So this is the Sony HT-A5000 Atmos soundbar, and it is an absolute unit. Now just like Samsung’s soundbars that have Q-Symphony support… if you were to use the HT-A5000 with a compatible Sony Bravia TV… the soundbar and the built in speakers on the TV are going to work together. But unlike Samsung’s soundbars which are kind of dependent on a Q-Symphony tv… the HT-A5000 can stand all by itself.
Now the standout characteristic of this soundbar is that it has a ton of bass… and it also has an HDMI in port that supports upto 4K 120 hertz and it also supports 8K HDR. Now there are some quirks about this soundbar that I need to point out… likes it rather shallow sound signature… lack luster app… and just its sheer size. But if you’re someone that really wants a lot of bass out of their sound bar… whether you’re a Sony Bravia owner or not… I think the HT-A5000 is up your alley.
Now regarding pricing… the A5000 retails for a cool thousand dollars. But knowing sony… I do expect this soundbar to go on sale on a regular basis. But nonetheless, the A5000 is in line with both the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 and Samsung HW-Q800A soundbars.
Now in this review we’re only going to be focusing on the A5000 by itself. Now like I motioned earlier… you can use the A5000 with a compatible Bravia TV and use the built in speakers on the TV with the soundbar it self… just like how you can with Samsung’s Q-Symphony compatible TV’s and soundbars… but unlike Samsung’s soundbars, the A5000 can stand all by itself.
Now you can also add an external subwoofer and of a pair of surround sound speakers… but for this video we are only going to be focusing on the soundbar it self. Nonetheless if you want to pick this soundbar up, it will be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the design of this soundbar. Now from a material’s standpoint, this soundbar has a subtile but industrial design to it. The majority of the body is a speckled powdered coated plastic, which does a great job of not reflecting any light. And on the front, we’ve gotta a metal front grill where at the right angle and with the right amount of light, you’re going to see the speakers underneath. And I feel some people will enjoy this design element, because personally, I do.
However, I do have to point something out that took me a little longer than it should have to fix. Now the A5000 has a front display on it. And this tells you the source that you are using and it also tells you the volume. Pretty simple. However by default this display is always turned on and its pretty bright, so it can be distracting. Now in order to turn this display off, you gotta press the dimmer button on the remote control. Initially is was trying to turn this display off through the app… but it wasn’t there. So I thought I would share this cause I absolutely hate when soundbars have an always on display or indicator light.
Now when it comes to dimensions, I can not deny that this soundbar is huge. The A5000 has a length of 47 and 3 quarter inches, a thickness of 5 and a half inches, and a hight of 2 and 3 quarter inches. I really feel that placing this soundbar can be challenge for some people. And here it is compared to the Bose smart soundbar 900. Its not as long and its a little thinner. And here is the Samsung Q800A which is the smallest soundbar here. However, this soundbar is dependent on its external subwoofer. But that is a whole other story. Overall what I am trying to say here is, the A5000 is pretty big, and it might not fit everywhere. However you can wall mount this soundbar and wall mounting brackets are included, unlike bose.
But now lets talk about the ports on this soundbar. Now you’ve got an AC port on this soundbar and thankfully there is no external power brick that you have to worry about hiding. Which means wall mounting this soundbar a little easier. However, this power cable is a little short. So weaving it through your home theater set up could be a problem.
Now like I mentioned earlier, the A5000 has an HDMI in port that supports up to 8K HDR or 4K 120 hertz. Now 8K HDR is really only going to matter if you’ve got an 8K TV, 8K content, and a blue ray player that can spit out 8K. Which isn’t supper common right now. Now both the PS5 and Xbox Series X are supposed to support 8K gaming in the future… But they don’t truly do, just yet. But that fact that this HDMI in port supports 4K 120 hertz is good, because this is something that your PS5 or Xbox Series X can take advantage of today.
But then there’s the HDMI out port which has both ARC and eARC support. Now if you are going to be strictly streaming your content from your TV, this could be the only HDMI port that you actually use. And if your TV also has eARC support than you are going to be able to fully enjoy your dolby atmos content or any other uncompressed audio formats. And you only get one HDMI cable in the box.
Now this soundbar also has a USB A port and you can plug in a USB stick and play music off of it… and this soundbar also has an optical port just incase your TV doesn’t have an HDMI port with ARC or eARC support. But im am just being blunt, if your TV doesn’t have ARC support, then you should upgrade your TV before getting a soundbar. You usually want to try to use an HDMI connection with your TV and soundbar.
Now this soundbar does have wifi… but unfortunately it doesn’t have an ethernet. And personally I really don’t think thats a big deal. Now this soundbar as Airplay 2 support which is good if you’re an iPhone user and you can also cast to it which is good if you’re an android user. So as long as your connected to the same wifi network as this soundbar, you can always stream music to it.
But unlike a lot of other soundbars out there… you can’t use the A5000 as a smart speaker. You can tell your voice assistant to stream music to this soundbar… but you can’t use the A5000 as a smart speaker itself. And personally for me… thats not a big deal either.
Now if you don’t want to connect this soundbar up to wifi due to security reasons… you don’t have to. You can always connect to it using bluetooth. And you can also stream your audio content playing on this soundbar to lets say a pair of headphones. So this way you can fully enjoy your content late at night without having to worry about disturbing anybody. But personally, I would recommend that you connect this Soundbar up to wifi so that you can stream to it using Airplay or Chromecast.
But now lets talk about speaker set ups. Now there are 3 frontward firing speakers, there are 2 frontward firing subwoofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides of this sound bar… there are two beam tweeters which specifically try to bounce sound off of your walls, and there are two additional upwards firing speakers which bounce sound off of the ceiling. Overall, this is a very solid set up.
And thanks to the upwards firing speakers on this sound, you get true Dolby Atmos support. Now what dolby Atmos is… is that its an audio format that allows creators to individually place sounds in a 3 dimensional space… So lets say there’s a helicopter on the screen, if the creator chooses to they can make it sound like that helicopter is above you. Unlike with other soundbars where that helicopter will sound like it is coming at you, or that its on the same level as you.
Now all content doesn’t automatically have Dolby Atmos support. Admittedly it is a rather premium feature. But thanks to the upwards firing speakers on this soundbar… you do get a very good sense of verticality in your audio. Giving you a good sense of immersivness.
But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest, now the TV is play at max volume. The Sony A5000 is playing with its stock EQ… and we’re going to be comparing it to the Bose Smart Soundbar 700. A comparable soundbar.. except is doesn’t have upwards firing speakers.
So like you may have just heard, obviously any soundbar is going to sound better than your TV’s built in speakers. You TV most likely just has a pair of downward firings speakers that bounce sound off of the table, don’t get all that loud and they become a rattling mess at higher volumes. And even if you have a more premium TV, like lets say the Samsung Q80A who’s built in speakers sound pretty good… upgrading to a soundbar will without a doubt improving your movie watching experience.
Now personally I am not the biggest fan of how this soundbar sounds. Just like with most of Sony’s other speaker products… this soundbar does lean towards a warmer sound signature. The highs on this sound bar aren’t super strong and the mids can sometimes get over powered by the bass. Making it a little hard to hear dialog.
However, where this soundbar really shines is the bass. The A5000 has a ton of bass to it all by itself. Its going to have no problem shaking the walls in your house. Now this soundbar doesn’t have as much bass as an external subwoofer, and it doesn’t resonate as much… but the A5000 does have an above average amount of bass for a fully self contained sound bar.
And in this sound test, the H5000 was playing with its bass playing at its medium setting. But you can always kick it up a notch. Now there’s also a Voice EQ on this soundbar which is going to help the dialog sound more pronounced… but personally I found this sound mode to sound too nasally for my taste. And unfortunately, Sony’s doesn’t give you too many customization options when it comes to tuning your sound.
So for this reason… I would mainly recommend this soundbar to someone who prefers a warmer sound signature… and I would also recommend it to someone who wants a lot of bass out of their soundbar, without having to get a separate subwoofer. And finally lets talk about max volume on this soundbar. The A5000 is going to have no problem filling a large room with sound all by its own. But if you were to use this soundbar with a compatible Sony Bravia TV… then this soundbar is going to sound even louder.
And personally i think that it is very important to point out that this soundbar is able to fill a large room with sound all on its own… because if we were to compare it to one of Samsung’s sound bars which can also be used in tandem with a compatible tv… it is only able to fill a large room with sound if it has help from a Q-Symphony TV. Because on its own, the Samsung Q800A is only able to fill a small or medium sized room.
But finally lets talk about the included remote and app on this sound bar. Now from a feel standpoint… I think it is time Sony’s redesign their remote. This remote looks like something that you would get in the early 2000’s and these buttons feel like complete mush. This remote really leave you wanting more when compared to more modern remotes. But from this remote you can adjust your bass, switch between voice and night mode, turn off that display that I mentioned earlier, and you can control your external subwoofer and surround sound speakers if you get them.
And this remote is actually way more capable than Sony’s app. And personally I actively try to avoid using Sony’s app. Sony’s apps for their headphones are decent… but for their speakers… not so much. From a usability stand point you can’t really do much, and from a stability stand point, I have been having connection issues with this app. So like I said, I avoid using this app as much as I can.
So with all of that being said… the Sony HT-A5000 soundbar is decent… but it certainly isn’t for everybody. First there’s its size… this thing is huge, and it could be a challenge to set up in some home theater sets up. Then there’s the nature of its warmer sound signature, and this boils down to preference. Some people will might like it and others won’t. And finally there’s the lack luster app on this soundbar and the limited customization options.
However, the HT-A5000 does have some standout characteristics. The A5000 has an above average amount of bass to it for a self contained soundbar. Its going to have no problem shaking the walls in your house and you don’t nesseacerly need a separate subwoofer. The upwards firing speakers on the A5000 also do a great job of giving your audio a sense a vertically to it, and you get true dolby atmos support. Then there the HDMI in port on the A5000 that can do up to 8K HDR… but more importantly, it can also do 4K 120 Hertz. Which I feel is more important for today.
And finally there’s just the overall performance, unlike some of Samsung’s soundbars which are reliant on a compatible TV… the HT-A5000 can preform all on its own. So whether you have a Sony TV or not… the A5000 will be able to deliver. Now if you do have a Sony TV… the A5000 is a decent option… but depending on needs or taste… you’ll might still want to go for something else.