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The Vizio VF550XVT delivered some of the best audio quality we've seen from built-in speakers. If you want that real surround sound experieince, however, you'll still need to invest in a set of surround sound speakers.
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Sound Quality (7.0)
We were very happy with the audio quality of the VF550XVT. Vizio's sound bar may not necessarily be the prettiest thing in the world, but the quality of audio it provided was amongst the best we've heard from a television's built-in speakers. Unless you want a real surround sound experience you should find the VF550XVT's audio quality to be more than acceptable.
Surround Sound (4.0)
Like most televisions the Vizio VF550XVT offers a simulated surround sound mode. We did notice that audio had a bit more depth when this feature was turned on, but the difference from the standard, and already very good, audio quality was not huge. The reality is that despite the solid sound quality from the VF550XVT you're still going to be better off with a real surround sound system if you want that experience. Even an inexpensive setup will be better than the VF550XVT's simulated surround sound mode.
Loudness (7.25)
Despite having a very obvious and very big speaker right on the front of the television the Vizio VF550XVT's maximum volume came in at a less than overwhelming 72.5 decibels. This is at the lower end of the range we see for HDTVs, which falls between 70-90 decibels. This means that if you're really going to want to get some super loud sounds out the VF550XVT you'll want to get your own speaker system.
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