Polk Audio SurroundBar® 360° DVD Theater

I'm with you on this one. Really curious if anyone has any experience with this unit as I am very interested. Thanks. DebussyJ

I heard the original Surroundbar and was less than impressed with the unit. It sounded good, but it was not producing surround sound. Although it widened the soundfield, all of the sound came from the front of you. This is very similar to most other surround bars. The only one I've heard that truly creates surround sound is the Yamaha YSP. The YSP bounces sound off the side and back walls to create surround. The effect is quite extraordinary in the right room. (one with enough side and back wall space to bounce sound)

But like I said, the Polk did sound good, but it was not producing true surround sound.

Jim

Yes, I also demoed the Surroundbar 50, which requires an amp. I also demoed the YSP-4000 and 1100. I agree the Polk didn't give the surround feel of the Yamaha. But I'm a real 2-channel lover and not much of a fan of faux surround. I much preferred the Yamaha 4000 over the 1100, no contest there. I liked the crisp clean presence of the Polk, the sound was there and I felt more bottom end, although I'd do a subwoofer in every case. I also like the lower less bulky profile of the Polk, which would compliment my Pioneer display and not the boxy look of the Yamaha. Geez, at this rate I'll end up being the first to purchase the Polk!! LOL!

I'm so glad you checked it out. Yes, I expect it to have a nice solid sound stage, but not have that super 3-D type illusion. Does the speaker have a gloss black enclosure? That would compliment my Pioneer nicely. Oh, I have two Comcast Motorola DVR's and they both have optical audio out. Not a problem. Thanks for your info!

Well, you inspired me and I did locate the Surroundbar 360 also at my local Best Buy. It was also located in the middle of the store with a demo disk and small lcd display. I thought it sounded decent, but really couldn't get a fix on the bass or 3-D feel as much was lost having it in this huge store. Common sense would say they should have had it on display in the Magnolia room and they could have located the speaker on the stand under say a Pioneer plasma so buyers could see the fit, etc. Anyway, I also liked the DVD/AM/FM radio, amplifier unit as it was compact. So the bottom line is I plan to purchase this unit in the near future, but when there's a bit of a sale/promo as it goes against my grain to pay full bust-out retail for this item! I miss the audio salons of the 80's, which used to allow me to take a few different speakers home and demo them with my room and electronics. It's just so difficult these days because you have to research the item to the best of your ability, demo it (if possible) under less than optimal conditions, and then give the item a shot. Sorry for venting.
DJ

I was at Best Buy today and I must say that I was impressed with the new Surroundbar. Despite being in a much less than ideal setting, the speaker sounded impressive. I swear I could almost hear sound to the side of me. The surround effects certainly weren't 5.1 or even nearly as good as the Yamaha YSPs, but they were impresssive none the less. There was also more bass than I expected. It was a good demo.

One of the problems with all-in-one systems is that the DVD player is often the weak link. This may be the case with the Polk. Or the reviewer on BB's site may have just gotten a lemon.

Jim

This is what makes the Sony RHT-S10 potentially very appealing. I love my current DVD player and I'd like to continue using it.

I heard the Soundbar again with non-Polk-demo material. Although it sounded good, there was absolutely no side or rear sound effects present. It does sound good, there's no question about it. The Polk is a quality unit, but it does not produce surround effects. Like most sound bars, it simply widens the sound field. Alone amongst the soundbars, the Yamaha YSP is the only one I've heard that produces true surround sound. (in the right room, of course)

Jim

Well, I've finally devised my own strategy with this Surroundbar dilemma. As you know, I demoed the 50 and really liked it. I also demoed the 360 in less than optimal conditions. I was bothered by two things with the 360. First of all it isn't cheap, second, I wasn't thrilled about the so called amp/DVD/AM/FM combo unit. I knew that whatever they have under the hood amp wise with this unit couldn't compare with a full fledged surround receiver. So I started searching for alternatives within the same overall budget as the 360. I settled on the Cambridge Audio 540R V2 Azur (currently discontinued) surround receiver, which is fairly small, compact, has a clean design, and pumps out 80W per channel. I'm going to pair it with the Polk Surroundbar 50, which has nice midrange quality and is a decent all-round performer. I also plan to add a subwoofer in the near future. If anyone is interested, I'll let you know how this combo works out when I get everything in the door.

Finally got everything in the door. As you know my plan was to pair the Polk Surroundbar 50 with a Cambridge Audio Azur 540R V2. I am delighted because this speaker fits under my Pioneer Kuro 5020 perfectly! They certainly had this display in mind when they designed the speaker. Install was a snap and it has an overall clean look. The pairing of the two produces a nice sound. In the movie surround department, although it certainly isn't like a true 5.1 setup, I was surprised how the sound appeared to move around the room. It's also a nice performer with music. I intend to hook up my Earthquake sub to this combo and see what happens. If I like, which I'm afraid I will, I'll add an SVS to this system.

Installed mine today. Initial observations
Pros: Built like a tank
Simple setup

Cons:
Frankly I think it needs a subwoofer, Polk DSW400 coming in thursday
It does widen the soundfield, but I have yet to hear anything even close to 5.1 or any type of surround. I am waiting for a answer from polk on my speaker placement, mine is 8 inches under the tv, not in front of it as you see in many pictures. Frankly the bar sitting in front of a 56 inch tv looks horrible, under it it looks built in. I am ASSUMING bar placement is not that critical, but I could be wrong.

Like I said, this is a first impression, I will know more after the sub comes in, but for now, nice system, could use a tad more volume, not amazing with the surround, even though the wide open setup I heard at best buy was nothing short of amazing, but in my 12 X 12 living room, far less than spectacular. I'm holding out hope that I am doing something wrong placement etc.

My old 5.1 theater in a box $300.00 system sounded a tad better frankly.
More to come....

Bump....I have heard this is a great product, but I havent heard it enough to buy it myself...any reviews on the Polk SurroundBar 360 yet?

Thanks for providing the update. Does the Soundbar have individual channel inputs? So it really is like having 5 or 7 speakers that need to be connected to the receiver individually? I was thinking of getting the 50 and pair it with my Pioneer Elite VSX-80TXV. I alreayd have the Sony SA-W3000 subwoofer to hook up to it.

Yes, the Surroundbar 50 physically has nine drivers, but it's 5.1. You actually install all five channels to the back of the device. They have developed this elaborate wiring harness, very fool proof. Definitely needs a decent subwoofer to make it shine. I'm liking my setup more and more as the Cambridge receiver is breaking in. It's a good solution for limited space and wiring requirements. DJ

I read a few things (and saw you were part of that discussion as well) on other forums... I think it was Polk's.. where they talked about adding a rear speaker to make it a surroundbar "plus" hybrid set up. I'm thinking about doing that by making the center speaker from my current set up as the rear surround piece. Although, now that I think about it, I don't think it'd be possible to have both left & right surround come out of 1 speaker... hmmm

Perfectly feasible and would be equivalent to a 6.1 system as the original Polk SurroundBar 42 or 50 take five distinct input channels, and are designed to optionally have one or two rear surrounds (such as rm101 for example) to make 6.1 or 7.1.

The SurroundBar 360 is a completely different animal - I know because I asked

I understand that this thread is almost a year old but the topic is the same so figure I'd update it.

The Polk Audio SurroundBar 360° is now selling for $399 and I'm wondering how good a deal this is and if it can meet my needs. I'm trying to set up my first HT (everything still in boxes or hasn't arrived yet): Panasonic 54G10, HK 247 AVR, a 5-yr old standard DVD player, BIC F12 subwoofer, Polk Audio CS10 center speaker along with a pair of Monitor 40 bookshelf speakers. I paid $204 for the Polk CS10 and M40s. Haven't decided on rear speakers since I'm getting ready to finish my 12x19 basement.

Looking for a nice, simple, and budget-friendly HT. Not even close to being an audiophile, just want something decent to listen to. Given my current set-up would anyone do anything different now that the Polk Audio SurroundBar360° is $399 or should I just hold onto what I have. Also wondering if I need to use the DVD player that comes with the SurroundBar or can any player be used. Any advice, friendly or harsh, is appreciated.

I just received mine at the $399 price. It's only been hooked up for about a half hour but it does sound much better than the panasonic g10's speakers. It's not really loud.
All the way up to me seems like it's just barely over the threshold of what I should subject my neighbors to. (Ilive in a one bedroom) I haven't noticed much surround effect other than a general depth to the sound. To answer your question qbout the DVD player. I didn't even hook up the video out of the receiver. I have a bluray player and don't have a need for the dvd player the surroundbar comes with. I just used the optical out from my tv and whatever I have hooked to the tv plays through the soundbar. It's not ideal but with the price drop I jumped on it and figure I'll see how well it suits the needs. It can always be returned.

*Oh yes this is annoying...Placed in front of my tv it blocks the IR receiver for the Tv's remote. I don't have my plasma on the wall so that's my only option right now. hmmm...

return, get the sony ct-100 and a $200 hooker

Something tells me a $200 hooker solves a lot of issues in your world.

Agreed,,,, $200.00 hookers can be lots of fun !!!!!!

Cheers
Davyo