Review on Experience Home Theater Like Never Before With ZVOX SoundBase 770 Sound Bar by Jon Hill

I have a 55" Sony TV and have it sitting on a credenza. But a thin TVs typically have bad sound. I run the TV through my stereo, but I hate having to do the remote control "musical chairs" game every time I watch TV, and didn't want the hassle of managing a bunch of satellite speakers.Because my TV sits fairly low on its stand (about 4") most sound bars look kind of weird shoved in front of the TV, like some sort of an audio afterthought. What I really wanted was decent sound from something that I could set my TV on, and control simply with my remote.For three glorious years, I had a ZVOX 580. It was perfect for day-to-day TV watching . But it died in an electrical storm, and I didn't want to pay the price for this ZVOX 770 unit. So, I began my "hero's journey". I first bought a Sony sound bar which looked OK, but had a weird delay that wouldn't sync to the lips on the dialogue (think old Japanese karate film). There were problems with the Yamaha and Klipsch versions too, either not enough bass, or tiny little extra remotes.At this point, I was fed up, dug into my wallet for this sound base. I wish I had done so first - it would have saved me a lot of trial and error. This base allows you to place a BIG TV upon it - my 55" is probably the smallest you would every want to put on it, because it is very long. I love that the 770 looks like a fine piece of furniture that belongs with the TV (not an afterthought).PROS:1) Simple, Really nice installation process, using either digital or optical connections (note the lack of HDMI ports - see cons)2) Very good sound (but not spectacular) and many good options for listening to TV the way you want3) Options to enhance dialog (no more jacking up the sound to hear the voices, and then being pummeled by the effects sound)4) Options to level the sound (goodbye super loud commercials or big spikes in sound levels when changing the channel)5) While not as good as even a 3.1 surround, the surround features work if you sit within <10-12 feet from the TV. Distances greater than that really make the surround effect less effective (just simple physics there)6) I LOVE that you can program the ZVOX to accept the volume controls from your current remote! It learns your current remote commands! You don't need to swap a bunch of remotes to watch TV!. Simple and effective!7) The ZVOX senses the input and turns itself on and off as needed8) The 770 has great bass in the box so you don't need to send it out to a sub-woofer, but you have the option if you want9) A nice unobtrusive front input and Bluetooth.10) Simple to install (but a bit heavy, so a two-person job)- but the attachments and programming are simple, and the directions are good. Your GRANDPARENTS could do it! Mine are dead, and I'll bet they could still pull it off :-)Cons:1) The 77o is very large (check the dimensions) but the cabinet is thin so your TV doesn't sit too high up, but make sure you have room for this baby before you buy.2) Lack of HDMI pass-through just seems a little dated, although, with digital optical inputs, it is not a sound quality issue and only a minor con3) The price is a little high for the relative sound quality - this a bit subjective, since what I really think what you want from a TV sound system is good TV sound, not necessarily audiophile quality. When I am playing a BLUray, I port the sound through a real sound system with full surround. But this unit does a much better job managing the randomness and variation in sound quality over a bunch of TV channels. In this regard, it is far superior to a regular stereo I will update this review if I have any further comments, but if you don't hear anything further, assume I am in love with this unit, and recommend it to you.