Polk Audio SurroundBar (42", 50", 360 DVD Theater, SDA IHT) - Review/ Help Thread

infotree

Continuing the queries regarding the SB, LFE subwoofer, and two Polk surround back speakers.

After a recent purchase of an Onyko TX-NR906, and then running the automatic speaker setup with Audyssey MultEQ XT, it returned the correct speaker distances, suitable speaker levels and then these speaker configuration settings (which are contrary to the recommended settings for the SB from Polk)

-subwoofer yes
-front 150 Hz
-center 150 Hz
-surrounds 150 Hz
-surround back 70 Hz
-surround back channels 2 ch
-LPF of LFE 80 Hz (THX)

Besides the answer, "whatever sounds good to your ears", what do you polk folks, and/or other 906 owners suggest regarding these configuration settings?

redbullet

lenpoit wrote: »

Has anybody used the speaker bar 42 for only a center speaker and if so how.

I do ! I tie the left and right front speakers in Parallel then tie the center taps in series. Comes back in close to 8 ohm load. Works quite well. I use it with RM6800's front as sides and sides as rear. I have lager fronts.

is3finallymd

I looked at getting the surroundbar but the reviews are all over the place!

redbullet

is3finallymd wrote: »

I looked at getting the surroundbar but the reviews are all over the place!

For a bedroom setup it's hard to beat. Sound is great and works real good with their 8" sub bends perfectly. If you use it in a larger room I would add back speakers for a better surround image.

TECHNOKID

redbullet wrote: »

I do ! I tie the left and right front speakers in Parallel then tie the center taps in series. Comes back in close to 8 ohm load. Works quite well. I use it with RM6800's front as sides and sides as rear. I have lager fronts.

There shouldn't be any problem tying them together since there is a high impedence at the Xo thus the amp desn't see the actual impedance of the speakers. As I can see you do not speak of the rear which is a good thing since there is inversion at that point and I do believe the Xo is also different in order to create the rear impression. Are you using the rears as rear at all or they are simply not connected?

Cheers!
TK

redbullet

TECHNOKID wrote: »

There shouldn't be any problem tying them together since there is a high impedence at the Xo thus the amp desn't see the actual impedance of the speakers. As I can see you do not speak of the rear which is a good thing since there is inversion at that point and I do believe the Xo is also different in order to create the rear impression. Are you using the rears as rear at all or they are simply not connected?

Cheers!
TK

I have tried it both ways. Just for the hell of it I tried last night wiring it as :

L front + L Rear in parrell - R front + R Rear in parrell. Then hook negative from lefts to amp then plus from lefts to negative on center, Positive on center to neg last rights, last plus from rights to amp. So in short the center is in series with the parrell left and rights. This really give a nice full sound to the speaker which I think I'll leave for the time being.

TECHNOKID

redbullet wrote: »

I have tried it both ways. Just for the hell of it I tried last night wiring it as :

L front + L Rear in parrell - R front + R Rear in parrell. Then hook negative from lefts to amp then plus from lefts to negative on center, Positive on center to neg last rights, last plus from rights to amp. So in short the center is in series with the parrell left and rights. This really give a nice full sound to the speaker which I think I'll leave for the time being.

I'm glad you like the end result however, when I originally addressed this with Polk, the answer was a big NO due to the XO arrangement. The front and center is no brainer as far as I am concerned but I simply trusted Polk's answer. Also, if you read the white paper you will notice the inversion that was created for the rear and originally I never bothered hooking the bar as a as a center as I was afraid of potential out of phase problems. However in many years (once the 5 years warranty is over) I am thinking of modifying the bar by removing the rear Xo, replace them with RM10 Xo and checking the phase on the woofers. Hopefully, this could happen earlier if I ever was to find a used but operational SB at a good price. It sure would be nice, the goal is to have a large center under the PJ screen. Hoping for a bigger stage with a spiffy look. However, I wouldn't serie or paralell the woofer. Since I have pre-out capability on my receiver, I would dedicate an amp for the front stage allowing me to plug each woofer to their own channels.

Cheers!
TK

redbullet

TECHNOKID wrote: »

I'm glad you like the end result however, when I originally addressed this with Polk, the answer was a big NO due to the XO arrangement. The front and center is no brainer as far as I am concerned but I if

Cheers!
TK

It's been a few days so far and still like. I may try to reverse to leads on the rear which would fix the out of phase thing. I also was thinking of removing the crossovers and making it one big two way center channel. Just not so sure how easy it would be to open this thing up.

TECHNOKID

redbullet wrote: »

It's been a few days so far and still like. I may try to reverse to leads on the rear which would fix the out of phase thing. I also was thinking of removing the crossovers and making it one big two way center channel. Just not so sure how easy it would be to open this thing up.

1. If your SB is still on warranty, you might want to wait as opening it would void the warranty.

2. Xo protects and make sure the woofer gets the proper sound. I am not sure but I think the Xo are glued/epoxied to the chassis (typical chinese electronic mess)

3. As I pointed out the Xo are high impedence in but if you go straight to the woofer, it is 8 ohms and the series/paralell arrangement might simply mess things up.

4. Your only concern are the rears Xo and phasing.

5. For best results and quality of sound, you would be best to use an older AB out stereo receiver for powering the bar as the impedance match would be met and would provide you with more power... Don't forget if you try to power 5 125 watts woofer with a single output that may provide you approximately 100 watts is not very efficient but if you pre-out your center into a seperate amp wich provides you 100 watts per channel, you are now some like 400 watts to the SB versus only 100 watts... now you would be talking!

Cheers!
TK

infotree

I have the original 42" SB paired with a LFE 12" sub and some Polk rears using an Onyko 906 AV receiver. The sound field is impressive for movies/TV viewing. However for music listening I would suggest a pair of good fronts R/L on channel B.

I do know however, if you have the width in your media cabinet get the 50" SB, the side surround sound image is better.

redbullet

TECHNOKID wrote: »

1. If your SB is still on warranty, you might want to wait as opening it would void the warranty.

2. Xo protects and make sure the woofer gets the proper sound. I am not sure but I think the Xo are glued/epoxied to the chassis (typical chinese electronic mess)

3. As I pointed out the Xo are high impedence in but if you go straight to the woofer, it is 8 ohms and the series/paralell arrangement might simply mess things up.

4. Your only concern are the rears Xo and phasing.

5. For best results and quality of sound, you would be best to use an older AB out stereo receiver for powering the bar as the impedance match would be met and would provide you with more power... Don't forget if you try to power 5 125 watts woofer with a single output that may provide you approximately 100 watts is not very efficient but if you pre-out your center into a seperate amp wich provides you 100 watts per channel, you are now some like 400 watts to the SB versus only 100 watts... now you would be talking!

Cheers!
TK

No Warranty, bought it off ebay - mint but used. So I don't have much to lose.

I built quite a few speakers of the years and many used multi drivers. I know I can tie the woofers and tweeters together and get the impedance I want. Just want to keep the crossover point Polk used between the woofer and tweeter the same.

I also want no low frequency cut off in the speaker itself, I'll use the receivers internal for that. I'm going to look into this tomorrow. maybe I can post some pics of it opened up.

TECHNOKID

redbullet wrote: »

No Warranty, bought it off ebay - mint but used. So I don't have much to lose.

I built quite a few speakers of the years and many used multi drivers. I know I can tie the woofers and tweeters together and get the impedance I want. Just want to keep the crossover point Polk used between the woofer and tweeter the same.

I also want no low frequency cut off in the speaker itself, I'll use the receivers internal for that. I'm going to look into this tomorrow. maybe I can post some pics of it opened up.

Yes, you can shuffle with the woofer arrangement (series-parallel) in order to keep your 8 ohms average however, there is much more going with the speakers than the average impedance at various frequencies. The Xo is a good thing and usually provides better quality of sound than straight to woofer. I uderstand your point about the low frequency however, keep in mind that the woofer isn't "specked" for low end. One of my major statement was the fact of using a single (IE: 100 watts) output to drive 5 speakers that each has potential to go with higher rating. Thus the idea of having a seperate amp which would allow to drive each of them closer to their maximum potential. Sure, pics would welcomed/appreciated!

Cheers!
TK

redbullet

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Sure, pics would welcomed/appreciated!

Cheers!
TK

Here's the pics of it opened up, I went for it and only kept the center channel crossover. but by passed the 300uf cap that limits the low frequency cutoff. it's now Nominal 6 ohms impedance. The sound it one kick but center channel ! I removed the two outer boards, they even use a SDA cable to tie them together just like the originals. Also the same 8 and 4 ohms woofers like the old sda's. I may try and build a mini modern set of SDA's with these boards ;-)

goldstt

So I got my Surroundbar 42 a few weeks ago and love it.
Just got my PSW125 and am hooking up this morning.
And the Surroundbar instructions don't really stipulate when you should use speakerwire connection and when you should use RCA/LFE - except to say that the RCA/LFE connex should be used for higher volumes.
I don't necessarily plan on very high volumes.
Does that mean i should use the speaker wire connection?
And, if so, if i connect to the "B" speakers rather than the "A" speakers (along with the surroundbar connex), will that work just the same?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
- Tom

dorokusai

Use the RCA/LFE connection, don't worry about the speaker level suggestion.

TECHNOKID

Here's the pics of it opened up, I went for it and only kept the center channel crossover. but by passed the 300uf cap that limits the low frequency cutoff. it's now Nominal 6 ohms impedance. The sound it one kick but center channel ! I removed the two outer boards, they even use a SDA cable to tie them together just like the originals. Also the same 8 and 4 ohms woofers like the old sda's. I may try and build a mini modern set of SDA's with these boards ;-)

Cool rebullet! As I pointed out I would prefer to drive the woofer seperately (different channels) as I would be able to provide more power to each drivers... sure is a shame to drive 7 woofers that can use 125 watts with a single channel that provides maybe 100w - 200w for the 7 drivers.

Cheers!
TK

acekaye

Neither my TV nor my Surroundbar 50 are on the wall. Rather, the surroundbar sits in front of the TV on my entertainment stand. I was wondering whether anyone knows of a wooden box that the surroundbar could fit and that would rest under the TV (so the TV would be on top of the boxed surroundbar). The box would need to be as wide as the surroundbar and as deep as the TV.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
David

acekaye

Does anyone have any experience with the surroundbar and the PSWi225 Wireless Subwoofer?

Specifically, is it possible to run the subwoofer in with the front speakers? If not, how does it sound?

dorokusai

The subwoofer would work just like any other subwoofer. I'm not sure what you mean...."....with the front speakers".

TECHNOKID

dorokusai wrote: »

The subwoofer would work just like any other subwoofer. I'm not sure what you mean...."....with the front speakers".

He probably means parallelling the fronts with the subwoofer as Polk suggest for their SB. Basically the HIGH Z of the SB allows you to do this with ordinary powered subwoofer I gather the same applies with this subwoofer as you would simply do the parallelling through the subwoofer's transmitter however, if this is the question you are asking, say so and I'd suggest you wait for an answer from Polk CSR or engeneering as they have to confirm that the input impedance of the transmitter is also HIGH Z to allow such. (page 5 of the user manual, you would simply do the connections to the PSW225i Tx instead of the normal powered subwoofer; http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/manuals/home/SurroundBar_QuickStartGuide.pdf). However, if Polk responds in the negative you simply hook-up the subwoofer Tx to your receiver and it would sound fine. I haven't had the opportunity to test the PSW225i (being Canadian you are penalized ) but I tested similar wireless Tx/Rx for speakers with great success. Simply looking at the PSW225i Tx, it seems of good quality. I am not sure if there is some type of srambling/protection (NO user manual seems to be available yet)against other home devices that uses the same 2.4 Gigahertz technology

connect the transmitter, and you're done. Onboard Polk Digital LogicTM uses advanced auto-sensing to determine the signal your system is sending (LFE or Line Level), and it instantly responds, selecting the appropriate low-pass filter.

. A nice feature is the 4 channels selector which would help you avoid/move away slightly from other 2.4 GHz gear. IE: If you have a wireless phone let's say using exactly 2.4 GHz, you could set your selector to use let say 2.49 GHz for the sub thus eliminating potential gear confusion in sharing the typical 2.4 GHz frequency.

Cheers!
TK

Cheers!
TK

dorokusai

Actually I'm a CSR and wanted to clarify with the original poster prior to commenting. The connections are not like a normal subwoofer but it operates like any other subwoofer. It would work fine with the SurroundBar and here's a quick explanation of the "how", minus the "high Z" junk...

No additional (and expensive) LFE cable needed; no audio wires needed at all. Put your subwoofer anywhere you want it, and sacrifice nothing for the convenience. Plug the sub into a nearby wall outlet, connect the transmitter, and you're done. Onboard Polk Digital LogicTM uses advanced auto-sensing to determine the signal your system is sending (LFE or Line Level), and it instantly responds, selecting the appropriate low-pass filter. The 2.4-Gigahertz Wireless Transmitter is state-of-the-art, interfaces easily with any system, and can be put anywhere in your room.

TECHNOKID

dorokusai wrote: »

Actually I'm a CSR and wanted to clarify with the original poster prior to commenting. The connections are not like a normal subwoofer but it operates like any other subwoofer. It would work fine with the SurroundBar and here's a quick explanation of the "how", minus the "high Z" junk...

No additional (and expensive) LFE cable needed; no audio wires needed at all. Put your subwoofer anywhere you want it, and sacrifice nothing for the convenience. Plug the sub into a nearby wall outlet, connect the transmitter, and you're done. Onboard Polk Digital LogicTM uses advanced auto-sensing to determine the signal your system is sending (LFE or Line Level), and it instantly responds, selecting the appropriate low-pass filter. The 2.4-Gigahertz Wireless Transmitter is state-of-the-art, interfaces easily with any system, and can be put anywhere in your room.

I do realize you are a CSR but this was my point that he shouldn't take my response for granted as he in fact once he ackowledged this was his question the response is more appropriate coming from one of you at Polk since you know what the gear can or can not do. As far as the HIGH Z junk, this is actually how Polk suggest to hook-up their SB and the HIGH Z comment actually came from Polk when I sent them an email with my concern of the SB dropping in impedance when hooked up in paralell and potentially creating a problem with the receiver!


Cheers!
TK

dorokusai

Please email that to me mln@polkaudio.com and thanks for your support in this thread Technokid...you help alot in here.

TECHNOKID

dorokusai wrote: »

Please email that to me mln@polkaudio.com and thanks for your support in this thread Technokid...you help alot in here.

Sorry Dor, I tried to find the email yesterday evening before leaving work but seems to be too old as my request/concern was made in 2008 and for some reason gmail wouldn't go that far. I registered my SB then:

Registration Information

---

Below is the information you have submitted on 03/02/2008

Model SurroundBar
Serial Number(s) AM405705569
AM405705569
Purchase Date 03/02/2008
Transaction store
Dealer Name The Brick

and I think I emailed Polk support a couple days after the purchase with my impedence concern if the SB was parallelled with the subwoofer: http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/manuals/home/SurroundBar_QuickStartGuide.pdf (page 5). There were 2 communications between I and support and they were firm about the HIGH Z of the SB which allowed such connections between the SB and the subwoofer.

Here is a discussion on our Canadian forum were I mention the HIGH Z effect of the SB and my personal report and testing:

Here some info on the testing-demo I have done over the last weekend: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...t=34127&page=7

I will be doing some more familiarisation and tests over the next weekend, if there is something specific you would like me to comment on, let me know before this week and I will see if it is feasible. Please, this is only my personal input and you should arrange for your own demo at your favorite store if it still interest you after my final comments.

As i pointed out, the Soundbar uses the exact same drivers as the RM10 and the RM20. There is 7 drivers total in the bar versus 8 for the RM20 5Pack (the center of the 5Pack has 2 drivers and the Bar has 1). The fronts of the bar has only one driver each which the RM20 5Pack has 2 but the rear of the RM20 5Pack has only 1 drivers each as they use RM10 for the back surround and the Bar uses 2 for each Surround Back as there is a combination of in-phase and inversion/out of phase in order to eliminate the Phantom effect of 2 speakers on each side (L&R).

I hope my babling is not too confusing, I opened one of each of my speakers to see their guts (of course my favorite are the RM30 and then this Bar as it is an attention getter; gets the old tech in me very curious and interested... afterall, it is High tech!) and read a lot about each speakers and the bar it self. Inside the PolksBar there are High pass filters and crossovers. The end result is a very HIGH IMPEDANCE ( so high you can not really read, at 40M the meter goes nuts up to open and at 400M I get a weird reading!). This high Z allow you to do some paralell set-up with other speakers without affecting the impedance match. The speakers are 8 ohms rated but the high Z isolate that low Z allowing you to do some paralell combination(s) which I will more likely be testing in the long run.

Once my room is ready, I will more likely use the bar in combination with other more powerfull speakers in order to fill the front area with the bar and allowing me to keep my larger speakers closer to the listeneing area. The way I feel, the more speakers will fill more of the room while they do not need to be as big-large and also allowing me to keep the volume at a lower setting which is good for the life span of both amp and speakers and keep them far away from the distorsion level!

Hope some of this helps you in your choice!?!

Ren

dorokusai

No problem, thanks TK. I just wanted to get some history on the high Z comments. It's really not an issue regardless of what the end user wants to connect. For the nerds, like you and me, its more of a talking point.

Scooterp7

WOW!!! Lightning deal at AmazonB360 for $399!!

mrbofus

I hope this doesnt sound like an obvious question, but I'm gonna ask anyway.
I just read this whole thread, most seem pleased with the soundbar and it has my interest.
I was (am) planning on a 5.1 system with rti8's as the fronts and am looking at csi-3'5 for the center. The center hasnt gotten the WAF because of its size so my question is:
With a sound bar, would that be for TV and movie watching only without using the fronts(rti8's).Then for music-CD-stereo etc go to 2 channel with sub- not using the soundbar?
I hope my question makes sense? OR could i use the rti8's and the soundbar together?

dorokusai

I'm not understanding you Mrbofus.

mrbofus

Yeah, that what I thought. Lets try this again.
The soundbar is intended to be used by itself when watching TV or Movies, correct?
Can it be used in conjunction with my rti8's like a center? basically a 3.0/3.1 with sub
and when listening to music (TV off) like CD's would you bypass the soundbar and only use the rti8's basically 2 channel?
Is that a bit more clear? I'm not really sure how to ask my question

jimbo1421

Which SurroundBar (not soundbar) are you referring to?

Jim