OK, so we might be stretching the truth about some of these facts, but Matthew Polk, who actually founded Polk Audio in 1972, is a direct descendant of the former president, and is considered one of the top speaker designers in the industry.
They have been around since President James Polk left the White House in 1849, founding the company in order to have something to do with his new-found free time. Polk Audio is one of those quality audio companies that is well known among audio hobbyists and aficionados of quality sound, but does not have the overall brand awareness of some of the larger companies in the space. The SurroundBar 360 provides a simple, elegant packaged home theater solution. And do you think having multiple speakers will drive costs lower? Au contraire! It means that the maker will have to make additional sacrifices in quality in order to reach said low price point with these additional components in the system. These systems normally feature four small speakers for front and rear channels, perhaps a slightly larger center speaker and a subwoofer. Then there's this: many multi-speaker HTiBs are designed to reach a low price point, usually at the expense of sound quality. Although discrete surround sound is generally preferable over virtual surround in terms of its realism, there are times when a wired 5.1-channel home theater system simply isn't feasible. It takes up less space than a standard multi-speaker system and it eliminates the need to run wires. The question is where does a single speaker home theater solution fit and when is its use appropriate? In an apartment or a small to medium-sized multi-purpose room, or in a room with non-traditional layout, a single speaker virtual surround system is a fine choice. And here we have Polk Audio's recent entry into the category, the SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater. And this is why virtual surround HtiB (Home Theater in a Box) systems have become so popular of late.
The very idea that one could add robust and enjoyable surround sound to a flat panel TV with just a single component and a slim elegant speaker bar is intriguing. There is something to be said for simplicity. Polk Audio SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater Review