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Polk MagniFi Max is its first 5.1-capable Chromecast sound bar

The Polk MagniFi Max sound bar gives you plenty of connections and the option of matching surround speakers.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
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Ty Pendlebury
2 min read
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Polk

Polk's latest sound bar , the MagniFi Max, offers up a slew of connectivity and the ability to incorporate rear speakers to become a 5.1 system.

The sound bar comes with rear speakers for $599 (MagniFi Max SR) or without for $499, the audio company announced today. The SR-1 rears are also available as an upgrade for $125. Both versions incorporate a wireless 8-inch ported sub and feature a low profile 2-inch 'bar.

The sound bar comes with plenty of sound processing tricks including the company's own Stereo Dimensional Array technology which is designed to give the user an ultrawide sound stage. It also comes with Voice Adjust for clearer dialog and from what we've seen on other Polk models it should work rather well.

The kit includes three built-In Ultra HD 4K HDMI (HDCP 2.2) inputs, one HDMI (ARC) output, an optical input for TV audio, aux 3.5mm, Bluetooth and Ethernet.

The sound bar is one of several from the company we've seen that eschews DTS Play-Fi in favor of having Google's Chromecast built-in. Polk was one of the first partners for DTS' multiroom technology, though it still has models that support it, such as the Polk SB1 Plus.

We've been impressed with Polk's latest sound bars, particularly the $199 Signa S1 and $270 Polk MagniFi Mini , so we're keen to see how the MagniFi Max performs.

The two versions of the MagniFi Max will be available in the US in August. UK and Australian availability yet to be announced. Expect the UK prices to be similar figures, just in pounds, while Australian pricing is likely to be over AU$1,000 each.