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Add to SafariWhen comparing Sonos Playbar vs VIZIO SB3651-E6 (5.1), the Slant community recommends Sonos Playbar for most people. In the question“What are the best soundbars?” Sonos Playbar is ranked 1st while VIZIO SB3651-E6 (5.1) is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Sonos Playbar is:
This system's combination of nine individually amplified speakers creates a very detailed and clear sound. It has great soundstage and instrument separation, which is quite beneficial for music listeners (and also film watchers too).
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Great for playing music
This system's combination of nine individually amplified speakers creates a very detailed and clear sound. It has great soundstage and instrument separation, which is quite beneficial for music listeners (and also film watchers too).
Pro Wall mountable, with automatic calibration
This soundbar is wall mountable and has a position sensor to recalibrate the soundbar if the position is changed from horizontal to vertical.
Pro Supports digital surround signal
The Sonos supports digital surround signal, like Dolby Digital.
Pro Very upgrade friendly
Most people will find this soundbar’s audio output to be sufficient, but if you want to add extra bass or surround sound, it’s possible to do so by adding Sonos speakers. Furthermore, setting them up is easy to do, as the Sonos mobile and PC applications will recognize the new speakers and will automatically recalibrate everything for optimum sound quality.
Pro Easy to set-up and use
This soundbar is made for simple use, with a very straightforward setup. It has just one optical input port for sound and two Ethernet ports for network use. All you need to do is connect the optical cable to your TV, an Ethernet cable to your router and install the Sonos Controller app on your smartphone or a PC. The app will help you go through all the necessary steps to pair your TV remote with the system, add additional speakers, sort your music library in the network or connect the soundbar to an existing Sonos multi-room setup.
Pro Wi-Fi support
The Sonos supports Wi-Fi, for music streaming.
Pro Easy setup
The soundbar comes with everything you need including a set of all available cables (HTMI, optical, RCA, etc..) and a very easy to follow manual. it even guides you through programming your tv remote to control its volume/mute functionality).
Pro Built-in Chromecast
Can cast directly to the soundbar from any device/app that has casting abilities. Can also be controlled by the google home app to change volume or start/pause/stop playing.
Pro Vizio's Smart Cast app
The mobile app can control the soundbar and replace the remote as it has every functionality that the remote has and is user friendly and easy to understand.
Pro Great sound for the price
Better sound than most 5.1 soundbar systems at this price point.
Cons
Con Expensive
The Sonos is a quite expensive soundbar, definitely not aimed for those on a budget.
Con Limited connectivity
The soundbar only has one dedicated optical input to connect external devices.
Con Aluminum parts can get warm
The aluminum used in the unit’s body works as a radiator for the speakers, so the aluminium pieces can get warm.
Con No support for high resolution audio formats
This soundbar does not support high resolution audio formats, like Dolby TrueHD. You can work around this limitation by streaming the signal in a different format to the soundbar, but this degrades quality.
Con Lacks bass power
The Sonos lacks the room-shaking bass effect that's essential for action packed movies. For that, you’ll need to buy an external subwoofer.
Con Casting doesn't work when soundbar is on echo mode
For some reason the soundbar is unable to be casted to its built-in chromecast when it's on Echo mode. Can be very frustrating until you even figure out why casting doesn't work as it's not mentioned anywhere and requires a thorough google search.
Con Remote is hard to operate
The remote has a small dark screen which is the only way to navigate through the menu's functions. It makes it very hard to control and change the settings. That being said, the vizio app can be used to completely replace the remote but that's only if you're willing to install yet another app on your phone.
