Polk IHT Surroundbar- The Agony of Defeat, the Thrill of Victory
I decided a few weeks ago to pick one of these up for my dad's new LCD TV ( Vizio) so he could get a fuller appreciation of the many operas & classical programming he likes. Amazon had a special that looked great, but after a little noodling around, I found a refurb IHT SurroundBar on PolkDirect ebay, for a proverbial song.
Cowabunga, I'm on that. Subwoofer included, 5 minute advertised setup.
A few days later, I call the old man up to come over under the pretext of an opera DVD I found, and then spring the Soundbar on him.
Commence the Agony of Defeat:
His TV only had audio Toslink optical out, no RCA's, no headphone jack ( a y-splitter for which is included with the Bar). So, the TV will not output through the SurroundBar until we've got a converter and cable. Crap.
editor's happy-ending spoiler note: David Gilmour's intro to Sorrow on the 1994 Pulse DVD is literally rattling the walls of my living room, yet it does not sound too loud in the least. It sounds like their concert I remember being at, which is one reason I have hearing loss.
Well, dummy here, I order the cheapest converter I can find that is advertised as converting from optical audio to analog- but it only has a single output jack. It arrives a few days later, but no va.
By this time I'm working it out with Breanna of Polk Support,and she's very helpful. She recommends a particular converter from Amazon by Gefen. So, for those who have the same issue of only the optical output, this is the fix.
It arrives a few days later, I go over, hook it up, voila, nice sound coming out. But now there's another problem. Pairing the TV Remote with the Surroundbar, I'm only able to get Mute and Power. Although the Remote seems to pair with the Up/Down Volume, it does not, in fact, have any effect on volume. Crap.
So I hollar at Breanna, and she and I both conclude I should try pairing with the little Polk Remote that's also included with the Bar. And so, next time I'm over there, that's what I do. But apparently the included Polk Remote has the exact same issue as the TV remote.
So Breanna agrees with me that there must be a programming issue with the Bar itself if it doesn't respond properly to its own remote.
My folks are in their 80's and live basically by the Green Bananas philosophy. This has gone on too long, so they both say "Send it back. Be done with it. My mom's pretty deaf, but the more volume coming out of my dad's system, the more it irritates her. Doesn't make sense, does it?"
Ok. I call Polk Support, and visit with Kyle, make the arrangements to return it. He mentions that since it's a refurb and after the 10 day period mentioned, they can only replace it; no cash refunds(although I think he left me with wiggle room if I want to appeal it higher up). But, I tell him this is not an issue as I'd like one for myself- but I'd like one that's fully functional.
Ok, fine. Well, I take it home, unbox, and hook it up to my old Phillips CRT.
Pair up the Remote. Seems to pair fine.
The Thrill of Victory:
Put on a DVD, switch to Dish program.Back to an opera. HEY! The Up/Down Volume WORKS! What, Wait, What????
Now the TV and the Bar are sitting on the built-in counter for TV HT & electronics, came with the house. I'll mod it once I know what's going in there for a TV.
However, I find that tilting the bar back about 30 degrees really brings the sound, fills the room. Wow, that was easy enough. This is all for grins at this point, I didn't expect anything.
Screw the opera, we're going with some Floyd here. Dear Lord, this is wonderful.
I call Polk Support again, and explain that it seems the Surroundbar works with the older Remote...although I'm puzzled why it never worked fully with its own Remote.
Well, this time it's Eric, he explains that pairing up the IHT with Remotes of some newer LCD TV's is an iffy proposition. Now, that's a big deal for me, since we're currently looking to upgrade the oldtimer with either an LCD or maybe a good plasma TV, but-... I'm definitely keeping the IHT, so I don't want to go through the headache of finding out the TV Remote doesn't pair up with it.
Conclusion: When it works in the environment, this SurroundBar is an awesome enhancement. It's discreet, fills the room, and if there's improvement with burn-in, things can only get better.
So, maybe I'm going about things backwards, but is there a list of the LCD and Plasma TV's whose Remotes are known or expected to work, or known not to work with the different SurroundBars? In my case, the IHT.
Anyone?
Bueller?
Cowabunga, I'm on that. Subwoofer included, 5 minute advertised setup.
A few days later, I call the old man up to come over under the pretext of an opera DVD I found, and then spring the Soundbar on him.
Commence the Agony of Defeat:
His TV only had audio Toslink optical out, no RCA's, no headphone jack ( a y-splitter for which is included with the Bar). So, the TV will not output through the SurroundBar until we've got a converter and cable. Crap.
editor's happy-ending spoiler note: David Gilmour's intro to Sorrow on the 1994 Pulse DVD is literally rattling the walls of my living room, yet it does not sound too loud in the least. It sounds like their concert I remember being at, which is one reason I have hearing loss.
Well, dummy here, I order the cheapest converter I can find that is advertised as converting from optical audio to analog- but it only has a single output jack. It arrives a few days later, but no va.
By this time I'm working it out with Breanna of Polk Support,and she's very helpful. She recommends a particular converter from Amazon by Gefen. So, for those who have the same issue of only the optical output, this is the fix.
It arrives a few days later, I go over, hook it up, voila, nice sound coming out. But now there's another problem. Pairing the TV Remote with the Surroundbar, I'm only able to get Mute and Power. Although the Remote seems to pair with the Up/Down Volume, it does not, in fact, have any effect on volume. Crap.
So I hollar at Breanna, and she and I both conclude I should try pairing with the little Polk Remote that's also included with the Bar. And so, next time I'm over there, that's what I do. But apparently the included Polk Remote has the exact same issue as the TV remote.
So Breanna agrees with me that there must be a programming issue with the Bar itself if it doesn't respond properly to its own remote.
My folks are in their 80's and live basically by the Green Bananas philosophy. This has gone on too long, so they both say "Send it back. Be done with it. My mom's pretty deaf, but the more volume coming out of my dad's system, the more it irritates her. Doesn't make sense, does it?"
Ok. I call Polk Support, and visit with Kyle, make the arrangements to return it. He mentions that since it's a refurb and after the 10 day period mentioned, they can only replace it; no cash refunds(although I think he left me with wiggle room if I want to appeal it higher up). But, I tell him this is not an issue as I'd like one for myself- but I'd like one that's fully functional.
Ok, fine. Well, I take it home, unbox, and hook it up to my old Phillips CRT.
Pair up the Remote. Seems to pair fine.
The Thrill of Victory:
Put on a DVD, switch to Dish program.Back to an opera. HEY! The Up/Down Volume WORKS! What, Wait, What????
Now the TV and the Bar are sitting on the built-in counter for TV HT & electronics, came with the house. I'll mod it once I know what's going in there for a TV.
However, I find that tilting the bar back about 30 degrees really brings the sound, fills the room. Wow, that was easy enough. This is all for grins at this point, I didn't expect anything.
Screw the opera, we're going with some Floyd here. Dear Lord, this is wonderful.
I call Polk Support again, and explain that it seems the Surroundbar works with the older Remote...although I'm puzzled why it never worked fully with its own Remote.
Well, this time it's Eric, he explains that pairing up the IHT with Remotes of some newer LCD TV's is an iffy proposition. Now, that's a big deal for me, since we're currently looking to upgrade the oldtimer with either an LCD or maybe a good plasma TV, but-... I'm definitely keeping the IHT, so I don't want to go through the headache of finding out the TV Remote doesn't pair up with it.
Conclusion: When it works in the environment, this SurroundBar is an awesome enhancement. It's discreet, fills the room, and if there's improvement with burn-in, things can only get better.
So, maybe I'm going about things backwards, but is there a list of the LCD and Plasma TV's whose Remotes are known or expected to work, or known not to work with the different SurroundBars? In my case, the IHT.
Anyone?
Bueller?
Post edited by John30_30 on
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Update using a Sony BRAVIA V-Series KDL-40V5100 40" LCD. It WORKS FLAWLESSLY! If anyone else is considering that model.