We're seeing a lot of deals coming through for this year's Amazon Spring Sale, but some of the best deals out there aren't even because of the sale event. Stay with me — if you're curious about building a home theater setup, you'll want to know about this Dolby Atmos soundbar and subwoofer.
Some of the best soundbars can go for over $1,000 — and that's without even considering a subwoofer. So when I reviewed the Polk Audio Signa S4 soundbar and subwoofer a few months ago, I was gobsmacked when I found out that it was only $399.
The Polk Audio Signa S4 has a pretty great MSRP already, but its current sale price knocks off an extra $100. No, it's not the lowest I've ever seen it (that's $239), but it's still a fantastic price. This soundbar and subwoofer sounds like a much, much bigger setup, and is the perfect option for home cinema newbies. Not only that, it also links up to Spotify, Pandora, and the like directly from my phone.
In my 4* review of the Polk Audio Signa S4 Dolby Atmos soundbar and subwoofer, I mentioned that I could still hear all of the high-frequency sound effects in the opening scene of Top Gun: Maverick.
If you don't know, Top Gun: Maverick opens with a scene with tons of engineers and pilots working on a U.S. Navy ship. It's got great audio depth, with a bassy soundtrack ('Danger Zone'), soft ambient sound effects like metallic clinks and elastic whooshes, and also obviously fighter jet engines.
As a result, it's a great scene to test soundbars with. Some subwoofers struggle with the double bass of the '80s synths and jet engines, and some tinny soundbars lose the gentle sound effects and turn messy. Thankfully, the Polk Signa S4 soundbar and subwoofer suffered with none of that malaise.
I wrote that the jet engines were "sonorous and all-encompassing, but didn’t overpower the low-frequency sound effects." However, I accepted that the soundbar wasn't as adept as the Samsung Q990D ($1,997), given that "the rope sounds could have been clearer [and] the swooshing was drowned a tiny bit by the jets". However, for just $299, this is a fantastic starter home setup.
The Signa S4 soundbar and subwoofer has 3.1.2 channels, which means it has a center channel, left and right channels, a subwoofer, and two side Atmos channel speakers. This effectively means that's is pretty good at creating Dolby Atmos sound, but it's not as good as, say, a 12.1.4 channel setup.
However, a hi-fi setup with that many speakers will easily cost well over $1,500. Sonos' Ultimate Immersive with Arc Ultra is a massive $2,696. So, considering this soundbar is just $299, that's a pretty fantastic price.
No, I wouldn't recommend this soundbar for serious home theater enthusiasts, who likely already have the top-of-the-range gear like Sonos Arc Ultra or the $2,499 Sennheiser AMBEO soundbar .
However, if you don't already have a soundbar and subwoofer with Dolby Atmos, then there's no better option out there than the Polk Signa S4 — especially now that it's $100 off.
