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Polk Audio or Sony Soundbar systems?

post #1 of 8
10/4/11 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
Well I plan on getting a new soundbar system for my bedroom this weekend and well my choices soo far are either Sony CT150 or Polk Audio Surroundbar 6000.


K well im currently have hookup with bestbuy since i use to work there but for some reason im still in the system soo i get the discounts.

I can get the sony ct150 for $200

or the polk audio http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Polk+Aud...&skuId=1287212

for $189 with my accomodation...


Which of the 2 would be better? My budget is under $300 and well it looks like polk would b a better choice saying its $500 retail but sony has a nice hdmi repeater... anyways any help would be fine.
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post #2 of 8
10/4/11 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 
and im looking for the best surround sound i can cuz i was gonna do a 5.1 system but since its a bedroom id like to keep it clean but sounds great
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post #3 of 8
10/5/11 at 8:29pm
I haven't tried the Polk unit, so I can't speak for it.

I do have the Sony htct 150. Its a huge improvement over the internal speakers of my flat panel tv, much more fuller sound with deeper bass.

Keep in mind that I'm coming from the perspective of a person who wanted better sound from my tv, rather than a home theater enthusiast.

The hdmi arc feature is nice as it allows you to use the tv's remote to control volume, although with my Panasonic tv, I have to hit the "viera link" button to set the tv to "home theater" to do this... every time I turn the tv on.

If you don't have hdmi arc on your tv, you can use the Sony's remote to control the volume and other settings.

You'll have to supply your own hdmi cable, but it does come with a digital optical cable. It also has stereo RCA jack inputs. The sound bar is wired to the subwoofer, which I'd prefer since you only need one power cord for the whole set-up.

It has several sound settings like "music", "movies", "news", "2-ch stereo". There are subtle differences between these settings. "News" is tuned for mid-range vocal frequencies. I've left mine at "2-ch stereo" as this sounds the 'widest' as far as left to right channels. "Music" and "movies" are similar in sound to "2 ch stereo", with subtle changes in bass/treble response and sound stage.

You're not going to get true surround as you probably have figured out since you only have three channels coming at you from the front, with a subwoofer for the low freqs. But its so much better than the tiny and obscured speakers that tv's today come with.
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post #4 of 8
10/6/11 at 1:36pm
Thread Starter 
I noticed that the sony has Dolby Digital, DTS, DTS-HD master audio and TruHD sound decoders while the polk has Dolby Digital... and the sony has more power and has hdmi repeaters...


but i get a huge discount on the polk from its original price of $499.... soo does that extra $$$ make a differenc ein quality?
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post #5 of 8
10/6/11 at 11:59pm
I have owned the CT-150, currently own the CT-350 and demoed the Polk 6000 at home,,,,,,,, my pick for the best surround type sound and overall sound would be the Polk.

If I did not need the HDMI connections of my Sony System I would be owning the Polk.

Cheers
Davyo
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post #6 of 8
10/12/11 at 8:10am
Thread Starter 
yes the hdmi passthroughs / repeaters were very tempting... but for $189 polk surroundbar 6000 it was too tempting
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post #7 of 8
10/15/11 at 6:01am
For a TV with HDMI but no digital output, would the Sony 150, 350, 550 be a better choice, or does the Polk 6000 still provide good 3D sound without the optical connection?

Thanks in advance.
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post #8 of 8
11/30/11 at 10:55am
Thread Starter 
Ive owned the surroundbar 6000... it sounds great but one annoying feature is that you wont get its full potential unless its directly connected to the device like the ps3 or blu ray player. I simply thought i could just connect the surroundbar via my tv's opitcal audio output but i soon learned i would be only getting 2.0 sound.

I was planning to get a reciever but figured it was not worth it soo i currently in the process of trying to sell it and just downgrade to a ct150 for the hdmi repeaters.

I hated having to reconnect the surroundbar to the sources i was using (ps3, tv, bluray player)

Anyways, yea if i only had a receiver i would have kept it.


edit: also i noticed it couldnt play some of the Blu-rays i had when it was connected to the ps3, i researched and found it was because that movie had a different dolby code that my surroundbar couldnt read, unless it was connected to a receiver that could decode it.
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