Polk Audio SurroundBar

SurroundBar is the same concept as Yamaha YSP series - one piece speaker that simulates surround sound by bouncing the sound waves off the walls. Polk seems to make the loudspeaker smaller than YSP models but then again SurroundBar does not have the built-in DSP which, in fact, makes me conclude that this unit does not have any manual or automatic room correction functionality. That means it may not do what it suppose to do in many open rooms. I am sure engineers at Polk have made an assumption that room size and geometry should be of certain type and they clearly know that SurroundBar is not going to work at its full potential in certain open types of rooms. Polk claims that its patented SDA technology makes this loudspeaker "push" the sound behind the listener if the speakers are located right in front.
SurroundBar consists of 7 3 1/2 -inch mid-ranges and 3 3/4 dome tweeters that in combination cover 100Hz to 20KHz frequency range. The speaker can handle up to 125Watt of power and its signal to noise ratio is 89Db. All of this is priced at $950 which in my opinion is a rip off. None of the parameters is in the decent area and there is no guarantee that loudspeaker will work in your room. Well, at least it comes with a 5 year warranty. And that is how Polk wins the hearts of an average consumer. If you are in need for a one piece virtual surround - check Yamaha YSP series. They are not perfect but I think are much better that what Polk offers at almost the same price. Or if you buy Polk, make sure you have an option to return it.

Source: Polk Audio