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

rossdillon

mazersteven wrote: »

Roscoe

Yup:)

RuSsMaN

Welcome to our humble audio abode Roscoe!

See you 'out there'.

Cheers,
Russ

rossdillon

dorokusai wrote: »

Ross - I believe you're from Audioholics I'll answer here for this question but finish up over there on your earlier query if that's ok.

up that's me...and that's fine.

Yes, a single speaker would be fine but I would suggest an omni-directional speaker from Mirage(Omnisat for example, since you mentioned the brand) or even better would be a single bipole/dipole speaker from the current Polk Audio lineup(FXi30/FXi3). The problem with either choice is that you will most likely have to buy a pair.

You mean because in pairs is the only way they are sold? If I bought such a speaker, where would I put it? Ceiling? Floor? Ear level?

I would try an "fill" that 3ft+ area with sound as opposed to localize it with a traditional loudspeaker. However, you can do all kinds of "odd" things with a single traditional speaker like position it on the floor firing up, ceiling firing down, etc so in the end I would suggest you play around with what you own now, and try a couple things, then break out the wallet

I would of course rather use what I have, guess I'll just have to play around.

Does that help you?

Yup...thanks!:)

dorokusai

Ross,

Pairs? Yes.

Placement? That's my point. Play around with the Mirage in regards to the 6.1 setup, run it HOT(+db) and see if you notice it on media you're familiar with.

dexfx69

Check out the Home Theater Magazine review and measurements .

icehouse1

They are very cool.

wingnut4772

13 more

fireshoes

I had a chance to try out the new SurroundBar50 this weekend. Wow! I wasn't expecting such a difference, but to me it seems way, way better than the regular version. I wouldn't have thought two extra woofers and a couple ports would create so much change, but after seeing the diagram on the products page, it makes sense. The two added woofers are used as SDA drivers for the front left and right speakers, so they are creating a larger front stage, as well as adding more speaker surface area for higher volume capability and deeper bass.

For equipment, I was using a Yamaha RXV1700 receiver connected by HDMI to a Toshiba HDA2 HD DVD player, and a Polk Audio PSW404 subwoofer. The first movie I tried was the Bourne Identity on HD DVD. There were two scenes I tried with this disc: the police in pursuit of Bourne and Marie in the mini and when Bourne goes after the assassin at Marie's brother's house with a shotgun. The car chase is great! It starts out with Bourne backing the mini into the street in front of a bus, which has to break and honks out of the surround speakers. The chase continues with various tires skidding, cars crashing, and even a glass phone booth door shattering, all accompanied by Moby's song Ready Steady Go. Particularly cool surround effects with the car spinning through the back soundstage. At the farmhouse, the action starts out with bang...literally! Bourne fires the shotgun to blow up a propane tank. Unsuspecting customers in the store were taking cover after this powerful, dynamic explosion. Bourne then runs through the trees to a clearing, where he fires the shotgun in the air. The shotgun blast is quite loud and very realistic, startling birds from the field and echoing for several seconds. The birds circle the field, and you can clearly hear them behind you. Bourne shoots the assassin twice to dispatch him, with painful efficiency that may cause you to check yourself for wounds. Great demo material! I also got to briefly run through a couple of scenes from Transformers, and let's just say, yeah, it's everything you'd expect! Wow! All-in-all, a very impressive new product from Polk!

dorokusai

Fireshoes - Great comments, thanks for posting them! The SB50 SDA works very well.

dorokusai

I believe a couple folks haven't posted their reviews of the OG Surround Bar....is that gonna happen sometime

daesdaemar

OK, this may be a dumb question, but I have to ask.

Several of you have mentioned how you adjust levels for your "rear" channels on the surroundbar. The surroundbar has cable marked for center, front right and left, surround right and left. There are no cables marked for surround back right or back left. I have the cable connected to my receiver as marked. I have no speaker cable connection to surround back right or left channels.

I presume this is the way everyone is doing it? No one is connecting the surround right and left cable to the surround back (rear?) channels are they? I think you all mean the surround channels when you mention "rear".

reeltrouble1

Daes,

Yes, some folks like the surrounds in the back, some on the sides for a 5.1 system. So you can hook the "surround" wires coming from the bar to either sides or backs, they are still surrounds.

RT1

MightyHalo

Hello,

Im a newbie here,

Just Ordered the SurroundBar 50

I also ordered the FXiA6 for surrounds(make a 7.1 setup)
And for a sub, I ordered a DSW Pro500..

My reciever is a Marantz SR7001, with a Marantz DVD player and a PS3 for BluRay.

I live in an apartment with small living room, Im hoping this setup works, any advice would be helpful to maximize my sound for the best

I orginaly ordered RTi12's for fronts and a CSi5 for center, but my wife freaked out at the size, so Im sending them back plus center in favor for this surroundbar50......hope it works out.

My main question with the surrounds(FX's) I have...I plan on mounting them on my back wall....do I use them as rears ? and set the surround rears as surround side rears ????

dorokusai

Surround Rear.

MightyHalo

Well.........after much much thinking, I will go the more tradional route,


I called and canceled the SurroundBar50.........

This will be my setup,

Fronts: RTiA3 bookshelfs with stands
Center: CSiA6
Surround Rear:FXiA6
Sub: DSW Pro 500

I figured I can go with this setup and give me much more room to grow.....like sneak in some surround side rears later...and upgrade my fronts to towers later.

I had read that for music on the surround bar, it'll give me a tinny sound. I don't want that....I do like movies/ps3 games...but also some decent music...Im hoping this will be satisfying.

I'll let you know what happens.

dorokusai

MightyHalo - Great choices, rock on!

dorokusai

Any Polkies that were able to demo the Surround Bar.....would you mind taking some time to post your thoughts on the SB in the review section? There are some of you that never posted your reviews and that would be the best spot.

Polk Audio would really appreciate a few minutes of your time. Thanks.

Surround Bar Review Page

rossdillon

I received my SurroundBar today...I'm so excited:):):)! Can't wait to get surround sound again (Hint: Amazon.com)

Question...My receiver has red/black +/- connections, but the SurroundBar color codes the wires with no polarity distinction. Does it matter which color goes + or - in my receiver?

I'm working on this now so I may have this figureed out though by the time I get an answer. But please answer anyway...if I have issues that may help me from chasing a non-issue.

Thanks!

dorokusai

The color coding is a generic feature to assist customers. It's sometimes used on other gear but not everything.

Just follow the instructions for what speaker your connecting and you'll be fine on the AVR/Receiver end of things.

Let us know what you think of the SB, have fun!

rossdillon

So I guess polarity doesn't matter or I got incredibly lucky. becasue sound appears to be coming out of all channels

New problem, unrelated to the SB. I can't see or change any of the settings in my reciever because for reason the remote isn't working and the Denon AVR-1804 can only be setup through the remote (GRRR). It turns the system on and off (both zone one and zone 2), but nothing else works. No volume, no setup, nothing. Yes, it has fresh batteries. Note I usually use a Harmony all-in-one remote but I can't see how that would matter.

I know it was set up for small speakers and a sub woofer, so I know I have to change both of those. Grrrrr....

danger boy

on your remote see if there are a setting, usually a slider switch, that may read something like user, set up, or learn. if the remote is in one of those setting, nothing on the remote will work.. till you move it to normal or user... etc.

good luck.

rossdillon

Changed nothing, eventually it worked. That was an hour wasted. Then I hooked up my rear speaker (receiver has a 6.1 setup), no sound...receiver wasn't broadcasting back channel. Took another hour to figure out why (wiring put in by previous owner, mismarked, receiver settings hard to find....combination made it almost impossible to fix).

Bottom line...by itself, the SurroundBar is pretty good, the SS effect is noticeable but I think a little weak. Added the rear channel and spiked the side SS channels up 5dB and the back up 2dB and it got better. Side channels could image better, but certainly better than no SS at all. All in all I'm happy. Not ecstatic but happy.

dorokusai

I believe the SB50 to be much better at surround sound than the early SB. Night and Day.

rossdillon

Night and day difference in $$ also unfortunately (not that it shouldn't be but kept me to the older one)

dorokusai

Ross - I completely understand, just making an observation. I installed a original SB for a friend recently and they couldn't be happier.

rrpete49

I recently bought the original size soundbar, Initially it played way better than the T.V. speakers [52"Sharp LCD]but I always felt something was lacking. It was set up as per the instructions. I never expected this speaker to have the real surround sound effects but I just wasn`t that impressed. Today I used a Radio Shack sound meter to adjust the sound as follows FL,C,FR@0,SR&SL@+4.
Now it sounds 100% better.I will be adding an SVS PB Plus/2 sub woofer in the next few days and I suspect the total sound from both the sub and surroundbar will be as good as most HT systems and better than any HTIB. Next I will add two Polk in-ceiling speakers for rear surround.
The room is 20x20 with 11 foot ceilings open to two other rooms and the surroundbar fills the space with clear sound.Music plays crisp and clear too.
I am glad I bought this product.It sits on the fireplace mantle at forehead level and is very pleasing to look at.This was a much better choice than installing three speakers 11 feet above your head. I am totally satisfied with this product.

One thought on the 50" surroundbar,it is very big, if visuals are a priority realize that it is wider than than most T.V.`s that it will sit under.

dorokusai

I think running the rear channels @ +4db is smart. It's great to hear your story and remedy. Happy Listening!

Mark

ScottCim

Hey Guys,
I've been lurking around for the past several weeks, trying to make the decision on how to slim down my current setup. Having a baby last year made me realize that my house is small, and it's time to maximize the space I have. I saw the SouroundBar on Amazon, and it really looks promising. I've looked at the reviews on here, and everyone seems very positive about it What i'm wondering though, is how the quality of sound would be compared with my current setup.

Current Setup
Fronts/Surrounds: R30's
Center: CS1
Sub: Sony (Not sure of the model)
Receiver: Technics SA-DA10
TV: 37" Olevia LCD 537H

Thanks!
Scott

dorokusai

anonymouse wrote: »

I've had the bar for over a year now, and only today, I switched the ribbon cable that came with it to Blue Jeans 10 white. There is a 10ft run between the receiver and the bar.

Holy mackerel - what a difference! I was always lukewarm on the bar - always felt the surround effects were rather muted, but tolerated it because of aesthetics. Now I can hear nearly 360 degree surround effects. Its a night and day difference.

I have no idea why Polk packs such a thin gauge cable with the bar when good cable can really open it up.

My setup is a Sony STR-DA2ES, PSW 404 and the bar. The surround channels are running hot (+6 DB - always ran this way).

Mouse - Thanks for the review and update!

The supplied, color coded cable is for a reason, as alot of folks prefer a simple approach to connectivity. You have to realize that not everyone asks, "What do I do next?".

Upgrades are for down the road and not everyone feels the same way. It's the nature of the beast. There are many options available to the SB user at large.

dorokusai

anonymouse wrote: »

Agreed, but you are making excuses for Polk. They can easily have a 10AWG ribbon cable made with the volumes they purchase. Mind you, I'm a huge fan of the company, but this sure appears like a case of cutting corners.

If the upgrade can make a difference, as appears to be the case in my setup, at least include a note in the manual that cable upgrades should be considered for best performance.

Excuses? LOL.

Do you have 10AWG running behind the supplied wall bracket?