Amazon.com Price: $699.95 (as of 2010-03-12 01:56:13 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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| Polk Audio SurroundBar 50 Surround System (Single Speaker, Black) |
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| Manufacturer: Polk Audio |
| Customer Rating: |
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| List Price: $1,099.95 |
| Sale Price: $699.95 |
| Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
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Product Description |
| The Polk Audio SurroundBar 50 is 51" wide to offer an enveloping surround sound experience to anyone who wants better sound from their TV but does not want to install rear-mounted speakers. It delivers surround sound from a single, multi-driver loudspeaker located under or over the TV screen using SDA Surround technology. SDA Surround technology uses a patented combination of signal processing and acoustical geometry that complements the spacing between your ears to produce surround sound without the need for rear mounted speakers. It can deliver a room-filling surround experience in nearly any location in almost any type of room with no special room characteristics required. The SurroundBar 50 is sized to match the width of 50" Plasma and LCD TVs. In addition to using SDA Surround technology on the surround channels, the SurroundBar 50 adds SDA Surround image enhancing technology on the front Left & Right channels to further enhance the surround experience as well as produce a huge stereo sound field from a two-channel source. New drivers and crossover design along with a larger enclosure produce far better bass performance than the original SurroundBar. The aluminum enclosure houses nine mid/bass drivers with Neodymium magnets, three dome tweeters and a four-PC board crossover with over 60 components. |
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Product Details |
- Polk Audio's patented SDA® Surround Technology delivers a vivid sound field from a single 51" cabinet
- Dual front ports for superior clean, low distortion bass
- Simplified color-coded hookup means no more tangled wires to string around a room
- Dual cradle mounts give you on-shelf positioning options, and the easy to install wall-mount brackets allow for even greater placement flexibility
- Magnetically shielded with neodymium motor structures for safe placement on or near TVs
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Video Reviews |
 No video reviews found for this product.
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Customer Reviews |
 really does create surround sound! |
| Review Date: February 13, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Daniel Caruso, Reno |
I didn't want to run wires all over ant the wife acceptance factor played heavily in choosing a Surroundbar. The SB50 perfectly fit the width of our TV stand and having SDA for both front and rear pairs improved the surround effect compared to the original SB. It also performs well with music by using Dolby PL-II music setting on my Onkyo SR605. Definitely needs a subwoofer for home theater and base-heavy music also benefits. I chose a PSW505 and it's the ideal match for the SB50 in a room 20'x40'x11' ceiling. When surround effects are active in a movie or XM radio I can 'hear' sounds all around me. The only place the SDA doesn't reach is creating sounds 'behind' me. I experimented with a wired speaker directly behind the seating area and it didn't seem to add much. Now that I better understand the surround options on the receiver I'm going to try it again. Not sure how I'll sell that to the wife.
The description and photo on Amazon for the SB50 is actually for the original SB. The SB50 has 9 drivers (4 pair of SDA drivers and a single center channel speaker) and is ported. |
Great Polk Sound
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| Review Date: March 25, 2008 |
| Reviewer: 50Gran, Atlanta, USA |
I've had this product for a month now and love it. When I first installed it, my subwoofer (HSU Research VTF2-MK3) had not arrived. This allowed me to see the quality of the surroundbar 50 by itself. It is an excellent product that will deliver very clean, if not a little sharp, sound. Given the size of the midrange drivers you can't get a real bass response without a subwoofer, but you do get crisp treble and solid midrange. Polk actually recommends that you use a subwoofer for best sound quality and attach the subwoofer to the L/R inputs of the receiver. I set mine up this way and the blend between the subwoofer and surroundbar is surprisingly good. In fact, it's exceptional! It sounds like the bass is coming from the surroundbar even though I know it isn't. Plus with the surroundbar, you really do get quality surround sound with DVDs or broadcasts in HD. Sure this speaker won't beat a 5.1 or 7.1 system with individual speakers for each channel, but I use this in my open plan living room and it is so much sleeker than the typical 5.1 system. Plus I don't have to run wires everywhere. And the surround sound is good.
The speaker is great for audio as well. You can crank it up pretty loud and it still sounds clear and undistorted. Again just make sure you have the subwoofer in place if you want bass response.
One more thing. The surroundbar50 is just a speaker. There's no signal processing done by it, so you'll need a receiver for the dolby digital and DTS effects. Overall I think this is a great solution for people who want surround sound without 5-7 speakers. I can't speak for the 42" surroundbar as I haven't heard one, but the surroundbar 50 is great. |
Great surround solution for spaces where 5 separate speakers are a challenge
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| Review Date: September 3, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Brian A. Schar, Menlo Park, CA United States |
I have been a fan of surround sound for some time. There's nothing like experiencing a movie encoded with an aggressive 5.1 surround mix on a set of speakers that really put you in the center of the action.
But in the course of redecorating my living room, I had to shift around the furniture in a way that prohibited me from wiring up the left and right surround speakers. I was even going to have a hard time with the left and right front channels. (I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say an old hippie owned my house for 30 years before I bought it, and did a lot of work on it himself, leading to some unique interior features. Enough said.)
Then I ran across this speaker. I'm a fan of Polk Audio from the old days; I owned a set of SDA-2s for a number of years and loved them. This speaker uses some of that SDA magic to recreate all five channels of sound from a single sound bar. I was skeptical even as I unboxed this speaker, wired it up, and hung it on the wall. Installation tip: Really crank down on the nuts holding the speaker wire to the speaker with a ratchet, or they will slip out when you hang up the speaker. Otherwise, installation was simple and straightforward.
Once it was properly installed, I put it to the test with a home theater sound test DVD. To my amazement, as the different tones were generated for the five channels, I heard sound from the left and right surround speakers from this single bar located 16 feet in front of me! The surround was not as discrete and powerful as you would have gotten from an actual speaker, but it was probably 80-90% of the way there. For unique installations like mine, or if you just want a cleaner look or simpler installation, the Surround Bar 50 is definitely worth it. |
Great Solution!
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| Review Date: October 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: DebussyJ, New Jersey, USA |
| Polk Audio SurroundBar 50 Surround System (Single Speaker) - Black I was searching for an audio solution with a clean look and good performance to compliment my new Pioneer Kuro plasma display. First off, this speaker was literally made to fit perfectly under this display, which is a big plus. Since I already have a traditional surround system in another room, I was looking for a simple uncluttered solution. To compliment the Surroundbar I purchased a very nice low profile receiver, 80 watts per channel and I added a subwoofer. The sound is very convincing and the sub blends in nicely with the Polk. The overall effect gives you a 3-D feel without the rear speakers. Is it the full-fledged 5.1 sound from a traditional surround system? I would honestly have to say no. However, it's not a contrived, unnatural sounding system. The center channel and vocals are spot on and the system plays music quite nicely. In summary, I'm very happy with this speaker and if matched with decent electronics and subwoofer, it creates a very respectable surround system. |
A very capable soundbar solution.
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| Review Date: October 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Larry, VA |
I recently upgraded my home theater to 7.1 and went with a great in wall installation for the rear 4. Unfortunately, my wife liked the clutter reduction and "requested" that I ditch the huge tower LCR speakers as well... I investigated several soundbar solutions to add to my existing setup and finding unpowered LCR bars was not easy until I found the Polk SurroundBar 50.
I bought mine through the Amazon Warehouse and it arrived in a truly shredded box, but the contents were in perfect order. Hookup was simple, although the included wires are too long for my install and a little on the scrawny side, but they are well sheathed and color coded for easy install. The variety of mounting/stand solutions was very nice and allowed me to place the bar on the console under my 65" LCD without a hitch.
Setup and calibration was simple, but as others (including the vendor) have indicated they are a little bright and you MUST have subwoofer support if you want an accurate experience. Surround is as iffy as I would expect, no matter the mojo, but since I was looking for LCR it was perfect. I ended up wiring the SurroundBar's surrounds to give me a 9.1 setup and it does an admirable job.
Soundbars ARE a compromise - I doubt anyone's bar will give you the same surround experience as a discrete speaker system. If that is what you're hoping for, then get 5+ speakers and be done with it. However, if you're looking for a single speaker solution to give you a reasonable portrayal and you already have an amplifier then look no further. |
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Tags: audio, black, polk, single, speaker, surround, surroundbar, system
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