Audio Video News

Polk Audio has announced that the voice-controlled soundbar it demonstrated in January at CES 2018 is now available for pre-order.

Hailed as the first soundbar with Amazon Alexa voice control built-in, the Command Bar system ($300) squeezes two 1-inch tweeters and two 1.25 x 3.25-inch oval woofers into a super slim cabinet that’s 43 inches wide but only 2 inches tall and 4 inches deep; deep bass is offloaded to a standalone wireless subwoofer featuring a 6.5-inch driver and its own 100-watt amplifier.

Polk sees the Command Bar as the heart of a smart, voice-controlled home theater. With the Polk Connect Skill, you can use voice commands to control volume and bass, mute the sound, select audio modes and sources as well as control lights, locks, and other smart-home devices.

The system includes Dolby and DTS surround sound decoding, patented Voice Adjust technology to enhance dialogue, and supports Amazon Fire TV, Audible’s spoken-word platform, and a variety of other connected devices.

Onboard streaming services include Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio with Spotify slated to be added later in the year along with multiroom audio capability.

The system is slated to ship by May 28, according to the pre-order page on polkaudio.com. For more information, visit polkaudio.com.