Sharp HTSB200 2.1 Sound Bar Audio System Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Bought the wife a new 40" Samsung LCD and while I was very pleased with the picture, I was severely disappointed in the sound quality.No matter how much I played with the adjustments, it just sounded very flat with absolutely zero bass.After reading up, it appeared that a sound bar was exactly what I was looking for.This was for the living room which is primarily where my wife watches TV.She doesn't care about having the sound of a big 7.1 system like I have in the den.Her primary requirements were something that didn't add clutter like speaker stands, wall mounts, etc. but still improved the sound quality a bit.

I bought two sound bars to compare and just planned on taking one back.The first was a Vizio VSB200 and the other was the Sharp HTSB200.Since they are probably two of the closest that people will be comparing when looking for a budget sound bar, they are the two I will compare.Of the two, I chose the Sharp for the following reasons:
1.It is much smaller in size but sounds as good.The Vizio was large enough to stick up above the bottom of the TV on it's stand.
2.The Sharp remote is an actual remote unlike the Vizio which comes with a very cheap looking remote with the bubble buttons on it - in my experience, remotes like the Vizio's don't last very long.
3.The Bass and Treble are adjustable on the Sharp, on the Vizio they are not.
4.You can adjust the "subwoofer" on the Sharp, I don't even know if the Vizio has anything resembling a subwoofer.I use subwoofer loosely because while the sound bar does have some bass, don't expect anything like a stand alone subwoofer.
5.The Sharp has an actual display on the front, the Vizio just has a series of lights behind the cloth cover.

A few things I liked abut the Vizio over the Sharp:
1.Has an optical input, the Sharp does not (the next model up in the Sharp line, the HTSB300 DOES have an optical input).
2.Is controllable by my Dish Network universal remote.The Sharp may be as well but I haven't found a code that will work yet.

Make no mistake, neither provides a true surround sound experience.At no time did I feel as if sounds were coming from anywhere other than in front of me.I think it's stupid for the companies to even promote them as a surround sound experience.What they both do and do well is expand the sound stage of crappy flat screen speakers but the Sharp does it in a smaller package and with more features and adjust-ability.

Edit:
May have spoke too soon with such a positive review for this unit.After having it hooked up all day, I am frequently experiencing an annoying, random half second drop out of the audio.I have contacted Sharp CS but haven't heard back yet.Saw on a few A/V forums where there are others with the same problem.I'll update here as the situation progresses.

Edit 2:Contacted Sharp by phone regarding the audio drop out.I was impressed with their customer service.Very short wait, rep acted genuinely interested in helping.The problem relates to a power saving feature that turns the speaker off automatically when a signal isn't detected.I had my TVs internal speakers turned off (I bought the sound bar due to my TVs crappy speakers in the first place, of course I'm going to turn them off).This apparently tricks the circuitry in the sound bar into periodically thinking there is no sound so it clicks on and off, thus the audio drop out.The rep had me turn my TVs speakers back on and put them at a low setting of 5.I can just barely hear them with the sound bar off and not at all when the sound bar is on.I was skeptical but it apparently worked because I watched a few hours of DVDs and the issue didn't reappear.Poor engineering on their part if you ask me but I can live with it.They should have given an option to turn the power saving feature on and off.Next issue is tracking down a code that allows the sound bar to be controlled by a universal remote.

Edit 3:Problem still occurs occasionally but as I turn the volume up on the TV itself, it happens less frequently.At this point though I can't turn the TV up any louder without hearing it in conjunction with the sound bar, which actually degrades the sound quality. Contacted seller and they agreed to send me a replacement unit to rule out the first one as a defective unit.I'm not willing to give up on this product yet but it still baffles me that it could be engineered so that you have to leave your TV volume up a bit to get past the power saving feature.Makes no sense.

4th and hopefully final edit:Got a replacement unit and knock on wood, this one seems to be working properly.I have my TV volume set at zero and have experienced no drop outs with the new unit.I guess it can be chalked up to a defective unit.At this point I am completely satisfied with the product and would recommend it.Still no luck with a remote code though.

If any other owners of the product are experiencing the same drop out, please post a reply.

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Product Description:
Sharp's new sound bar line is stylish and sleek delivering unbelievable sound with rich bass from one slick simple speaker. A powerful built-in subwoofer along with built-in SRS Surround sound functions will have you convinced you're in a room full of speakers.

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