When it comes to music streaming the soundbar offers plenty of options, either it be through WiFi, Bluetooth or one of the included ports, either HDMI or optical. But as another part of Sound United has pointed out to us, there is no DTS available on any major streaming service pretty much anyway in the world, and even if you were to play a DTS:X disc from a disc player into your TV, the TV will be highly unlikely to pass DTS:X via HDMI eARC either. Connection to your TV would be through the HDMI eARC or ARC with an included HDMI cable; an optical input allows connection to older devices. That meant I was able to turn my Philips TV’s speakers off and still use my TV remote to control the volume of the Polk.

POLK AUDIO MagniFi Max AX Dolby Atmos Soundbar and Wireless

We went the AirPlay route, and thereafter the Polk (listed as MagniFi Mini AX-4004) appeared as an output device for playback from our iPhone, iPad or MacBook. Night Mode turns up dialogue and turns down bass for late-night watching without disturbing the neighbors; Movie Mode immerses you in audio. MagniFi Max AX sound bars elevate surround sound to new heights with dedicated up-firing speakers that provide the critical overhead element of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-oriented sound formats. Once you’ve established the best positional options to gain its maximum bass strength to your listening position ( see our guide here), the subwoofer is unlikely to be particularly discreet.It’s a well-tuned machine, and although the engineer in me wants more control, I didn’t need it for the vast majority of listening.

Polk Audio Introduces New MagniFi Max AX Sound Bar Systems

The result is a hands-off system that's particularly enticing for those who don’t live and breathe audio gear. As the speakers and the amplifier for this package have already been chosen as a good pairing from a power point of view, it means the amplifier power is already sufficient to allow for the desired performance of the speakers within. The MagniFi Max AX and MagniFi Max AX SR leverage 50 years of Polk speaker design expertise to deliver Polk’s best sound bar to date, and with Polk’s patented Stereo Dimensional Array (SDA) and Voice Adjust technologies, the Magnify Max AX and MagniFi Max AX SR will fill any room with exceptional sound without filling the room with speakers. The Polk has similar tricks, with remote learning and HDMI CEC, but you get a remote control here anyway, and we were very glad of it.A TV mode that seems to prioritize dialog more, an All Stereo mode that sends the front left and right channels to your surround speakers if you have these installed and lastly the Night mode which reduces bass and volume dynamics while improving voice intelligibility for low volume listening which can be very handy for late night use. Connection to your TV is via HDMI eARC or ARC with the included HDMI cable; an optical input allows connection to older devices. The surround speakers do a decent job of hurling effects behind you, with suitably similar voicing to the soundbar that they don’t jar. The first thing that immediately becomes obvious is how alive and full of energy the front sound wall was.