This Soundbar Is a Good Starting Point for Your Home Theater

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The annoying draw back to soundbars is that only a few entry-level choices provide you with a straightforward option to improve to a bigger speaker system. Spend a couple hundred dollars for a basic bar now, and also you’ll be caught shopping for a model new middle speaker if you wish to improve to a full {surround} sound system—with devoted {surround} audio system and a subwoofer—down the road.

That’s why I’ve turn into a fan of the brand new Polk Audio React line of residence theater audio system. The predominant Alexa-enabled bar, subwoofer, and {surround} audio system are every bought individually, so you can begin with the bar, then buy the opposite items to fill out your full 5.1 system at your leisure.

You may purchase a complete 5.1 soundbar system as a package deal for much less cash general than what you’d spend assembling a Polk React system piece by piece, however you’d must drop all of the money without delay. With every element of the Polk React costing simply a couple hundred bucks, and purchasable individually, it’s an inexpensive path to nice {surround} sound for these with lighter wallets.

Alexa Inside

When you unbox the primary React bar you’ll rapidly discover the spherical Alexa unit constructed into the middle of the highest of the bar. It appears as if it was melted into the primary speaker housing. The small plastic circle presents the identical controls you’ll acknowledge from different Alexa gadgets, together with the flexibility to mute the microphone when you don’t need to use Amazon’s sensible assistant for something.

I spent the overwhelming majority of my time interacting with this cloth-covered rectangle through my TV’s personal distant, because of Polk’s sensible inclusion of an HDMI ARC port that lets me use my TV’s distant to regulate the soundbar’s quantity.

Photograph: Polk

That mentioned, it was helpful to make use of Alexa to set fast kitchen timers and different issues I sometimes do with a sensible speaker or my telephone, proper on the soundbar. You by no means miss a cookie-baking timer in case your TV present is actually interrupted by your soundbar’s chime.

In addition to the soundbar, Polk Audio despatched me the remainder of the React surround-sound system to check. Setup of the powered {surround} audio system and wi-fi subwoofer was a breeze, because of simple directions from Polk for pairing process, although you’ll need to ensure you have shops (or extension cords, in my case) that attain inside about six toes of every speaker. The included energy cables are longer than most however a bit brief for bigger rooms.

The complete black system is stylish and nondescript sufficient that it simply will get misplaced in most areas, which is both a profit or a downside, relying in your aesthetic sense. Personally, I like gadgets like this to mix into the background.

Growing Together

I examined the soundbar first by itself and later added the subwoofer and surrounds, to simulate how I really feel most individuals can purchase this method. Even by itself, I used to be impressed with the 34-inch bar’s capability to challenge heat, bassy sound all through my listening area. The audio was fuller and richer than I’d anticipate from a bar this measurement, and that made it properly suited to stand-alone listening.



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