Polk Audio Signa S2 Ultra-Slim Sound Bar for Smart TV with Subwoofer

This relatively low cost sound bar has remarkably good sound for such a low profile. Setup was easy. It came with HDMI and optical cables for attachment to the TV. I attached the HDMI to the ARC (Audio Return Channel) HDMI connection of my flat panel and just turned it on. The TV recognized the sound bar by turning off its internal speakers and playing sound through the sound bar. Additionally, it shows the audio level bar on-screen whenever the TV or sound bar remotes are used to adjust the audio level. I plugged in the wireless subwoofer and it connected automatically to the sound bar, but there is also a manual process if necessary. It is also easy to use. There are various adjustments that can be made with the sound bar remote, but once these were made we only use the TV remote. The sound bar appears to go into sleep mode when the TV is off and comes back on when the TV is turned on. It is compatible with Dolby 2.1 content, but it cannot be upgraded with additional speakers. There are five inconspicuous buttons on the top of the sound bar: on/off, source selection, Bluetooth on/off, volume down, and volume up. Bluetooth is used for playing sound from other sources like a smart phone. These buttons also appear on the sound bar remote along with other buttons for mode selections. There are three sound buttons: Movie, Night, and Music. We use the Movie mode mostly as it “expands” the soft and loud sounds as if in a movie theater but with 2.1 speakers. The Night mode “compresses” the sound levels, making “quiets” a little louder and “louds” a little lower. This mode is good for late night listening with the sound turned down so that others aren’t disturbed by loud explosions and you can still hear the “quiet” portions. The final sound mode, Music, is for listening to music with the frequencies set at a more equal distribution. There are also three buttons for Voice Adjustment. These adjust the voice frequencies to make voices easier to understand. At the highest level, number 3, we can tell that voices are much clearer but they sound somewhat unnatural. Consequently, we normally use level 1 and occasionally level 2 when necessary. There are a series of lights on the front screen to indicate operation and when modes are selected. The main light comes on when the sound bar is in operation and goes off when it goes into sleep mode. This is a soft light and I do not notice it when watching the TV. The color changes whenever the Dolby 2.1 signal is received and being used. Other lights on the front will turn on momentarily whenever a new mode or source is selected to indicate that the signal has been received and the change made. There is also a light that comes on when Bluetooth is turned on. This goes off when Bluetooth is turned off or when Bluetooth goes into sleep mode if it is not in use for more than 15 minutes. Note, the auto sleep mode is not the default and this option has to be manually selected to be in use. This sound bar produces much better sound than the TV speakers and requires little attention once the adjustments are set; we mostly use the TV remote. My only criticism regards adjusting the subwoofer levels. The subwoofer has bass minus and plus adjustment buttons on the remote but, unlike the other mode adjustments, there is no visual indication that anything is happening when this is used. There isn’t even an indicator that it is wirelessly linked except for the lights used when manually connecting it. The bass can be adjusted up to the point that deep voices and drums rattle items on the shelves in the room. When adjusted down to reduce such rattles we have no way of knowing if we are at a mid or lowest level. The bass can be adjusted to what is being listened to, but it would be nice to know the actual setting so that a “standardized” level could be selected for particular circumstances.

June 2020: still functioning perfectly. I think once or twice I’ve had to unplug the subwoofer to get it work again. Very rare occurrence. The remote can be slightly difficult to get to work (needs the right angle) but I almost never have to use it because the TV controls it. Great sound bar, 100% recommend. December 2019 update: still working great. Original 2018: I got this speaker a couple weeks ago and it's been working great so far (November 2018). I plugged in both the HDMI ARC cable and the optical cable, per the instructions and it started working after I turned the TV off and then on. It turns on instantly along with my TV when I press the Apple TV remote. The volume changes through my TV remote (or Apple Remote). There are three different buttons for levels of voice clarity, but I haven't had to use it at all which is a huge plus. The bluetooth syncing works very easily, again a problem that many other sound bars have. There is no Alexa integration, but that probably helps keep the price low (no mics or networking hardware, a plus in my opinion). The wireless subwoofer has totally satisfactory sound for a semi-large living room, and was completely plug-and-play. I just plugged it in behind the couch and it works perfectly, no syncing needed. This model also doesn't have any problems that affected the last generation (namely turning off after 30 seconds if no audio input), which is great. The price is fair, and it mounted to the bottom of my TV easily. I was not able to figure out what the two "spacers" are that were included in the package. The instructions didn't seem to say what they are.

This speaker system is very reliable and works well with my Smart TV and my phones. I have been using it for the past six years with no issues. It is portable and durable, working just as well as it did when I first bought it. I have moved it to two different apartments and it easily transports from one apartment to the next. It is pretty discreet, blending well with my Smart TV console. My main critiques are that the sound system doesn't always interpret the sound as best as it could, especially the lower registers of the bass guitar and the bass drum. It is good at highlighting the treble sound but I find that I have to increase the volume significantly to appreciate the richness of the bass sounds. I also don't think that switching between the 3 different voice/sound controls on the remote are very helpful, or pressing the musical note button. Moreover, I wish the cables were longer, especially the cord for the subwoofer. For this reason, I did not give the speaker system full stars. Overall, it is a great product for the price though as I paid just under $200 for the set. I have hosted multiple house gatherings and it never disappointed the crowd. I would recommend it to my friends and those who want a good sound system that won't break the bank.

Another winner from Polk Audio. Sound is clear and clean. The voice enhancement is a welcome addition, especially at night, or early in the morning. As others have said, the lack of display screen doesn't allow the user to know what mode they're in, but for the price, this is easily overlooked and expected. Bass is rich, almost overpowering without tweaking. All in all, a solid purchase for a smaller room

This Polk soundbar and subwoofer set was just delivered to my doorstep a couple hours ago and I can already say it’s one of the best purchases I’ve made in a long time! I had been waiting to purchase it for months, hoping the price would go down a bit. Well, for Prime Day, it did - that sealed the deal and made it affordable for me! After taking everything out of the box, I simply plugged the power cords in for both the soundbar and subwoofer and connected the soundbar to my TV. I turned on the soundbar and my TV and the TV automatically connected to it. There was also no need to program the soundbar’s remote. Following the instructions for pairing the soundbar and subwoofer via Bluetooth, I activated Bluetooth on the back of the subwoofer and pressed the 2 necessary buttons at the top of the soundbar. Done! The sound these Polk items put out is INCREDIBLE in comparison to the internal speakers on my Samsung smart TV. There is really no comparison and I can’t believe I waited this long to hear! I am especially enjoying the “movie” and “music” sound settings you can use. I don’t usually feel the need to mess around much with things, so other than using the soundbar as audio with my phone, I think switching those settings is all I’ll need to do. Thank you, Polk, for making these awesome products!

Set up is a breeze. Bass automatically connected. Sound is very good, clear vocals, excellent mids and very tight solid base...it is a Polk afterall. Bluetooth music is also a breeze and the sound is excellent.

I bought this soundbar to set up under my ultrawide screen on my PC in 2022. I've had constant annoyance with this soundbar since then and it's 2024 now. I originally set this up using an optical cable directly to my PC. Originally, I would start to notice odd volume differences between games or between sessions. I thought it had to have been an issue with the way I had audio configured on Windows or in the individual games. But, I ruled that out when I had a particularly bad audio session where it sounded like all the channels were off and I was only hearing audio from one channel. I simply unplugged the optical cable and plugged it back in and the audio was perfect again. After that I switched from optical cable to 2.5mm Aux cable and I haven't had that issue since. That could have been an issue with my motherboard's optical port. I don't know. But, then I started to notice the sub problem. If I'm being honest, I didn't realize this whole time that the bass of the subwoofer was cutting in and out. I'm not sure exactly when I started to notice it, but once I did, I couldn't stop hearing it. It happens so frequently and intermittently that it's hard to tell at first I guess. But that's the biggest issue and once you notice it, it becomes extremely annoying. Over the last year or so I've half-heartedly attempted to look up the problem. It's taken this long for me to actually do something about it because I often use headphones instead. Looking it up, there's a few discussions specifically about the Signa S2 and subwoofer cutting in and out. I'll save you the trouble of having to look too far. They usually say it has something to do with wireless interference. I can tell you as of today that's definitely not the case for me. Admittedly, I have multiple network devices (Modem/Router combo AND a secondary Router). Both devices have wireless with both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands. But I have the wireless disabled on both of those devices. My PC has onboard wireless with again the same bands. Everyone says it's the 5Ghz band and that by disabling it, it fixes the problem. First, no one should have to do that. I have my sub RIGHT next to the soundbar. There's nothing between them. But regardless of all that, today I disabled everything. There was no wireless signal from any device in or around my PC (including Bluetooth). The subwoofer was still cutting in and out. I tried multiple times using the sync button and forcibly reconnecting the subwoofer to the soundbar using their pairing method over the years. Nothing fixes this subtle cutting in and out. So I'm done. As of today, I'm moving on. I'm in the middle of narrowing down on a couple of integrated bass soundbars to avoid any possibility of other wireless devices somehow interfering with my audio device. To be perfectly honest, in this day and age, that just shouldn't be happening anymore. It's a reminder of the old days of 2.4Ghz wireless house phones interfering with wireless routers causing disconnects on your gaming sessions. It's just makes me wonder what were they thinking? Hopefully this helps anyone else thinking about trying the same thing to avoid the same mistake I made.

This soundbar and sub sounds so good with very Deep bass. I am new to home audio but not car audio as I have 2 15” subs in my truck. I have it for an outdoor setup and it sounds incredible. If your on the fence about purchasing like I was just get it.

Melhor custo benefício sem dúvidas qualidade sem tamanho

I am amazed to listen the High definition sound in such a small package. 5 Stars to the seller !!

I basically bought this for watching BBC nature documentaries since my TV's inbuilt speaker had hard time delivering clear dialogues but I think this Signa S2 is overkill for that purpose. I should have gone for Signa Solo which was selling for 8k during sale (including bank discounts). Now coming to it's capabilities. FORMAT IT PLAYED : Dolby digital, Dolby digital plus, DTS, DTS-HD (Master Audio) and many other formats except Dolby TrueHD & Atmos where TV displayed something like "audio not supported in this video". My biggest concern was if it can play DTS files and it plays them brilliantly. I felt DTS sounded better than Dolby but it may be due to higher bitrate of dts files. VOCALS are amazing. Super clear. Actually whole sound speactrum is too clear with great instrument separation that you will be able to distinguish between different sounds/instruments being played. High notes tone (Tweeters) are just pleasant to listen to. Polk's Voice adjust feature is extremely beneficial and works as advertised. But since soundbar produces such crisp and clear sound I never felt to use that feature but I tried just to test it out and it worked great. It easily fills 15x20 room with just 50% volume that you would feel like sitting in a theater. Now coming to BASS: It's the most controversial part with Signa series soundbar. When playing dolby movies (I played Batla House and Justice league) the rumble was so huge even at low base level setting that it literally felt like being in the scene of the movie. The rumble penetrated 3-4 walls in my house and could be felt beyond 30 feet. When Polk says "Deep Bass Technology" they are truly honest with their claim. Bass felt like Sub-bass most of the time than normal Bass. Bass is what you can hear, Sub-bass is what you feel in your whole body. I also noticed there was no down firing driver in the sub. When you place your hand near sub you will barely feel anything even while producing THAT deep Bass rumble in action scene. Bass effect is more like 3D and feels like PVR cinema at home. These guys (Polk Engineers & Scientists) know the science of sound and are Master of acoustics so they have done something there in the Bass department. Now the controversial part of NO BASS. It occured mostly during streaming music via Bluetooth or even while playing directly from TV. Bass was so loose & non existent (70% of the time) that one would easily get disappointed. Only thing about the bass present during music is some "air pressure type" loose Bass ,which you can only hear, without having any body,depth, weight or punch. But when you watch dolby/DTS movies Bass will just shock you in many ways that you won't be able to believe yourself. One can easily feel that Super deep Punch and weight with 3D effect. So there's definitely some improvement to do in that Bass department but it won't affect your experience during watching any movie. For music lovers I would suggest to go for Magnify Mini rather than Signa S1/S2. It was very easy to install and I used HDMI Arc to connect to my TV. Using Polk's remote I can turn on Bluetooth ,connect with my OnePlus 7 and stream. I actually enjoyed listening to music since I rarely listen to Bass heavy songs ,so Bass issue never bothers me. I got it for around 14k so it's Value for Money for me and actually delivers more than what I paid for. I received 4 power cables (2 two-pin & 2 three-pin). Received all other accessories like optical cable,HDMI cable, remote, batteries. Thanks for reading my review. Cheers ;)

Sounds OK , solid , good bass and mediums, but lacks of trebles. Good for the price , if you are looking for astonishing sounds it is not your soundbar.

This soundbar doesn't really provide surround or any immersion type imaging. However, I got it to replace my awful TV speakers and it does it in spades. I especially like the crisp character of the treble. It sounds great with music too, it's a soundbar with a small subwoofer though so don't expect stadium sound. A little side story. I got a Sony soundbar for the bedroom. You almost have to be a technician to make the thing work. It comes from the factory with Bluetooth deactivated and you have to reset it and it's really a pain. With the Polk I was up and running in 10 minutes.