How To Connect Vizio Subwoofer To Soundbar

Having a soundbar is excellent, but combining a subwoofer with it is even better. However, do you know how to connect Vizio subwoofer to soundbar?

Connecting a Vizio subwoofer to a soundbar is very simple: you need to pair both devices together. If you are using an older, wired subwoofer, you must ensure the soundbar is compatible with it or use creative solutions such as an audio splitter.

Hooking up a subwoofer to a soundbar is no hard task as long as both devices are compatible.

You must research before you buy a kit, and then you can follow the guide below without error.

How To Connect Vizio Subwoofer To Soundbar?

How to connect Vizio soundbar to subwoofer? When connecting a subwoofer to a soundbar, both devices must have compatible connections.

Nowadays, Bluetooth subwoofers and soundbars are very popular, but sometimes you might have to use other sorts of connectivity.

Because of that, we will break the article below into two parts. One of them will address all you need to know about Bluetooth situations.

The other will take care of all the wired connections.

How To Connect Subwoofer And Soundbar Via Bluetooth

Bluetooth is the most convenient connectivity once the devices are set up and ready to rock. However, getting there is not always the smoothest process.

Usually, it should be, but since Bluetooth is a wireless technology, it might catch interference or suffer from other issues.

Preparation Steps

If you want to ensure the pairing process between the subwoofer and soundbar is smooth, you have to do a few things:

• Ensure the devices’ firmware is up to date;
• Place them closely, face to face (only for initial pairing);
• Put both devices into pairing mode correctly.

Connect Two Vizio Devices

So now, let’s check how you can connect a Vizio Subwoofer to a Vizio Soundbar.

First, you must note that if you buy a Vizio kit containing the subwoofer and soundbar, you don’t need to pair them!

Vizio always pairs them before putting them into the package.

However, an unfortunate thing might happen: they could lose the connection for some reason. In such a situation, pairing them again will be necessary.

You can perform the steps below when you need to pair your new subwoofer to a soundbar you’ve already had or when the kit that came out of the box has lost its pairing.

1. Turn the subwoofer on;
2. Press the pairing button and hold it;
3. After five seconds, a red LED must begin to blink;
4. Let go of the button when the LED blinks;
5. Hold the power button on the sound bar;
6. Release after five seconds if the LED flashes three times;
7. The three-time flashing indicates pairing success.

Once the LED flashes three times, you must try to play some music to ensure the connection has worked. The sound should come through the soundbar and subwoofer together.

Does The Vizio Subwoofer Occupy The Bluetooth Slot?

You might have a question about whether a subwoofer Bluetooth connection will waste the soundbar’s Bluetooth slot. 

If the subwoofer has already come packaged with the soundbar, that’s not the case, even if you need to re-pair the devices. 

Also, the following situation can happen: you buy a Bluetooth subwoofer separately, and it is a Vizio model made to work with Vizio soundbars. 

In that case, connecting Vizio soundbar to subwoofer is possible. And afterward, you can still connect the soundbar to a TV, computer, or phone via Bluetooth.

Connect A Vizio Subwoofer To Another Brand

While the best connectivity will always be achieved when you connect a Vizio subwoofer to a Vizio soundbar, you can also choose to mix and match different brands. 

For example, let’s suppose you have an LG, Samsung, Bose, or Sonos soundbar (these are the top brands, along with Vizio).

However, you’ve read about the magnificent sound of a Vizio subwoofer. Then, you can buy and add it to your setup.

Connect To A Soundbar Of Different Brand

Many soundbars of different brands can work with your Vizio subwoofer. It is optimal to test your subwoofer with another person’s soundbar before deciding, as compatibility is not assured.

The pairing process for most brands will go like this:

1. Turn the subwoofer on;
2. Press the pairing button and hold it;
3. After five seconds, a red LED must begin to blink;
4. Let go of the button when the LED blinks;
5. Turn the soundbar on;
6. Press the function button or power button on the soundbar;
7. Let go when the Bluetooth Icon (BT) shows up;
8. Once it starts flashing, it has entered pairing mode

After a few seconds, the LED lights on both devices must become still or cease.

Then you can listen to music through the soundbar and see if the audio comes through the subwoofer too.

Alert: Remember that Vizio subwoofers are made to work natively with Vizio soundbars. If you cannot pair the subwoofer with another brand's soundbar, don't push it. Some brands might work, and some might not!

How To Connect A Wired Vizio Subwoofer

This section is written for those with an older Vizio subwoofer with any type of wired connectivity available. 

“Older” is key here because of a simple factor: new Vizio subwoofers do not have wired ports!

That means if your new Vizio subwoofer fails to connect with your Vizio soundbar, something is wrong.

Connectivity Types Available

When Vizio still manufactured wired subwoofers, they came out with RCA and/or 3.5mm ports.

So if you use wired headphones, you are familiar with a 3.5mm connection. That is specifically used for sound and delivers good enough quality.

Connecting The Subwoofer To A Soundbar

Here things get a bit complex. Since wired subwoofers are an old standard, they are not guaranteed to work with a newer soundbar. 

That is because of how new soundbars work. Usually, they come with a proprietary subwoofer that connects wirelessly.

But, then, all the wired connections are only for the source, meaning they are one-directional only, unable to deliver sound to a third device.

Thus, the first task at hand is testing for compatibility. An old subwoofer will require just as old a soundbar.

If you do have both, do the following:

1. Choose the connectivity you are going to use;
2. Plug the RCA or 3.5mm cable into the subwoofer;
3. Plug the other end of the same cable into the soundbar;
4. Connect the soundbar to an audio source;
5. Power both devices and turn them on;
6. Play some music.

In this situation, old subwoofers to old soundbars should work regardless of brand.

The main restraint truly is the connectivity solution you can use and if the soundbar has enough ports to accommodate both receiving and transmitting audio.

Alternative Solution For Complex Setups

Suppose you have an old Vizio subwoofer and a soundbar of any brand.

However, the soundbar does not have an audio-out port.

In that case, even if you connect the Vizio subwoofer to it, it will not receive audio!

A solution for such a situation would be to use an audio splitter. Certainly, this is only possible when you are using RCA or 3.5mm ports, and the audio comes from somewhere, such as a TV or a computer.

What You Will Need

Then here is what you will need:

• Audio splitter
• An audio cable to connect from the TV/PC to the splitter;
• Two additional audio cables, one for each sound output (subwoofer and soundbar).

How To Do It

Setting everything up will be very simple if you have the correct equipment.

First, you must buy an audio splitter with enough capacity which doesn’t look too fragile (many sellers on sites such as eBay might sell bad electronic accessories).

1. Connect the longer cable to the TV/PC;
2. Connect the audio splitter’s audio-in to that cable’s end;
3. Connect two audio cables to the splitter’s audio-out;
4. Connect the audio cables to the subwoofer and soundbar;
5. Turn the subwoofer and soundbar on;
6. Play some music and see if the audio comes out through both devices.

When playing music or watching movies on the TV, you might have to set up the audio output of the TV, so it sends audio through the cable. 

Here is how:

1. Find the TV’s Settings;
2. Find the audio settings;
3. Adjust the audio output
4. Select RCA or 3.5mm (depending on the connection you are using).

What We Learned

How to connect Vizio subwoofer to soundbar? A Vizio kit already comes paired from the factory.

However, sometimes you must pair them again. And in wired situations, you must check if both devices have enough ports to connect.