ZVOX 550 Low-Profile Single-Cabinet Surround Sound System

Bought this Zvox 550 to replace a 14 year old Bose lifesyle system. Wasn't sure if it would be up to snuff. Hooked it up real quick. Compared it back to back with the bose. The Zvox does a good job of doing a virtual surround sound. Used the first 12 minutes of transformers 2 to test the strange little sounds. Compared to the 14 year old bose the difference was negligible. Happy with the sound, great price for 399 and no more wires all over the place!

This system is awesome. It was like going from AM to FM... no, to Satellite Radio. Movies and TV shows are way better now. It is amazing how LCD TVs have such poor quality speakers - this system is a must have.

I've tested it with sporting events, regular TV, and action flicks and the results are very, very satisfying. As other reviewers have pointed out, this is indeed not a substitute for a full-blown 5.1 or 7.1 home theater system. This is a nice compromise balancing ease of installation (literally less than three minutes from the box to fully-functional under your TV), aesthetics (it looks really, really nice), price and sound quality.

It also makes for a decent home stereo. Initially I had some sound quality issues playing CDs, but I figured out that it was because my DVD player (which I was using to play CDs) was connected to the TV set which in turn was connected to the Zbase. I bypassed the TV and connected the audio from the DVD player directly to the Zbase and this was the trick: great sound quality and it can play quite loud too.

I have had the ZVOX 550 base for several months now and I am more or less satisfied with it. I gave it 5 stars because I truly believe that is the correct rating. The more or less is because I would have preferred to have a 5.1 sound system, which the ZVOX is not. That said, the ZVOX 550 Base is quality all the way. Mine is a refurbed unit that I got from ZVOX for considerably less than what a new unit would cost. Mine sits under my 50 inch plasma and the combination looks great.

As other reviewers here and elsewhere have previously said, it is not a replacement -repeat, not a replacement- for a 5.1 system since it is a stereo speaker system. However, the speakers deliver exceptionally clear, rich, quality (and powerful) sound that is an excellent alternative to the TV's built in speakers. I was particularly impressed with the amount of bass the 550 delivers, which was very substantial to my ears. You can also connect a separate subwoofer, which is in this case is done for a stereo set-up and not a 5.1 set-up.

The Phase Cue feature expands and reduces the stereo effect. In my experience, Phase Cue works best on movies, either played on a dvd player or when they are received in your home via satellite/fios/etc. in 5.1 (I have Directv) rather than for typical TV broadcasts. For movies, you really do notice that the front sound field is expanded several feet beyond the the TV so you do get semi-wrapped in the sound track. In addition to the great sound quality, I totally appreciated how easy it was to hook up. You shouldn't have to spend any more than 5 minutes and possibly less than 2 minutes plugging in the power and hdmi connections. It will probably take longer to review the 1 page directions sheet. A couple more minutes changing the speaker settings in your TV's menu and you're ready to rock & roll! It was fantastic not having to spend hours trying to get all the connections made that one encounters with a separate AVR and multi-speaker system.

If you have a flat panel that weighs less than 100 lbs and want a simple, high quality upgrade to your TV's speakers that also offers some flexibility, the solidly built ZVOX 550 Base is well worth considering. Check eBay for a refurbed unit from ZVOX if you're looking to spend less than full price.

Added 9/23/09: Although the ZVOX 550 Base is easy to use and, as noted above, extremely easy to set up, a major flaw is the small 'insensitive' IR remote (for which I probably should have subtracted 1 star). This remote MUST be pointed precisely at the correct spot on the front panel and only from HEAD ON for the base unit to respond to a command. There is a blue light on the front panel of the base unit that will blink to acknowledge a command from the remote so there is visual as well as audio confirmation. I typically sit about 10-12 feet away. There is no response if the remote is even slightly off angle when I try to make an adjustment so I often have to physically move to have the proper line of sight to get a response. My understanding is that ZVOXAudio now has a replacement remote available, however I do not know whether or not it works off angle or is more sensitive than the remote it replaces. We can only hope that it corrects the shortcomings of the original remote.

Having recently purchased the Samsung LN-46A650 I was blown away with the picture quality but not the sound. Two tiny speakers in the back that fire toward the rear wall. This is not a criticism of the Samsung. All of the new flat screens suffer from this. You can't have a 3 inch thick T.V. with massive speakers built in. To get really great sound you have to go the 5.1 route with a highend receiver or a seperate power amp & sound processor. This could easily cost 5 to 10 times the cost of the T.V. Then you have to have the right room to put it all in. This creates another problem, the W.A.F. (Wife Acceptance Factor) You spent how much!!! Any type of soundbar or 2.1 system is a compromise. This can still be some what costly. Yamaha sells a soundbar that costs $1800 with no subwoofer. Bose has several systems available. In my opinion the sound is average but highly overpriced. You are paying for the massive advertising they do. This brings us to ZVOX. (I finally got to the point) A small company that does direct internet sales with a 30 day refund, no questions asked. They even pay the return shipping. The 550 was delivered by U.P.S. well packaged and no damage. Installation was a no brainer. Up and running in 15 minutes. All of the sound adjustments are made through the small cheap remote provided. This is something that you have to experiment with by ear. The blue light just flashes when you make an adjustment. I noticed a big improvement in the sound quality. The most notible is when you are watching a movie. The sound expands about 8 feet on either side. You hear much more detail. If you really turn the volume up (not a normal listening level) there is no distortion. Good for music videos. Watching a news program with just dialogue you won't notice much difference. Bottom line is this. For $500 it's worth the price. A well made product that won't break the bank and a big improvement over the crappy speakers in your present T.V. If you hate it sent it back and you lost nothing.

I was looking online for surround systems to compliment the new DLP we purchased for our home. Neither my wife nor I wanted a system with a bunch of wiring to string all over the room and when I saw the ZVOX unit on the website that fit underneath the T.V. we decided to give it a try. I may add a sub woofer just because I like a little more bass than the unit produces but the virtual surround sound is incredible. The cabinet is very nice and adds to the "look" of our T.V. I actually built a couple of black box supports for the ends of my T.V. since the units specs did not recommend placing a T.V. the size we purchased on top of the Z-Base 550 without additional support. I turn the T.V. sound back on occasionally just to revel in the difference.The only thing I haven't figured out yet is how to get my universal remote to work the Z-Vox unit but it is no big issue for sure. Worth the money!