SurroundBar from Polk Audio is a cleverly designed speaker system that employs SDA surround (Stereo Dimensional Array) technology to create the illusion of rear channel speakers without any actual rear speakers. A seperate power Sub-Woofer is still essential.

SurroundBar is not to be considered better than a real 5.1 theatre system but it offers satisfactory performance without having to mount rear speakers or run wires when they can’t be hidden. SurroundBar is for those who don’t have perfectly symmetrical rooms with no obstacles around for a nice 5.1 setup or those who don’t want to share their rooms with many loudspeakers. Suitable for small rooms and apartment suits.

How can a single front located speaker produce surround sound?
The technology used in the SurroundBar® for producing surround sound is called “SDA Surround”. Based on a fundamental understanding of how our ears perceive and process sound, SDA Surround uses a combination of signal processing and acoustic wave front reconstruction (AWFR) to create a soundfield comparable to having dozens of speakers located around the room. The SurroundBar® actually contains 7 active drive units, 3 tweeters and inputs for all 5 channels including surround channels. Multiple drive units positioned the same distance apart as your ears allow the SurroundBar® to eliminate the sound information that tells your ears where the speakers are located and replace it with the correct surround sound information from the original recording. As a result you no longer “hear” the location of the speakers in front of you. Instead, the sounds you hear are essentially the same as if there actually were sounds coming from all around and behind you.