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

GeorgeM

T..D..

Yeah, I'll give you any more feedback that I can. I've got to go up and finish the connections and program the Harmony remote sometime this week. The set up is not close to me (about an hour's drive from here) so I'll not have the opportunity to frequently listen to it.

On the plasma, I was surprised that the audio was that good considering that it originated from a couple of small internal speakers. The default setting seemed as if was a mono sound but there was a setup option to change it to somewhat of a 'simulated surround' that was more pleasing to the ear; I suspect that the setup on your 50" is identical to the 42".

-G

TigerDen

GeorgeM,

I am suprised at how good the internal tv speakers are, really did not expect much. But with that being said, if the surround bar with a decent sub setup will make that big of a difference, I think I'll order one.

GeorgeM

T..D...,

A couple of things:

Yesterday I connected a sub (inexpensive Yamaha 215) and it worked well with the S-Bar. Probably something more upscale would certainly sound better but for $150.00 sub you get $150.00 (maybe more) worth of sound!!!

As others have mentioned in this and other threads, a sub is 'must' to accompany the S-Bar and I set the crossover to about 100 Hz (previously mentioned by someone else here) and that seemed to work out fine.

Yesterday I did not remember to take my DVD's containing a good surround demonstration but I did listen others and they sounded pretty good. I've never 'colored' speaker sound in the past by cranking in some base or treble via the receiver/amp but if I used the S-Bar without a sub, I think that I'd be tempted to do this; hence, the need for a sub.

I received a promo e-mail from Crutchfield on Monday and they continue to offer the Bar for $600.00. No risk here; they have good return policy if you don't like the product (I think that it's no-questions-asked if within 30 days).

-G

dorokusai

Tiger - The SBar is an excellent value and as George mentioned Crutchfield is a no risk opportunity to try one out. A subwoofer is a must and also recommended by Polk from the get go. I'm not sure what other promo they, Crutchfield, may be offering, but the PSW202 is sometimes part of that.

George - Excellent, keep playing, enjoy!

Willow

For those who have, how hard was it to calibrate the SB? and how did you go about doing it?

GeorgeM

Willow, I believe that the recommendation is that you do notcalibrate it. I think the reasoning is that the S-Bar is 5 speakers positioned in one location rather than 5 speakers situated in various positions throughout a room (true 5.1). If you did calibrate them, you'd most likely interfere with the Polk 'SDA Technology' thus defeating the intent and function of the S-Bar.

I have a Radio Shack SPL meter but did not use it; however, I think that the SPL would be useful for calibrating a sub that is used with the system. Maybe someone more technically qualified than me can offer some further adivce.

-G

babalooo

Before I make a new thread with my question, I'm hoping GeorgeM or someone else with practical experience can help this newbie in plain simple English. : )

I recently bought a brand new system:

TV - Panasonic 50px60u
Receiver - Onkyo TX-SR504S
Polk SurroundBar
Polk PSW10 Subwoofer

I was going to spend this weekend hooking it all up but got stumped on the subwoofer. The manual to the PSW10 is abysmal, and the manual to the SurroundBar includes a diagram of the PSW10 subwoofer but I am not understanding it. My receiver has a single subwoofer "out" but there's no single "in" on the sub. The diagram of the SurroundBar instructions shows the sub's left and right in....and I'm not sure from the black and red lines of the diagram if they are going directly to the SBar or to the receiver or if I'm supposed to double up speakers (and don't want to try this until I hear from someone that that's not a bad thing). Can someone PLEASE tell me step by step what to do to hook up my sub, SBar and receiver properly?

Thanks in advance!!
Barbara : )

dorokusai

Use the subwoofer output on your Onkyo AVR to either the Left or Right RCA input on the subwoofer.

You may also reference this "sticky" thread in Subwoofer Hookup & Bass Management forum... http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40723

babalooo

Hi Dorokusai,
Thanks for the input! That's all I have to do? So I don't have to deal with speaker wire coming out of the sub, huh? Great!

dorokusai

Correct.

TroyD

Neat, huh?

BDT

sbpolk

So I listened to the surroundbar a few weeks ago in a store, and the demo room had no back wall. It was paired with a horrible sub.... and sounded fantastic! I had the salesman turn the sub off, and just play the surroundbar. I was very impressed. I have a 50" Pioneer Plasma that I am wall mounting in my family room, and will be buying a surroundbar to go underneath it, on the wall. The room won't allow rear speakers, and because this speaker sounded so good, I won't have to listen to the tiny plasma speakers!

BTW, I recently had a CSi40, RTi70 set up in an old house, and now have a dedicated theater. I am ordering RTi8 fronts, CSi5 center, and RTi4 surrounds for my dedicated FP theater room. Polk has done well for me in the past, and I think neither of these setups will let me down!

ND13

Fry's has the Surroundbar on sale this week for only $599.

hrdhtdvr

I have read pretty much every post in this thread, and don't see anything concerning listening to music. Yes, this will be in use in the bedroom so I can watch the "Artistic" movies and regular TV as well. It will be put together with a HTIAB type set up. How does the SB sound when listening to music.

Thanks.

OniShibata

Okay, I finally got an in-house demo of the SurroundBar and I was disappointed. I was testing it with a Harman Kardon AVR340 receiver, no subwoofer, and analog audio cables. I know my room played a factor (30x18x12, LxWxH), but I thought it was supposed to work in any room. Oh yeah, the room is completely tiled with an open space in the back towards the kitchen.

The guy said the speaker will sound much better when I use digital optical/coaxial audio cables. I agree with that, because the audio sounded much better from satellite broadcast after I connected hdmi between my lcd and the top box. But should I use a different receiver? Audio is loud (lively/bright?), but I prefer clarity because its main use will be for home theater and rarely music listening. Any suggestions, opinions, advice will be greatly appreciated.

jdhdiggs

The tile floor and size are causing the brightness. That much space eats the bass and midbass up and the tiles reflect all the HF. Have you had success with other arrangements in that room?

hoosier21

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Who is this guy?

OniShibata

Some other setups I demo were Klipsch RVX42s and Paradigm Monitor 5s. Both were powered by a Denon receiver (forgot the model) and again no subwoofer. (I don't know why these 'authorized' dealers/installers refuses to bring a sub when they're trying to sell me something). Both setups sounded exactly like the SurroundBar...LOUD. However, the Paradigms had the most clarity in my opinion.

Still, I'm leaning towards the SurroundBar because before I had the in-house demo I listen to them at Circuit City and it sounded awesome. And it was displayed in the TV area, so it was more opened space than my room. Well, now I'm looking for a sub. Any suggestions for a sub to go along with the Bar?

dorokusai

They may have the Free PSW10 promotion going on at Crutchfield or CC....check around.

OniShibata

Man, just when I finally made up my decision to buy the SurroundBar, it went off the generous sale. Anyone here know when it might go back on sale? How 'bout you people at Polk staff? Or is that too much 'inside' information?

dorokusai

I would call Crutchfield, for example, and ask...they usually run the same promotion every other month.

OniShibata

Alright, I finally got the SurroundBar! I got it hooked up with the PSW505 and powered by the HK AVR340. Everything is sounding good so far. The installer told me I still need to buy a 'real' subwoofer cable and a Y cable. The cables he used to connect the sub to the receiver is not really subwoofer cables (what does he mean?). And since I've never used Y cables before what are they?

I haven't really messed around with it, but I watched a movie and the sound from the speakers are loud and has clarity. The subwoofer did not disappoint either. I was worried it might not be able to fill my large room but it's more than enough. But I notice if I turned the sub volume up it sounded as if it was gonna blow. Any ideas why? Maybe the cables were really not real subwoofer cables. All suggestions and advice will be appreciated. Thanks!

kjahadi

Hi folks,

I will be purchasing a new HT system soon. Space is a preimum by the TV, and i have the WAF to keep in mind. For that reason, I can't have large bookshelf or tower speakers next to the tv. I do have some rear speakers that I can use in the back corner of the room, with no problem however. I was thinking about the Bose Acoustimass, but everyone says they are overpriced crap (although the few times i've had a chance to hear them in various homes, they sounded awesome).

Then I saw the SoundBar. Since I already have rear speakers that I can use, I thought this would look really good on top of or in front of my new DLP tv, and I would just wire it with the rear speakers as a 7.1 set up (I have a 7.1 onkyo receiver). Has anyone else done this, and how does it sound? I've read good things about the SoundBar, but almost everyone says that it is really good for its "intended use", implying that it is not as good as having seperate speakers for the rear channels. So, I thought that if I used the SoundBar with my existing rear speakers, it would sound as good as, if not better than a 5.1 system with seperates, and the SoundBar would look really cool in front of my TV. By the way, I already have a Polk Sub.

Anyway... its either that or go with the Bose Acoustimass. I realize that this is a Polk forum and I expect much bashing of Bose on here, but any objective input would be helpful to me.

Thanks

F1nut

I'll try to be fair about this and the final choice is yours, of course. Before you commit to a system like the Bose Acoustimass you should take a look at what is inside vs what is inside other speakers. I think you'll be amazed at what isn't in the Bose products, especially for the price.

ohskigod

I'll be less cryptic , I have heard many Bose accoustimass systems in house and in store. I heard the surround bar at last years polkfest, hooked up to a psw404 (not exactly a known powerhouse sub) and what I would call a horrendous room for a demo (certainly not ideal). That notwithstanding, it still sounded surprisingly good.

add in the fact that I have never heard a Bose Accoustimass I liked, makes my choice easy.

kjahadi

Hi Paul:

Thank you for your reply, and your honesty about your objectivity. I've heard very good things about polk and leaning towards your products. What interest me about the SoundBar is that I can place it in front of the TV on the stand and it will loook very nice, as upposed to having 3 different speakers sitting up there with seperates. I have a set of rear speakers so the SDA isn't so much a need for me. So let me ask you this, if I had a choice of the SoundBar + 2 addt'l rear speakrs and a sub vs the Polk Rm10 system, which would sound better in your opinion?

kjahadi

F1nut:

That is a very fair statement and good feedback. I certainly don't claim to be an audiophile, but the Bose systems i've heard sounded good to me. I don't know how they hold up in th end though. I do love my Polk sub and i have a friend wth a Polk system that sounds great, so I'm definitely thinking polk might be the way to go. Just trying to find out more about this SoundBar product. The wife likes the idea of 1 speaker acros the front of the TV vs 3 little ones... so I'm trying to overcome the WAF, but I want the sound to be most excellent!!

F1nut

Kjahadi,

Being somewhat more accustomed to hifi I had serious doubts about the SurroundBar, but found it sounded quite good, especially for it's size. It will play very loud and yet remain crystal clear. Impressive.

dorokusai

The SBar is intended for a multi-channel application by design, but it does sound very good on it's own for 2CH/Stereo formats. Keep in mind that you need a subwoofer, per the manual and by general opinion.

The imaging in 2CH mode is like any bookshelf type speaker but you may find some interesting soundfields, provided you have a modern receiver. It can recreate them far better than a bookshelf speaker

It doesn't always have to function for a movie, as musical media, often showcase it in a different light.

The SBar is multi-dimensional in sound and application.

Stop thinking so much, just listen.

kjahadi

dorokusai wrote:

Stop thinking so much, just listen.

You said it... gonna try to listen to one this weekend. Hopefully it goes on sale again soon... i think it was on sale over the summer for $599 + a subwoofer. Any chance we'll see that kind of sale again soon, maybe for the holidays? I'm holdin out for a good deal, hopefully one will come soon.

Thanks for all the input.