Walmart has
Hisense 5.1-Channel 510W Soundbar w/ Wireless Subwoofer & 2 Rear Surround Speakers (R651) for
$89.
Shipping is free, otherwise free store pickup is available where stock permits.
Thanks to Deal Hunter
Navy-Wife for finding this deal.
About this item:
- 5.1 Surround Sound - 3 speakers built into the soundbar. Left and right front channel, center channel, plus two Tweeters, surround the listener in 3D audio for room-filling sound that delivers a true Cinema experience.
- Whether you're gaming, watching your favorite movie or show, or listening to that new track on repeat, Dolby Digital Plus and DTX Virtual:X enhances the entertainment you love across all your devices. It goes beyond ordinary listening by transporting you with the breakthrough spatial sound experience that draws you in deeper, so you hear and feel more.
- Wireless 6.5" Subwoofer - A wireless subwoofer delivers robust low-end frequencies that punctuate your favorite movies, music, and games, without any messy wires. You'll feel the "boom" while the two front- facing speakers project bright, clear high and mid-range frequencies. The wireless module requires a power cord to function the Subwoofer.
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First, definitely not a rebadge of last year and definitely no Atmos, which honestly is no big deal IMO. DTS Virtual X is very similar in what it does in post-processing and creating a "sound bubble".
Secondly, the design is really nice on all the components, as would be expected. I do want to note that the soundbar itself is, by far, the lightest bar I've ever picked up. It almost felt like there was nothing in there. It's cloth covered (and so are the rear speakers) rather than the metal grilles from last year.
Thirdly, the speakers do hook up differently than last year's Atmos model. Those were wireless (and many of us had issues with hissing sounds when the volume was low or even when the main unit was off). These plug into the subwoofer like most of the past Vizio models. For me, I prefer having the sub in the back of the room by my listening position anyway. They give you an amazing amount of speaker cable for each.
I do want to note that there are eight speakers total. Three drivers in the bar along with two tweeters, the two surrounds and the sub. This does have Dolby Digital Plus, which is an enhanced, upgraded version of standard 5.1 Digital and what most streaming services use for their audio encoding (Atmos can be delivered via DDP), so combined with the DTS processing, this hopefully should do well with the 3D effects.
One thing this system does have that last year's didn't (at least to my recollection) is Hisense's Pure and Pro Surround settings. Pure delivers the 5.1 sound as originally intended from the source you're playing. Pro creates a "virtual" surround for those that want all the sounds coming out of the speakers at all times, like dialogue. I've always found those kinds of settings completely distracting. I want to hear true surround, not hearing someone speaking out of all five channels at once. That kind of defeats the whole purpose of surround, but some people mistakenly believe sound should be blaring out of their rear speakers at all times, so I guess this is good for them. I wouldn't suggest it myself.
I'll follow up once I've had a chance to listen. This is obviously a Walmart specific model for the holidays. There is zero info about it even on Hisense's website.
I have had a number of Atmos bars, both with and without up firing drivers, and I concur with another poster who said that they never got good results with them. My ceilings are the ideal height and, even after playing around with settings, none ever knocked my socks off. What they were always good for was the object-based audio. Sometimes sounds seemed to be coming from a totally different part of the room, but height effects? Not so much. I've always found that DTS Virtual X worked just as well for that. YMMV
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The one i own
new https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-Imme...B09ZKQPN
refurb https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-M213...B0C3JK92
Other version https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-All-...B08XP1HX61
Atmos, to a lot of people's surprise, is an encoding algorithm just as much as it is a speaker setup. From all the stuff I've read, including Dolby's own documentation, Atmos can work with as little as two speakers in your TV via the processing. It will utilize whatever speakers you're using to "locate" the sounds corresponding to what you're watching on the screen. It's still Atmos. They designed it to work with any setup, as long as you're playing it through a source that can decode the data. Will it be as good? Not by a long shot, but even if it's a 5.1 system that uses "virtual" Atmos processing, it's legit.
The argument I always hear is "It doesn't have upfiring speakers so it's not true Atmos". In reality, even with upfiring speakers it's not, if you really want to be technical about it. You need to have speakers installed in the ceiling and/or at least a 7.1 or more system. You probably see where I'm going with this. I do agree that I've heard products, even some I've purchased myself, where if I didn't know it had Atmos, I wouldn't be able to tell. Some bars and 5.1 systems do a good job. Others, it's not noticeable at all and makes it seem like a gimmick.
I see people online all the time saying that manufacturers are just slapping the logo on their boxes even if it doesn't handle Atmos, which is ludicrous. Dolby would be going after them legally in short order if that was happening. Just because the experience is lousy doesn't mean there's no licensed chip inside the unit.
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