Polk is now delivering its new reference SurroundBar 9000 Instant Home Theater (IHT), a single-cabinet multichannel speaker.
Originally announced earlier this year and first demonstrated at the 2012 CEDIA EXPO, the SurroundBar 9000 IHT and its accompanying wireless subwoofer (included) feature an array of proprietary Polk Audio technologies.
“Nobody knows sound bar design better than Polk, but even we are blown away by the output of the SurroundBar 9000,” said Polk product line manager, Al Baron. “The combination of simplicity and sonics is easily the best we’ve seen from us or any manufacturer in the field. We’ve elevated driver design to new heights with this model, and it includes all of the technologies that have made our Instant Home Theater line such a success, including SmartBar programming, which enables the SurroundBar to easily learn power on/off, volume up/down and mute from your existing TV remote control. It makes operation as simple as can be.”
The new SurroundBar 9000 Instant Home Theater (IHT) joins the line at the top of the list, delivering component-caliber 3D audio surround audio while maintaining the sleek, low-profile design and easy setup of Polk’s IHT line. The SurroundBar 9000 IHT is self-powered, delivering 45 Watts of discrete peak power to each of its eight drivers (five 2½-inch midrange drivers and three ½-inch silk dome tweeters). Add to that the system’s 150 Watt, 8-inch wireless subwoofer—which can be located as far as 50 feet away and connects to the system automatically upon powering on—and the SurroundBar 9000 IHT as a whole is capable of delivering 510 Watts of total peak power.
The SurroundBar 9000 IHT employs a number of key technologies engineered to deliver a highly refined audio experience. The 9000’s Optimized Center Array (OCA) design results in clarity and intelligibility of center channel audio over a very wide listening area.
With the OCA design, outer and inner driver pairs reproduce center channel information from 80 to 400Hz, and 80 to 650Hz respectively. This benefit allows listeners sitting far to the side to hear dialogue and other critical sonic details with the same balance and impact as those listeners situated in the center “sweet spot,” the company says.
Unique to the SurroundBar 9000 is Polk’s new Full Complement Bass design. All five 2 1/2-inch drive units reproduce the summed L/C/R/SL/SR channels over the 80Hz to 200Hz passband, resulting in deep resonant bass that is experienced in every listening area in the room.
Polk’s patented SDA (Stereo Dimensional Array) Surround technology also works to eliminate crosstalk between channels, ensuring that left and right ears independently hear the sound intended for them, creating a lifelike three-dimensional sound experience that closely replicates the way the listener experiences sound in the real world. A proprietary Polk technology, SDA creates a 360-degree soundfield that envelopes the listener without the need for side and rear-channel speakers.
Polk Audio’s SurroundBar 9000 IHT features dual tuned ports designed to provide optimal blending between the midrange drivers and the subwoofer, no matter where the sub is located in the room,
and no matter if the bar itself is shelf- or wall-mounted.
One key to the SurroundBar 9000’s performance is Polk Digital Logic technology, which relies on proprietary digital signal processing to optimize the system’s acoustical performance
in the typical room, without the need for complicated setup menus and instruction manuals.
The SurroundBar 9000 IHT is Energy Star certified, and comes with a backup remote control, which can easily be programmed to understand the customer’s own TV remote control. Each system
also features built-in keyhole slots for mounting, which ensure a wide range of placement options.
The Polk SurroundBar 9000 Instant Home Theater is available at a suggested retail price of $849.
