Polk Audio SurroundBar

Polk Audio SurroundBar - this new bar is a star

Introduction
With the increasing popularity of wall-mounted plasma and LCD TVs, the market for elegantly styled and simple-to-use sound systems has also spiked. In particular, demand has risen for a system that can be mounted or placed near the TV with minimal installation effort. Some companies, such as Mirage and Boston Acoustics, have created stylish speaker packages by combining the front left, center, and front right speakers into a single enclosure. Polk Audio has gone even further by attempting to replicate the sound of an entire 5.1 audio system with the SurroundBar.

The SurroundBar uses a patented combination of signal processing and sound-effect geometry to produce surround sound without rear-mounted speakers or special room requirements. In other words, it's not necessary to bounce sound off the walls or re-arrange the furniture in order to get an immersive experience from the SurroundBar.

Look and Feel
The SurroundBar comes in either black or titanium finish and looks great next to similarly styled plasma and LCD displays. At 43 inches long and about 5 inches wide and deep, the SurroundBar can fit snugly below a flat-panel TV.

A 25-foot cable connects the system to your receiver, with color-coded wires to make installation easy. The SurroundBar is magnetically shielded to make it safe to place on or near your television.

Features
Polk's system can be used with any surround-sound receiver and powered subwoofer, which are not included. A subwoofer is not essential, strictly speaking, but if you want to keep the "1" in your 5.1, you'd best have one on hand.

The distinguishing feature of the SurroundBar is, of course, its elegant, all-in-one design. Polk has included a wall-mount bracket and a separate cradle for positioning on a TV stand, a shelf, or as a set-top placement. The simplified color-coded hookup makes the system easy to connect to your home-theater receiver.

The SurroundBar uses a patented combination of signal processing and sound-effect geometry to produce surround sound without rear-mounted speakers or special room requirements. In other words, it's not necessary to bounce sound off the walls or rearrange the furniture in order to get an immersive experience from the SurroundBar.