Polk Subwoofer

Review by Clint M. Ory : Great Audio, But Maybe Too New of a Product to BuyJust Yet

I bought the 6000 IHT because I was so tired of turned upthe TV speakers full blast on my LG LCD tv. The audio was GREAT and hands down the best I have heard for the price. I have been a long time Polk Audio fan for many years. My only complaint with the 6000 IHT is it may be too new and Polk may have notworked out all of the bugs. Onmy unit,the wireless sub continued to over heat and shut down. When the sub did work, I was very impressed but unfortunately it was inoperable more than it worked so I shipped it back. I dont have plans to re-buy another unit for at least another 12 months to make sure the quality issues with the sub overheating are gone. I just bought the Polk Hitmaster for $45 and it is a much much cheaper way to improve your TV audio especially when playing video games. The XBOX 360 sounds really really good.

Review by R. Angeli : Decent sound, but not a thoroughly engineered product

First issue: The unit has three different input jacks. Periodically, when I operate my cable remote, another input channel (e.g. 2) is randomly selected - seemingly for no reason. This kills the audio. Then I have to reach for the Polk remote to re-select the correct input channel (e.g. 1) to get the audio back.Second Issue: Wireless subs are good in theory, but this one periodically stops working and has to be reset. They should provide a wire connect option. Also, a cheap plastic "cabinet" has no real place in a sub (that's what MDF Board is for) and the rubber legs on this one aren't tall enough to clear a deep pile carpet. I had to cut a sheet of 1/4" plastic to place under the sub's stubby feet in order to prevent the woofer from contacting the rug. That's just sad.)Third issue: Turn the unit "off" and the sound-bar indicator lamp goes from green to red (to indicate "off") as it should. But the sub-woofer's indicator lamp keeps flashing green for at least 5 minutes because it's "searching" for the bar - as it would during the initial set-up. That light eventually turns to solid red... In other words, my living room looks like a fun-house after I shut this down, turn out the room lights and go to bed. This is just plain stupid on the part of the engineers who designed this. Now that I think of it, there are way too many lights on this thing...blue, green, red, flashing green, flashing red...My $2,000 SVS home speakers don't have any lights on them at all, yet they sound FANTASTIC.Fourth issue: I had to call Polk to get my cable provider's remote to work with this, since the provided instructions were woefully lacking. (The good news is that I got a rep quickly and he was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful - a rarity in these times.)Summarily, this is basically a decent sounding unit for the money and is arguably "easy to set up," it's also a pain in the a** to live with on a daily because Polk didn't bother to fully engineer it.

Review by S.A.O. : As good as the reviews !

I always read reviews on any product I'm interested in and I found the reviews quite correct on this product. Personally, I'm trying to get rid of wires and keep components down to a minimum. This Polk system helps accomplish this with the wireless subwoofer. I was skeptical about the sound from the bar but,the cost help me get over that as well as the reviews. I'm quite happy with this surroundbar system and do not plan to purchase a separate tuner and misc. speakers any longer. The set up was easy right out of the box and did I mention the cost? My viewing room is approx. 500 square feet and we are seated 14 feet from a 60 inch LCD screen TV.(Samsung). Note; you may wish to move the subwoofer around to find the sweet spot for your personal tastes.

Review by M. Bates : Great Add-On!

After installing a 60" Samsung LED-LCD TV, I was disappointed with the TV speakers. My TV is mounted on the wall with no visible wires, so I was looking for a self-contained, amplified speaker system that would improve the audio experience. This unit is exactly what I wanted: easy installation with just power and optical audio hook-up, easy mounting under the TV to conceal the wires, and a wireless sub-woofer that you just need to plug in for power (anywhere in the room up to 75 feet away from the sound bar). The sound is fantastic and the sub-woofer produces the lows that were non-existent with the standard TV speakers. This is a 3.1 system that simulates 5.1, but it is a great compromise to the higher end units that really require a separate amplifier. Many of the less expensive units were 2.1 and did not put out the same power - this unit produces more than enough volume for a large room. My only complaint is that I wish there was a similar model 50+" wide for the larger TVs, but this unit looks just fine. Construction quality is what I would expect, and the unit is light enough that it does not require special mounting brackets - just two screws. I had the unit mounted to the wall and operating within 15 minutes.

Review by MAJ : Great soundbar but...

I've had the Polk IHT 6000 Soundbar for a week now and it has been an interesting experience. I got a new 60 inch Sony LED-LCD TV and was looking to have sound to match. My old sound system was really great with a Yamaha AV Receiver, 3 Infinity speakers in front, 2 JBL surround speakers, and a 10 inch Polk Subwoofer. The sound from that system was awesome, but the wires and speakers everywhere was too much for me anymore, and with the new big TV I no longer had room for the receiver. I went looking for a soundbar and tried several. Sony, Vizio, and Polk. I tried the Vizio since it was the only soundbar out there with separate rear channels and a wireless sub. It was great looking and great in terms of functionality, but the sound was awful. Muddy, nondistinct, just all around bad. The Sony was OK, but a little tinny and I didn't like that you had to wire everything to the sub first and then to the soundbar... I was trying to get rid of wires. Then I got the Polk. The Polk's sound is full and rich. The setup is easy, one audio wire, one power cable. I was very happy, but not thrilled and still felt a longing for my old system which went bye by on ebay. After doing a good amount of research, I found that I may have had the soundbar placed wrong. It was above my TV angled down, kind of close to the ceiling (this is in my basement so the ceiling is low). I decided to move the soundbar to just under the TV (They are both wall mounted). It is much closer to ear level now All I can say is WOW. The difference in sound between the locations is astounding. I am now TOTALLY happy with the Polk Soundbar. The sound is full and rich and really great. It is NOT however as good as a true 5.1 or 7.1 system, but it is pretty darn close and considering how nice it looks and how easy it is, I have no regrets. The surround effects are good but not like a true surround system. If you need to have true surround, this is not the system for you. I am very happy with it, and with a blu-ray in the player, that sound really does fill the room. You do get the feeling that there is surround sound, but it is just a feeling, not the reality you get with a true 5.1 system. Don't get me wrong though the sound is VERY good. With that said, there are some negatives. First off, there are no audio settings like bass or treble, there is however a sub level adjustment (more on that later). Polk feels that you get what you get. I wish I could boost the treble a little, or that they would put a quality tweeter in the center of the soundbar. The sub level adjustment is OK, but it is basically a volume control for the sub, and there is no level indicator, so I have no idea if it is set at 1 or 10. It is just a guess. I have also listened to the B&W Panorama soundbar and the Yamaha sound projector. Those 2 units do a better job than the Polk, the Yamaha is slightly better, and the B&W is a lot better, but the Yamaha is a thousand dollars more expensive and not nearly worth the extra expense for such a slight improvement over the Polk. The B&W is truly amazing and a true audiophile solution, but at well over 2 grand, it was way out of my price range. In conclusion, the Polk soundbar IHT 6000 is in my opinion the best soundbar out there under $1500.

Review by Interested but then not : Don't judge this sound bar by the size, It blew me away

Great sound bar, it has more than enough power to simulate the theater feel to it. Playing music with the pandora was great through my blu ray player, music sound quality will make you want to listen to more music. Watching blue man group and all I can say is wow. Comparing this system with my Onkyo S7300 home theater system watching dark knight and saving private ryan, onkyo still is a better system since it has real sound coming from behind you. But polk will keep you on your toes. Set up is way too easy, but if you are interested in buying this product, you need to understand two things. IHT 6000 does not support DTS format, but they made a software call digital logic that can convert regular stereo sound to surround sound(and it works). You can connect this soundbar straight from tv or blu ray or your reciever. If you connect from blu ray, make sure you set your DTS setting in disable, downmix or pcm mode. It will play dts mode. If you don't, you won't get any sound. If your tv don't have digital optical output, and it has coax output, there is a coax to digital optical converter box you can buy for 17 bucks.

Review by Blake S. Kuder : Great solution for smaller rooms and the wife factor, But....

Purchased this system a few weeks ago to replace our 5.1 system in our living room. We where looking for a system that will blend in with are decor and not make the room look cluttered. Well after listening to all the soundbar systems under $1000 we ended up purchasing the Polk surround bar 6000. I must say it is a nice little system for movies and sounds good with most music. I did find that movie, and music that are a little bass heavy cause the wireless woofer to sound flabby even with turning the woofer level down. So if your into hip hop / pop style music I would stay away from this system. Now for my opinion of simulated surround. Our room has four walls for the sound to bounce off of to create the illusion of rear speakers as stated in the polk manual. Since I am a musician hobbyest and have an ear for picking up nuances in recordings and such. The effects that you normally hear from the sides to the rear of your listening position fall short with this system. Example when a jet flys over or you hear a traveling bullet from a gun shot the effect will not pass over your head but seems to stop about mid way between your ears and the surround bar. Also we still have not been able to program our Dtv remote to the polk. Now for the positives.. The surround bars sounds better than most of the current lower end options out there. The vocals on movies and music do not have that speaking though a tin can effect I have heard from the Sony, and Samsung. Also the built in amplifier has enough volume to please most people. On music this little system sounds pretty darn good for what it is. If we had to purchase all over again I would have bought the Bose Cinemate GS II system. The Bose sounds far better. More dynamic punch, better simulated surround, lower, tighter, more musical bass response.

Review by J. Brooksby : Great Sound!!!!!!!!!! Easy Setup!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great sound without having to spend thousands on a surround sound system! Easy setup. Programed right into my Directv Remote. I was supprised that they incluede an optical cable. Great product!!!!!!!.

Review by S. A Schumacher "I keeps it real." : One of the best entry level soundbars out there

First I'll start off by making a statement I'm sure has been beaten into the ground in reference to soundbars. This is not a replacement for a true surround system. That being said, the 6000 is pretty darn close. My setup is a Bluray player connected optically, and my HTPC, 360 and Wii running analog out through the TV....I'll explain why. The one issue I have is with the optical input. The 6000 has a built in Dolby Digital decoder BUT, and this is a big but...it does not have the ability to decode Dolby True HD or any DTS soundtrack. So assuming you have your Bluray player connected to the 6000 via optical, pop in The Walking Dead or the Back To The Future trilogy. You will be greeted to...silence. To fix this you will either have to pick an appropriate sound format using he disc menu (usually a 2ch DD signal is an option), or do what I did....set up any DTS soundtrack to default to 2ch PCM using the BR players setup menu. Its an easy fix but really defeats the purpose of using the optical connection. And considering the fact that most Blurays either use DD True HD or DTS Master Audio, it makes me wonder if the Dolby Digital decoder is necessary at all. If your playing a standard DVD pretty much all of them use 5.1 Dolby Digital, at least that's something. Polk seems a year or two behind the curve when it comes to audio formats. At best it's a novelty and a bullet point to put on the box. *Also, for all you guys running the optical out from the back of your TV to the 6000, this is a rather pointless endeavor. A vast majority of TVs WILL NOT pass through multi-channel digital audio. What the TV does is downmix the signal to a 2ch PCM signal. So while the signal is still getting pumped out as "digital", its all basically a stereo mixdown signal, no matter what the source. So...if you see a blue solid light on the front panel, its either PCM or analog. If its steady green the decoder is on. Most likely if your running it rough the optical out on the TV, you will see a blue light. Here's the kicker though: Nothing in the last two paragraphs matter. No matter if you're connected through 2ch analog, optical multi channel or optical PCM, the sound is vastly superior to your TV's speakers. I watch most of my movies and shows through my HTPC, connected to the TV via HDMI, then using the downmixed 2ch analog to the 6000. Its really like night and day. Even though im using the 2ch analog connection which some may view as the "worst" connection, the 6000 still amazes. I'd say the 6000 does about 75% job of recreating multichannel audio. But this will depend on the size of your room and how close the walls are. And when you get lucky and find a Bluray that actually is compatible with the 6000 (in my case T2: Skynet Edition), the sound is even more brilliant. In my opinion though, the 2ch analog sounds better than the 2ch PCM optical...has more of a "spacious" feel. So unless I'm watching a Blruray that I know has DD 5.1, I keep it analog for all sources. And unlike those chepos Sony and Samsung, Polk actually includes everything you need....optical cable, analog cable and adapters. Whens the last time Sony packaged anything but composite cables (thanks for nothing). The set up was DEAD SIMPLE. Literally had it set up and running within 5 minutes of removing it from the box. What will take a little while is getting the sound just right...as I stated above. There is also some trial and error when it comes to the subwoofer placement. Don't get me wrong, that lil' devil sounds great. I found it fills the room better when placed in a corner. The same general rules apply to this sub as to any other...just be cognizant of the 50ft wireless range. *Also very important. I've read reviews on soundbars that use wireless subs where some people have had problems with wireless network interference. Im using an older generation Linksys G router that sits about a foot under the soundbar. I have had no dropouts or any type of interference. Im sure this will vary, just sayin. Please Google the 6000, its has overwhelmingly positive reviews from actual professionals. I hope my review has been helpful, and at the very least had shed some light in reference to the built in decoder. (should have called it a NOcoder. Tsss. Chip Chipperson)

Review by Robert P. Avery Sr. : Polk Sound Bar

Well ... all I can say is ... you won't be disapointed in this item. I have looked at all of them available and settled on the Polk Unit. Shipped quickly ... arived in one piece and works prefectly. Just remember its not surround sound, but the next best thing to it. I just purchased a new Samsung Led Smart TV and had to improve the audio. This sound system did just what I wanted. I have owned other surround sound systems before and just didnt want to go through all the issues with setting up surround the way one needs to, to make it sound good. This unit is just the ticket. Plug it in and run one audio wire and you are done. It also interfaces with your current remote to minimize having to add another remote to your collection. You wont be dispointed,