Big Picture Big Sound

How Can I Get My TV Remote To Control My Soundbar Volume?

By Chris Boylan

Dear Big Picture Big Sound,

I have a VIZIO 70-inch Ultra HD LED TV (UDHTV) and a Boston Acoustics soundbar. My TV remote won't control the soundbar. It turns it on but that is it. I had the sound bar on a Sharp Aquos TV and it worked great. It's connected via digital optic cable. My old Aquos worked perfect. When I changed volume on the TV remote, it just worked. This one nothing. This sound bar is built in to the TV stand. What am I doing wrong? Please help.

-Stephen B.


Hi, Stephen,

You didn't mention the model number of your soundbar and that's actually very important because Boston Acoustics makes many different soundbar models. But generally speaking, for your VIZIO TV remote to operate the volume on the soundbar, you have to teach the soundbar the TV remote's volume up and down codes.

If you have the Boston Acoustics TVee 30 sound bar, the instructions are:

  1. Press and hold the Power and the Volume Up buttons on the soundbar for 3 seconds until light flashes orange
  2. Press Volume Up button on soundbar until light turns solid orange
  3. Press Volume Up button on your TV or cable box remote 4 times until light flashes green
  4. Repeat the above steps for Volume Down, Mute and Power buttons

If you have the Boston Acoustics TVee One "sound base" (which goes directly under the TV's stand) then the instructions are a little different:

  1. Press-and-hold the front panel's Learn button for 3 seconds; its key LED light will flash slowly.
  2. Now press the front-panel "Volume +" key; the "Volume +" key LED will also start flashing slowly, in sync with the Learn light.
  3. Within 60 seconds, aim the "source" remote (in this case, your VIZIO television remote), from approximately 18 inches away, directly toward TVee One's front panel.
  4. Press the remote control's "Volume +" key slowly and repeatedly, up to 4 times if necessary.
  5. When both of the flashing LEDs light steadily for 3 seconds, TVee One has learned the new control command.
  6. Repeat this process for each function you want to program (e.g., volume down, power, etc.)

productShot-tvee-one-800.jpg
Boston Acoustics' TVOne sound base sits underneath your TV and can be controlled by your TV's remote with some simple programming.

If you have that TVee One sound base, and you've already taught it the Sharp TV remote commands, you will probably need to clear these commands before you reprogram the soundbar from the VIZIO remote. Here's how to do that:

Unlearning commands on the Boston Acoustics TVee One:

  1. Press-and-hold the front panel's Learn button for 3 seconds; its LED will flash slowly.
  2. Press the button you want to clear; the button's LED light will also flash slowly, in sync with the Learn LED.
  3. Press the learn button within 60 seconds; both LEDs will flash rapidly for 3 seconds. The command has been unlearned.

If your sound bar is not one of the above models, your best bet is to look on the back or bottom of the soundbar for the model number and then you should be able to find the manual on the internet with instructions on how to program the volume commands for your specific soundbar and TV, cable box or satellite remote. Good luck!

Here are a couple of manuals for Boston Acoustics soundbars, which may be helpful.

 

Related Article:

 

Keep those cards and letters coming! if you have a question for one of our home theater experts, shoot us an e-mail to "Ask The Expert." We'll select among these for future installments in this column. Due to the volume of requests we receive, we cannot reply to each question personally.

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