Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsJust Okay - with the correct HDMI Cable
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2019
I bought this on sale before Black Friday - one of those Open Box deals from Amazon. As warned, the packaging was severely damaged. Everything looked re-wrapped, except the HDMI Cable. So maybe I cannot fault Polk or Amazon for my dismay when it did not play ANY sound. I tried everything. At the age of 66, this is NOT my first Soundbar Rodeo. I tried every connection type. Three different HDMI Cables - including the one that was in the box. Optical. TV Speakers OFF. TV Speakers ON. Nothing. I then filed for a Return last night - which is what I love about Amazon. So easy!
This morning, I decided to try, again. Tried every Sound Output Setting on my OLED LG TV. Nothing. Then I looked through the literature (not much there in the Owner's Manual -- no Troubleshooting Section, for example). One statement somewhere along the way kept creeping into my mind: "Requires a High Speed HDMI Cable."
Aren't they ALL "High Speed"? Aren't ALL the myths about "quality HDMI cables" proven as silly? Apparently not. I had ONE cable left to try - from Monoprice. The only one in my arsenal marked "High Speed, Category 2". Lo, and Behold!! - IT WORKED BEAUTIFULLY!
I did not use it at first for several reasons: 1) I felt like the bundled HDMI Cable was provided for a reason. But it will NOT produce sound using that Cable. Maybe whoever repackaged this simply threw in any old standard HDMI? It is not marked in any way. 2) I used the Monoprice Cable in my system to connect from a previous Soundbar (an old Sony SA-ST7 that has long-since been discontinued, and has problems staying ON). This cable is only 3 feet long, and a flat design, at that (meaning, not sinuous or bendy) -- and, my typical luck, it simply will not reach from the right area of the Signa S2 connection to the HDMI ARC Connector on my 55" LG OLED TV - which is all the way to the left. So, to test it, I have the Signa S2 positioned closer to the left - which is awkward, but good enough for testing.
Impressions, once I got this working?
a) PLENTY LOUD! CAN YOU HEAR ME?? This baby will blow you out of a small living room (mine is 12ft x 14ft, so I don't need a huge soundbar). Polk will not state the Power Rating on this, but, trust me, it's PLENTY LOUD! It does not have loudness levels that display on the TV Screen.
b) But that's about it. The spatial feeling of the sound is not improved. You can tell it comes directly from that soundbar - there's no widening of the soundstage. If you are hoping for Surround Sound Effects, this is NOT the soundbar for you - in my opinion.
c) The Sub works just fine and is relatively small, based on the others I've had. Not terribly heavy. Plenty of punch for my needs.
d) The Voice Dialog Enhancement - I think it works okay. You can certainly notice a change as you switch amongst the three levels offered. I will need to pull up a show or two that suffers with dialog issues to be sure -- this was the second reason I bought a new one. The old soundbar simply had no way to improve the dialogue that I could tell -- assuming I could get it to restart on the next use of the TV. You should not have to restart the soundbar simply because you walked away for several minutes after muting the sound, or each time you sit down to watch something.
e) A few have written about the Signa S2 cutting off between, say, YouTube videos. I left my movie on pause for 20 minutes and it started right back up. Maybe Polk corrected this issue. If not, there's a two-button workaround mentioned here in these Reviews that extends the "Power Saving Auto Cut-Off Feature" to four hours before it kicks in.
f) This unit is plenty small and fits on top of the TV Console, in front of the TV, without blocking the Remote Sensor for the TV (which, in my case, is on the front at the very bottom, and dead-center). Nice! That's the way it should be.
g) The Remote Control feels cheap because it is. Once you connect by HDMI ARC, you must use it to control your TV sound. Durability of the Remote? Not sure.
So, I now have to decide whether buying a longer High Speed HDMI Cable is worth the expense - and keep this (one surprise was the Optical Output produced no sound, as well). Or pay a now-higher non-sale price to replace it - and hope the correct HDMI cable is included. Or find an affordable soundbar with a wider soundstage, and maybe more than one HDMI Connector. It would be nice to connect some of my other components directly to the Soundbar rather than flowing through the TV first, but it may not matter.
If you simply need sound to be LOUDER - this will certainly suffice. The build quality is nice. You definitely need a High Speed HDMI Cable, no matter what. Based on the articles I've read, you do NOT have to overspend on this cable. Gold Ends, etc. do not gain you anything. So don't be fooled.