$2,690 Full set FREE Shipping, or $1,999 without the Subwoffer.
The HT-A9 is pricey but offers great wireless Dolby Atmos / DTS-X sound system better than most soudbars.
What do you guys think about the price?
Sony HT-A9 Speaker + SA-SW5 Subwoofer - $2,690 Delivered @ Sight and Sound Galleria
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calvin3663 on 25/01/2024 - 22:58 sightandsoundgalleria.com.au (303 clicks)
Last edited 26/01/2024 - 12:16 by 1 other user
Last edited 26/01/2024 - 12:16 by 1 other user
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A plus from me for posting so late.
Its definitely up there in price. And way out of my budget.heh heh.
It'll be a good comparison with the ambeo Max.Ambeo Plus and Max can't give you 360 sound effect.
They are lacking back speakers.Perhaps Sonos Arc + Era 300 + Sub can challenge this system.
It would be great if we could just change the main unit and reuse the speakers and subwoofer, and the new box allows adding more speakers and subwoofer for even greater sound effect.
At that point just get a real system.
For instance buying a Sony AN1000 receiver and then going wired/wireless with 360 audio would destroy any sound bar or this.
Home theatre speaker system has too much cabling to worry about.
The future is about flexible wireless speaker systems with auto callibration and A.I. enabled sound processing.This isn't wireless. Completely false advertising. It requires all speakers to be individually plugged into a powerpoint. So yes definitely worth buying a a receiver and proper speakers for that ridiculous price… The power cords are also around 5 feet, so if you dont have a point nearby good luck and you'll need even more cabling than a receiver. Atmos and DTS-X on this, is like a soundbar that uses reflective waves. Because speakers are not tall, its lucky if you even get anything to sound like its from above you. You're being sold an inbetween setup for a top tier price.
This requires a power point for each speaker, cabling wise that makes it even worse
No amount of auto calibration or A.I is going to make it sound better than what $500 can get you off Gumtree
@cille745: This is what happens when people believe marketing hype lol.
Maybe a lot dont understand that theres no such thing as a true wireless speaker. Its either connected by speaker wire to the receiver, a speaker connected directly to the power point or a Bluetooth type speaker which needs to be constantly recharged or it will stop. For a home cinema - wires are a certainty, no matter what type it is.@Whisper Quiet: I’m pretty sure people understand what it means by wireless.
Being able to plug speakers into individual power points would definitely be beneficial over having to run speaker cables around the living room. Not everybody has a dedicated theatre with in-wall speaker wiring.
I have a dedicated amp and home theatre speakers, but I still understand the benefits that this Sony system offers. It’s way too expensive, but I still see the benefits.
I have tried various bookshelf speaker combos and soundbars, and if you don’t care about stereo separation, then you can get a decent sounding soundbar/sub for $400-$500 second-hand.
Home theatre set up will need amplifier, sub, 2 front speakers, centre speaker.
Just finding a decent amplifier which has 4k60 hdmi will cost $300-$400. Sub will be minimum $150 for anything decent. 2 front speakers $250. Centre $150.
So instead of a $400 soundbar which is neat with no cabling, you’ve spent $900 instead on bulky separate components.
There are pros and cons to both options.
@username1: I think you give people too much credit in saying they will understand there is no such thing as wireless lol. I dont make that assumption at all!
The amount of people that would have powerpoints at all corners of the living room is very slim. So you have a similar issue to a receiver setup. I run my speaker wires along the skirting boards. Have plastic covers that attach to the wall, to hide them. People who come round cant even tell its there. A friend bought this Sony setup and had to get extension cords because the cords are so short (plugs are too big to hide or cover, so its worse). For this insane price you get an average setup. You can get a seriously powerful system for $2700 and have minimal work to hide wires, can even hide wires underneath rugs or couches.
Soundbars have nothing to do with it. Just talking about this expensive setup which will still likely require lots of cables, has good sound. VS a proper receiver system which can be bought for cheaper and has amazing sound. There are many ways to hide wires, people are just lazy and accept mediocrity. Sounds like you're defending it and slowly turning into them :)@Whisper Quiet: curious what HT setup you would build given a $2700 budget: can be from used market
It's just prices are ridiculous these days. For this sony system I would consider it if it was like $900 (like how username1 says $900 only gets you an entry level HT setup which I agree) but for $2700 I would absolutely go dedicated HT
@Bacons: Theres Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha receivers for around $7-800 brand new with Dolby Vison, DTS-X, Atmos etc. You can probably find some amazing Dali or Klipsch speakers second hand.
Theres some that come with detachable atmos speakers on the fronts, facing up. Also some good full package speaker deals for around $1K new. Even then could still be left over with many hundreds to spare, compared to the Sony "wireless" setup. Just pay someone to install everything and hide the wires. You still come out saving money instead of this deal.
I have this,. Bought it from US when it was launched. I would recommend it. I am not a audiophile.
owned mine for a year - fit the solution for me that I was after, odd speaker positions and small form factor in a lounge not suited for a good placement - Partner approval for aesthetics gave a big thumbs up.
Steep price to get it but I really like the sound it gives - I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it is.
I did have some wifi issues early on but that seems to have been resolved for me anyway.Would also recommend but needs the sub… Don't bother with the TV for center channel - I've heard it sounds worse.
"When connected with the supplied cable to a BRAVIA TVs, the TV speaker plays the centre channel role in your Home Theatre System"
this is a "home theater system" but if you even do a little bit of research, you'll find that the center channel and subwoofer produce the most value in a HT system.
Here, if you don't have a Bravia TV you won't even have a dedicated center channel and will instead be relying on a phantom center.
Yes it says "Deep, explosive bass" in the marketing but the subwoofer is a 7 inch 300watt sub (I'm assuming peak power) with no frequency response or any sort of SPL rating which are already indicators of a mediocre product.
Pretty underwhelming but at the same time I've never heard these before
Agreed a bit of a weird move from Sony locking it down and removing a bunch of the target market
Ive tried the demo from Sony store Parramatta.
Very emmersive and eveloping sound. Like watching in cinema.The demo speaker system is connected to Sony TV with the central channel coming from the TV speakers.
At least it’s a decent step up from soundbars. Which I think are its audience. Given soundbars rely on phantom left and right channels, and somehow can’t do decent centre channels anyway
how are sound bars phantom left right? afaik most of them have dedicated drivers playing left channel on the left and right channel on the right of the bar.
And whats your source that they cant do decent center channel besides "I said so"? How is a phantom center going to be better than an actual speaker playing sound directly in front of you for a center channel?
Maybe he meant most soundbars have a phantom centre channel? As there's no such thing as a phantom left and right lol.
@Whisper Quiet: Soundbars do not have detached left and right channels. They use vurtualisation to create them. Same as atmos. Atmos soundbars don’t actually have 11 physical speakers placed exactly where atmos specs define. It’s all virtual.
So basic stereo has a crossover where sound can appear to come from around the left and right speakers, but also between them.
A soundbar left and right is actually in front of you. They use walls and sound projection to simulate left and right channels. In essence, a soundbar is a large centre channel. Not only that, but they are typically poor at being a centre channel anyway.
@Bacons: The rear speakers you get with soundbars are further to the left and right than the front left and right speakers! What makes a centre channel is the fact it’s in the centre. What makes a left channel is it being to you from left. What makes rear left is being behind you and left. As the point of it is that sound will come from that direction, and through the magic of basic soundstage, you get everything between the rear left and rear right too, just like basic stereo. But if the front left, front right and centre channel are all in the centre channel position, how do you get physical left and right?? You can’t. Unless the soundbar was say 3.5m-4m wide.
@onlinepred: now if the soundbar has a dedicated drivers for the center channel in the very middle of the soundbar, what makes you say they "somehow can’t do decent centre channels"
@Bacons: Because of their dsp and speaker quality. More often than not they don’t have good tweeters at all, and tweeters have to be directly pointed at your head level, not below the tv, from where the sound is coming from ie. the tv. Why standard Dolby surround spec says front speakers need to be at ear head level and speaker specs say tweeters need to be at ear level as the better tweeters under a few hundred bucks are heavily directional.
@onlinepred: I'm already aware of all that I have SVS Ultra LCR.
why point out specifically center channel is what I'm asking about
@Bacons: Because from the soundbars I have had, none of them do centre channel very well. That’s is all.
@onlinepred: oh wait i just realised you have an issue with all channels on a soundbar in general and not just the center. I read too deep into it..
I mean I understand why people get soundbars, and while I agree the sony will probably be more immersive than a soundbar, I think soundbars still provide a much better sound-to-clutter compromise compared to this sony package though.
For this price, if I had to run power for each speaker in this sony, I might as well run cables for a proper HT setup which I can now afford for $2700
@Bacons: For sure! I have 2 soundbars, I love them for what they are. Look great and minimal, mounts on the wall. I do think you missed the main draws if this device if you would just get a HT system but anyway haha.
@Bacons: You said you wouldn't fall for the bait…. You took it hook, line and sinker lol.
Was there Bacon on the end of the line???
Totally. That's my biggest beef with these soundbars and systems like these. For movies, The centre is absolutely the most important speaker in my opinion, followed by a great sub.
Sonos is great for dialogue and fantastic for music, however purchasing a pricey sub that you can only use with the sonos eco system means you need to go all in.Samsung 990c otoh which is great value for money has an underwhelming sub that only works with the Samsung system and Only a phantom centre.
Can't win either way without spending the $$$
For music, just a great 2.0 stereo and a decent amp will do. These days music for me is just Sonos.
$2,690 seems like a fair amount of coin. Given the Samsung Q990 is around $1K.
I love the product and the idea. But 2.7k is a steep price. Maybe it will be on clearance when the next gen comes out.
Ive been monitoring the price for 1 year. Unlike Samsung and Bose.
This Sony ht-a9 hardly had any great deals..
Been tempted many times but also patiently waiting for the next version for a bigger box with multiple hdmi inputs and better wireless connectivity.