Polk Audio SurroundBar360° DVD Home Theater System (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)Observations
Pros: Built like a tank
Simple setup
Cool factor of 10
Cons:
Should have blue ray at this price point.
Frankly I think it needs a subwoofer, Tried it for a few days with a Polk subwoofer and without. Yes it sounds decent without a sub, but only decent, not great. I have yet to hear anything even close to 5.1 or any type of surround. Upon contacting Polk, I was advised that this bar was NOT (unlike the soundbar series) designed to be used above the tv only below with the optimal placement directly in the front of the tv. Frankly the soundbar sitting in front of a 56 inch tv looks horrible, under it it looks built in. Polk indicating that could affect the sound field. Well thats just cute, the whole POINT of this system was it was supposed to give you the 5.1 effect regardless of placement or your position in the room!
It is a nice system, could use a tad more volume, not amazing with the surround, even though the wide open setup I heard at best buy was nothing short of amazing, but in my 12 X 12 living room, far less than spectacular.
Finally save your money, at this price point the 360 is not ready for prime time. If you are looking for solid tight sound in a high end soundbar this is it. If you are expecting the results Polk claims you will be badly disappointed.My old 5.1 theater in a box $300.00 system sounded a tad better frankly.UPDATE:
After owning this a few months I must say it is a complete waste of money.
There simply is no separation in the soundfield regardless of the input signal.
I have tweaked this system to no end with lackluster results.
For a grand there is a endless amount of equipment that you could purchase that would put this system to shame.
Polk missed on this one, if your heart is set on one, wait a while as the price is certain to go down due to the LARGE amount of people disappointed in this system.
This is nothing more than a fancy expensive 2.1 system. Save your money.

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Polk Audio SurroundBar 360-degree DVD Theater is a complete home entertainment system. It incorporates the enveloping sonic benefits of our SurroundBar SDA technology and our patented PowerPort bass venting technology with the convenience of a control console that is a DVD/CD player, amplifier, and an AM/FM radio. The SurroundBar 360-degree has sleek, contemporary design and simple, single-cable speaker hookup which makes it ideal for anyone who wants big, rich surround sound home entertainment without any of the hookup hassles of multiple speakers and wires. The SurroundBar 360-degree DVD Theater employs 8 drivers. A patented combination of signal processing and acoustical geometry produces the vivid three dimensional surround field that exists on the original recording. What you hear is essentially the same as if sounds were actually coming from all around and behind you.

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Yamaha YSP-3000SL Digital Sound Projector (Silver) Review

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(More customer reviews)The HDMI version on this product is 1.2. It supports only 2 channel LPCM audio over HDMI. The HDMI switch will also clip BTB and WTW information passed in from the source.
Otherwise, when setup properly in a square room without furnitures, the surround effect works pretty well. But only if you sit directly in front of it.

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The New YSP-3000 offers great new features such as 1080p-compatiable HDMI, iPod compatibility and wide variety of beam settings including My Surround for true multi-channel surround sound enjoyment from a single component. The YSP-3000 applies the Digital Sound Projector technology to precisely control the orientation of the sound by focusing it through multiple beams. The center channel sound is heard directly, while sounds from other channels are heard after reflecting off walls. The result is true multi-channel surround sound that sounds just like a multi-speaker system but without the need for extra speakers! As amazing as it seems, the YSP-3000 can actually deliver multi-channel sound that surrounds listeners the same way that sound from front, center and rear speakers does. DVD movies and other digital sources sound just the way they are supposed to. Dolby Pro Logic II is included, so even 2-channel TV's sound can be heard in true multi-channel surround. Its elegant space-saving design avoids the need of numerous speakers and cables. It can be wall mounted or placed on a shelf or rack. . It powers the 21 beam drivers at 2W each and the two woofers at 20W each, for a total of 82W of power. There is no need for the customer to purchase an additional amplifier or receiver, so the system is compact and economical.

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Tivoli Audio RadioCombo CD/AM/FM Stereo System Review

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(More customer reviews)I was stunned by the difference it made to add the satellite speaker to the Tivoli Model One, confirming the findings of Consumer Reports, which rated the Model One plus satellite speaker the best sound quality of the high end radios tested. Moreover, it's a compact unit with full-frequencied sound at both loud and low volume levels. The iPal, on the other hand, is an overpriced novelty, putting out appealing sound until the gain is advanced beyond the mid-point, at which point distortion is unacceptable. Don't even consider the Tivoli sub-woofer. This unit already has ample bass (sometimes too much); if anything, I wouldn't mind having a treble control to bring out ride cymbals a bit more, though on the whole Tivoli's engineers have done a nice job of balancing frequencies.
If you're serious about sound, and especially stereo separation, you won't want to use this as a bedside clock radio (though the separation is effective even when listening to it in bed with a speaker on each night-stand). Moreover, as some consumer reviews indicate, the clock radio mechanism is very basic. For two hundred more you can get Tivoli's top unit, combining stereo with clock radio and CD player, but you're sacrificing stereo separation, since both speakers are mounted in a single, comparatively small cabinet.
The CD player is a quality unit for those who don't load up discs willy nilly in changers, inviting jamming. Moreover, unlike most portable disc players that I tried, this one doesn't slip, stick, or quickly wear out. It will occasionally balk at discs it doesn't like, and at first I thought I had another irritating jam problem and repair bill on my hands. Simply unplug the power cord for a few seconds, replug, and it will regurgitate the disc.
The price isn't necessarily the smallest, but the unit is, even with all three pieces. Simply put, you won't find a bigger, more satisfying sound anywhere in a more compact system, and face it: even if you're not a wood connoisseur, it looks classy.

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Boston Acoustics Horizon Trio Clock Radio w/ CD Player (Mist) Review

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(More customer reviews)I already own one Boston Acoustics Clock Radio and decided to purchase another which plays CDs.
Unfortunately, there is a manufacturing glitch by which the audio mutes briefly at the end of each track when playing a CD straight through. This might not be noticeable on CDs where there is some silence between tracks. But on many classical CDs where there is continuity of music between tracks, this results in missing about a second of music at each track change.
This was confirmed by BA (because it always "searches" for the next track) and I found it unacceptable. So I had to return it.
However, if you are not into classical CDs, then this is otherwise an excellent CD/AM/FM clock radio. The sound quality is superb as one would expect from such an expensive item. I did find the snooze bar for the alarm a bit too sensitive, which on two occasions caused it to snooze for 15 minutes instead of 10.

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Polk Audio I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)I got the I-Sonic 2 just about a month ago and I am still amazed at how good this thing sounds. I got a Bose and a Cambridge at the same time, niether come close and are going back. It was great to do a comparision in my own home.
I read a lot of reviews on the first I-Sonic; best I can tell Polk has fixed all of the issues. It doesn't get hot, the display is easy to read, and the controls are so simple I have yet to open the manual.
The iPod dock works with my iPhone and my video iPod and my iPod has never sounded better. Really, you will be blown away by how good this system sounds. I have the unit in my bedroom and it is a perfect place to store my iPod when I get home; keeps it charged all the time.
The HD Radio works well with the single wire antenna provided with the system. I have tagged a bunch of sounds and bought a few from iTunes; very very cool feature even if you just use it to remeber a song.
I am very satisfied with the system and would highly recommend it to any iPod owner, its a perfect match.


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The I-Sonic ES2 includes a second generation HD Radio tuner with full multicasting. With its advanced acoustical system, Digital Signal Processing, and new HD Radio tuner technology, the I-Sonic ES2 is one of the highest performing self-contained HD Radio products on the market. The I-Sonic ES2 accepts all iPod models with dock connectors in its top-mounted iPod dock, craftily hidden beneath a sliding door. S-Video and composite video outputs allow the user to connect a television or video monitor to the IES2 for viewing video content stored on a video iPod.

Four-Speaker I-Sonic Technology Polk's engineering breakthrough changes the rules for small system performance. Conventional table-top systems "beam" the sound straight towards the listener, even those with two speakers. At best, these designs can create a stereo soundfield for someone seated directly facing the unit. It's not at all satisfying for any other listeners in the room. Polk's exclusive, patent-pending I-Sonic design lets everyone in the room enjoy the rich sound. The I-Sonic stereo soundfield is projected all around. No matter where you are in the room, you'll get the full I-Sonic experience.
Deep Bass from Patented PowerPort Technology PowerPort venting technology belts out the kind of rich, powerful bass you'd expect from much larger stereo speakers. Bass ports redirect the sound created by the back of the speaker cone into the room. But conventional bass ports lose efficiency and create distortion because of air turbulence at the mouth of the port.
PowerPort vastly reduces air turbulence at the port mouth thereby reducing distortion and increasing bass output. This is the same technology used in Polk's legendary $10,000 Signature Reference Theater system. In the I-Sonic ES2 PowerPort delivers sound that is rich and warm, making all of your music and movies sound life-like and satisfying.
Advanced Digital Signal Processing Built into every I-Sonic ES2 is a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) with the processing power of a small computer. Polk engineers have programmed the DSP to ensure that you hear incredible sound at every volume level in every spot in the room. First, a Dynamic Loudness Contour automatically adjusts bass and treble response to account for your ears' frequency sensitivity at low volume. You'll hear rich, well-balanced sound even at late-night listening levels. The DSP also prevents distortion at high volume with its Dynamic Compression. Go ahead, crank up the volume and play air guitar to your heart's content. With I-Sonic the sound will always be crisp, clear and clean. Finally, the powerful DSP controls the time delay and frequency shaping that is behind Polk's exclusive and patented I-Sonic four-speaker technology. You'll hear full-bodied, huge stereo sound in every spot in your room.
HD Radio Technology Radio stations all over the country are converting to digital HD radio broadcasting. The chances are very good that your favorite radio station is or will shortly be broadcasting in HD. HD Radio brings you a host of sound quality, convenience and programming choice benefits. Your HD radio listening will be free of the static and multipath distortion of old fashioned analog radio. You'll enjoy CD-quality sound from FM HD stations and FM quality stereo sound from AM HD stations. You will never want to go back to analog once you've heard the HD radio difference.
The I-Sonic ES2 also allows broadcasters to show information on the display screen--information like artist/program name, song title, sports scores, traffic information and stock ticker.
Conventional AM/FM Radio The I-Sonic ES2 picks up all of the broadcast radio stations in your area. If your favorite radio stations are not yet broadcasting in HD you will receive standard analog AM and FM just like ay other AM/FM radio (only better sounding of course).
Sirius Satellite Radio (Optional) Add Sirius satellite radio with an optional add-on plus monthly subscription from the provider. Sirius boasts over 130 channels of digital radio, including 69 channels of 100% commercial-free music, live performances, artist interviews, and talk shows. Sirius is home to the NFL and over 40 NBA and NHL games a week, plus college sports.
Big names on Sirius include Howard Stern, Tony Hawk, and Martha Stewart. The Sirius bundle has a separate screen to display channel, artist, and song names, and plugs into the auxiliary port of the I-Sonic for high quality sound.
Built-In iPod Dock The I-Sonic ES2 has an integrated iPod dock on the top with a universal adapter for any size iPod, including the iPhone and iPod Touch. Listen to music or videos (Check Compatibility) through the dynamic sound of the I-Sonic ES2 speakers.
iPod Video with S-Video & Composite Outputs Use the integrated iPod dock to connect your iPod to the I-Sonic ES2 and you can stream videos directly to your TV via S-video or composite connection. Now you can watch and listen to your saved iPod videos easily, let the I-Sonic ES2 handle the hard stuff, you just sit back and relax.
Hear it. Tag it. Download it. Never forget it. Now it's easy to purchase songs you hear on HD Radio with the I-Sonic ES2 tagging feature and your iPod. Whenever you're listening to HD Radio and hear a song you love, simply hit the "TAG" button on the front of the I-Sonic ES2 to capture the song's information on your iPod. Then the next time you sync your iPod with your computer you will be able to download tagged songs via the Apple iTunes music store. It's that simple!
Tune into any HD Radio station with the I-Sonic ES2. When song information can be tagged, the tag button will light up. When you hear a song you like, press the tag button on the front panel or the remote (shown right). The TAG (song data) is stored in the I-Sonic ES2 and will store up to 50 TAGs.
Dock your iPod in the I-Sonic ES2 and TAGs will be automatically transfered to your iPod.
Sync your iPod with iTunes and your TAGs will appear in a playlist called "Tagged" in iTunes, ready for you to purchase directly from the Apple iTunes Music Store.

What's in the Box I-Sonic ES2, Remote Control (batteries included), Power Supply, AM External Antenna, FM External Antennas (dipole and wire), Owner's Guide, Online Registration Card

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