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Polk sound bar

post #1 of 14
3/23/08 at 10:32am
Thread Starter 
hello...has anyone had any experience with the polk sound bar. It would be for the bedroom, and wife dont want speakers everywhere. She saw the sound bar in one of my home theater magazines, and liked the idea. wandering how they sound. CC has a sale on them right now, but dont have any locally, and dont have anything on display.
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post #2 of 14
3/23/08 at 4:21pm

Re: Polk sound bar

I haven't heard the polk version. The yamaha version sounds pretty good for what it is. It's definitely a compromise system, but it's better than not having surround sound at all.
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post #3 of 14
3/26/08 at 11:56am

Re: Polk sound bar

In the latest home theater mag - there was a sound bar face off...that included both the Polk and the Yamaha bars...

The Polk bar won for sound quality - but they pointed out it needed an external receiver as a source, as well as an external sub hooked up to it....so the value rating was not too high.

Many of the other ones in the face off had internal amplification and sound processing...while the Polk did not.

The same external sub was used for all of the bars that did not have an included sub - so the yamaha had it as well...

The online version of this article is not yet available....
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post #4 of 14
3/26/08 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Polk sound bar

i read that in the newest mag..thats what got my wife interested. I went ahead and ordered one, going to use a onkyo 605 receiver and a velodyne sub that i already had. hopefully i will get it installed before the weekend.
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post #5 of 14
3/27/08 at 2:59pm

Re: Polk sound bar

I'm sure it will be an upgrade to using the TV speakers - should be good enough for the bedroom. Let us know how it works out for you when you get it all set-up....
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post #6 of 14
3/27/08 at 3:31pm

Re: Polk sound bar

Can these bars be hooked up for surround sound? If so, how would I connect the left and right rear speaker cable to it?
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post #7 of 14
3/28/08 at 10:14am

Re: Polk sound bar

The Polk bar has an input for all 5 channels, and they accept banana plugs - so there are inputs for right rear and left rear. You use your receiver to set the channel levels, just as if it was a complete system. They recommend a +3 db level increase for the rear channels. In the review I read, they said the simulated surround worked better when this rear level was set higher then the recommended +3db level.

I found this description:

"Speaker Terminals: The SurroundBar50 has five high-quality 5-way binding post input terminals, one each for front left, center, front right, rear right, and rear left channels. In addition to pin, spade, banana, and dual banana connectors, bare wire up to 11 gauge will fit. You will need to remove a plug inserted in the center of each post if you wish to use banana plugs."

From this link:

Polk Audio SurroundBar®50 5-channel home theater speaker at Crutchfield.com

From that same link - they had this one review - of course, they are trying to sell you this thing, so only having 1 review that is positive seems a little fishy:

"Polk Audio SurroundBar®50
Written By Janet, Chicago, IL on Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Polk Audio SurroundBar 50 is better than I expected. It truly sounds as if there are multiple speakers throughout the room. It is an excellent solution for smaller areas or rooms where running speaker wire is an issue. Combined with the Polk Subwoofer PRO400, it is an exceptional quality surround sound. I do, however, have two suggestions. First, there should be some cut out in the mount to enable the cord from the TV and HDMI cable connected to the receiver to run down the wall and, second, Polk should include bolts/screws to adhere the mount to the wall. These were not included. "

From the reviews I read - all of the reviewers agreed that this simulated surround mode was no substitue for an actual 5 speaker system, but if you wanted to go with the single "bar" method, this one was pretty good....
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post #8 of 14
3/29/08 at 10:53am
Thread Starter 

Re: Polk sound bar

well i got it installed...not bad, not bad at all. I was hoping i didnt waste 500.00, but turns out, it works great for the application. I installed it in the bedroom, on top of the tv armoir, with a onkyo 605 receiver and an older cht12 velodyne sub, with a sony 40v3000 lcd.....wife loves it
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post #9 of 14
4/3/08 at 2:58pm

Re: Polk sound bar

"wife loves it"

Always good to keep the wife happy....
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post #10 of 14
4/3/08 at 4:40pm

Re: Polk sound bar

Quote:
Originally Posted by Martino
"wife loves it"

Always good to keep the wife happy....
especially in the, uh, room where it was installed. wink.
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post #11 of 14
4/4/08 at 1:50pm

Re: Polk sound bar

Quote:
Originally Posted by jrgreene1968
i read that in the newest mag..thats what got my wife interested. I went ahead and ordered one, going to use a onkyo 605 receiver and a velodyne sub that i already had. hopefully i will get it installed before the weekend.
hey what kind of velodyne is it?
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post #12 of 14
4/4/08 at 2:44pm

Re: Polk sound bar

From one of his previous posts:

"onkyo 605 receiver and an older cht12 velodyne sub"

Velodyne Acoustics CHT-12 Reviews
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post #13 of 14
4/4/08 at 2:56pm

Re: Polk sound bar

ooh okay neat
hey a bit off topic, but how long does it usually take for a new thread to get approved?
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post #14 of 14
4/4/08 at 3:20pm

Re: Polk sound bar

I wasn't aware that there was a wait - but it might have to do with the number of posts that you have, or the ammount of time you have been a member.

There was an issue where someone could not put a link in their posts due to the low number of posts they have made. I don't have any problems putting links in my posts.

I've only started 1 new thread, but I didn't have to go through an approval process...

Welcome to the form....there is a lot of good people with valuable information here.
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