Open the App, pick a source, pick a room
& hit PLAY. NERO STREAM XD is a Multi-
Source, Multi-Room (using multiple units)
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osdaudio.comOPTIMAL
SPEAKER
DESIGNsoundandvision.com (^) [ 21
the Ravagers had a muscular
bass wallop, and when Rocket
raccoon detonated explosives
under the intruding group, the
sound of bodies plummeting
back down through the trees
had a notably “vertical” effect.
Chapter-skipping ahead
to a scene where the Guard-
ians arrive on Ego’s planet, I
was impressed by the scale of
the Vizio system's presenta-
tion when George Harrison’s
“My Sweet Lord” swelled up
on the soundtrack. Both the
song’s strummed guitars and
the vocals had a full, warm
quality. Even so, movie dialogue
was consistently clear, crisp,
and unstrained, even when
I boosted things up to a loud
volume level.
Encouraged by what I heard
with the Harrison track, I next
tapped the soundbar’s Chrome-
cast built-in feature to stream
music from Tidal. Playing “Exilic
Excursions” by folk/acoustic
guitarist Nathan Salsburg, I
heard a clean, full-bodied guitar
tone that was detailed but not
edgy. Overall, I found I preferred
the system’s stereo-only Direct
mode to its Music EQ mode,
which tended to soen the
dynamic impact of many music
tracks. That said, Music EQ
mode, which spreads the sound
out generously to the surround
and height speakers, did reveal
advantages with certain record-
ings, especially classical ones.
Listening to the first movement
of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1
played by the Florida Philhar-
monic Orchestra (Harmonia
Mundi CD), the strings had
a smooth, warm tone, and
there was an open, appealing
sense of concert hall
ambience. When
the bowed standup
effects. (It also doesn’t support
DTS:X, if that feature happens to
be important to you.) In the end,
though, I was surprised by how
few complaints I had about this
compact ensemble's perfor-
mance. It delivered an authentic
Atmos/surround experience
with all manner of discs and
streams, and the wireless
subwoofer provided consis-
tently solid low-end punch.
With its SB46514-F6 (yikes,
that model number),
Vizio offers an easy
entry into Atmos that's
surprisingly easy
on the ears for an
affordable all-in-one
soundbar system.
basses and tympani rolled in
toward the end, the sound I
heard was dynamic and full, with
good bass extension and detail.
Vizio’s 5.1.4 soundbar isn’t
the last word in object-based
Atmos surround—the sense
of immersion provided by its
compact surround/elevation
satellites didn’t exactly match
what I’ve heard from compo-
nent-based systems that use
in-ceiling speakers for overhead