So your $1,299.99 gets you just the bar. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Comparing the A7000 to other soundbars, the Samsung Q950A, is hands down a better sound bar and home theater experience! In another clip, Audiosphere, I was struck by just how accurate the placement of all the digital effects felt, seeming to perfectly explode in sync with the sparse on-screen visuals. Get the best deals and the best advice dropped right in your inbox. From there you can connect to Wi-Fi, control settings from the IR repeater to the current input, and run the systems calibration tool to tailor the sound to your listening room. On its own, the A7000 is a bar capable of great spatial feats and top-end intelligibility. Sony went all Jurassic Park on the A7000, sparing no expense for features. 2022 ANDREW ROBINSON - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - HIFI & HOME THEATER JOURNALIST, Klipsch, sound bar, soundbar, Home Theater. Just like the Sonos Arc (which is its biggest rival as a single-box soundbar), the Sony HT-A7000 can optionally be partnered with a subwoofer and wireless speakers to create a true surround-sound audio system. The Sony HT-A7000 is a single-box soundbar meaning that it does everything from the bar itself. But not everyone's on a budget. Turned on, and the sound is still lean but far more focused with a bit of added dynamic snap. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. When watching A Quiet Place II in Dolby Atmos; Auto Sound, Music or Standard with Voice set to off and Immersive AE on, resulted in aperformance that was good but not what I would call best in class. The menus are not as in-depth as a receivers, but still they are a welcomed addition. But youll really have to be someone who doesnt pay much attention to price tags to buy it. If neither of these things is an obstacle, then theres nothing to prevent you giving the Sony HT-A7000 some serious consideration its a hugely capable and endlessly listenable addition to your home setup. Using DSP and the combination of discrete forward facing, upward and side-firing tweeters, the A7000 is able to create a surround sound like experience from a single bar. Not only does it look a bit like one soundbar has crashed into another, but if you position the bar directly beneath your TV the glass proves reflective. While the on-screen display is a fun and useful inclusion, especially for aging A/V nerds, in 2021 most of us expect an app with a wide catalog of available settings. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. A Quiet Place II the limiter was audible but not AS aggressive. Email us and we'll compare notes. All the best features, news, tips and great deals to help you live a better life through technology. First, the HT-A7000 is an all-in-one soundbar, meaning if you want to pair it with a more powerful or more capable Sony-branded wireless subwoofer thats going to cost extra. The tall and impossibly wide Dolby Atmos audio with tight sound positioning is as good as we've heard from any system without rear speakers, and it even manages a good dose of bass. As such, I wasnt blown away by the detail and presence of the A7000 right out of the gate, but its a pleasant performer when fed the right content. The Samsung is equally impressive spatially, sounds way more balanced top to bottom with both music and movies, and is a soundbar where you can set it up once and basically forget it. Published 25 May 22, Japan Display has announced a potentially massive upgrade so hold off on buying an OLED TV for now, By Max Slater-Robins Toss in the surround sound channels and youre looking at a complete system price of $2,349.98! Add in the always-competitive likes of LG, Samsung and Yamaha, and the HT-A7000 is going to have to do a bit more than show up to earn its stars. If youre not averse to spending up, its a great system, but there are much more affordable options out there. Here's what you need to know. Apart from its true 7.1.2 makeup, the 7000 is capable of playing back hi-res audio tracks as well as 360-degree reality audio. At just over 3 inches tall the bar should fit beneath most TVs, but there's an IR repeater in case it gets in the way of your TV's sensor. This results in a sound that is bottom heavy to a point, or with some source material, but overall is just sort of all highs and no lows. The bass the bar is capable of reproducing isnt what I would call detailed. Youll also get high-resolution audio streaming (boasting Sonys Hi-Res badge), and the ability to stream Sonys 360 Reality Audio tracks, which are mixed or remixed using Sonys own Dolby Atmos-like music ecosystem. But the biggest issue I had with the Sonys Atmos and frankly even Dolby Digital performance was the dynamic limiter. There is a sense of air moving out of the bar, but its all port and no texture --the opening kick-drum on Hella Good or the bass notes in the opening scene of The Matrix more than illustrate this point. The Amaze clip engulfed me in the sizzling buzzes of a forest, while the circular rotation of a bird fluttered almost perfectly behind my head. Copyright 2015 - 2016. In the box youll find the glass-topped bar in a sea of foam alongside an accessories box hosting a chunky remote and batteries (perhaps the least luxurious part of the package), an HDMI cable, a pair of mounting brackets, and a 3.5mm analog cable. Sonys spatial audio format is rather more hit-and-miss music can sound overly processed and artificial, and in extremis the low frequencies gain a lot of ill-deserved confidence. I still have no comment on the Sonos Arc, or the newly announced Bose 900 as I have not heard them yet. At $1,300 with no sub (and $400 to add one), the A7000 faces a throng of heartier competitors from a sheer value perspective. Since then he's had extensive experience as a writer and editor, including everything from op-eds and features to reviews on TVs, audio gear, smart home devices, and more. If you have surfaces reasonably close to the ends of the soundbar (where its acoustic chambers terminate) you might even be fooled into thinking there are drivers almost alongside your seated position. Adding the smaller of the two wireless subwoofers and the surrounds DEFINITELY firmed up the A7000s bottom end not to mention fleshed out a bit of its midrange, but did little to curb the rest of the Sonys problem areas. In aesthetic terms, maybe not quite so much. For what it isa black slab of soundits also pretty attractive looking. Theres a strong sense of verticality to the sound and its in no way equivocal. Setting up the HT-A7000 soundbar is somewhat in a class all by itself. The raindrops coming down overhead were also relatively realistic, though without a sub the booming thunder didnt have its usual guttural force. I wouldnt call it three dimensional but the A7000 can sound very spacious. Heres where some of the inconsistencies of the 7000s overall user experience start to rear their ugly head. LG, Samsung, Sonos and Yamaha have all had successes to a lesser or greater extent, too. Whats more, the AMBEO is now cheaper than the Sony system reviewed here! And youll need a biggish TV too, because this soundbar is almost ostentatiously wide. The immersion continued when I dialed up one of my favorite Dolby Atmos test films, Ant-Man. centre-channel information, while the pair of tweeters at either end have their sound channelled out to the sides of the soundbar in order to give a sensation of width to the sound. Really, your biggest considerations are size: of the soundbar itself and of the price-tag attached to it. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; Sonys Music Center app offers a few settings, but its pretty lacking overall, especially when compared to apps from Samsung, LG, and particularly Sonos, which let you control the vast majority of features from the palm of your handwithout the need to disrupt your favorite show. Now, there are a few things that you NEED to know about the Sony up front. Credit: Reviewed/Jackson Ruckar, Credit: Reviewed/Ryan Waniata. That's serious money by soundbar standards even Sony itself makes bars with Dolby Atmos enabled for under 400/$400/AU$600. You will receive a verification email shortly. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury Bath BA1 1UA All rights reserved. Is it worth getting a 8K TV for PS5, or should you stick with 4K instead? The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Published 7 June 22. I wish voice really only affected the A7000s vocal reproduction, but it doesnt. Pairing Sonys powerful virtual surround tech with carefully tuned drivers, the A7000 offers some of the best cinematic immersion Ive heard from a standalone bar (i.e. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission. The one caveat that holds back the A7000s cinematic punch is the lack of convincing lower bass. More so than any other soundbar weve reviewed on this channel (save for the VIZIO Elevate) has the performance of a bar varied as much as it has with the Sony. The only way I found to bring some of the dynamic snap back was to engage the voice feature, but as you might expect, at higher volumes, this also excited the treble and caused some vocal tracks to be unnaturally sharp. At $1,300 (and another $400 if you want a sub), the A7000 faces some tough competition. Thank you for helping to support the channel so we can continue to provide you with free content each week! The HDMI 2.1 connections are very welcome, too. For just $800, the Sonos Arc offers similar Dolby Atmos punch, great sound, and tons of versatility in a singular bar. By Carrie Marshall Simon Lucas is a freelance technology journalist and consultant, with particular emphasis on the audio/video aspects of home entertainment. Hailing originally from Montana, Ryan parlayed his time working as a musician and audio engineer into a career in digital media in 2012. The latter is the hardest trick to pull off without surround speakers, and the A7000 gets the closest Ive heard in a soundbar since Sennheisers check-behind-the-walls Ambeo soundbar ($2,500). The HT-A7000 replaces 2018's HT-ST5000, which included a bar and subwoofer for $1,500. The problem? And there's great new earbuds for grown-ups too, By Carrie Marshall . When someone uses the term flagship on a product, its reasonable to expect a measure of greatness. The Sonys not a magician, of course, so the sound it makes can only come from in front of you but even though the A7000 is a very wide soundbar, the sound it delivers is considerably wider. Now switching to the Cinema sound profile definitely brought things more forward and allowed for dialog to stand out from the mix a bit more without having to rely on the dialog feature -but the sound on the whole could come across as brash or shouty in the process --especially if you turn up the volume. I can turn up the side tweeters but not the center one. But just as with the Sonos Arc, thats rather beside the point after all, if you wanted a complete system, you could just buy something like the Samsung HW-Q950A that's designed around that, wouldn't you? Naturally theres Wi-Fi on board too, and wireless options are provided by Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. The integrated subwoofer generates eye-widening levels of bass response for a one-box soundbar. Once manually or automatically setup, all you really have to adjust is which sound mode you prefer and whether or not use the dialog enhancement --both of which are found on the remote. The Sony HT-A7000 can serve well as your only sound system for most situations. Well, you may want to wait a bit, 5 mistakes everyone makes with Samsung TVs, 5 mistakes everyone makes with LG OLED TVs, Streaming news from Netflix, Disney and more, Discover the gadgets you never knew you needed, In-depth reviews and new tech explanations. magazine and website since then, he's written for titles such as Wired, Metro, the Guardian and Stuff, among many others. Connecting the A7000 is as easy as plugging the included HDMI cable into the corresponding HDMI ARC or ARC/eARC ports of your soundbar and TV. Speaking of the remote, its a carry-over from some of Sonys lesser TVs and is in no way complimentary to the A7000s design and build quality. So a single round from a baddies gun can rip through your room with all the immediacy and frankly violence you may expect when watching at full tilt, but the car exploding as a result of the bullet hitting the gas tank? This last will make the most of the object-based audio mixes available on Amazon Music HD, Deezer and TIDAL. //-->. Aside from Sonys Immersive AE feature, no other button will likely have as profound an effect on what youre hearing as the one labeled Voice, and I wouldnt be surprised if you toggle it on and off frequently as some music and movies demand it, whereas others will not. On the other end, theres Samsungs HW-Q950A, which packs 22 drivers, four speakers, and the majority of the A7000s home theater trimmings at a far lower per-component cost (especially on sale). Id put the A7000 inline, or slightly above Samsungs Q950A in stereo, though the Q950A does better if you like to add in some surround thanks to its extra speakers. Thanks to the on-screen menus, setting up the bar manually isnt a chore, all you need is a tape measure and an SPL meter or SPL App on your phone. The ominous drums and spooky ambient sounds at the intro are especially impressive, and theres compelling detail to the rapid-fire dialogue. Sony takes things further for gaming, allowing for passthrough of HDR/Dolby Vision, 4K content at up to 120Hz, and even (when you find a source someday) 8K video, though theres no mention of support for features like VRR (variable refresh rate). Its a good thing the on-screen display is fully loaded as Sonys companion app is woefully lacking in options when compared to its rivals (more on that later). Lets get to the goods, shall we? The Sonos Arc is really the major competition here. All Rights Reserved. The auto setup procedure works with the subwoofer and surrounds too, though I find its effectiveness to be lacking when adding the additional speakers. The premium soundbar space offers an increasing number of Dolby Atmos-ready models and configurations, from the Sonos Arcanother solo bar that can be supplemented with a subwoofer and surround speakersto the Samsung HW-Q950A thats loaded with more speakers and channels than anything on the market. Planning on buying an OLED TV? Heres why you can trust us. While it doesnt have all the home theater goodies of the A7000 (surprisingly lacking a single HDMI input), it runs on powerful software and a great ecosystem. Do you need the best 8K TVs to get the best from your next-generation PlayStation 5 console? one without surround speakers). No wireless sub, no wireless rear speakers. Normally we dont make a big deal about price, but Im calling attention to it, because I, like perhaps many of you, thought the A7000s $1300 price tag INCLUDED a sub and surrounds. But that isnt where the inconsistencies stop. The Sony HT-A7000's real trick, though, is to do it properly. With Immersive AE on, and in either the Auto or Music sound mode, stereo tracks definitely open up, but they also lose some focus in the process. document.getElementById('cloak45025').innerHTML = ''; From the funky groove of a clavichord to the first shrink scene in the bathroom, in which a wall of shower water engulfs our hero like a tidal wave, it was thoroughly engaging. On the whole its not anything I would choose for myself. 6 Underground, the Sony completely neutered that film. Bluetooth is one of many ways to stream, including AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Spotify Connect over Wi-Fi. T3 is supported by its audience. The Sony HT-7000 might be expensive, but it's serious impressive. The Sony seems to play a guessing game with what it needs to limit. Virtual surround sound gets a lot of attention in the soundbar (and gaming) space, but its often notoriously disappointing when compared to the real deal. Again, youre not about to be tricked into thinking there are speakers above you, but the sound the A7000 makes escapes both its physical confines and that of the screen youre watching to an almost comical degree. The bar sounds rather pedestrian for its price point on some stereo content, most notably comfort-food sitcoms on Hulu like Frasier or Modern Family, but ramps things up a fair bit for high-quality dramas like Mike Whites addictive mini-series The White Lotus. addy45025 = addy45025 + 'abayamanufacture' + '.' + 'com'; Its one thing to fill one of the best soundbars with multiple drivers and a lot of amplification, its quite another to extract the sense of width, height and low-end wallop that your typical Dolby Atmos soundtrack thrives on. This is a fairly hefty soundbar. This email address is being protected from spambots. Visit our corporate site. Its also musical, loaded with modern features, and intuitive. A total of eleven channels of Class D amplification, packing an all-in total of 500 watts, provide the necessary oomph. This is not a one setting fits all soundbar despite the Sony literally having a sound mode called, AUTO SOUND. Should he find himself with a spare moment, Simon likes nothing more than publishing and then quickly deleting tweets about the state of the nation (in general), the state of Aston Villa (in particular) and the state of his partner's cat. Recommendations are independently chosen by Revieweds editors. It does the trick in coming off as sounding, and maybe even feeling deep. 3 7,000, 10 , 5 Soundbar 2022 Dolby Atmos. This email address is being protected from spambots. When that term is combined with a premium price tag, I tend to think the manufacturer knows something and theyre pretty confident in what theyre selling. As far as streaming, alongside Spotify Connect and Bluetooth, youll also get Chromecast and Apple AirPlay 2 support. My advice, if you plan on employing one of Sonys optional subwoofers or surround speakers, go with the manual setup. If you want to add a sub thats going to raise the system price up to as much as $1,999.99 depending on which subwoofer you choose. And besides, the HT-A7000 is as thoroughly specified as a full-on home cinema audio system as many multi-box rivals more so, in some ways. Not since the now discontinued LG SN11RG have I heard an internal limiter this aggressive. The remote is boxy and the speakers pricey, but you may not need either for most situations. And once theyre done, the HT-A7000 supports all the headline audio formats, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, as well as LPCM and Sonys 360 Reality Audio spatial algorithm. The three in the centre handle hey! Sonys latest Dolby Atmos soundbar, the HT-A7000(available at Amazon for $1,398.00), has some magic inside. Moreover, the bass never fully connects to the midrange, so there is a gap between the two. Before embracing the carefree life of the freelancer, he was editor of What Hi-Fi? As set-up and room calibration go, theyre swift, painless and commendably accurate. Meaningful bass without a subwoofer, scale and direction without rear speakers. Its very detailed in general, and especially through the midrange/centre channel so dialogue is plain, easy to follow and packed with character. The Sony HT-A7000 is the brands top of the line7.1.2 Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundbar. If I were to upgrade the A7000, even at $400, the sub would be my first move. The Sony generates a soundstage of frankly unlikely height and width, and manages to position and isolate specific effects really convincingly as it does so. The HT-A7000 is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit and Google Home too and if those voice-control options arent enough to get you what you want, theres a reasonably thorough remote control handset and compatibility with Sonys Music Center app too. Or, at least, it is with stereo information. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Its refreshing to see the A7000 still hosting an on-screen display, a legacy feature from the heyday of A/V receivers that allows you to navigate virtually all settings from your TV screen with a tap of the remotes Home button. Published 22 July 22, Now you can play big-name games even if you dont have an Xbox Series S|X or a PS5, By Carrie Marshall The Sony intends to deliver a 7.1.2 multichannel audio effect thats seven front-and-side channels, a subwoofer channel and two height channels. And gamers should give it special consideration, because its support for HDMI 2.1 features means it really future-proofs you for having multiple next-gen consoles. If youre one who likes tone controls or creating your own EQ curves, this isnt going to be the bar for you. If anything the spatial cues now travel front to back and side to side seamlessly with very notable and rather impressive vertical extension, but youre still left with having to choose which type of overall presentation you want -spacious and vague or forward and in your face. While the soundbar does pretty well on its own, the add-on subwoofer provides another dimension of cinematic punch. Sony is strangely selective over what they will allow you to control here. Published 2 July 22, The key settings to change to get the best possible picture quality no matter what you're watching, By Carrie Marshall And there are plenty more lower-priced options from Samsung, LG, and others. Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. At least in my experience, the results are marginally better. You could tack on Sonys SARS3S surround speakers for true surround (at a serious markup) but you may not need them. Its difficult to defy the laws of physics. You can also control the bar --to a degree --using the Sony Music Center App, which is a far sexier solution --just not as comprehensive. Recommendations are independently chosen by Revieweds editors. Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time. (Theres also a virtualizer designed to bring the height element to regular content, but its not all that convincing.) Subwoofer aside, the A7000 ships with just about every feature available, including modern conveniences to help future proof it for the next generation. Youll get it all here, including virtually every audio codec we have a name for, from Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD to DTS:X, DTS HD Master Audio, and everything in between. Thank you for signing up to T3. I dont have much love for 360 RA so far, and youll need a Tidal or Amazon Music Unlimited premium music service to stream it, but hey, its there.