Polk has announced a follow-up to their hard hitting MagniFi Max soundbar, promising an even bigger and better sound than its predecessor. The MagniFi 2 soundbar packs in better surround sound processing and great smart home integration, which sounds like a pretty good upgrade from a soundbar that we already really liked.
Polk MagniFi 2
The biggest change here is Polk's improved DSP technology. It's tough for a soundbar to compete with a full-fledged surround sound system in your living room, but sometimes some sound tricks can emulate a wider soundstage than you'd expect from a soundbar. That was actually something we noticed in our MagniFi Max review, and Polk says they've done a better job with the MagniFi 2.
The soundbar offers a 3D Audio mode that utilizes Polk's SDA technology, which is how the speakers manage to highlight the important frequencies while downplaying frequencies that just muddy up your sound, and it claims to create an even bigger sound that just might be enough to make you ditch the extra wires and rear speakers in your setup. It also says it can create convincing height effects, too, which sounds like Polk is trying to grab a piece of the Dolby Atmos pie, too.
Any soundbar worth its salt these days should quickly integrate into your home theater, and it seems like the MagniFi 2 checks all the boxes. It supports 4K HDR passthrough across its 3 HDMI ports, and Polk throws an HDMI cable and optical cable in the box to immediately get connected to your TV. So long as your TV is CEC-capable you'll also be able to start using your TV remote to control volume and control everything, too; plug the soundbar in and you've already drastically improved your home theater sound with no extra work.
All the standard bells and whistles are still here too. It's Chromecast-compatible, features Bluetooth connectivity, has a wireless subwoofer, and it has some small EQ controls like the original MagniFi Max to tweak the sound to your liking. Overall, it sounds like a solid upgrade.
Expect the MagniFi 2 soundbar to be priced at $499 when it releases in August of this year.
