Polk Audio SurroundBar Speaker System (Single Speaker) – Black
Product Description
video-shielded * acoustic suspension * frequency response 100-20,000 Hz (-3dB) * handles up to 125 watts * cradle included *
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More Details
Feature
- Single magnetically shielded surround bar speaker with neodymium motor structures for safe placement on or near TVs
- Equipped with seven 3.5-inch composite cone drivers
- Patented combination of signal processing and acoustical geometry produces room-filling effects
- Equipped with three 0.75-inch silk/polymer composite dome tweeters
- Polk Audio’s patented SDS Surround Technology delivers a vivid sound field from a single 42-inch cabinet
CustomerReviews
satisfied for the price
Not what I expected but good enough for the price.
Very easy to install.
Great big sound, average surround.
I got this because I was tired of hooking up a full surround system. I really appreciated that it came with a single bundled speaker cable that had all 10 wires, but wrapped together to minimize clutter. The sound stage it creates for movies is very big, but not the directional sound you can create with individual speakers.
The quality of sound of great, and everything I’ve come to expect from Polk speakers. If you want a low hassle solution to 5.1 digital surround sound I think this is a great alternative to hooking up a full surround system and all the wiring challenges that comes with it.
Good
This sound abr is easy to hang on the wall. Easy to use. The sound quality is good for the price. Just wasnt really what I was expecting but still a good purchase.
Surprisingly Good
I have both the Polk SurroundBar (42″) and the Yamaha YSP900. I will try to outline the pro’s and con’s for those looking for a comparison.
Yamaha Pro’s:
The Yamaha is in use in our front room. It’s a very large, cavernous room with no place for me to mount side or rear speakers. The YSP was a good choice because it sits nicely in our tv cabinet directly below the TV.
The sound is truly amazing. You get a very large spatial sound field, that sounds fantastic. The sound definitely appears to be coming from somewhere it’s not. The surround channels aren’t nearly as pronounced as the left and right channels, and some times you can’t hear them at at. Still, sounds fantastic as the separation of channels is excellent.
Yamaha Cons:
It has built in amplification and HDMI switching (for two channels). On the outside that may seem like a good thing, but it’s really not. For starters, there’s only two hdmi inputs, there’s no support for dolby true hd, or DTS hd. I’ve had trouble when switching between the inputs. I’ve had to power cycle the sound bar several times in some cases because it hangs on the HDMI switching. Amplification of the sound is good, but in my case, I had to buy a universal remote and let the tv handle hdmi switching, while running optical and coax digital audio cables directly to the sound bar from all my components. The component switching happens with my universal remote. Gets the job done, but sub optimal for sure. Net-net, the yamaha is a great speaker, not a good audio+video receiver.
Polk Pros:
Beautiful, sleek design. Speakers sound really good; sonically far superior to the Yamaha. The clarity and detail in the sound is really impressive. I think a lot of the sound detail from the Yamaha this gets lost in all of the sound manipulation/signal processing that the yamaha does. The unit installs really nicely, and looks amazing under a surface mounted flat screen. Also, polk has provided a single wiring harness that contains connections for all of the speakers. Seeing as I ran this through the wall, it saved me a lot of trouble. I also appreciate the fact that I can use a high quality receiver of my choosing, knowing my speaker choice isn’t going to dictate my video processing / audio amplification choice.
Polk Cons:
On its own, the surroundbar doesn’t create enveloping effects. It does create a wide ’sound stage’, which is very pleasing to the ears. The surround channels are hard to localize, and it’s difficult to determine where the sounds are actually coming from.
Conclusion:
Overall, the surround bar produces *much* better sound than the yahama. Spatially, no where near as enveloping as the yahama. I added rear surround speakers (a pair of polk rm8’s), and now the sound really does envelop you. It’s also helps the performance of the rear surround coming from the sound bar (not the back channels). If you’re looking for a way to add 7.1 sound to a room that’s only really capable of handling a 5.1 setup (due to room layout), I’d say you should get the polk. If you really want 5.1 surround and you cannot accommodate other rear speakers, I’d say the Yamaha is your best bet (if you can deal with the limits of the amplifier/receiver on the yamaha)Yamaha YSP-900 Digital Sound Projector (Black)
Excellent surround solution
I researched this speaker for months before I finally decided to give it a try. My living room is not conducive to a 5 speaker setup, so I thought a single surroundbar solution would be perfect. I was not disappointed! The surround effect is not what you would get with dedicated surround speakers, but I do get a sense of enveloping surround, especially if I’m sitting directly in front of the surroundbar.
I purchased this speaker along with the Polk PSW10 subwoofer, and together they form a nice setup for watching movies, especially Blu-Ray. The surroundbar is also adequate for my environment for listening to music, but I got it mainly for watching movies. I’m more than satisfied with my purchase and I recommend the Polk surroundbar. Just make sure you match it with a powered sub.