provides for a well-balanced sonically pleasing experience. For me to get to point where I can get lost in the all enveloping soundscape without thinking about what needs to be tweaked is a major feat the JBL has accomplished.
For the best results, you need to calibrate which is super simple and takes all of 30 seconds. It’s fun to play around with different placements to get the best effect. Out of the box, all the components auto sync and get along swimmingly. Reconnecting for recharge is breeze, and we fast-settled into a nightly routine where we put the little satellite speakers in their discreet places just behind and to the right and left of us, then plug them back in the morning to recharge. The bar in 2.1 mode is great for regular tv and any kind Bluetooth streamed content you can throw at it.
Compared to most other bar systems out there, the amount of HDMI inputs on this thing is opulent- 3 plus an ARC HDMI out which is the “input” from an ARC compatible TV. We have the the cable box and Blu-ray player going into the Samsung then out to the ARC port to the JBL. It’s great to have volume control through the tv remote for times you just want to turn on the TV and not mess with other remotes and settings.
In summary, don’t let the “lack of midrange” reviews scare you away. The dialogue comes through crystal clear and all styles of music shine through. Is the Sonos better? Probably, but I can’t say for certain because I haven’t lived with it and put it through the paces. For us, the JBL system more than meets our needs and expectations, and I appreciate the fine tuning capabilities of the remote which is lacking with Sonos where you have to program your tv remote to function with it along with using the app.
I wholeheartedly recommend this system to those who want something that’s a dream to set up, easy to adjust to your liking, and truly delivers to even the most discerning audio freaks out there.

The sound just fills the room! Super easy installation, even for a non-techie like me. It literally was plug-and-play. I have a 35' x 40' great room with 14' high ceilings. This Saiyin sound bar fills the entire space with crisp clear sound. The subwoofer further enhances the sound experience. Don't wonder any more... buy it!

I previously had a Saiyin sound bar that I was perfectly happy with. This newer model with the subwoofer puts the old one to shame. A case of "you don't know what you are missing until you have it".

Additionally, the packing was pure genius... an "L" shaped cardboard box that snuggly cradled the components. No jostling or banging around in the box.

This sound bar and subwoofer set are phenomenal! I was skeptical of what the sound quality would be like, based on the price. I am blown away. I just received it today. So far, I have streamed music and watched a show, and I am beyond pleased with this purchase! I highly recommend!

Quality, easy to connect with optical cable included and great price.

The speakers are super f***ing nice and I love surround sound now lol. However, I’m not sure what happened but the box had at least 10 of some small brown bug inside. Which are now free in my apartment:/. Not sure who’s to blame hence the five star review but I guess just a warning? Good sound system, open it outside your home lol

Sounds Tony the Tiger GREAT in my bedroom...

I try not to write reviews of products until a few months later, but I'm so enamored with this system! I hope I'm not jumping the gun. If it stops working, i'll revise this review lol!

This is my second Acoustic Audio purchase. The first came almost 3 years to the day earlier, buying the AA5150. Despite the previous system continuing to work, I wanted an upgrade and I chose this one based on the price. First, it looks really cool; I love the black and silver speakers! But more importantly, it sounds really good! I have not experienced any interference or static or any unwanted sounds when playing. I have my cheap record player hooked up to it and I was blown away by how clear it sounded!

Granted, I'm not an audiophile, but this system for my small bedroom is really great! The complaints from the previous model I had was that it would not remember your volume settings. Every time you turn the system off, it would reset itself. To my surprise, that's not the case here! The volume settings remain the same way you left them! What did surprise me, however, is that the satellite speakers don't have holes in the back to hang them onto the walls (but 3M Command Strips work perfectly for that).

As far as surround sound goes, it won't be discrete unless you have an audio decoder. The one I use is the HD Audio Rush device. I've had it for three years and it still works wonders! By implementing that, my TV, Amazon Fire stick and PS4 all produce proper 5.1 surround sound.

As of now, I have no complaints about this system! It far surpassed my expectations! The sound is clear and loud, and the surround sound enhances my movie and TV watching, as well as videogame playing, experiences!

I had an old RCA Receiver/surround sound system with 6 wired speakers (since 2009) and still worked...for a while...at higher volumes it would turn off (overload?). I contemplated replacing and even after I purchased this Acoustic Audio system, it sat in the box for over a month because I was intimidated to get it all setup. IT WAS SO EASY!! I wish the cables were a bit longer on the right & left speakers but we made it work. Surprised on the great QUALITY of sound (no static/distortion at higher volume). Very Happy customer! Music and movies sound great!!

To those complaining about the volume. Maybe it has more to do with your TV and not the surround system itself. Firstly, the speakers are not wireless. They must be plugged into the back of the subwoofer unit. Secondly, you can hook it up via a Bluetooth Wireless Audio Transmitter like I did or you can opt for the regular red and white RCA jacks.

I have a 65 inch RCA Roku TV. Most newer tv's have an audio jack and you just plug the Bluetooth Wireless Audio Transmitter(sold separately eleswhere) 3.5mm audio jack into the headphone jack on the TV. The system will beep twice and it will be paired. On my TV I can raise the volume up to 100 bypassing the 30db surround sound system limit by using the TV Remote.

It's extremely easy to set the volume for each speaker including the subwoofer. The sound quality is excellent when done this way, otherwise it will continue to remain too low.

The only disappointment I have with this purchase is that all of the other speakers must be plugged in and are not truly wireless.

I bought these speakers (Klipsch Black Reference Theater Pack 5.1) and the Yamaha RX-V485BL receiver (changing from an Onkyo HT-R530 and a set of Cerwin Vega D9s that I rebuilt). I finally got it all set up a couple days ago and this is truly the best sound I’ve ever heard! This system spits out perfect sound with everything I throw at it (football games, television, different genres of music, movies from Blu-ray and streaming with a Roku TCL TV using SPIDF). I’m hearing sounds from instruments that I’ve never heard before when playing my favorite songs. I strongly recommend this system to anyone if going with 5.1 surround. I was thinking that if I were putting a system in a much larger room, I would have bought a 7.1 receiver and tried using the Klipsch as surround speakers with the Cerwin Vegas in the front and now after listening to the Klipsch, I would go with Klipsch all the way around.

When it comes to speaker sound, audio quality is completely subjective. Speaker companies build loyalty because of the way the sound is produced. I will admit that I am a huge fan of Klipsch’s sound. I have computer speakers by Klipsch (over 15 years old now!). I have my main TV area built around Klipsch speakers. When it came time to update my video game surround sound system (I had a very old Onkyo home theater in a box), I looked to Klipsch.

The Reference Series is one of the best on the market. I have listened to most of them through various receivers, and they all sound amazing. However, my room with my video game system has very limited space (aka man-cave), and although I wanted those large tower speakers, I simply had no room for them.

Enter the Reference Theater Pack, which came out in November 2017. I could not find them in a store to listen to because they were so new. I bought them on instinct and trust that if I liked all the other Reference speakers, I would like these. They are small, yet contain all the power of the Reference line.

One word: Amazing! I hooked them up to my brand new Denon receiver. I used AudioQuest X2 speaker wire (14 gauge) and took my time to hook up everything correctly. I booted up my Playstation 4 and played some games and movies. The sound was unlike anything I have heard before. First, the new receiver was picking up the correct Dolby format from the Playstation games and movies. Second, the sound out of each individual speaker was crystal clear. The highs, lows, and mids were all there. From a small, tiny sound in the background to a voice in the foreground, everything came alive. I was able to crank up the sound, and although it was loud, it did not hurt my ears.

One thing that attracted me to Klipsch all those years ago was how they incorporate bass into the rest of their sound. Sometimes, I hear systems where I can hear all the sound, and then some bass is thrown in on top. It drowns out everything else. I have never liked that style of sound creation. Instead, Klipsch’s bass is equally integrated into the rest of the sound. In other words, I know my subwoofer is on, but it never overpowers anything else. It can rattle my walls without hurting my ears.

These are the best 5.1 speakers I have ever heard. Their size and power are unmatched.

If there is one negative, it is how Klipsch designed the speaker wire plug on these speakers. You have to thread the wire through the frame of the speaker and then through the plug itself, which requires you to push and hold in order to get the wire through. If I was using a small gauge wire, this might not be hard to do. But the X2 14 gauge wire is as big as these speakers will take, and it was very hard to hook them up. I had a flashlight under my chin, a finger pushing in the plug, and a very steady hand to get those wires in. On small slip and the copper wire bunched up. I am not sure why Klipsch made this so hard to do.

Overall, I highly recommend these speakers. If you have a room limited by space, and these fit your needs, you will be very happy with this purchase. They have made every single game, movie, and TV show sound better and come alive with full audio immersion.

Wow, I don't think there is anything I can complain about here. TM80, btw. I've been looking for some good tower speakers for my home. For streaming music and for my tv. Bass is important and also good quality highs without distortion. So far, these totally deliver. The music is crisp, clear, and the bass is off the charts. It can be adjusted so bad reviews over the subs being too powerful seems ridiculous to me. These sound awesome. They look nice and appear to be well made also. That's hard to find these days. As long as they hold up I'm giving them 5 stars all the way!!
**UPDATE 1-2-20** Still using these two years later and still very happy with them. They sound great!

I bought these to upgrade my 20yr old speakers. They sound great for movies , tv and music. They do not work well with video games though. It's not the sound quality that is bad it's how the spatial sounds from front to back. Example while playing Fallout 4 I was being shot at from an enemy I could not see and the sound of the gun fire sounded like it was coming from behind me when in truth it was from the front. When you turned you character around it wound change to the back. Now I have not tried a lot different games yet but just be aware that that might be a problem for you. I just plugger my headphones in to get around that issue. Otherwise they are great for the price.

I certainly got the sound quality for a very reasonable price. The Cherry color is a perfect match with my furniture. I would recommend the Rockwell speakers to everyone. They sound Great!

Fantastic system for the money. Performance rivals system double its price if not triple. Did a ton of research on it before I bought it. The ONLY annoyance with the system is its looks. Speakers have a look to them as if they are PC desk top speakers (in which they realistically are). When you hang them on your wall to use as a surround sound with your TV you need to get creative in having them "work" with the appearance of everything in the room but that isnt a big deal. SOUND and FUNCTIONALITY is superb. Would buy it over again without a question. Subwoofer is small but has VERY rich powerful bass, does not get distort when pushed to its limits and will shake your house with quality sound if needed.

Hello everyone. I got this Logitech Z906 speaker system in March of 2018. It's been almost two months now. So I think I have tested the speaker system enough to give an honest review. This speaker system is awesome for the price. Really good clear sound from the lows to the highs. The bass is great from the subwoofer. Rattles my room at times. The voices are also very clear in the center channel. The system also gives you many different ways to hook up and audio source. 3.5 mm, RCA cables, 6 channel direct, 2 Optical Digital slots, coaxial Digital, I myself choose to use optical Digital for me needs. Also it comes with all the speaker wires you need to set up. TV shows, Movies, Games they all sounds incredible on this speaker system. If your looking for a good quality speaker system for a decent price this is the one. I really enjoy all my shows and movies on the Logitech Z906 speaker system.

I bought this Logitech system from Amazon, a good value for the price range, and posting a troubleshooting checklist due to so much misinformation and to assist resolving common problems.

Doesn't work at all: The subwoofer has a power cord, ensure the cord is plugged into an active electrical wall outlet and turned on.

Some speakers work: Each cable is sheathed in plastic and stripped at the ends for electrical connection. Ensure the wires have ACTUAL electrical contact with the metal posts, and not clipped at the plastic sheath.

Speakers suddenly stopped working: If you have a cat, dog, child, guest, etc, in your house, someone\something knocked wires loose when you weren't looking, ensure an electrical connection.

Speakers not working continued: The master control panel has 6 different Input selections. For me with 5.1 surround sound on a PC, I use Input 1. However, ensure you're selecting according to YOUR specific setup, and someone didn’t change the setting later. CAUTION: You could accidently hit that switch while changing the volume.

Popping sounds or sudden popping noise: You've installed and enabled software with audio enhancements. Example, if you're using PowerDud, you need to DISABLE audio enhancements to turn off the popping and crackling.

Not loud enough: With speaker volume at 50% on the second floor of my home, my significant other is very unhappy because my speakers overpower her cooking shows downstairs. I can literally feel the bass on the floor, and I can hear my system standing outside my house.

Want a system loud enough neighbors call the Police: This is not your system. Buy a DXX receiver, NXX preamp and amp, and PXX speakers.

Warranty expired and suddenly stopped working: My old system is over 10 years old and still works, and why I bought this upgrade. You're pushing too hard, refer to above.

Other: A person posted photos of wires he\she poorly attached to disassembled speakers. Posted another photo of the center speaker upside down in a left corner. I have an electronics background from from the military, no idea what that person is doing. Just say NO to drugs.