Sound quality: Vizio's SB2020N-G6 delivers sound quality that falls in the Good range - it reproduces music and dialog reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. In the Music mode bass has good impact, but is slightly prominent, somewhat boomy and doesn't go deep. The midrange is fairly even, but is a bit hazy, and constricted and somewhat grainy. The treble is extended, but is a bit sizzly. This model only does a so-so job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the music was recorded) and sounds a bit congested. With stereo program material the sound field extends only a bit above and beyond the sides of the speaker array, but lacks depth. In the Movie sound mode the sound gets louder overall, the bass becomes more prominent and boomy, and the sound field gets taller and a bit wider. The Virtual X mode makes the sound even louder, noticeably harsh and metallic, extends it more up toward the ceiling, and makes the sound field somewhat wider. With multi-channel material the sound in the various sound modes is similar to what's heard with two channel material except the Virtual X mode does not sound not harsh or metallic; the sound field is noticeably wider and taller in the Music and Movie modes, and much wider in the Virtual X mode. There was no significant difference in sound quality between the optical, analog, and Bluetooth inputs. At its best the USB input sounds similar to the others, but is sensitive to the USB stick used and may sound distorted. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV setup and ease of use: Good overall. Setup: Programming the soundbar to respond to the remotes of most TV's, or activating/deactivating the soundbar's feature that lets it respond specifically to a Vizio TV remote was quick and easy but not intuitive so the instructions included with the unit need to be used. All appropriate cables for TV connection are included. Ease of Use: This model has two options that allow it to work seamlessly with your TV - it can be programmed to respond to most TV remote control volume and mute commands, it can be set to respond to the volume and mute commands of many Vizio TV remote controls. That's a good thing because the soundbar's own remote has a volume control that is a bit hard to spot, no clearly defined control groupings, and the soundbar's response to the remote's mute and source selection commands is sluggish and erratic. The console's power, source, and volume controls are adequately identified and on top of the soundbar where they are easy to see and access, but their labels are susceptible to being damaged or peeling off. If that should happen the controls could become unlabeled or in the worst case, unrecognizable as controls. Although the console lacks a mute button it can be unmuted by pressing the volume up control. The display consists of an indicator that can be seen, or tones that can be heard, from a typical listening position; all but the muting and power status indicators are momentary. The source indicator consists of an unlabeled color coded light to show the input selected, When a DSP effects mode is selected different tones sound. Both generally require referencing the instruction manual to decode. The volume indicator light shows that the volume level has been changed, but doesn't show the actual level.
Features setup and ease of use: Fair overall. Setup: Bluetooth pairing requires a long press of a well marked button on the console or remote that can also be used for Bluetooth source selection. Ease of Use: The remote has a volume control that is a bit hard to spot, no clearly defined control groupings, and the soundbar's response to the remote's mute and source selection commands is sluggish and erratic. The console's power, source, and volume controls are adequately identified and on top of the soundbar where they are easy to see and access, but their labels are susceptible to being damaged or peeling off. If that should happen the controls could become unlabeled or in the worst case, unrecognizable as controls. Although the console lacks a mute button it can be unmuted by pressing the volume up control. The display consists of an indicator that can be seen, or tones that can be heard, from a typical listening position; all but the muting and power status indicators are momentary. The source indicator consists of an unlabeled color coded light to show the input selected, When a DSP effects mode is selected different tones sound. Both generally require referencing the instruction manual to decode. The volume indicator light shows that the volume level has been changed, but doesn't show the actual level.
