Fix your TV’s biggest problem – sound – Polk Surroundbar 6500BT review

Hows the sound on your TV in the lounge room?  If you’re not running the TV sound through a sound system other than your TV’s internal speakers I can tell you without even visiting – the sound ain’t “great”.  While in the past you had to invest in a complex and bulky surround sound Hi-Fi system and a heap of speakers, these days the answer is “SoundBar” and this 6500BT from Polk is an absolute cracker.

When you walk out of the retail store you’re going to need a trolley, and a big back seat – the box for this baby is huge.  If you’re ordering online be prepared for the delivery it’s impressive.

After you crack open the box you’ll realise that this is actually one of the simplest pieces of kit you’ll install.  The soundbar itself has a power pack and audio input only.

The Subwoofer needs just a single power cable.  The Audio input cable for the soundbar comes as part of the package, and you’ll appreciate that the inclusion of an optical audio cable is a big deal when you think back to buying printers back in the day which didn’t come with a cable, it would be easy to imagine Polk leaving that one out so you can go and get your own cable of choice.  Also included is an RCA to 3.5mm adaptor if you do choose to go analogue with your audio.

Once you’ve got audio flowing in, the Polk 6500 BT just needs to be powered on – stand back though, this thing will blow you away.

There’s something to be said for that first moment when you hear the sound of a program, a song or a game as it was intended to be heard.  The Polk Surroundbar offers a full sound, excellent volume and the kind of simplicity you don’t find in modern technology.

The mini remote that comes with it has controls for volume and the subwoofer so you can manage the bass beat (or annoyance level it creates in your house) separately to the overall volume.

Those features alone given the quality of the sound are probably enough to justify the $899 price tag, but you’ll be wanting for more when you shop around and realise that’s pushing into premium territory price wise.

Let me introduce you to two very cool things about this device.  Firstly, the Polk 6500BT can learn your own remote control commands, so your standard TV remote control can be the volume control – no need to keep at hand the Polk remote itself.

Secondly, and this should tip you over the edge.  Bluetooth – the BT had to stand for something right?

Search for devices on your smartphone’s bluetooth settings page and you’ll see the “polk soundbar” showing up.  Connect, then choose the Bluetooth source on the Surroundbar and you’re streaming your music to the soundbar in no time.

This becomes a complete entertainment option for your home lounge room and as I’ve already said – it’s simple.

A quality sound, quality product with great features.

[schema type=”review” rev_name=”Polk Surroundbar 6500BT” rev_body=”The Polk Soundbar that will give you great quality TV as well as bluetooth streaming for your lounge room” author=”Trevor Long” pubdate=”2014-03-09″ user_review=”5″ min_review=”0″ max_review=”5″ ]