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.
Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking!
Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27.
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
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.
