Polk Audio today debuted its latest flagship sound bar systems, the MagniFi Max AX and AX SR. The compact systems both include an 11-speaker-array sound bar with dedicated center channels and up-firing height speakers, as well as a 10-inch wireless subwoofer. The SR system adds two additional wireless surround speakers.
The new sound bars support both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X along with Polk's patented Stereo Dimensional Array (SDA) technology for immersive sound, and AirPlay 2 is a welcome inclusion for Apple fans. Google Chromecast, Spotify Connect, and Works with Alexa services are also supported thanks to both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
One-touch modes optimize the systems for movies, TV, or music, while Night Mode turns down the bass to reduce potentially disruptive bass sounds and Polk's VoiceAdjust technology ensures that voices are intelligible above the rest of the audio. Connections include 3-in/1-out 4K HDMI ports with eARC, as well as an optical input. A subtle OLED display on the front panel shows your adjustments but dims when not in use.
The MagniFi Max AX ($799) and MagniFi Max AX SR ($899) systems are available to order starting today and will begin shipping next month.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
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Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
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One thing worth...
Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
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Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
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Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
I wish these things would compete on robustness and reliability rather than persnickety audio claims that no-one cares about. eg my LG Soundbar + satellite speakers sounds great and is mostly robust, but once a month or so it refuses to wake up when the rest of the system wakes up, so I get audio through the TV until I power cycle the soundbar.
IMHO this is unacceptable in consumer electronics, but no review tracks stuff like this; they'd rather tell you about the 96KHz response curve or something equally irrelevant to normal use cases.
I wonder how this sounds compared to a Sonos Arc with sub and Play Ones setup. I like the idea of having multiple HDMI inputs in the sound bar, it makes it more like an AV receiver, but without the bulk.
Edit: my suggestion is redundant as you don’t want a soundbar I assume.
I got the Sony HT-7000 and SA-SW5 sub a few months ago and the recently released SA-RS5 wireless upfiring rears a couple of weeks ago. Very hefty price overall, but sounds incredible, is well specced if you’re hooking up consoles etc and it gets updates. VRR pass through support is hopefully incoming, but I’m a few years off having a VRR tv anyway.
I go 10 years plus between hi fi setups typically, old one was from 2008, so I don’t mind the hefty price. Bought it to coincide with move to a detached house so there’s no real limit on how loud I can have it, unlike my last place ?
Im not competely closed off to sound bar solutions, I just think that if I am going to spend a considerable amount I could just geta reciever with 7+ HDMI inputs etc. I know the wife would prefer somethnig smaller tho (queue the jokes:p )
I've never understood how I would benefit from wireless surrounds. They still have to be plugged in for power, and copper audio wires from a receiver can be virtually any length (since you can cut them yourself) and are so much easier to run under carpets or along walls. With the bluetooth surrounds, that power cable is going to be a pain to compromise between where the speaker should be placed vs where the outlet is, right?
The difference is that a modern US house (I have no idea about your house) has I don't know, maybe 8 electrical sockets in a TV/family room, including both sockets near the front of the room (power TV, sound bar, bass) and at the back of the room (power satellites). This means that for most people a system with something like soundbar + bass + two satellites is fairly easy to plug in and manage. (Eg I put my two satellites on book cases that are mounted against the back wall).
I don't know exactly what the current CA code is, but it seems to be something like a power point every linear 6 feet of wall. Which might sound ridiculous (and looks like overkill when you see a bare room) but it turns out to be SO nice when you actually live in the house and rarely have to either run long cables or use aggressive power splitters.
I'd really like to know how this compares to a Sonos system. This whole system costs as much as 1 piece of the Sonos system.
I've still yet to buy the Sonos sub because I just can't bring myself to pay another $700+ for just the sub, when the Sonos Arc and Sonos One(s) already put me over $1200. But the system lacks any depth without the sub.
