SurroundBar SDA Instant Home Theater

 

Simply put, Polk Audio's SurroundBar SDA Instant Home Theater is a speaker array housed in an unobtrusive, 3-foot bar that can be wall mounted above or below your television set, or free stand on your entertainment console on a pair of diminutive stands.

Jacking in directly to your TV's stereo audio out - that white and red pair of RCA jacks found at the back of any modern television set - the SoundBar SDA then pumps out high clarity audio sagaciously. This patented "Stereo Dimensional Array" (SDA) (described as "a mixture of acoustical engineering, psychoacoustic principles and a little magic") emulates the surround sound effect not by bouncing some signals off the side walls (as some faux surround systems do) but by discreetly controlling the timing and the loudness of select audio signals as they're programmed to be heard, be that full frontal or discreetly encircling.

Get the SDA skinny at polkaudio.com/downloads/whitepapers/SDA_WhitePaper.pdf

The unit also transmits a 2.4 GHz signal to a wireless subwoofer (included) which simply plugs into an AC wall outlet anywhere in the room, syncs by design and otherwise requires no cablings.

So, a pair of RCA cables, AC adapted power to the bar, plus a subwoofer plug to the wall and that's it, that's all it takes to set the thing up - a one minute endeavor (minus the unpacking and minus the wall mounting, if desired).

You can tweak the gain and master volume of the bar and the woofer if you like, which might take another minute or an hour if you're finicky. You can also program a universal remote (not included) to adjust volumes from the comfort of your couch, but that's entirely unnecessary when you realize that the volume control on your TV - and the remote that controls the TV - is all you need.

One volume knob to rule them all. No extra remotes, no programming or compatibility issues, the SoundBar SDA merely boosts and augments the sound your television already makes available in those back jacks, which you turn up and down with the volume controller you've always used. Cake.

While not a true 5.1 Surround Sound hard-wired hardware solution that has jet fighters roaring through the TV and smashing out the back wall, the SoundBar SDA does an excellent job of filling a room with crystal clear and deliciously distinct audio nonetheless - all at listening volumes, too.

Though you can crank it way up for concert broadcasts or big huge games and movies (at which point you might notice the subwoofer stressing out, but only if you're a bass junkie), it's all the more remarkable at just conversational levels. Sound envelops you at any decibel, with voice distinct from background music distinct from sound effects while bottom-end discreetly thrums the floor, adding beef to the room from the ground up, so to speak.

Not to gush too much, but the SurroundBar SDA Instant Home Theater really is brilliant.

That said, though it offers superior sound quality over similar devices in this price range - arbitrarily dubbed "affordable" - 500 bucks (and more than $800 in Canada) is still pretty costly considering the current economic climate.

Details
Reviewed: Apr. 20, 2009
Type: Gear, HomeTech
From: Polk Audio


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