Polk Audio Signa S2 Low Profile TV Sound Bar, Works with 4K & HD TVs, Wireless Subwoofer, Includes HDMI & Optical Cables, Bluetooth Enabled, Black

This relatively low cost sound bar has remarkably good sound for such a low profile. Setup was easy. It came with HDMI and optical cables for attachment to the TV. I attached the HDMI to the ARC (Audio Return Channel) HDMI connection of my flat panel and just turned it on. The TV recognized the sound bar by turning off its internal speakers and playing sound through the sound bar. Additionally, it shows the audio level bar on-screen whenever the TV or sound bar remotes are used to adjust the audio level. I plugged in the wireless subwoofer and it connected automatically to the sound bar, but there is also a manual process if necessary.It is also easy to use. There are various adjustments that can be made with the sound bar remote, but once these were made we only use the TV remote. The sound bar appears to go into sleep mode when the TV is off and comes back on when the TV is turned on. It is compatible with Dolby 2.1 content, but it cannot be upgraded with additional speakers.There are five inconspicuous buttons on the top of the sound bar: on/off, source selection, Bluetooth on/off, volume down, and volume up. Bluetooth is used for playing sound from other sources like a smart phone. These buttons also appear on the sound bar remote along with other buttons for mode selections. There are three sound buttons: Movie, Night, and Music. We use the Movie mode mostly as it “expands” the soft and loud sounds as if in a movie theater but with 2.1 speakers. The Night mode “compresses” the sound levels, making “quiets” a little louder and “louds” a little lower. This mode is good for late night listening with the sound turned down so that others aren’t disturbed by loud explosions and you can still hear the “quiet” portions. The final sound mode, Music, is for listening to music with the frequencies set at a more equal distribution.There are also three buttons for Voice Adjustment. These adjust the voice frequencies to make voices easier to understand. At the highest level, number 3, we can tell that voices are much clearer but they sound somewhat unnatural. Consequently, we normally use level 1 and occasionally level 2 when necessary.There are a series of lights on the front screen to indicate operation and when modes are selected. The main light comes on when the sound bar is in operation and goes off when it goes into sleep mode. This is a soft light and I do not notice it when watching the TV. The color changes whenever the Dolby 2.1 signal is received and being used. Other lights on the front will turn on momentarily whenever a new mode or source is selected to indicate that the signal has been received and the change made. There is also a light that comes on when Bluetooth is turned on. This goes off when Bluetooth is turned off or when Bluetooth goes into sleep mode if it is not in use for more than 15 minutes. Note, the auto sleep mode is not the default and this option has to be manually selected to be in use.This sound bar produces much better sound than the TV speakers and requires little attention once the adjustments are set; we mostly use the TV remote. My only criticism regards adjusting the subwoofer levels. The subwoofer has bass minus and plus adjustment buttons on the remote but, unlike the other mode adjustments, there is no visual indication that anything is happening when this is used. There isn’t even an indicator that it is wirelessly linked except for the lights used when manually connecting it. The bass can be adjusted up to the point that deep voices and drums rattle items on the shelves in the room. When adjusted down to reduce such rattles we have no way of knowing if we are at a mid or lowest level. The bass can be adjusted to what is being listened to, but it would be nice to know the actual setting so that a “standardized” level could be selected for particular circumstances.

First of all I have a Bose 5.1 surround sound system for my home theater. If you are looking for something below $150 that competes with the sound quality of that , you will be sorely disappointed. That being said, the Bose product that most directly competes with the Polk Sound bar is the Bose TV speaker for around $200. I picked the Polk because it was less expensive than the Bose and it came with a subwoofer that has independent bass control. The Polk has instant settings for movies music, and spoken dialog. I purchased a Bose TV speaker last Christmas for my Mother-in-Law because she is hard of hearing and the external speaker is clearer and does not buzz like the TV turned up too loud. It works well, but I’d give the Polk higher marks. It is significant upgrade to the internal TV sound for most TV viewing and well worth the price. The sound is significantly better than the internal TV speaker for movies and concerts through cable or streaming. Just don’t buy this expecting it to be on the same level as a top of the line surround sound system. for me and everyday watching, it is exactly what I wanted and even exceeded my expectations a little.

Lots of reviews here, and many complain about the “auto-off” feature that turns the soundbar off if there’s no audio input for 15 minutes. YOU CAN TURN THIS FEATURE OFF. Hold down the “TV” button on the remote for about 5 seconds; a light will flash on the soundbar and the feature will be OFF. Repeat the process to turn it back on again.Now that that’s out of the way:I’ve been using an A/V receiver and hi-fi speakers for a 3.0 (front right, left, center) experience. The problem is, with an over-the-air antenna with TiVo DVR, Roku, smart TV, and disc player, it’s gotten very complicated. I turned to the Polk Signa 2 soundbar to help simplify things.Setup was easy. I used the supplied HDMI-ARC connection on my TV, plugged in the soundbar and “sub-woofer” to the wall, and that was that.I was really impressed with the quality of the sound, even at high levels. It plays much louder than I expected and still delivers clean sound. The dialogue enhancement settings give me clearer dialogue on modern movies than my previous center channel speaker delivered.The soundbar comes on automatically when the TV is turned on and it goes off when the TV is turned off. Any remote that controls the TV volume will automatically control the soundbar volume. Couldn’t be easier!The “sub-woofer” is really a powered woofer. The speaker is 5.25″ in diameter, powered by a 60-watt built-in amp. It delivers good bass at satisfyingly loud levels but calling it a “sub-woofer” is stretching the definition. Still, the sound is much better than you get from a television’s built-in speaker and plenty good enough for this hi-fi enthusiast.The soundbar is quite short, barely more than 2″ high, which means it fits very nicely under my LG television on legs on a shelf. It looks as if it came with the TV. The wireless woofer can sit about anywhere but sounds best on the same wall as the TV.Anybody can make a soundbar but I chose Polk because of their hi-fi reputation. I’m very happy with my choice.Now, some notes for those who have had trouble getting the soundbar to work.Make sure you’re using an HDMI-ARC connection on your television. That “ARC” is critical. Not every HDMI connection is “ARC,” which means Audio Return Channel. It should be marked as such. If you don’t have an HDMI-ARC connection, you can use an optical connection or Bluetooth, but you’ll lose some features like auto-on.Use the supplied high speed HDMI cable. Don’t use an old HDMI cable. They’ve gotten better over the years.Remember to change the “sound output” setting on your TV. It must be set to output sound to the HDMI-ARC connection, or to the optical or Bluetooth outputs if that’s what you’re using.It works from your TV, so it doesn’t matter what sources you use for programming. However, the soundbar will take up one HDMI connection on your TV. If you have a lot of sources plugged into your TV, you may come up short on HDMI inputs.

This sound system is excellent, it’s exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t want a 5 piece system. This system sound excellent, just the right amount of bass and the mids and highs are perfect. For a 2 piece system you can’t go wrong. Very easy to use and set up was a breeze. If your not wanting to upset your neighbors, but have a nice system that doesn’t break the bank, and way better than just you tv speakers, then this is the system for you. Also love the fact that with just the push of a button I can change how it sounds, especially at night if everyone is sleeping I can just turn on night mode and it cuts the bass down so I don’t wake the rest of the house and it still sounds good!

Not saying its as good as a $5,000 unit, but its awesome!!Its small/ compact and isnt overwhelming in footprint. The sound is really incredible- fills the entire room at a low volume. Nice sweet accurate sounds and for the price, cant beat it. Totally feel surrounded, even without rear speakers. And the atmos was i credible w Mission Impossible!!!Pro sound at budget cost!!