Customer Reviews

Polk Audio AM4055-C SurroundBar Speaker (Black)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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... :)

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.

I have both the Polk SurroundBar (42") and the Yamaha YSP900. I will try to outline the pro's and con's for those looking for a comparison.

Yamaha Pro's:
The Yamaha is in use in our front room. It's a very large, cavernous room with no place for me to mount side or rear speakers. The YSP was a good choice because it sits nicely in our tv cabinet directly below the TV.

The sound is truly amazing. You get a very large spatial sound field, that sounds fantastic. The sound definitely appears to be coming from somewhere it's not. The surround channels aren't nearly as pronounced as the left and right channels, and some times you can't hear them at at. Still, sounds fantastic as the separation of channels is excellent.

Yamaha Cons:
It has built in amplification and HDMI switching (for two channels). On the outside that may seem like a good thing, but it's really not. For starters, there's only two hdmi inputs, there's no support for dolby true hd, or DTS hd. I've had trouble when switching between the inputs. I've had to power cycle the sound bar several times in some cases because it hangs on the HDMI switching. Amplification of the sound is good, but in my case, I had to buy a universal remote and let the tv handle hdmi switching, while running optical and coax digital audio cables directly to the sound bar from all my components. The component switching happens with my universal remote. Gets the job done, but sub optimal for sure. Net-net, the yamaha is a great speaker, not a good audio+video receiver.

Polk Pros:
Beautiful, sleek design. Speakers sound really good; sonically far superior to the Yamaha. The clarity and detail in the sound is really impressive. I think a lot of the sound detail from the Yamaha this gets lost in all of the sound manipulation/signal processing that the yamaha does. The unit installs really nicely, and looks amazing under a surface mounted flat screen. Also, polk has provided a single wiring harness that contains connections for all of the speakers. Seeing as I ran this through the wall, it saved me a lot of trouble. I also appreciate the fact that I can use a high quality receiver of my choosing, knowing my speaker choice isn't going to dictate my video processing / audio amplification choice.

Polk Cons:
On its own, the surroundbar doesn't create enveloping effects. It does create a wide 'sound stage', which is very pleasing to the ears. The surround channels are hard to localize, and it's difficult to determine where the sounds are actually coming from.

Conclusion:
Overall, the surround bar produces *much* better sound than the yahama. Spatially, no where near as enveloping as the yahama. I added rear surround speakers (a pair of polk rm8's), and now the sound really does envelop you. It's also helps the performance of the rear surround coming from the sound bar (not the back channels). If you're looking for a way to add 7.1 sound to a room that's only really capable of handling a 5.1 setup (due to room layout), I'd say you should get the polk. If you really want 5.1 surround and you cannot accommodate other rear speakers, I'd say the Yamaha is your best bet (if you can deal with the limits of the amplifier/receiver on the yamaha)Yamaha YSP-900 Digital Sound Projector (Black)

I researched this speaker for months before I finally decided to give it a try. My living room is not conducive to a 5 speaker setup, so I thought a single surroundbar solution would be perfect. I was not disappointed! The surround effect is not what you would get with dedicated surround speakers, but I do get a sense of enveloping surround, especially if I'm sitting directly in front of the surroundbar.

I purchased this speaker along with the Polk PSW10 subwoofer, and together they form a nice setup for watching movies, especially Blu-Ray. The surroundbar is also adequate for my environment for listening to music, but I got it mainly for watching movies. I'm more than satisfied with my purchase and I recommend the Polk surroundbar. Just make sure you match it with a powered sub.

Works very well in a small room (mine in 16x12) but does not produce real surround sound from the rear, as one should expect. I gladly overlook that in exchange for not having to lay speaker cables all over the place. I would buy it again.

I have had a pair of Bose accoustamaster 5 series speakers for about 10 years that I was using for my rear channels in my 5.1 system, well I though it was about time to update my audio, but being in a townhouse I was limited on space.

I came accross this Polk soundbar in my research, and at once liked the idea of a single speaker that I could lay accross the front of my LCD TV
and it would produce a surround sound effect. T
That took a little bit of a leap of faith, to think it could recreate the the side or surround sounds from my reciever as good or better than my previous system.

Well I am here to say, it does that, admittedly the only thing I had for suuround before were those crappy little Bose cubes, but I am here to tell you, for me it does the trick, especially in my living room which is pretty much rectangular with a fireplace in the corner as the only break in the very square lines.

I was very impressed with the sound coming out for the front as well
I was using the SRS labs Klayman signature series flat tower speakers as the fronts, but have now moved them to the rear to use as side surround to complete the 7.1 system, this in my opinion completes the system with this Polk Soundbar, and of course a Sub on the side. If the sound was good just with the Soundbar and a Sub it is even better with the extra speakers for the 7.1 sounds.

If you are limited in space or just want a cleaner look this is a perfect solution in my eyes, the quality of the speaker is top notch and the look is fantastic.

if you are a super audiophile then you could maybe find some fault in the sound quality but for my untrained ears it sound just awsome.

oh yea and I would follow the setup exactly, including wiring the high freq subwoofer input with the front speakers, I had previously just used the lower freq. RVA cable input and I can tell you that the quality of base you get with using the High Freq. inputs is amazing, instead of just all this loud booming base you get alot more subtle low end base that accually is more imersive with the overall audio expeerience.

I can give this product two thumbs up

I purchased the SurroundBar and Polk Audio PSW10 10-Inch Monitor Series Powered Subwoofer (Single, Black). Both units are connected to theOnkyo TX-SR505 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black) and sound great. The SurroundBar produces a very clean, sharp sound and can handle high volume without any distortions. It does create a surround sound feel; however, as mentioned by some other reveiws, it is hard to pinpoint the exact location of the "phantom" side speakers.

I live in a one bedroom apartment in New York, and the SurroundBar is a perfect home theater solution for renters. No need for wires going across the room or through the dry wall.

I did look at the Yamaha sound projector (YSP-900), which is a cheaper option since it has a built-in amplifier; however, the added simplicity reduces further utilization options. Once you move to a bigger living space, with the Polk setup you can keep the SurroundBar as a solution for a smaller room, and then use a receiver and Subwoofer for a true 5.1 or 7.1 set. With the Yamaha, you are just stuck with the sound bar.

Bottom line: Polk offers quality, simplicity, and flexibility for future use at a competitive price.

Great product, easy setup, great sound. Works great in a large room. Even better than standard 5 speaker surround. I will be buying another one soon.

Single-source surround was the best I could do for my room configuration, but I was hesitant to believe that it would provide a convincing effect. Though the rear channel simulation is fudged and somewhat unconvincing, I have definitely heard sounds directly to my left and right while using the SurroundBar. The SurroundBar is far better than 2 front channels of similar price. Couple that with the clean and compact design and you've got a winner of a speaker. It doesn't have much in the way of bass, but Polk recommends a subwoofer, and it's definitely a worthwhile addition.