So this is the Sony HT-A3000, its one of Sony’s mid range fully self contained Dolby Atmos soundbars… Now just like with Sony’s other soundbars… the HT-A3000 has a ton of bass all on its own… however, this thing is pretty big. Now even though this soundbar isn’t my favorite… its a good option if you want something with a lot of bass if you can’t add an external subwoofer, but its also a default option if you pair this soundbar is a Sony Bravia TV.
Now when it comes to pricing, this soundbar retails for $700, which is up there, and this is actually Sony’s most affordable soundbar in their A Series lineup of soundbars cause we also have the 5000 and 7000. Now with this soundbar, if you use it with a compatible Sony Bravia TV… the soundbar and the TV’s built in speakers will work in sync. You can also add an external subwoofer, and you can also add satellite speakers… But in this review, we’re only going to be focusing on the soundbar itself.
Now first, we need to address this soundbar’s design and size. Now the HT-A3000 has a length of 37 and a half inches, a width of about 5 inches and a hight of about 2 and a half inches. Now hight wise, I would say that this soundbar is very standard… however length wise this soundbar is very big especially given its speaker set up and this speaker is very wide. Cause both the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 and Sonos beam gen 2… 2 very popular soundbars, are dwarfed by the Sony. Now from a martial standpoint, this soundbar has a mostly plastic body and there’s a metal grill on the front. Now this soundbar does a really good job of not reflecting any light when watching movies with it. However, this soundbar does have a built in screen… now by default this screen is always on, and it can be very distracting, but thankfully you can turn it off by using the included remote.
Now regarding ports, this soundbar plugs in via a universal AC port, and thankfully there is no external power brick that you have to worry about which is good cause its going to make wiring this soundbar into your theater set up a little easier and its also going to make wall mounting this soundbar a little wiser as well. However, just keep in mind that this soundbar does not come included with a wall mounting kit. However, it does have built in wall mounting holes built directly into the chassis, and you can use your own screws. But you do want to make sure that your wall is sturdy cause this soundbar weighs in at 10 pounds.
Now continuing on the topic of ports… the HT-A3000 has a single HDMI eARC port and this soundbar also comes included with its own HDMI Cable. However when compared to it its larger siblings like either the HT-A5000 or HT-A7000… the 3000 doesn’t have an HDMI in port… so you can’t plug in at blue ray player or a gaming console directly into the soundbar it self.
Now this soundbar also has your typical optical port but it also has a USB A port so that you can plug in a USB stick and play music off of it. But more importantly, this soundbar has wifi so you can always stream music to it by either using Apple Airplay or you can always cast to it. But if you don’t want to, or you can’t connect this soundbar up to wifi, you can always still connect to it by using a bluetooth connection. But still, I highly recommend that you connect this soundbar up to wifi so that you can us its app. Now, this soundbar does come included with at remote control… but simply put, I never use the remote cause I just use the app.
But now lets talk about how this soundbar actually preforms. Regarding speaker set ups, the HT-A3000 has a total of 3 frontward firing speakers and dual frontward firing subwoofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides. But the very important thing to keep in mind here is, even though this is a DOLBY ATMOS soundbar… the 3000 doesn’t have any upwards firing speakers. The DOLBY ATMOS here is artificial. But now, we’re going to jump into the soundest, now even though this soundbar has a lot of bass to it… since it does lean towards a warmer sound signature, it doesn’t get as loud as you’d expect. And so that you can hear what im talking about, the HTA3000 is playing at max volume… where as the Bose Smart Soundbar 300… which is a more balanced sounding soundbar, is playing at 75% volume.
So first off, obviously anything is going to sound better than your tv’s built in speakers. Unless you have a higher end TV, your TV most likely just has a pair of downward firing speakers that bounces sound off of the table, they don’t get all that loud and when the bass really gets going… it just becomes a distorted mess.
Now with the Sony HT-A3000, this soundbar has a lot of bass all on its own, you’re really going to be able to feel what’s happening on the screen. And if you want more bass, you can do that cause in this soundest it was running with its bass set to mid.
But the drawback about this soundbar having such a warm sound signature… as in it has a lot of bass… is that the mids can be a little hard to hear. So if you’re watching a movie with this soundbar you could have to use it at a higher volume so that you can actually hear the dialog, but when those action scenes start then those explosions can get a little too loud or ear piercing.
Where as with lets say the Bose smart soundbar 300, a much more balanced sounding soundbar… since its mids are a lot more forward, its easier to hear dialog with this soundbar and in general its going to sound louder, but its not going to have as much bass.
Now with the HT-A3000, you can always combat its warmer sound signature by going in and raising its treble, but even still, instrument separation on this soundbar is lacking a little bit, everything sounds a little too close together especially when compared to the bose 300.
So even though personally this isn’t my preferred soundbar because the instuemnet separation is a little lacking, and because of its sheer size… I still think the HT-A3000 is a good option to consider if you’re someone that’s looking for a soundbar with a lot of bass. Because depending on your set up or needs… maybe adding an external subwoofer just isn’t an option for you. However, just keep in mind that this review was with the soundbar itself… if you were to use this soundbar with a compatible sony Bravia tv, with the help of the TV’s built in speakers… this soundbar won’t sound as shallow.