MagniFi Max AX SR 7.1.2 Soundbar, 10" Sub, SR2 Surround Speakers | Up to 7.1.2 Channel Home Theater Setup, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, Polk's Patented VoiceAdjust & SDA Technologies, Black

Most of the reviews here are for an earlier version of this product, the Max. The Max AX model came out in September, 2022 and that is the model I purchased. There seems to be a number of complaints about that earlier model. Reviewers mention hearing snap, crackle and pops coming through the system. The system has 4 components...soundbar, 2 rear surround speakers and the sub. The soundbar connects to the other units through a private WiFi network at 2.4Ghz, which is completely independent of your home set up. Interference with this network likely was the cause of the earlier problem. Polk says the new AX version has an improved chip set for a better connection, and improved rejection of other nearby signals. After over 100 hours of listening through both the ARC HDMI and Bluetooth inputs, I can report that all I ever hear is clean sound. Not a single pop or crackle ever. If there was a problem with the earlier version, I believe Polk has fixed it. Next up is the subwoofer. I have designed, built and installed many subs in the car audio business. My experience is that the most critical part of a sub is NOT the speaker...It's all in the enclosure. A proper enclosure can make an average speaker sound great. It's critical that the enclosure be as strong as possible to avoid any flexing in the box. With this newer AX model, Polk has moved on from the cheaper composite material used in the Max and now uses MDF (medium density fiberboard) in the Max AX. This is an excellent choice and the go to material used in the subs of the "boom" cars in your neighborhood. The material is heavy, and that's why the sub weighs so much. To my ears, it sounds great. A single 10" sub is not going to shake your windows, but it will give you the boom when the explosions hit in the movie your watching. More importantly, it does a good job of delivering harmonic overtones...the "rattle" that follows the boom as it fades away. For the price, Polk has done a good job with the improved performance of the sub. I also read here complaints about the "feel" of the remote. All I can say is that a gentle push of the buttons activates the function. It works just fine for me. Don't know if Polk upgraded this piece or not. I have the AX SR version, which adds the rear speakers. There is plenty of audio signals present in the rear channels of every movie I watch on Amazon or Netflix. They really do add to the whole experience. I also use this set up to watch and listen to live concerts on YouTube, streamed from a laptop through the standard HDMI input. When I do, I move the rear speakers to the front of the room, and switch the sound mode on the Polk to stereo. In this mode, the front left and right signals are ALSO sent to the rear speakers for a true 2 channel set up. Moving the rear speakers to the front of the room expands my sound stage another 10 feet across the front. So this is a versatile unit that can be used for more than just TV sound. Just a note...while the rear speakers look identical, they are not. Each has a dedicated WiFi receiver to only operate as left or right. Turn them over and they are labeled on the bottom as to L or R. Last thought is the manual. No reason for Polk to include it as most people won't read it. You can locate and download it in 10 seconds with a Google search. It is loaded with info, including several additional functions not labeled on either the soundbar itself or the remote. These involve pushing 2 buttons at the same time to activate a feature. Like how to turn off the "sleep" function. In summary, I have no real complaints. A true home theater costs thousands of dollars and of course wires everywhere. Polk has done a great job of "shrinking" everything into a compact unit that sounds great. Every feature works for me and there was never a time when something didn't work. You might think about spending a little extra to get this AX model which is a definite improvement over the earlier versions. Thanks for reading and good luck with your purchase.

After 8 months of using this system - No changes to my initial review. Has worked smoothly so far. No issues with connectivity, the system has been super stable. Polk hasn't issued any firmware updates in this period, so no new features to talk about. The Polk Magnifi Max AX SR (2023) system is a great performing system that gets overshadowed by the more hyped up systems like those from Samsung, Sonos, etc. I tested this Polk system against Samsung's flagship Q990D and couldn't notice the difference when it came to Dolby 5.1 with or without Atmos. Indeed, some aspects of the Polk system were better than Samsung's. The best aspects of the Polk system are: 1. Very easy setup. No app or login to the vendor site needed. Just plug in the soundbar, connect to TV with HDMI, and plug in the subwoofer and surround speakers. It just works. You may use the Google Home app to connect the soundbar to Wifi, but that's optional. 2. Easy to use remote with a substantial text display on the soundbar visible across the room. This is as simple as it gets. You may think that the lack of an app to fiddle with a lot of features is a drawback, but the system has the right controls on the remote and the minimalist design actually works well. 3. It automatically responds to your TV remote. No programming of any kind needed. 4. Provides 3 HDMI input ports, a rarity in this price range. With the right setting on the connected devices (I have a Fire Stick connected), the soundbar automatically switches to the right input when the corresponding device is activated. The TV is also turned on automatically via the HDMI CEC. A must-have feature if you have more than one device connected to the soundbar. 5. Dolby 5.1 with or without Atmos sounds very good. The subwoofer is substantial (10 inch, another rarity in this price range), and the surround speakers, though small, are loud and make a big difference. Compared to the Samsung flagship Q990D on the same scenes, I couldn't tell any difference. The thing to note though is that the sound quality varies as per the source material. You need premium subscriptions with Netflix, Amazon, Paramount+, etc to get Dolby Atmos, and movies from Max often sound subdued compared to these other streamers. Best performance will be with Blurays presenting uncompressed multichannel sound tracks. 6. The All-Stereo mode allows you to play music on all speakers, which is a great feature. Adds life to stereo 2.0 sources. I didn't see this in the Samsung Q990D. 7. The Polk system also allows you to balance the volume between the right and left surrounds. This is a very useful feature that lets you position the surround speakers wherever there is room in your setting and just adjust the balance to suit your seating position. On the flip side, I cannot tell whether the two upfiring speakers make any difference. Not just in this Polk system, but also in the Samsung flagship, which as up and side firing speakers. The sound always seem to come from the soundbar, not magically above your head. Perhaps this depends on your setup. The surrounds do make a big difference. Overall, the Polk Magnifi Max AX SR performs well and a great value for money especially if it's on sale. It's solidly built, easy to set up and use, and makes a difference in your movie experience. There is no hype or cult behind Polk, but it performs as good as more expensive systems at less than half the price. For those curious about the power output, there is no specs available from Polk. We can only deduce this from the input power consumption. The soundbar is rated at 120W, the subwoofer at 128W, and surround speakers at 18W each. Compare this to Samsung Q990D/F. Main soundbar input power is 41W, Subwoofer: 48W and Surround speakers: 19W each.

These sound fantastic. People complaining about the weight must not know much about speakers. My wife who is not someone that is not knowledgeable about stereos set it up without any issues. Great sound for the cost.

The Polk Magnifi AX SR is a top contender for the best soundbar on the market, and for good reason! The setup was unbelievably simple – plug and play, just the way it should be. The build quality feels premium, but the real star of the show is the incredible sound. Even straight out of the box it sounds fantastic, but with a little tweaking of the settings, prepare to be blown away! Having recently moved on from a Bose Smart Soundbar 900 with the Bass Module 700, I can confidently say I don't miss the Bose system one bit. The inclusion of Google Home and AirPlay support only adds to its appeal. For the price, the performance of this soundbar is unbeatable. While it lacks automatic room calibration, the manual adjustments are straightforward and deliver flawless results. I'm beyond happy with this purchase and highly recommend the Polk Magnifi AX SR!

I had purchased a Samsung sound bar for my Samsung TV a few years ago. It worked well for the first year or so but recently wouldn’t respond and kept reverting to TV sound. I did a lot of research and decided on the Polk system and I can’t believe the difference. My old sound bar never has this level of sound and I can finally hear the dialogue! I have always had problems with background noise when watching tv shows and movies, but this system was well worth the money. I had it set up in just a few minutes and I love that the rear speakers are wireless and automatically connected to the soundbar when was turned on. I am so happy with the purchase and would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a tv surround sound system. Update 3 months later - removed 1 star as the system frequently doesn’t turn on or respond when I turn on the tv. I am having to unplug the soundbar and subwoofer every time I want to watch tv, which is mildly annoying. Also now I see it’s $200 less with a 20% discount, which makes me feel I paid too much when I bought it.

It is a great product for my needs. Specifically, ease of setup, wireless (except for the tv connection cable) and decent sound. Probably the most painless setup of a sound system I have ever experienced. The sound is impressive for what it is. I have to replace a pretty good component system with large floor standing speakers, and a dedicated sub woofer. So, no, the overall sound profile is not as good, but I am happy. It is unremarkable, and the issues I had with my aged out tower speakers is now no longer a problem. I did hear some pops and crackles others spoke of, but only when streaming youtube over the phone using blue tooth. I did keep the packing box, with photos of how everything was packed, in case there is a return needed. I recommend this unit without reservation for anyone looking for a reasonably priced wireless soundbar with satellites and sub.

This product replaced a big audio setup using Polk large receivers (2 Polk S60 and 2 Polk S20 to be exact) for a 5.1 setup through a Sony A/V receiver. I was tired of having a ton of wires behind my TV stand. I'm not going to tell you that this setup gives me better audio, you just can't replace big speakers with small ones and expect the same result. But I will tell you that the current setup gives me excellent sound. At first, I connected my Apple 4K to the Polk soundbar using HDMI (all connections through the eARC ports) and then the Polk to my LG TV also using HDMI. This setup is supposed to be optimal but the handshakes between the 3 devices took a good 30 seconds when I turned everything on. So I connected the Apply 4k Directly to the TV using HDMI and then from the TV to the Polk using Optical cable. This eliminated the latency in all the handshakes. The TV just came on immediately with no delays. Much to my surprise, the audio was actually better (HDMI is supposed to be better than Optical). As for the setup, it was a breeze. Plug things in the order the manual says, connect to WiFi and you're pretty much set. A bonus is that I got rid of all the speaker wires surrounding my home theater! I was worried that connecting through Optical would mean that I would need to turn on the Apple TV 4k (which would then turn the TV on because of the eARC HDMI connection) but that I would then need to turn the Polk on using the Polk remote. Surprisingly, I didn't need that second step as the Polk comes on automatically when the Apple TV and the TV come on.

This was and still is a total nightmare!! I was so excited to receive what I trusted would be a great sound system. I was so confident it would be great that I also purchased the extended warranty and paid for Amazon installation to be certain it was correctly installed. The installers were horrible! They ripped the box apart without concern for needing it if there was an issue. It was not properly working when they left. The surround sound speakers could barely be heard and were crackling & not in sync with the soundbar. Same issue with the enormous, heavy bass speaker. They advised me to adjust it via the preferred settings that are not easily accessible! After only about 15 minutes they crashed altogether! The "settings" were of no use as there was no sound to adjust or try to sync with the soundbar. Even before they crashed the sound was not clear. The voice assist did not help clarify. The soundbar I was replacing sounded far better despite being far less expensive. Shockingly, the installers asked what my plan was for the soundbar I was replacing stating it was a quality soundbar they would gladly take!! As if receiving an expensive defective, poor sound quality sound system weren't enough disappointment, I had to carefully unhook the system and package it all back up in the box the installers nearly destroyed along with the styrofoam that was partially destroyed. Then I had to get the very heavy monster bass speaker back into the nearly unusable packaging as well as well as the other components. It was a total nighmare and very physically & mentally taxing. It took hours to get it all packaged up & put the box back together. After managing to successfully & carefully do all that & getting it sucessfully returned the very next day I was informed that my refund to my Amazon Prime Visa would take 30 days. Now I have no sound bar and cannot order a different one until my refund is processed to allow the charge for this one to be released to protect my credit. I am beyond disappointed! This is by far the worst item I have ever purchased on Amazon! That's saying a lot hence I buy EVERYTHING on Amazon, including groceries. I have convinced MANY others to become Prime members and assured them Amazon customer service is excellent. I hope that remains true and my refund will be issued promptly so I can order a quality sound system! -UPDATE!: After tracking my prompt return and verifying it was received, I requested a prompt refund. I was shut down hence informed they retain the right to issue refunds within 30 days. Meanwhile I'm paying interest on an expensive, defective sound system that I returned nearly a month ago. NOW, I'm being informed that due to Feb. being a short month my refund won't be processed or issued until March! That means I will be paying interest for 2 months thus continuing to prevent me from purchasing a quality sound system for another month!! I am beyond disappointed! This is outrageous as well as a deplorable way to treat a long time loyal Prime member or ANY customer! Now I'm left wondering if I will EVER receive my refund while they received it back nearly a month ago while I'm paying daily interest on it! Hmm...You have the info to decide for yourself how to proceed!

If I am happy with a product is this one deserves every dollar you spent, gorgeous sound, fewer wires, crystal voices, etc

I purchased this soundbar in late 2022 (shortly after this model first came out), and have been very pleased. I bought it to replace a Sony soundbar that had constant wireless drop-outs (a known problem with the model) - the wireless connection on my Polk has been rock-solid. Great sounding audio - this soundbar really shines when you're playing Dolby Atmos content. Good integration with Spotify and Apple Music as well. Another thing I like is that this is one of the few soundbars on the market that has three HDMI inputs rather than only one or two. Yes, you can eARC with other bars, but that seems to lead to more frequent issues with latency. With this bar, I have my AppleTV, my blu-ray player and my game console all running directly into the soundbar. All in all, very satisfied customer with Polk.

Replacing a 5.1.2 LG, from when Atmos was first launched. It was getting laggy, and the sub was on its way out. Time for a new soundbar. I did my research, and the audiophiles seem to really like this one. I have the Polk mini in the bedroom and it is awesome, so I took the plunge. The Polk Max AX SR is on another level. I have nothing bad to say. Looks great, sounds great. I have been listening to JBL, Bose and Samsung at various friends, I can't wait for them to hear this one, it's going to cause some jealousy.

Great value awesome sound

I am very happy with the product itself, quality item, however Amazon left nearly a $1000 item outside WITHOUT a single ring or knock at my door and drove off, yet when i ordered it, it said it WOULD REQUIRE A SIGNATURE FROM ME to be delivered. i was home the entire day, and am just lucky i have trustworthy neighbors who let me know it was sitting outside for two hours.