Soundbars offering more detail are fine, but if you have a music collection that's a little rough around the edges, some systems can make these songs difficult to listen to. The Vizio offered a better vocal performance but was undone by the solos, as was the LG. This '60s throwback features swirling guitars and a central tenor vocal, but it's the stirring guitar solo that appears at 1 minute, 16 seconds, which can throw off some systems. Moving to something a little more astringent, the Polk was able to find the party in the Sunnyboys song Alone With You. The Polk fared better than the Vizio here too, as Sam Beam's voice sounded smeared on the surround-capable bar, even in music mode. In comparison, the Polk had the balance right, with a well-formed central vocal and a slightly ambient, though present, backing guitar. While it's a simple song with just a finger-picked guitar and Sam Beam's breathy voice, the LG rendered the guitar distant, and Beam's vocals sounded overbearing. Both devices come with dedicated music modes, but the Polk was able to communicate even the most delicate music, while the LG gave songs a bright, almost hard sheen.įor instance, with the acoustic ballad Naked As We Came by Iron and Wine, the LG mixed the basics up. Though the LG Eclair has been tuned for music by folks at the high-end company Meridian, it was eclipsed by the Polk for most of the tunes I listened to. Dolby Atmos: Everything You Need to Know About the Spatial Audio Format.The sense of width and height with the Sonos was able to match the LG and the Polk.

While the Sonos Beam may not have physical height drivers, you wouldn't know it when watching this scene. The Polk was definitely able to keep up with the rival LG Eclair (another soundbar which lacks rear speakers). The opening scene begins with disembodied voices, which are flung to the corners of the room on a good system. Despite lacking surround channels, the Polk was able to fill CNET's listening room with the proper amount of post-apocalyptic ambience. I started my testing with Mad Max: Fury Road, one of the best movies to showcase the capabilities of any Dolby Atmos system. There was only one clear loser in this group - and that has as much to do with the price as it does with performance. I compared the Polk against three competitors: the LG Eclair, the Vizio M512a and the Sonos Beam Gen 2. Whether you're watching action movies in Dolby Atmos or enjoying a low-key drama, the Polk will deliver the goods. And it's just as talented when it comes to films. Polk's soundbars have consistently been great with music, and the Signa 4 certainly carries the torch for musical replay. The Polk's clicker is just as friendly as previous versions, with large, easy-to-decipher buttons and the ability to tailor the amount of sound enhancement without dealing with menus. It offers a number of connection options and an array of useful sound modes. The Polk Signa S4 is a Dolby Atmos soundbar, featuring 3.1.2-channels of playback (left, right, center, front overheads and a wireless subwoofer). If you can stretch your budget a little further, the Vizio M512a offers even better sound, as well as dedicated surround channels for true immersion.īut if you want the best possible Dolby Atmos performance for the least amount of money, the Polk Audio Signa S4 is the soundbar to get. It's not possible to adjust the levels of the channels, or the height of the speakers, and the cheaper Signa S3 offersĬonnectivity, making it a better fit for music lovers. The Polk Signa S4 does have some shortfalls, however.

The Polk sounds good with music, too, and Atmos movies are really given a chance to shine. What distinguishes the Atmos-toting Polk Signa S4 from other $400-plus soundbars is its physical upfiring speakers (competitors such as the Sonos Beam Gen 2 use psychoacoustics to mimic height effects). And it's fairly compact, too.ĭolby Atmos soundbars are designed to add the dimension of height, which makes them great for action movies and video gaming. Now, with the Polk Signa S4, you can buy a true, Atmos-capable system for half the price of a compatible AV receiver. , the size of the products and the wallets needed to fund them became more manageable. , with speakers such as the Yamaha YSP-5600 being both crazy expensive ($1.5K or more) and 'extraordinarily huge.' But in the following years, with the help of companies like Immersive audio standard Dolby Atmos had a fairly inauspicious start when it came to Energetic sound quality with movies and music

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