New SoundBar 6000 turns off automatically

[Tridogdude]

Recently returned the 4000IHT since the sound was not very good for the room we have it in. Saturday we upgraded to the 6000 and it seems much better.
The problem we are having is that the sound bar automatically shuts off after 5-10 minutes. Not sure what is causing this and I don't see anything in the manual troubleshooting guide. It did it only several times the first day we used it but today it is doing it constantly.

The other issue is that when the TV is turned off and then later turned on, the sound is so low that we have to turn it up with the Polk remote even though we programmed our Direct TV remote to work with the sound bar. Is there anything we can do to alleviate this? Having to use two remotes is a little bit of an annoyance.

[Kenneth Swauger]

Hello TDD,
Welcome to Polk's forum. From your description it sounds as though the SB is going into standby, which is usually caused by a too low level incoming signal. Try going into the TV's setup menu and changing the audio output from "variable" to "fixed" and turning off the built in TV speakers. As to the second problem it not a good idea to use the Direct TV remote to program the Polk. The reason is that the Direct remote is going to "speak" too many control languages, at the same time, for the Polk to learn. You have to use a single language remote, such as the TV's remote (assuming it is an IR remote as opposed to an RF remote), once you've done that the Direct remote will control it. But, first you need to wipe the Polk memory. To do that put the unit in standby, the LED will be amber. Then touch the "learn" button for a count of two, the LED will blink twice then go steady amber. Once this is done you can turn the SB on and then use the TV remote and go through the programming operation and the Polk should work fine.
Regards, Ken

[Serendipity]

Which model TV do you have? Some TV's need to have their internal speakers set to "OFF" before they can be set to fixed or variable audio output. If not, you may need to keep the TV volume at a respectable level or use the fixed setting.

[Baudman]

I have this same issue when using an ipod in source 2 or 3. Is the SB defective? or how do i stop it from going into sleep mode? Id like to play more than 2 songs lol

[Kenneth Swauger]

Hello,
Welcome to Polk's forum. In all likelihood the SB is going into the auto off mode because the signal coming from the iPod is below the speaker's threshold. I am assuming you are going from the iPod's headphone output, correct? You would want to set the output level at the highest setting, but I'm sure it doesn't produce much of a signal (earbuds must use femtowatts for power).
Regards, Ken

[Teth]

We have had our soundbar 6000 for 1.5 years. It has always worked fine. All of a sudden it turns off after 5-10 min when we are not touching any remotes and the volume is not changing. Is this possibly still a cable problem or do we likely have to send it somewhere for repair?

[Kenneth Swauger]

Hello Teth,
If you haven't made any changes to the device(s) that are feeding the signal to the SB then I would telephone Polk's CS department at 1-800-377-7655. I'm sure they can be of help.
Best regards, Ken