Polk Audio AM4055-C SurroundBar Speaker (Black)

by Polk Audio

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5 x 44.5 x 4.2 inches ; 22 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 27 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000B6NFOG
• Item model number: AM4055-C
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,292 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

A perfect sonic and stylistic match for flat-panel and shallow-case TVs, the Polk Audio SurroundBar is designed to offer elegant, high-resolution, single-source surround sound. It comes with everything you need to mount it above, below, or even on your television, and it works with any surround sound receiver. It's an ideal listening system for anyone seeking rich, enveloping surround sound without the space commitment or hookup hassles of a multispeaker system.

The SurroundBar is designed to complete your high-definition TV experience and is a perfect match for flat-panel TVs. (Titanium color shown)

SDA technology projects sound to both sides and behind you.

Polk Audio's patented SDA Surround technology means there's no need to install rear speakers. SDA Surround technology is founded on extensive research into the way human ears process sound and perceive directionality of sound. Unlike speakers or surround algorithms that merely simulate surround effects, the SurroundBar reproduces discrete, multichannel surround sound using a patented combination of signal processing and acoustical geometry called Acoustic Wave Front Reconstruction (AWFR). Since the SurroundBar works directly upon your ears and requires no special room characteristics, it can deliver room-filling surround sound nearly anywhere.

As with conventional 5.1-channel systems, you'll hear the best surround effects when you're centered directly in front of the SurroundBar. However--unlike conventional 5.1 systems--the SurroundBar delivers surround sound regardless of how close or how far away you sit.

While it's technically a single speaker, the SurroundBar contains seven active drive units, three tweeters, and inputs for all five primary surround channels: front left/center/right and rear left/right. Multiple drive units spaced roughly the same distance apart as your ears allow the speaker to keep you from discerning the actual sound sources. Instead, it will seem as though sound is coming from all around and behind you.

Mount the SurroundBar below your flat-panel TV, or use the included cradle for a shelf or set-top placement. (Titanium color shown)

The SurroundBar's circuitry maintains proper isolation of all amplifier channels and will function correctly with any amplifier or receiver capable of driving a 4 ohm load (that is, capable of powering 4-ohm speakers). Many receivers are rated for maximum power into 8 ohms but function perfectly well--functioning with about half their rated power--into 4 ohms, too. Wiring a stand-alone powered subwoofer in line with the speaker (a procedure illustrated in the product manual) will heighten the sense of realism and visceral power of the SurroundBar.

For even more spacious sound, you can use the SurroundBar with your existing surround speakers, too. In such an arrangement you can wire the surround outputs from your receiver to your separate surround speakers instead of to the SurroundBar's rear-speaker terminals, using the SurroundBar for the front left, center, and right channels only.

Simplified color-coded hookup with five channels directly from the home theater receiver.

Better still, if you have a 6.1- or 7.1-channel receiver, use one of your surround speakers as the rear-center speaker in a 6.1 system, or both surround speakers as 2 of the 4 speakers in a 7.1 system (with the SurroundBar's 2 surround channels in filling in the sound for the other 2).

The SurroundBar must be mounted horizontally to function properly. Placement directly above or below your TV screen pointed in the same direction as the screen will give the best coordination between your surround sound and the on-screen images. Wall mounting, shelf mounting, table mounting, or stand mounting all work equally well. However, walls or other large obstacles within three feet of the sides of the SurroundBar will reduce the effectiveness of its surround delivery. Cross-corner locations will work just fine.

The supplied 25-foot, 10-conductor cable is color-coded and clearly marked for easy hookup.

What's in the Box
SurroundBar speaker, 2-piece wall bracket, a center-channel base, mounting screws, 25-foot wire bundle, and a quick-start guide.

Product Description

It's a whole new concept in Home-Theater speaker design and performance! The Polk Audio SurroundBar is designed to complete your HDTV experience for easy to install home-theater that's really friendly. It's the perfect match for flat-panel and shallow screen TVs. And it works with any surround sound receiver. With patented SDA Surround technology means there's no need to install rear speakers. SDA Surround creates a completely immersive experience, as if there were dozens of speakers all around you. This technology is based on fundamental research into the way our ears process sound and perceive the direction of sounds. It 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. Since the SurroundBar works directly with the hearing mechanism and requires no special room characteristics, it can deliver a room-filling surround experience in nearly any location in almost any type of room. The SurroundBar is simple to set up. A 25-foot 10-conductor cable is color-coded and clearly marked for easy hookup, even your kids can do it. Anti-diffraction grille and bezel help create open, spacious imaging. Magnetically shielded, of course, for safe placement on or near TVs. Simplified color-coded hookup with all 5 channels of information going directly from your home theater receiver to the SurroundBar. 25-foot 10-conductor cable is color-coded and clearly marked for easy hookup. No more tangled wires to string around a room. Unit Dimensions - Cabinet Size 4-7/16 H x 42-5/8 W x 5-1/8 D (11.27cm H x 108.27cm W x 13.02cm D) / About 25 pounds Polk 5-Year Limited Warranty Includes 2 piece wall bracket, center channel base, 25' wire bundle, and the Quick Start Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

430 of 439 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Polk SurroundBar vs Yamaha YSP-1000, September 10, 2006

By 

Andrisim (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Polk Audio AM4055-C SurroundBar Speaker (Black) (Electronics)

My Home Theatre was a reasonable system by any measure and better than most. However, my wife re-arranged the living room furniture and in one stroke my cherished system was made redundant. My two rear wall mounted speakers were now on my left and with no possibility to be mounted somewhere else.

It was time to look at the Polk & Yamaha products.

Being unable to audition a Polk SurroundBar and Yamaha YSP-1000 in an A/B comparison, I consequently decided to purchase both, with the idea that I would eventually keep one and sell the other.

I have now had both units for about 10 weeks and when doing my A/B comparisons, both systems are set up so that one speaker is sitting just above the other, playing the same material and with instant A/B switching via remote control.
Note - It takes quite a few readings of instruction manuals to eventually understand how to set them both up properly.

After comparing Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pink Floyd Pulse and a variety of CDs and music videos, my assessment is :

1/. Both products do produce a satisfying sound field effective for watching movies (albeit in very different ways).

2/. In my living room ( which is pretty "live") and my equipment with the Polk, they both sound remarkably similar. This was a big surprise to me.
On CDs and some music videos, most noticeable differences in sound is mostly due to subwoofer performance.

3/. Does either system produce effects equal to a 5 channel system with discrete rear speakers ? Of course the answer is "no". Neither of these systems can produce rear surround effects as distinct as those generated by rear surround speakers.

But in so many ways this question misses the real point as to the issues these products successfully address :

4/. Let me rephrase the question :
Do both systems produce a big sound field that envelopes you, similar to what one might experience at a real cinema? The answer is "YES"
Do you hear convincing surround sound effects as intended by the movie producers, immerse you into the movie and thus enhance your enjoyment ? Once again the answer is "YES".

5/. If you want decent home theatre sound but cannot install a multi-speaker surround system or you simply don't want to, then these products are a solution that do work.

6/. After reading forums on the net, I had the idea that the Polk was going to sound better than the YSP when it came to music. Actually for CDs etc, they both sound about the same, have a similar tone, both produce a big sound, go as loud as each other (and that can be very loud indeed). Nothing to distinguish one as being really better than the other, assuming that the Polk is coupled to a quality surround amp and sub. The surprise here was that the Yamaha with it's myriad of "tiny" 2 watt amplifiers is comfortable at really loud sound levels.

7/. Which is better?
Both have plus and minus points so it isn't that clear cut.

Yamaha YSP-1000 with matching YST-SW225B 150W subwoofer :-
PLUS points :-
+ Guaranteed a great sounding Home Theatre system. Yamaha engineers have made sure of that.
+ In-built power amplification ( this is termed an 'active' speaker and is generally a desirable configuration)
+ Decent pre-amplifier functionality eg volume control (with dB level displayed), bass & treble control, audio & video input selection ( selectable 4 sources ), auto-room equalisation, plenty of surround sound modes, IR signal pass-through, a remote control capable of macros etc. In fact the YSP-1000 has a remarkable amount of technology literally stuffed into it.
+ More effective in producing distinct surround sound effects than the Polk, especially when set up in it's "ideal" configuration. ie centred against a wall in a square room.
+ YSP can effectively compensate for being in a corner position (contrary to the notion that the YSP works well only when in an ideal environment)
+ Remote can control other manufacturers products.
+ All you need extra is a DVD player and a TV.

MINUS points :
- Requires side and rear walls.
- Looks bulky and industrial, in my opinion not an attractive addition to any living room.
- The Titanium colour ( more like dark grey ) is not a good match with most silver big screen TVs.
- The remote is a bit frustrating at times, too easy to be in the wrong control mode, eg you find yourself changing TV channels when you may intended to change surround mode.
- No HDMI input/output
- Cannot transcode between Composite & Component video signals. You are committed to an all Composite or all Component input / output video signal pathway. ( Not really a problem if every device you connect to the YSP's video inputs has Composite Video out.)
- On-screen menues only available with Composite video. So if you decide to go all Component Video pathway for best picture quality, you then lose your YSP's On-Screen menues.
- No S-Video inputs
- Probably impossible for an owner to tell if any of the 40 speakers/amplifiers inside the cabinet have failed and need replacing.
- Should have a DVD player in built.

POLK SurroundBar :-
PLUS points :
+ Looks great, visually complementing most big screen TV sets very nicely.
+ Does not require side and rear walls to your listening room.
+ Similar to the Yamaha with respect to it's capability to produce a big, convincing sound field.
+ Would make an excellent choice for an "all-in-one" Right/Centre/Left front speaker in a conventional surround system.

MINUS points :-
- Requires investment in a 5 channel home theatre Amplifier plus a Subwoofer
- Not guaranteed a great sounding Home Theatre system. The Polk's full potential could be easily compromised by a `weak link" resulting from a poor choice of ancillary equipment.
- Surround effects are never really localised, rather you hear them as originating from a hazy, general area, as comapared to the Yamaha which creates a more convincing localisation of the effect.

8/. Conclusion :

For good looks - POLK SurroudBar
For rooms without side or rear walls - POLK SurroundBar
For square or rectangular rooms, even with the YSP in a corner - YAMAHA YSP
For "most bang for your dollar" - YAMAHA.YSP

Both sound good ( remarkably similar ) and will probably end up costing about the same to set up once you add the necessary ancilliary equipment to the Polk.

In my particular situation I am trying to rid my living room of as many boxes as possible. Consequently, if Polk had managed to squeeze in a pre-amp and power amp into their SurroundBar and charged accordingly, then the Polk would be my first choice. It just looks that much better than the YSP unit does.
Unfortunately they haven't, so Yamaha stays and I'm now selling off the Polk along with my existing Denon amp, B&W sub & Anthony Gallo speakers.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Room Dependent, December 22, 2006

By 

R. Scott Bray "bluesbrthr" (Oceanport, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Polk Audio AM4055-C SurroundBar Speaker (Black) (Electronics)

Based on what friends have said, I think that this is probably a good product depending on your room size and shape. For me, it didn't work. I connected it to my tuner (Sony STR-DE925) and I didn't hear anything close to surround sound. This was at 10 feet away since I have a 62 inch tv. When I sit on the coffee table 3 feet away, I can hear the surround.

I had a friend come over and make adjustments to my tuner and he said he could hear the surround occasionally, but it was very subtle. For $800, I want something that's better than subtle.

I believe this product will work, but check it out in a store before you buy it. Then be ready to return it if it doesn't work for your room.

PS - I gave it a 3, only because I had to give it something and 3 is dead center... :)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Going to agree with an earlier review: Decent, August 29, 2008

By 

D. Wood "ATL" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Polk Audio AM4055-C SurroundBar Speaker (Black) (Electronics)

Since I have a toddler now, I decided to go ahead and sell my Paradigm speakers and move to a smaller, more compact system. The highlights of my old system include Paradigm Monitor 7s, the CC370 Center, and Paradigm's 12" powered sub. Needless to say, pushed with my old Pioneer Elite receiver, the results were great. After some listening now, I have to say that the Polk set up is just OK. If you've been using your TV speakers for years, you're going to like this, especially in a smaller room. It is most definitely a step up from the speakers in my Samsung LN52a650. However, even pared with a Polk sub (I'm using the powered 10"), it lacks a lot of the mid range and punchy base that I've been used to. I'm sure over time, as I tweak my Yamaha receiver, I'll learn to like it enough to get me through the toddler/young kid years and back into a real surround set up. It does beat the tv speakers. But it's not a real life substitute for the real surround, especially if you're used to a large set up and are in a larger room. In a nutshell, it's a glorified center channel speaker with aspirations of surround sound. It just falls a bit short.