Sony’s soundbar’s have always been a great option if you’re someone that wants a soundbar with a whole lot of bass, without actually needing an external subwoofer. Now obviously having an external subwoofer is going to give you a much more immersive viewing experience, but some people will might not want or have the space for an external subwoofer. And that’s where Sony’s soundbars come in. But today we’re going to compare the Sony HT-A3000 to the larger Sony HT-A5000… lets see which one is right for you.

Regarding pricing, the HT-A3000 has a retail price of $700, but it now likes to go on sale for $500. And then there’s the HT-A5000 and it has a retail price of $1000, but it likes to go on sale for $700. Now both of these soundbars are great options if you have a sony TV, but nonetheless, if you want to pick either of these two sound bars up, they’ll be linked down below.

Now first I do have to point out that in this video, we’re only going to be looking at the soundbars themselves. But if you wanted to, you can always build out these soundbars by adding an external subwoofer and or satellite speakers. But is this video, we’re going to be using the soundbars by themselves.

However, since both of these soundbars have Sony’s Acoustic center sync, and since we are using a sony tv, in this case the 2023 Sony Bravia X90L… when we do the soundtest, we will being using Acoustic center sync. Now what acoustic center sync is… your TV’s built in speakers will work in conjunction with your sony soundbar, and as a result you’re going to have a stronger center channel.

Now you can use any soundbar with your sony TV, but it is recommended that you use a Sony soundbar that has acusoutic center sync with your sony tv cause this way you’re going to get more out of your tv and soundbar. And vis vera, you can use your sony soundbar with any tv as well.

Now when it comes to the overall design of these soundbars, Sony’s soundbars are big and they are a little heavy. The A3000 has a length of 37 and a half inches, a width of 5 inches, and a hight of 2 and half inches. Where as the A5000 has a length of 48 inches, but the width and the hight stay the same,

Now when it comes to ports, both the A3000 and A5000 have an HDMI eARC port that goes connected to your tv and they both come included with an audio cable. Both of these soundbars also have a USB A port so that you can plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it. And they both have their Acoustic Center Sync audio jack.

But one big difference between the Sony A3000 and the A5000 is that the A5000 has an HDMI In port, so you can always plug in your playstation or Blu-ray player directly into the soundbar itself.

Now when it comes to wireless connectivity, both of these soundbars can be connected to wifi, and they both have Airplay and chromecast support, so whether you’re an iPhone or an android user, as long as youre connected to the same wifi network as these soundbars you’ll be able to stream to them… but they also still have bluetooth, so you dont need wifi to stream music to these soundbars.

Now both of these soundbars come included with the same remote, and personally I do feel these remotes are a little busy and they aren’t as sleek as the new remote the comes included with the new Sony S2000… but I do prefer to use the A3000’s and A5000’s remotes cause I feel that their app is a little clunky. But since these are sony soundbars… if you use them with s sony tv, your menu setting will show up directly on the TV itself, so you’re not even going to need to use their app or their separate remote.

But with all of that being said, lets talk about sound. When its comes to speaker set up, the A3000 has 3 frontward firing speakers and it has dual frontward firing subwoofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides. But then there’s the A5000, now the A5000 also has dual frontward firing subwoofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides. And it also has 3 frontward firing speakers. But the A5000 also has a pair of upwards firing speakers, which gives this soundbar true dolby atmos support and it also has a pair of tweeters that shoot out the sides. But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest, both of these soundbars are playing at 75% volume, and they are both using Acoustic Center Sync, so the built in speakers in the Sony Bravia X90L will be playing in conjunction with both soundbars. But we’re also going to be using the built in speakers in the X90L by themselves and they’re going to be playing at max volume.

So like you may have just heard, obviously a sound bar is just going to sound better than your TV’s built in speakers. Your TV most likely just has a pair of drivers that shoot sound downwards, they don’t get all that loud and when the bass really gets going they’re just going to be a distorted mess.

Now the speakers on the Sony X90L’s get decently loud and distortion isn’t a problem for them like with some more affordable TV’s… but with the Sony X90L you’re still going to want to upgrade to a sound bar if you want to truly enjoy your movies.

Now first when it comes to max volume performance, the A3000 is going to be able to easily fill a small or medium sized living room with sound… and its also going to do an okay job of filling a larger living room with sound. But with the A5000, it is going to get louder and it is going to do a better job a filling a larger living room with sound. So obviously, the larger the speaker here, and the more drivers that you have, the louder its going to get.

Now sound signature wise, both of Sony’s soundbars have a warmer sound signature to them, and as a result, they have a lot of bass. And the bass on both of these soundbars… dont expect them to rattle the walls in your house, but you are going to be able to feel what’s happening on the screen, and the bass on Sony’s soundbars resonates deeper and smoother than the bass that you’ll find on other soundbars out there.

But the thing about both of these soundbars, they both have a warmer sound signature to them… and at higher volumes, they sound very immersive… but at lower volumes, since they both have that warmer sound signature, it can be a little harder to hear dialog with them. Now they both have a voice mode, which is going to increase the mids and treble on these soundbars, but still sometimes it can be a little difficult other dialog at lower volumes, but at higher volumes both of these soundbars sound great.

But the main performance difference between the A3000 and A5000 is going to be the instrument separation and the highs on this soundbar. Since the A5000 has those upwards firing drivers, with does sound more open, it has a sense of verticality, and it also have true dolby atoms support.

But also, since the A5000 has those additional tweeters, the highs are a little crisper.

So with all of that being said, if you are trying to pick out a sound bar for your sony tv, then the best option will be to go with a sony soundbar that has support for acoustic center sync, if your sony tv also has support for acoutstic center sync, cause this way your tv’s built in speakers will work in conjunction with your soundbar. But also, you can use either of these two sony soundbars with a none sony tv, and they are both great options if you want something with a lot of bass, without the need of an external subwoofer.

Now if youre trying to choose between the A3000 and A5000, with the A5000 you are going to get more volume, youre going to get better instrument separation cause of the additional upward firing drivers plus tweeters, and the highs are going to be crisper. And with the A5000, you’re also going to get that additional HDMI In port which is great if you have a playstation or a blue ray player. But still, the A3000 is still a good choice if you need something a little smaller, cause I know the A5000 is pretty big, or if you need something a little more afroable.