The up-firing speakers of the Vizio Elevate add some impact when in stereo mode it's not really enough to justify a potential moving-part weak point down the road. The revolution starts hereĪre revolving, motorized speakers going to become a trend? Probably not. In comparison with the Arc, it could occasionally send an insect-like click to my right that made me think the Elevate's rears were somehow still working, but the sense of surround was much less palpable. ![]() Insects buzzed around the listening position, dialogue was clear and explosions bombastic. The sub and rears again helped the Vizio convey a sense of space in my next test, the Thanator chase scene from Avatar. It didn't have the same vertiginous feeling of height as the Arc however. The Elevate's surround effects were much more pinpoint and the metallic thud of the ship as it skidded across the floor of the icy canyon sounded impactful and scary. During this scene the Arc was able to convey a real sense of height as the Razor Crest descended into the frosty planet's atmosphere, pursued by two X-wing fighters.Īs lovely as the Arc sounded, it was the Vizio's dedicated rears and sub which really helped anchor the action. The episode features a chase scene through clouds and an inevitable canyon run (it wouldn't be Star Wars if you couldn't flip your ship vertically or had to contend with guard rails on gang planks). I moved to movies and TV next, starting with the infamous egg-stealing Chapter 10 of The Mandalorian. The sub was able to let the drums and gong sounds fully resonate in my testing room. Lisa Gerrard's voice floated free of the speakers, and the string accompaniment was easier to hear. The Vizio's authority was evident from the first few bars of the song. I moved to something more ethereal with Yulunga (Spirit Dance) by Dead Can Dance, and the Arc improved somewhat, with a crispness and presence in the stereo shaker eggs for example, even if it wasn't able to dig deep on the larger drums. It wasn't quite perfect, though, as I needed to back off the treble a little, but much more listenable overall. ![]() The Vizio was the opposite, lively and punchy thanks to that subwoofer. By fiddling with the EQ I was able to improve definition to the percussion, but Thom York still gave the impression he was phoning it in. The Arc played the song at a remove, slightly boxy and distant. I started my tests with music, Radiohead's My Iron Lung to be precise, and I found that the Arc wasn't quite as accomplished as the Vizio. Unlike the Arc, which performs better at home theater than music, the Elevate was equally capable with both - a rare feat among soundbars. ![]() The Vizio acquitted itself very quickly with authoritative sound quality across all kinds of material. For these tests I compared the Elevate side-by-side against the Sonos Arc, because the two are roughly the same price.
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