Polk Surround Bar makes hometheater "best of 2009" list!

KASR

Check it out - it's alittle down the page thought! Great to see a Polk product make the list!

http://hometheaterreview.com/home-theater-review-2009-best-of-awards/

They reviewed it here:

http://hometheaterreview.com/polk-surroundbar-360-dvd-theater-reviewed/

MSkeezer

I thought it was just a "runner up". The Yamaha YSP-4000 was the actual winner. Still, it's nice to Polk SOMEWHERE on a list like this.

KASR

MSkeezer wrote: »

I thought it was just a "runner up". The Yamaha YSP-4000 was the actual winner. Still, it's nice to Polk SOMEWHERE on a list like this.

Well, my title says "it made the list" which it did - just not the bride. But we aren't splitting hairs are we?
Just glad to see it represented.

MSkeezer

Touche

zingo

It is a nice product line for those who can't/don't want a full HT.

dorokusai

The SBar50 is a better product in my experience with the Yamaha. It's also not room dependent and the Yamaha suffers greatly if it can't use sidewalls for reflection.

Sure the built-in amplification and decoding is nice...can't argue with that. You never know what Polk has up their sleeves tho'....only time will tell.

TECHNOKID

the SurroundBar 360 immediately impressed me with its bass response, which is not what I was expecting. It's pretty amazing what Matthew Polk and company have been able to procure from such small drivers. I actually had to dial the bass back a bit via the dedicated bass output control on the remote (a nice touch). Despite the reduction in bass output, I did find the bass to be a bit boomy overall. ...I was impressed by the how well the speaker articulated the vocals and instrumentation. The drums also registered with palpable impact and speed. This song has many layers and, as each instrument kicked in, the Polk handled it with aplomb.

It's a surround sound smorgasbord (say that ten times) as the explosions and shattering glass sweep from the front left speaker all the way around you. Having watched this scene on many different home theater rigs, I was curious what sort of surround effect the 360 would produce. The answer is, in a word, compelling. While not as convincing in that regard as a dedicated 5.1 speaker set-up, it was more than adequate and quite surprising. It's clear that Polk spent some serious time and money in developing their SDA surround sound technology. ...As this scene progresses and the battle intensifies, you get a really good dose of the sounds each different caliber of gun makes, along with mass quantities of brass hitting the pavement. Both the picture quality and sound reproduction of the SurroundBar 360 were topnotch on this scene. I watched it several times, looking and listening for any shortcomings, and found none worth noting.

Despite the fact that this is a sophisticated home theater system, I'll make the assumption that some parents might end up buying one for their kids, so I moved on to some animation... ...I found the picture to be sharp and the color saturation amazing, thanks to built-in Faroudja upscaling. I tried switching the resolution from the default setting of 480p to 720p, which produced a noticeable improvement in picture quality and sharpness. Getting back to the sound, I noticed that the dialogue through the center channel was highly intelligible and more consistent than it was in my much pricier 5.1 system. I constantly find myself tweaking the center channel volume when moving from source to source or disc to disc, so this was a welcome change.

Low Points
At this price point, an HDMI cable should be included. However, my biggest gripe with the SurroundBar 360 is the lack of a component or HDMI video input. Your only options are composite and S-video, which is lovely if grandma wants her VCR connected, but these won't help with video switching on an HD cable box. Also, the fast-forward speed when watching a DVD maxes out at 8X. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled, but I'm used to having the option of going to at least 16X.

I bet if Polk upgrades to HDMI I/P and discard the clunker DVD player they'll easily hit top! Afterall, BD is going down in price so why would people settle for a big clunker upscaler?

Cheers!
TK

TECHNOKID

dorokusai wrote: »

The SBar50 is a better product in my experience with the Yamaha. It's also not room dependent and the Yamaha suffers greatly if it can't use sidewalls for reflection.

Sure the built-in amplification and decoding is nice...can't argue with that. You never know what Polk has up their sleeves tho'....only time will tell.

If Polk can manage to integrate an amp to the SB50 (feasible) than you'd probably have an un-beatable product. The Yamaha bars are highly spoken of but I agree with you with the wall dependency not counting that home speakers never rally been a Yamaha specialty.

Cheers!
TK

dorokusai

When the SBar360 was conceived, the format war was just beginning and BR rights would have added a decent chunk of change on top of an already....sorta pricey solution. The focus groups at the time barely mentioned BR or HD-DVD so it was not pursued as a high priority.

I believe the HDMI complaint is valid and maybe the 2010 model will change that, not sure. If they want the product to be competitive, they better do some serious thinking of the next level.

KASR

dorokusai wrote: »

The SBar50 is a better product in my experience with the Yamaha. It's also not room dependent and the Yamaha suffers greatly if it can't use sidewalls for reflection.

I couldn't agree more - the "bounce off walls" to create surround sound effect always seemed kinda gimmicky to me, but turns out quite a few bars do it that way.

lanion

Where are all the threads on Emotiva's win?

KASR

lanion wrote: »

Where are all the threads on Emotiva's win?

They're on Emotiva's website!

TECHNOKID

KASR wrote: »

I couldn't agree more - the "bounce off walls" to create surround sound effect always seemed kinda gimmicky to me, but turns out quite a few bars do it that way.

Most do, SDA technology belongs to Polk baby

TECHNOKID

dorokusai wrote: »

When the SBar360 was conceived, the format war was just beginning and BR rights would have added a decent chunk of change on top of an already....sorta pricey solution. The focus groups at the time barely mentioned BR or HD-DVD so it was not pursued as a high priority.

I believe the HDMI complaint is valid and maybe the 2010 model will change that, not sure. If they want the product to be competitive, they better do some serious thinking of the next level.

Agreed, it would have been silly and suicidal to include any form of HD player at the time. Now technology has changed again and I am convinced Polk will again be ahead of the game with this type of product.

dorokusai

I hope so.

TECHNOKID

dorokusai wrote: »

I hope so.

The below backs up your comments on the SB50. Creating a powered SB50 along with a sub and BD player would definitely make it a winner in all Sound projector category...

Conclusion
Polk's SurroundBar 50 is one of the better sound bars we've heard and is an excellent match for a set 50 inches or below. It costs $1,000, which, if you think about it, could buy you a complete Blu-ray home-theater-in-a-box, such as Panasonic's SC-BT100. However, with the SurroundBar 50, you have the benefit of Polk Audio's many years in the audio biz and a sleek, space-saving design that looks great under any flat panel. In the end, for the price, you get a dynamic Polk sound that is a very suitable match for any larger-format HDTV, as the SurroundBar 50 is about as good a sound bar as you are going to find near its price.

danger boy

dorokusai wrote: »

When the SBar360 was conceived, the format war was just beginning and BR rights would have added a decent chunk of change on top of an already....sorta pricey solution. The focus groups at the time barely mentioned BR or HD-DVD so it was not pursued as a high priority.

I believe the HDMI complaint is valid and maybe the 2010 model will change that, not sure. If they want the product to be competitive, they better do some serious thinking of the next level.

electronics change so fast.. just like computers.. you barely get a product on the market after research and developement.. and it's nearly obsolete. not saying the SurroundBar is but you get my point.

TECHNOKID

danger boy wrote: »

electronics change so fast.. just like computers.. you barely get a product on the market after research and developement.. and it's nearly obsolete. not saying the SurroundBar is but you get my point.

You are right and basically what is nearly obsolete on the SB360 is the player. replace the existing player with BD technology and it si back in the game. The Philipps sound projector has apparently a nice built in player. I heard Samsung is also getting up there. With the proper player and HDMI connections Polk SDA would be un-beatable I would believe.

anhchungdoan

I appreciate the fact that the red-book player part of the Polk 360 is considered obsolete that I could buy a NIB 360 for $399.00.

I have enough BDPs in my 2 H/T systems and I need the sound bar for late night and relax time to wacth Tv, the $399.00 Polk 360 is exact what I need plus the bonus of the DVDP (and FM tuner) for my standard red book DVDs.

anhchungdoan

xcapri79 wrote: »

I'm a big fan of the Surroundbar 50. I use it for all my general TV viewing.

I was torned bewteen the SD 50 and the 360 . Since I still have a bunch of red book DVDs and my so-called "media room" is upstairs, so I have chosen the 360 w/o a sub for quiet moment listening to TV.

$399.00 for either the SD 50 or the 360 NIB @ Newegg is a steal if one has a need for a sound bar.

1fastz28

too bad its dvd and not BD