VIZIO - M512a-H6

Budget Vizio M Series 5.1.2 checking in and going strong! Price to Performance is amazing. Best $350 I've spent on Home Theater Equipment

Spend a little bit more than 300 and get the VIZIO - 5.1.2-Channel M-Series Premium Atmos and DTS:X Dark Charcoal Model: M512A-H6. I got mine for $350

I just bought my mom the Sonos Beam 2. I find it’s excellent and she (70 y/o) said it’s the clearest dialogue she’s ever heard from TV.  If you’re looking for more, I own the Vizio M-Series m512a-h6. It’s been an incredible system for my needs and budget. 

In terms of single channel clarity and sound, the beam. But in terms of full surround sound, immersion, 5.1.2 clarity etc., the Vizio. 

Ya i like my 9.2.4 eArc 2 10” subs and 4 surrounds blends nice in a open concept kinda area. It was a almost 1800$ back when i got it for 200$ off an older couple a subwoofer plate fried so subs and surrounds didn’t work i called Nakamich ended up sending me 2 new plates for me to swap out after trying a couple things first. They didn’t chsrge me a dime just asked if it worked if i would send mine back w/shipping label they had sent so they could see what happened. You cant get much better customer care then that and they knew I bought it used. Also have a Vizio Mseries 5.1.2 and a jbl 9.1 i do like there 10” sub im using it as a blutooth speaker in my lil garage part of my basement.

I wish JBL offered there older bars with a 12” like there 1300 models do but there 10” sub sounds better then most. Ill use sound bars in my bedrooms and office i also got all mine stupid cheap when they were all fairy new or been out a year or so. A vizio m512a in office if came w an 8” sub wouldve been nice. Then 2 Nakamichis a 7.2 with dual 8” subs for 200$ was 1500$ or so new at time and 250$ for a 9.2.4 eArc 10” subs which was over 1600$ on Amazon back then. Both Geek squad had lost connection with sub which took out both surrounds on 1 and both subs and 4 surrounds on the other. Both Customers didn’t even try to fix them apparently because i messaged Nakamichi on each system they sent me out thumdrives for subs to try for free which worked on the 7.2 but lastthing they tried on the 9.2 was sent out new sub plates to try and if worked then id send mine back to them with a shipping label they also sent out. That actually worked out I couldn’t believe it for free in under 2 weeks and both sound better then other bars at the time especially in bigger rooms. Then some crack head was selling a JBL 5.1 multibeam w/ 10” sub for 175” I offered 125$ didn’t think id see a response but he messaged back a week or so later to sell BestBuy was selling it new for over 600$. I use it as a blutooth system in my garage off basement and sounds mint mostly because of the sub. Most sound bars I don’t think music sounds good at voume the Nak 9.2.4 still sounds decent id like to hear the 1300Pro just check Marketplace sometimes be surprised what you find sometimes.

Many soundbars DO come with physical rear speakers, and even upfiring Atmos speakers. My Vizio M512a-H6 soundbar is 5.1.2, with upfiring Atmos speakers in the bar plus rear surrounds connected by wires to a wireless subwoofer to avoid running wires across the room. Other soundbars avoid the restrictions that puts on subs by selling rear speakers with a separate wireless receiver (Samsung, LG) or even making each rear speaker totally wireless (JBL). I would even agree that a properly configured & installed AV receiver with professionally installed speakers would sound better than a soundbar, especially with Atmos speakers in or near the ceiling that don't depend on room acoustics. I would even agree that basic AVRs & speakers probably cost less than better soundbars. Still, once you factor in TOTAL costs and/or installation hassle, soundbars are a MUCH better option than TV speakers -- even if your TV comes with its own Atmos setup. (My Hisense U8K is 2.1.2 but with the usual down-firing front speakers plus sub & Atmos speakers on the back of the TV, but my soundbar easily beats it.) Not everyone either wants, OR can afford and/or install, a Denon, a room full of Klipsches, and wires all over; they just want better sound in their living room, even if they live in an apartment, rental house, older house, etc. and are unwilling or unable to run wires across the room due to landlord issues, physical disabilities, etc. For people in those situations like myself, a soundbar like my Vizio IS the solution, even when sitting between a Panasonic UB820 4K player and an upper-midrange Hisense TV. It's definitely good enough for me, unless & until I win the lottery & can afford to buy a house and hire an AV professional to build the best sound system money can buy.

That's why they make soundbars with wireless subs & rear surrounds, and even Atmos ("virtualized", upfiring, etc.), like my Vizio 5.1.2 Atmos/DTS:X soundbar. (Technically the rear surrounds are wired to the wireless sub, but still that avoids stringing speaker wires from front to back.)

I would recommend a [Vizio M-Series 5.1.2 soundbar](https://a.co/d/gvldDfE). The soundbar has the front right left center. 2 height speakers. I got it last year for Christmas by family. I'm a gamer first and after, movies. It hasn't let me down at all for both. The soundbar itself is straight forward. The subwoofer is wireless and the surround speakers plugs into the subwoofer. You can place the surround speaker in the front for front surround mode or keep it rear surround depending on the set up. I will mention right now, it is normally $499.99 but, it's up on sale on Amazon for black friday deals for $383.

I have a few. My main one is a Nakamichi Shockwafe eARC 9.2. I also have the 7.2 version of the same model. Before that I was using a Vizio M512a-h6.

Of course I haven't tried every one on the list and other than professional reviewers I doubt there are many people who have. But I have researched pretty much all of them. I've tried the Samsungs and I don't get the hype. They are entirely overrated and the subs pretty much suck. And yes, I'm saying it because after buying and using more soundbars than I care to admit, I landed on the Nakamichi and it has ended my search for a true movie theater experience short of a $15K AVR+separates system. My second favorite has been a Vizio M512a-h6 which sounds great but doesn't provide the same movie-theater experience as the Nakamichi.

If you have a chance you should try the Nakamichi with dual subs. It's a game changer and makes the Samsung's sub sound like a toy. When I was using the Vizio M512 I thought it was great for a budget home system but the bass was just adequate. The day I hooked up the Nakamichi and fired it up I was floored. My significant other hates all my electronic toys and gadgets and thought it was a waste of time and money....then I told her to sit down and I played the Atmos demo that came with it. Her jaw dropped and she said "whoah...the other soundbar doesn't do THAT!!!" and promptly called her friends and invited them over for a movie night. We watched Civil War and the audio when they get to DC is just mindblowing. As are scenes like the opening in Oppenheimer. There are no other soundbars that provide this kind of bass except for the Nakamichi Dragon with the new 12" subs, but that's a $5K system. For under $1K the Shockwafe eARC 9.2 with its dual 10" subs can't be touched. Even the eARC 7.2 which I also have beats everything else out there. One can argue about the immersiveness of Atmos effects, clarity of dialogue, etc, but the Nak's subs, even though they are not 100% perfect, comfortably beat pretty much everything else out there in the soundbar world. The upcoming Klipsch Flexus 300 can be configured with dual subs and it looks very promising and may be as good, or maybe not, but I don't think it's available yet. I'm eager to see how it compares.

BTW, just to add some context, my living room is approx 13' x 25' so more or less the same size. One of the other systems someone mentioned is a Vizio M512a-h6. I had two of those on different TVs for a couple of years. They sound great and are still my pick for best budget soundbar but the sub is tiny compared to the Nakamichi subs and although it has excellent sound it's too small to provide real bass that is much closer to a movie theater experience which is what the Nakamichi provides.

Look into the Samsung q990c. It goes on sale for around $600 pretty often. Also the Vizio M512a-H6. It can be found for under $400 on sale. I actually prefer this over the Samsung but they're both worth checking out.

The Vizio can be found for under $400 and is a million times better than the Hisense. And the cost of the TV is irrelevant. Some people don't want to spend a ton on a TV but still want decent sound. And OP said their budget was $600 for the soundbar. So $660 including shipping and tax is right around that price. Usually when people mention a budget I don't take into account shipping and tax unless they specifically mention that it has to come in under a certain price with tax/shipping included.

Yep, I have an edu email and over the last couple of years I've saved several thousand $$$ on various stuff. so yaaaaaa, hell yaaaaa!! $$$$$$$$$ And yes, the Vizio M512a-h6 is by far the best budget soundbar currently available.

This one is currently on sale for $349. It's absolutely worth the extra $50. By far the best you will find close to your price range. [https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-5-1-2-Theater-Sound-Dolby/dp/B08TV6GJF7](https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-5-1-2-Theater-Sound-Dolby/dp/B08TV6GJF7)

LG soundbars suck. The Vizio M512a-h6 is the best soundbar in its class. Ironically, LG makes great TVs and Vizio's TVs are shit.

I'm in the same boat. I got the vizio m series h6 from amazon for 380$ and it will be delivered tomorrow,I'm not sure if I should cancel that and get this samsung, is it a huge difference?

I actually ended up sticking to my vizio since I see this samsung is not really wireless so you need to connect the rear and the front speaker to the receiver and people mostly said it's just better than the tv speaker. The wire did it for me tho. I don't wanna wire my living room front to back so I have to always be careful that me or a guest won't tip off of it.

This m series h6 does not have receiver,it just the sw to rear. Also 4 years is not really bad.I don't think Samsung last that long.

It doesn’t come close to my component 5.1.2 setup in my living room, but in my bedroom have a Vizio 5.1.2 m series sound bar that is pretty decent for being a sound bar. It has little rear surround speakers and a sub. Then upfiring atmos speakers in the bar itself. It was like 450 when I got it 3-4 years ago. [doesn’t appear to be available anymore though](https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sku/6446231.p?skuId=6446231&sb_share_source=PDP)

I would steer you towards Vizio. I’ve got a Vizio 512 and it’s really, really good for the price.

I'm ngl foe the price the vizo m series 5.1.2 is alright...I mean don't get me wrong none of these are even CLOSE to my all klipsch 5.1.4 system w/ the new klipsch rp1200sw sub, but for my bedroom the vizio m series does great...I will say tho, anyone that wants a GREAT surround system, a subwoofer with a low freq response is SO important...my old sub was the r12sw, which had a frwq response down to 30hz...my new one, goes down to 16.5hz...its literally like an earthquake in movies

Vizio M Series 5.1.2 and call it a day. Great freaking soundbar for the money. Heck, it rivals my Samsung Q850 which is normally a $1000 system.

100%, best systems for the money and it's not even close.

The best stand alone is definitely the ambeo max. But I suspect with some creativity could use a surround unit despite your room configuration and if you can pull that off you can get some truly terrific sound for far less. The (VIZIO M Series 5.1.2) is amazing and can be found new for around $300 sometimes. I’ve seen them on the secondary market for $100. I promise you it is the best you can get dollar for dollar.

On 10/30/24 i purchased a brand new M-series Vizio 5.1 dolby atmos soundbar from walmart. This unit was brand new in the box, with all hardware still in sealed plastic bags. After setting up unit, it would not switch to the hdmi port consistently. Once it did, it would continue to switch from whatever imput to a random imput. I called the tech support. Gave them the serial number. They checked serial number and went thru over 40 minutes of troubleshooting before it was determined the unit was faulty out of the box. After checking, he determined I bought the unit that day, and it was under warranty. I was told I would get a unit the NEXT DAY ( I asked if I might get it by the next monday) He asked me to verify the purchase, by texting the reciept. I sent him a copy, he asked for a better version, sent him that. He approved the exchange. Got my email addrees, mailing address etc. Was told I would get an email regarding sending the unit back. I never received any phone call back, or email regarding the faulty product. So here we are Tuesday, November 5th and I still have not received the promised unit. THis company sold me a lemon. Now a week later, they tried to say i bought the product in July! After this over an hour on the phone with them approving giving me a WORKING UNIT! So, now they say my unit was not brand new, that it was bought before, and they do not have to do anything about giving me a broken BRAND NEW unit out of the box! They said deal with walmart. A I live 30 miles and a bridge away from Walmart. B They allready approved and never said anything about it being renewed when I was troubleshooting it! SO now they are selling renewed as new? Such horrible practice. I want a brand new working system like they promised! This is the worst. I bought a brand new product and now they dont want to give me a replacement because of the replacement cost. They also said they were going to give me this years model as well!

Vizio M-series? Really good 5.1 for the price range for sure. V-series has a major issue though

Found a Vizio M series for 80 bucks, it was a steal. It’s really good

M series is what i would buy. Reviews have looked like it punches above its price point.

[Here’s a list of top soundbars for under $300](https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/reviews/best/by-price/under-300) The Vizio M series is probably your best bet for a budget soundbar and overall sound experience. Note that dialogue usually only comes out of the soundbar itself and not the surround speakers, the surrounds are there to add an immersive experience for action scenes where sounds are coming from behind/around you but generally dialogue is limited to the soundbar itself due to the audio mix, so focus on a soundbar with good dialogue vs thinking that adding surround speakers will make your dialogue sound better.

I own number 6 and another Vizio one that isn't on here, the first version of the Elevate sound bar. The m series listed is in my bedroom and it's actually a pretty good soundbar I kind of wish the sub and the surrounds were slightly bigger but it still has a good sound stage with clear dialogue. The Dolby Atmos speakers are on the bar towards the center so it's kinda hard to make out over head effects without doing it virtually. The 2020 version of the Vizio Elevate is in my living room and it's an amazing soundbar! It's a 5.1.4 setup with the Atmos speakers on the bar and the rear surrounds facing up. The ones on the bar rotate up with Atmos is detected. The sub is 8" and it really packs a punch, can be a bit overpowered but you can turn it down to your liking. The sound stage is huge with clear dialogue and having 4 ceiling facing speakers for Atmos really helps hear anything that's mixed for over head effects. This soundbar doesn't really get much love but I think it's really great especially if you can find it on sale, it's normal price is $1,000 but right now Best Buy has it for $540 which is actually a great deal for this soundbar.

Congrats OP! I did this early last year. I went from a basic ass Bose sounds to a Vizio 5.1 with atmos. Had to get a sound isolation pad under my subwoofer because I’m in an apartment building

Vizio's sound bars are surprisingly great. I have an old 5.1 system. The only issue I've encountered is one where it shuts off randomly, but maybe the new systems like that one don't have that problem.

3.1.2 is the soundbar with 3 integrated speakers (Left, Center, Right), 1 subwoofer, and 2 upfiring speakers integrated into the soundbar that bounces sound off your ceiling. It will not give you real surround sound compared to a 5.1 or 5.1.2 atmos system. I would go with Vizio if you want surround sound (Left, Center, Right, Rear Left, Rear Right, Subwoofer). Vizio also has Atmos-Surround solutions with their Elevate series.