When you connect a Vizio soundbar to a subwoofer, you don’t need any cords or complicated setup. If the soundbar has a separate sub out connection, you can easily connect a pair of wired subwoofers. You may also find soundbars that have their own woofers, which means you don’t need a separate subwoofer and can use that floor space for something else.
But a separate sub is always better than one that is built in. Even though the whole process is easy, you might need to buy a wireless adaptor. If you can’t get your subwoofer and soundbar to connect, use standard troubleshooting steps to figure out what’s wrong. In the worst case, you might have to buy a new subwoofer.
How to connect Vizio soundbar to subwoofer: Different setup scenarios
Let’s have a look at different ways to connect Vizio soundbar to the subwoofer.
How do you pair the Vizio soundbar with subwoofer
Wireless subwoofers are the most common way of connection with the Vizio soundbar. Consider the following Vizio soundbars with subwoofers:
- VIZIO 2.1 Home Theater Sound Bar
- VIZIO Sound Bar for TV, 36” 5.1 Surround Sound System
- VIZIO 5.1 Sound Bar with Slim Wireless Subwoofer (SB3651ns-H6)
The setups above are similar. So, if you want to know how to pair Vizio wireless subwoofer to its soundbar, read along. Once you have paired the sub and bar, connect it to the TV to watch contents.
- Power on the sub
- Press on the pair button on the back of the subwoofer for 5s
- Wait for the LED to blink
- Then press and wait the power button of the bar for 5s
- Wait for the LED to flash thrice
- Pairing is complete
In case you have a soundbar with sub out port like Vizio 2.0 SB2020n-J6 soundbar, then you can also connect wired subwoofers.
How to pair Bluetooth subwoofer to Vizio sound bar
Since most of the subwoofers connect wireless as mentioned above, the pairing process is how Vizio subwoofers are connected. The process is very easy. If you follow the steps but still fail to pair Vizio soundbar to subwoofer, try these steps:
- Recheck whether soundbar and sub are powered on
- Place the subwoofer within a foot of the soundbar only when you are pairing for the first time
- In case pairing is failed, plug out the power cord and re-plug them
- Then try pairing again
- Or, try resetting the devices
- Lastly, you can always take help of the customer service in case it still doesn’t work
How to pair Vizio subwoofer with phone?
Once the Vizio subwoofer is connected with the soundbar, you can connect the system to your phone. Vizio soundbars support Bluetooth through which you can pair the soundbar with sub to your smartphone. This allows you to play on the smartphone easily.
- Press on the Bluetooth button on the soundbar for 5s
- Turn on Bluetooth on your smartphone and search for the Vizio soundbar name
- Complete pairing and play from your device
3rd party subwoofer:
It would be great if you could buy your whole home entertainment system from a single store, but sometimes that’s just not possible. Start by connecting a subwoofer to your Vizio sound bar if it didn’t come with one or if you want to use a subwoofer from a different brand in a mixed system.
- Put the subwoofer where you want it and hook it up.
- You can find out how to connect your subwoofer by looking at either the manual or the manufacturer’s website. If you don’t have access to these tools, try clicking the “Pair” button or something similar.
- Hold down the Pairing button or follow the instructions in the sub’s manual to put the subwoofer into pairing mode or make it “discoverable.”
- Hold down the Power button on the sound bar for five seconds, or until the LEDs flash three times. This means that the sound bar is connected to the subwoofer.
- Start playing some music to see if the subwoofer is working. Depending on what the instructions say, you can connect the satellite speakers to the subwoofer either before or after you connect the subwoofer to the sound bar.
Old Vizio soundbar models:
If you happen to own an older Vizio soundbar that doesn’t support Bluetooth, then you can try to wireless adapter to connect the wireless subwoofer to the bar. You can also use wireless transmitters which will work via Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth.
How to pair Vizio soundbar with subwoofer: Troubleshooting
While the steps and method may look quite simply, you might still fail to connect the devices together. The examples below may help you figure out your problem.
- Why can’t I pair the Vizio soundbar with to subwoofer? Well, even after checking the steps above, if you can’t connect, make sure to disable the Eco mode. This is known to save power and might be ‘On’ always. Disable it by pressing on the power and volume down button and wait for 10s. Check the left side of the bar where two lights on a column to turn off.
- Update Vizio soundbar firmware via the Vizio SmartCast app
- Try Power Cycle. For that, power off both sub and bar. Then press and hold the power button and wait for 30s. then re-plug the devices and connect them.
- Reset devices as mentioned above
- Or, simply go for a subwoofer replacement
Parting words
How to connect the Vizio soundbar to the subwoofer? Connection with these devices is very easy and doesn’t take much time. Wireless subwoofers pair with the bar wirelessly, but some bars also give option for wired connectivity. Although in home theaters, multiple subwoofers are often recommended, you can’t connect two subs via Bluetooth at the same time to these soundbars.
Once the connection is established, place the bar and sub in the correct position. Use sound modes like Movie or Music while watching different contents. Other factors that will ensure quality sound are choosing soundbar based on TV and room size and choosing sub based on room size. Soundbars deliver versatile option, so if you have space limitations, simply go for a wall mount of the bar.
FAQ
This FAQ is here to solve some of your problems regarding this matter. let’s find out more!
Why do I fail to connect the subwoofer with Vizio soundbar?
In case you followed and rechecked each and every step we discussed, if you fail to connect, chances are that you received a defective subwoofer.
How to adjust bass in the Vizio subwoofer?
Once the connection is complete, simply use your remote, press on Bass button. Then press volume up or down to increase or decrease bass level, respectively.

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