How to connect Vizio soundbar to TV without HDMI

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Even though TVs have progressed a lot, the one area TVs of today find themselves lacking is the audio department.

I recently purchased a TV for my bedroom and while I was very happy with all the features, the audio quality was disappointing.

That is when I decided to invest in an external speaker. They provide your television with the premium audio support it requires.

When it comes to soundbars, Vizio soundbars are one of the best in the market, thanks to their multi-channel audio output as well as superior bass quality.

Naturally, I decided to purchase a Vizio soundbar myself, and since the soundbar is an external device, I had to manually connect it to my TV before I could use it.

I spent a considerable amount of time going through online articles and forum threads to find out all the different ways I could connect my Vizio Soundbar to my TV.

To connect your Vizio Soundbar to your TV, you can use an HDMI cable, an RCA/Analog cable, an Optical/SPDIF cable, or connect it via Bluetooth. Upon connecting the soundbar, you can use Vizio’s ‘Learn Remote’ feature or opt to enable the HDMI CEC control to control your soundbar.

In this article, we will go through all the different ways you can connect your Vizio Soundbar to your TV step by step, as well as different ways to gain control of your soundbar using a remote.

Connect a Vizio Soundbar to a TV Using HDMI Cable (HDMI-ARC)

Connecting your Vizio Soundbar to a TV using an HDMI cable is the most common way to connect the devices.

This method is recommended because, in addition to connecting the soundbar to your TV, you can also use the ARC port to control your Soundbar using your TV remote.

To connect your Vizio Soundbar to your TV via an HDMI cable:

• Unpack your Vizio Soundbar from the original packaging. Also make sure you’ve removed all the required accessories such as screws, mounts, cables, and so on.

• Find the HDMI ARC cable that comes in the pack of the Vizio Soundbar. Connect one end of the HDMI ARC cable to the HDMI Out ARC port on your soundbar and the other end of the cable to the HDMI port on the back of your television.

• Use the power cable in the soundbar’s packaging to connect the soundbar to a power outlet. Once connected, turn on the soundbar.

• Once the soundbar is powered on, use the ‘Input’ button on the soundbar to change the setting to ‘HDMI’.

• Open up your television’s audio settings and change that to ‘HDMI’ as well. Once you have completed these steps, your soundbar should be connected and you should be able to use the soundbar with your TV for audio.

Connect a Vizio Soundbar to a TV Using RCA/Analog Cable

To connect your Vizio Soundbar to your TV using an RCA/Analog cable, follow these steps:

• Unpack your Vizio Soundbar from the original packaging. Also make sure you’ve removed all the required accessories such as screws, mounts, cables, and so on.

• RCA cables are generally red and white cables but do come in other colors these days. Connect one end of the RCA cable to the back of the soundbar on the port labeled Audio out. Similarly, connect the other cable to the circular RCA port on the back panel of your TV.

• Use the power cable in the soundbar’s packaging to connect the soundbar to a power outlet. Once connected, turn on the soundbar.

• Once the soundbar is powered on, use the ‘Input’ button on the soundbar to change the setting to ‘AUX’.

• To set up the soundbar, open up the menu bar on your Vizio soundbar remote and click the Audio option from all the options displayed on the TV. First, locate the TV speakers and turn them off to remove any interference from your television’s native speakers. Once you do that change the Digital Audio Out setting to either ‘Bitstream’ or ‘Dolby Digital’ for the most effective sound output.

Connect a Vizio Soundbar to a TV Using an Optical/SPDIF Cable

To connect your Vizio Soundbar to your TV using an optical/SPDIF cable:

• Unpack your Vizio Soundbar from the original packaging. Also make sure you’ve removed all the required accessories such as screws, mounts, cables, and so on.

• Remove the SPDIF cable from the packaging. Take off the protective caps on either end of the cable.

• Plug one end of the optical cable to your soundbar to the port labeled ‘Optical’. Plug the other end of the optical cable into the circular optical port on the back panel of your television.

• Use the power cable in the soundbar’s packaging to connect the soundbar to a power outlet. Once connected, turn on the soundbar.

• Once the soundbar is powered on, use the ‘Input’ button on the soundbar to change the setting to ‘SPDIF’.

• To set up the soundbar, open up the menu bar on your Vizio soundbar remote and click the Audio option from all the options displayed on the TV. First, locate the TV speakers and turn them off to remove any interference from your television’s native speakers. Once you do that change the Digital Audio Out setting to either ‘Bitstream’ or ‘Dolby Digital’ for the most effective sound output.

Connect a Vizio Soundbar to a TV Using Bluetooth

You can also connect your Vizio Soundbar to your TV wirelessly over Bluetooth.

To do this:

• Unpack your Vizio Soundbar from the original packaging. Also make sure you’ve removed all the required accessories such as screws, mounts, cables, and so on.

• Use the power cable in the soundbar’s packaging to connect the soundbar to a power outlet. Once connected, turn on the soundbar.

• Once the soundbar is powered on, press and hold the Bluetooth button on your soundbar. This will put the soundbar in pairing mode and it will start searching for devices to pair with.

• Open up your television’s Bluetooth settings. Once you turn on Bluetooth and make your TV discoverable, you will get a notification once your soundbar finds your TV. All you have to do is confirm the connection to pair your soundbar to your TV.

• If all the steps were performed correctly, your Vizio soundbar should now be connected to your TV and you can begin using it for sound output.

Use a Spare Remote and the Learn Remote Feature

Certain Vizio Soundbar models have the ability to learn to respond to a different external remote.

While the method to ‘teach’ your Soundbar to respond to the new remote varies from model to model, they follow a similar pattern.

To program your soundbar to accept remote IR (infrared) commands:

• Use the original soundbar remote and press the Menu button.

• Use the up/down buttons to navigate to the Prg Remote option.

• You can use the next/previous buttons to toggle through Learn Vol +, Learn Vol – and Learn Mute.

• To program each button, select the option. Then press the play button to put the soundbar into learning mode. Once the soundbar is in learning mode, press the appropriate button on the new IR remote. Once all the LED lights on the soundbar flash twice, your soundbar has successfully learned to respond to your new remote.

Use a Compatible Universal Remote

If you don’t have your Vizio Soundbar remote, and your soundbar does not have an HDMI-ARC port, you will have to buy a universal remote that is compatible with your Vizio Soundbar.

Most of the best universal remote controls for Vizio TVs work with Vizio soundbars.

You can find plenty of such universal remotes online as well as explicit instructions on how to get the remote up and working.

Enable HDMI CEC Control Using the ARC Port

If your Soundbar does have an HDMI-ARC port, you can connect it to your TV with an HDMI cable over the HDMI-ARC port.

Once you have done so by following the steps mentioned above, you may need to adjust your TV’s CEC settings so that you can control your soundbar by using your TV remote.

Some newer TV models have the feature to auto-detect HDMI-ARC devices and thus you will automatically be able to control your soundbar using your TV remote.

Troubleshooting the HDMI Connection

In some cases, it is possible that you may run into some issues when connecting your Vizio Soundbar to your TV over an HDMI cable.

First, check your HDMI cable and make sure that the cable is not bent or damaged in any way.
Also, make sure that the heads of the HDMI cable are intact and that the pins inside are not damaged.

Another reason for running into connection issues may be the incorrect configuration of the devices.

Make sure the input option on the soundbar is set to ‘HDMI’ and the audio output option on your TV is set to ‘HDMI’ as well.

Ensure that the HDMI cable you are using is connected to the HDMI Out port on your soundbar and not the HDMI In.

Contact Support

If you are still running into issues connecting your Vizio Soundbar to your TV, it means there may be some internal issue within the soundbar itself.

In this case, the only left for you is to contact Vizio’s customer support team.

Make sure that you mention your soundbar’s model, as well as all the different troubleshooting options that you implemented to try and fix your issue.

If you have an active warranty on your soundbar, you may get a free repair or even a replacement.

Conclusion

So there you have it, connecting your Vizio Soundbar to your TV is quite easy and should not take a lot of your time.

Another common issue consumers complain about is a faulty Vizio remote.

Some simple fixes to this issue are to make sure there is a direct line of sight between the remote and the soundbar, use new batteries for your remote, restart the remote manually or put the soundbar through a power cycle.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why won’t my Vizio Surround Sound connect to my TV?

The reason your Vizio Surround Sound is not connected to your TV is that you may have accidentally connected the HDMI cable to the wrong port.

You may also need to enable the ‘CEC’ and ‘ARC’ features on your television, as well as disconnect any other audio devices connected to it to get your soundbar working.

How do I connect my Vizio Soundbar to my TV wirelessly?

You can connect your Vizio Soundbar to your TV by pairing it to your TV using Bluetooth.

How do I connect my Vizio Soundbar to WiFi mode?

Press the ‘Menu’ button on your Vizio Soundbar remote.

Use the arrows on your remote to move through the menu until you reach the ‘WiFi Setup’ option.

Press the play button on the remote to select this option and put your Vizio Soundbar into WiFi or Pairing Mode.

What is the input button on Vizio Soundbar?

The input button on your Vizio Soundbar is used to select the type of input connection (HDMI, RCA, or Optical) used to connect your soundbar to your TV.