Vizio M-Series 5.1 M51a-H6 review
Our Verdict
Vizio'south M-Series v.1 M51a-H6 gives you a lot for the money, just you need to work to go information technology to audio its all-time.
For
- True surround audio with Atmos back up
- Lots of audio and input options
- Affordable
Against
- Bass lacks detail
- Takes work to get the correct sound
- No upfiring speakers
Tom'due south Guide Verdict
Vizio'due south 1000-Series five.one M51a-H6 gives y'all a lot for the money, but you lot need to work to get information technology to sound its best.
Pros
- +
Truthful surround audio with Atmos support
- +
Lots of audio and input options
- +
Affordable
Cons
- -
Bass lacks detail
- -
Takes work to get the right sound
- -
No upfiring speakers
- -
Vizio's Grand-Series 5.1 Home Theater with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X M51a-H6 is a soundbar system with a long proper noun and an even longer list of features. The M51a-H6 features a subwoofer and satellite speakers, so you get true 5.1 surround sound; supports Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual:X for the latest in immersive sound; and comes with many, many ways to adjust the audio you hear. All the same, its best characteristic may be the price: merely $250 for the whole package.
Just while this organisation challenges the very all-time soundbars on sheer value, it needed some significant experimentation with the options before it realized its potential. Equally our Vizio Thou-Series five.i M51a-H6 will explain, if yous're looking for a "set information technology and forget it" soundbar, this may non exist the correct i for you.
- Check out the the best cheap soundbars under $100
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Vizio G-Series five.1 M51a-V6
The Vizio K-Series 5.1 M51a-V6 is one of the cheapest soundbar/subwoofer/satellite combos we've tested, at $250. This is downwardly significantly on the $350 list price, but fifty-fifty that would be pretty proficient value considering how much you get.
You can pick upwards the M51a-V6 from CostCo or direct from Vizio.
Vizio Thousand-Serial v.1 M51a-V6 review: Design
The M51a-H6 looks similar it costs more than it does; it has an elegant design with rounded edges and a charcoal color that doesn't attract too much attention.
The 36 x iii.5 10 2 inch primary soundbar features 6 drivers, all frontward facing — unusually for an Atmos soundbar, there are no upfiring drivers on top for height.
The wireless subwoofer measures well-nigh 11.8 x ix 10 eight.iv inches and has a half dozen-inch woofer inside. The sub includes wired outputs for the left and right satellites, each about v.8 ten 3.five x two.3 inches.
The meridian of the soundbar has power, input, Bluetooth pairing and volume controls, while LEDs on the front-left show you the volume level. Dissimilar combinations of the lights also flash when you change inputs or sound modes. A green lite shows when Dolby Atmos is engaged.
On the dorsum you lot'll find an HDMI Out to connect to your TV, as well every bit one HDMI In for external devices such as a streaming box or a game console. There's also an optical digital audio input, USB input and two 3.5mm auxiliary inputs. One aux input is for connecting a Tv set and another, labeled Aux VA, for a voice assistant speaker — a feature shared with the similarly affordable Vizio V21-H8 soundbar.
The Aux VA input stays active even when you switch to other inputs, allowing ever-on admission to your voice assistant. Information technology'due south a handy addition and clever way to make use of your existing voice-enabled speaker.
The Vizio remote does a lot of heavy lifting, especially since there's no app for the arrangement. It has a pocket-size display at the height that shows options as you select them. For example, if you select Input, you tin can gyre through HDMI eARC, HDMI in, Bluetooth, and others.
The speaker also says the input or sound mode option when you modify information technology. That's a lot to ask of a trivial remote, simply I found the screen easy to read and the options fairly intuitive to navigate. You may desire to check the manual to see which options are under each menu.
Vizio M-Series 5.1 M51a-V6 review: Performance
No matter how good virtual surroundings sound gets, it has yet to beat the real thing. Having satellite speakers on the M51a-H6 improves the immersive experience of watching a movie or playing a game. Dolby Atmos and DTS:Ten support makes the issue even more precise, too. When Thor throws his axe in Avengers: Infinity War, you can practically feel information technology move through space thank you to the surround speakers. It'south hard to fake that. However, the M51a-H6 lacks upfiring speakers, so you lot miss the superlative effect when Thor brings the lightning down.
The M51a-H6 is a bass-forrard soundbar, which can be groovy for a tactile listening feel. But depending on how you prepare the speaker (see the Setup section below), the low terminate can completely overwhelm everything else. In 2004'southward Homo on Burn down, when Denzel Washington started blowing upwardly cars, the floor shook so much that my windows rattled. But the audio from the subwoofer lacked any definition — it was just a dirty roar. I was able to ameliorate the effect past moving the subwoofer and lowering the level, simply that didn't change the item coming out of the sub.
When the subwoofer is under control, voices sound full and resonant. Lady Whistledown'south voiceovers in Bridgerton were piece of cake to understand, as were the conversations between Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown in One Night in Miami.
Music sounds full and vivid, if you don't mind listening to your music in environment audio. In Music mode, The Weeknd's vocals on "Bright Lights" were full and warm while the bass resonated nicely; the acoustic guitar on Fleetwood Mac'due south "Never Going Back Over again" was precipitous and realistic. But using Directly manner — which plays stereo instead of surround, as the music was recorded — the vocals and instruments were flat, with just the bass remaining impressive..
The M51a-V6 is one of the loudest soundbars I've tested, pushing over 100 decibels at full volume. The sound distorted at that level, just sounded relatively clean even at ninety decibels. You won't have to worry most whether this organisation can fill up your room.
Vizio Grand-Series v.i M51a-V6 review: Setup
The M51a-V6 offers a couple of different means to arrange the soundbar, satellites and subwoofer. Vizio'southward recommended placement has the soundbar under the Idiot box, the satellites behind you and the sub side by side to where yous sit. This may be because yous connect the satellites to the sub via wires, and this arrangement keeps the cables out of your way. You lot tin can also put the satellites in front with the soundbar, and put the sub next to the TV — if you lot do this, exist sure to switch the satellite system in the remote's Setup carte.
Having the sub side by side to me made the low end way likewise ascendant in the sound mix, even if I turned the sub book down. Having the satellites in front also eliminated the benefit of having rear speakers — the sound didn't move around me. I settled on having the sub in front end, well-nigh the Telly, and placing the satellites behind me with the wires running across the room. This might not be Vizio's recommendation, merely to my ears it provided the best balance of bass and surround sound. The right organization for your room may vary; but at least you have plenty of options to make it sound as skilful as it tin can.
I used an HDMI cable to connect the M51a-V6'south HDMI Out to my TV'southward eARC HDMI port and was quickly listening. That connection allowed me to use my TV'due south remote to control the volume. However, the M51a-H6 didn't turn on when I powered on the Goggle box — I had to apply the Vizio remote.
After finding the best placement of the speakers for your room, there are a ton of additional tweaks you lot can make to the audio. Equalizer options include Movie, Music, Direct and Game; yous tin also separately heave Dialog, Bass and Treble levels. You can as well manually change the level of the Centre, Subwoofer and Satellite channels. The Satellite level doesn't differentiate betwixt the correct and left, merely you lot can adjust the rest between the two.
The Setup card has even more than settings to dabble with, too. That's a lot of potential means to make the sound the fashion yous similar it, particularly for an inexpensive soundbar.
Vizio M-Series 5.1 M51a-V6 review: Verdict
The M51a-H6 delivers truthful 5.i surround sound and it costs about the same as — or less than — soundbars that have to use virtual environs to try to reach the result. It has a lot of flexibility, whether that'due south in the way you adapt the speakers, connectedness options or audio adjustments. And it sounds pretty practiced, too.
But it takes endeavor to get in sound its best, and soundbars are supposed to be elementary to use. In this toll range, you'll find some excellent soundbars that are easier to fix, such equally the Yamaha YAS-209 or, for a little more than, the Sonos Beam.
Only, neither of those come with satellite speakers, or offer Atmos back up. If y'all're looking for truthful 5.1 surround audio with Atmos and desire to spend less than $400, the M51a-H6 is the one to buy.
- More: Read our Vizio V-Series V21-H8 review as well
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/vizio-m51a-h6
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