Review: ZVOX 430 Sound Bar

December 23, 2009 By John Maiorano

multipage

Right out of the box, the ZVOX 430 Sound Bar looks great with its attractive, solid wood enclosure and a snap to set up. You remove the single speaker assembly from the shipping box, connect the AC adapter to the wall, connect up to two sources through analog RCA connections, and press power on the remote. That is it, no separate wires, no calibration, not even a display to view what mode you are in. For the average user who just wants high quality sound without all the fuss, the sound bar method is the way to go.

The ZVOX 430 comes complete with a remote control, but you really don't need it unless you want to mute the speaker, turn the power on or off, put it into auto mode, adjust the subwoofer level, adjust treble or adjust phasecue for simulated surround.

I was pretty impressed with the 430's audio performance. The audio quality was great. While you don’t get the physical separation of a 5.1 system, most of that can be overlooked when you have good rich audio filling your room. Lower-frequency sounds came through nicely with the built-in subwoofer. Mid-range and high-notes came through clear. Although, as I increased the volume on the Sound Bar, I received some distortion and static, but it wasn't too bad.

In conclusion, sound quality was fantastic and for $449, it's certainly worth the money if you don't want to deal with the hassle of setup, wiring, etc.

ZVOX 430 Sound Bar
$449
Built-in 60-watt amplifier
Lightweight 13 lbs.
Included remote control