Customer Rating:  
Summary: DO NOT BUY FROM ELECTRONICS EXPO!!!!
Comment: I urge EVERYONE to read this before even CONSIDERING purchasing from Electronics Expo. I placed an order on Dec 13 with an estimated delivery b/t Dec 18-23. It is now Dec 29 and still not in my possession. Electronics Expo single-handedly ruined Christmas, and their customer service was completely rude and offered NO help. Please do not waste your time or money purchasing from these frauds.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Polk Audio SurroundBar 50
Comment: The Polk Audio SurroundBar 50 has very good sound production. Got it for $572 at Amazon. If your room isn't large (or opened) and don't want to run wires around your room, then this is definitely a good buy.
I tested the SurroundBar 50 watching both Trilogy of the Matrix and Lord of the Ring. The sound production from the front left, center and right speakers are indeed very good, compared to a true 5.1 speaker setup. However, the sound coming out of the surround left and right speakers are only okay. This is why I am giving this 4 stars. But I am willing to sacrifice a bit of the surround sound to get very good quality from the front left, center, and front right speakers. While I have a subwoofer (Polk Audio PWS505), the bass coming out of the SurroundBar 50 by itself is also quite good. Dollar for dollar the SurroundBar 50 cannot replace the sound from a true 5.1 setup. However, it can definitely be an upgrade to an entry level speaker system. Especially when you consider the advantages of not having to run speaker wires and put speakers all over the place.
The SurroundBar 50 is not a standalone sound bar so you have to connect this to a receiver. The instruction to calibrate the speakers (using the receiver) wasn't difficult. The included 15 feet of speaker wires are color coded so connecting them to the surroundBar 50 was easy. However, the wires are thin so you may wish to replace them with a better gauge.
The SurroundBar 50 is over 50 inches long so you may need to consider ths for aesthetics reasons, especially if you are putting it below you LCD or plasma TV. I have a Sony 46" XBR2 and it just fits widthwise.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Solution!
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great surround solution for spaces where 5 separate speakers are a challenge
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Polk Sound
Comment: 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.
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