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Zhang Xinglong https://www.sony.com.sg/electronics/sound-bars/ht-a9 Seems so new no one has this yet... seems so promising.... everything i ever wanted Wireless... with support for all the latest formats all in one AUTO calibrated... No need to buy an AVR and mess with so many settings No ugly center bar But unknown sattalite size... i would prefer at least a 4" 3,041 - 3,060 of 10,493 Posts 1 153 of 525

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family_guy

· Registered Joined Nov 11, 2015 · 641 Posts

sdg4vfx said: Not sure what you're referring to? The final review posted today gives the A9 a "Surround 5.1" score of 7.0 - not 5.0. Only four soundbar systems have scored higher. (Maybe the 5.0 score you're referring to is from the "early access" review from a few days ago? As mentioned before "early access" measurements are often adjusted for the final review.) Two notable scores for the A9 are: Stereo Soundstage - 9.0 Height (Atmos) - 6.8 These are the highest scores ever given by rtngs.com. The only scores that weren't great were for "sound quality". But there are two caveats ...

• This review didn't include the sub.
• The "sound quality" measurements are the part of the reviews I lend the least weight to - with the exception of some less subjective measurements like stereo crosstalk, surround and height volume balance, etc.

Click to expand...

They just updated the score. It was 5.0 when I checked it earlier today.

Hawks4theWin

· Registered Joined Oct 6, 2021 · 23 Posts They definitely are updating things. I just refreshed a browser that I had it opened on. Overall went from 7.2 to 7.3 C

CrazedBadger

· Registered Joined Oct 4, 2021 · 93 Posts Re: the RTINGS review, what are their standards for "loud"? I have a very large and open room and at volume levels of 45-50 it's hardly bearable to me since it's a bordering on too loud. Other content starts to hurt my ears at even lower volumes (YouTube, for example). Not loud enough for whales, maybe? A9 aside, I can't say I've ever had a sound system that couldn't get loud enough. I find that by the time distortion is remotely noticeable, they are way beyond any level I'd actually listen at. Also somewhat perplexed by their center findings as the phantom center channel on this (and my old two-channel setup) was better than my experience with the Sonos Arc sound bar center, which I found overly particular/directional if you're not sitting smack in the center. That's at least the case if you have a 3+ person couch seating arrangement rather than a single chair, I would say. Wild that some of the YouTube reviews can have such different conclusions, also with the A7000 sound bar which some totally panned but RTINGS rates as...superior to the A9. To be fair it's likely that their test setup was designed around sound bars and perhaps doesn't translate well when there is no centralized speaker location. P

posterus

· Registered Joined Dec 26, 2010 · 68 Posts According to Rtings all of these soundbars outperform the A9:

• Sony HT-A7000
• Sonos Arc
• Samsung HW-Q950A
• Bose Smart Soundbar 900

That's surprising to hear. Even my previous soundbar, the JBL Bar 9.1 scored better. Curious how the A9 will score will with the sub. Don't get me wrong, the JBL was nice but it's nowhere near as good as the A9. Given the price difference, I suppose that should be the case haha. 9

9483908

· Guest Joined Dec 6, 2019 · 989 Posts

kobeSg24 said: Wow, From the reviews the A7000, Sonos Arc, and the Bose 900 all beat it. Having all 3 I can definitely say the Bose 900 had the least wow factor which is why the Bose 900 is in the bedroom, Sonos Arc full System living room, A9 in Media room. I would say it's close from the Sonos Arc and the A9 Click to expand...

Hmmm..seems my ears are working just fine.... S

Smiller4128

· Registered Joined Jul 31, 2013 · 391 Posts

thelwebb100 said: The Ones and the Sonos Gen 3 sub are great, the Sonos Arc itself is average at best and the weakest link in the package. With the Sonos 5.1 setup the biggest cons for me are soundstage and dialogue and the A9 is much better for those. Click to expand...

See, I REALLY believe you....I STILL think I'm doing something wrong here. It doesn't make sense that everyone says the Sony HT-A9 sounds better than Sonos Arc, except it's backwards to me...I still think I'm missing a setting somewhere...

sdg4vfx

· Registered Joined Sep 6, 2008 · 4,082 Posts

Hawks4theWin said: They definitely are updating things. I just refreshed a browser that I had it opened on. Overall went from 7.2 to 7.3 Click to expand...

Surround score went up again from 7.0 to 7.1 ...

sdg4vfx

· Registered Joined Sep 6, 2008 · 4,082 Posts

posterus said: According to Rtings all of these soundbars outperform the A9:

• Sony HT-A7000
• Sonos Arc
• Samsung HW-Q950A
• Bose Smart Soundbar 900

That's surprising to hear. Even my previous soundbar, the JBL Bar 9.1 scored better. Curious how the A9 will score will with the sub. Don't get me wrong, the JBL was nice but it's nowhere near as good as the A9. Given the price difference, I suppose that should be the case haha. View attachment 3188065 Click to expand...

Probably apples to oranges to compare the current A9 stand-alone review to the other soundbars. Looking forward to seeing the review of the A9 with the sub. R

reddavid

· Registered Joined Nov 16, 2000 · 251 Posts Sony Sub SW5 just arrived. That def takes it to a new level! Now the rumble is there along with a great soundstage! Takes it to a 7 or 8! It’ll never be a huge Home Theater. But for a small room you can’t beat the ease of setup and fantastic performance! IMHO R

Reginaldvs

· Registered Joined Dec 11, 2019 · 33 Posts

Hawks4theWin said: The sub definitely makes the system better. Has anyone used the Samsung HW-Q950A soundbar? That is their top dog. Curious to hear someone compare that with the A9. Click to expand...

I had the Q950A and returned it for the HT-A9. The HT-A9 is definitely better, but I wouldn't say miles ahead. The Q950A is a GREAT soundbar especially since it's just a bar with 2 rear speakers and a sub. Speaking of sub, I take back what I said about the SW5 being weak. I tried playing some hip hop and RnB and my God, at max bass level, it rattles my house at volume 30 lol. So I guess it really just depends on the content.. The SW5 is more than capable. R

reddavid

· Registered Joined Nov 16, 2000 · 251 Posts Now, if they could just fix the Dropouts!!!? Come on Sony. It’s a wireless system. Play nice. K

Ken Ross

· Registered Joined Nov 19, 2000 · 33,999 Posts

thelwebb100 said: As someone who owns the Sonos Arc and surrounds and the A9 with the sub sw5, the A9 is better. The soundstage in the A9 alone is much better than the Arc. Click to expand...

In fact I sold my Sonos Arc after many A/Bs with the A9. I had the Sonos sub & surrounds and I found the A9 superior. I also had the 7000 and again found the A9 much better (don’t ask how many systems I’ve been through ). The soundstage is just so much better. IMO, with the A9’s excellent phantom center, the 7000’s dedicated center channel advantage all but disappears. I also don’t understand the Rtings comment that it doesn’t get loud. I can drive anyone out of the house, the A9 can get that loud. IMO, the biggest challenger to the A9 is the Q950. Yup, had that one too. I wound up just returning the Q950 after countless A/Bs with the A9. My biggest issue with the A9 had been a tinny, hollowness from Directv which the Q950 didn’t have. However I finally ‘solved‘ that by switching the Directv box’s output from DD 5.1 and Dolby Atmos to PCM. True, that results in only a stereo output to the A9, but my more critical sources, my ATV 4K and my Panasonic UHD BluRay player, both sound superb. The Directv source now sounds much better, even though now not a true 5.1 output. I believe this is a software issue with the A9 and I’ve alerted Sony to this. Hopefully this is addressed in a future firmware update, though I’m not hopeful. In the end I find the results from the A9 to be, overall, superior to any of the systems I’ve mentioned. As I said above, I think the Q950 is the closest competitor. C

CrazedBadger

· Registered Joined Oct 4, 2021 · 93 Posts

Ken Ross said: In fact I sold my Sonos Arc after many A/Bs with the A9. I had the Sonos sub & surrounds and I found the A9 superior. I also had the 7000 and again found the A9 much better (don’t ask how many systems I’ve been through ). The soundstage is just so much better. IMO, with the A9’s excellent phantom center, the 7000’s dedicated center channel advantage all but disappears. I also don’t understand the Rtings comment that it doesn’t get loud. I can drive anyone out of the house, the A9 can get that loud. IMO, the biggest challenger to the A9 is the Q950. Yup, had that one too. I wound up just returning the Q950 after countless A/Bs with the A9. My biggest issue with the A9 had been a tinny, hollowness from Directv which the Q950 didn’t have. However I finally ‘solved‘ that by switching the Directv box’s output from DD 5.1 and Dolby Atmos to PCM. True, that results in only a stereo output to the A9, but my more critical sources, my ATV 4K and my Panasonic UHD BluRay player, both sound superb. The Directv source now sounds much better, even though now not a true 5.1 output. I believe this is a software issue with the A9 and I’ve alerted Sony to this. Hopefully this is addressed in a future firmware update, though I’m not hopeful. In the end I find the results from the A9 to be, overall, superior to any of the systems I’ve mentioned. As I said above, I think the Q950 is the closest competitor. Click to expand...

Not sure if it was you but someone posted a comment on RTINGS under their review with similar sentiments. Thanks for sharing your experience with some of those alternatives, definitely valuable to have. S

SloPoke23

· Registered Joined Feb 17, 2006 · 88 Posts

Warren Taylor said: Yes Amazon music works well. You have to set it up using the Sony app and Alexa. With the recent update to Amazon HD you get 360 audio as well as atmos tracks too. Click to expand...

Well mine is set up, shows up in the Music Center, shows up in Alexa, and I did get it to play some Atmos and 360 Music from Amazon Music, but I can't figure out how play a specific album or song from my library to it any more. It seems it's stuck playing what I first played and I can't change it. I tried a voice command from Amazon Music: 'Play <some album> on HTA9' and it just tells me it can't find any video skill to do that. Any other album I select to play just plays on my phone app and there doesn't seem to be any way to cast it to the HTA9. Duh, never mind, I figured it out. Apparently I have set up the HTA9 as a speaker in my group 'TV Room', so I have to say 'Play <whatever> on TV Room'.

wangdiddy82

· Registered Joined Jun 27, 2016 · 192 Posts

Ken Ross said: In fact I sold my Sonos Arc after many A/Bs with the A9. I had the Sonos sub & surrounds and I found the A9 superior. I also had the 7000 and again found the A9 much better (don’t ask how many systems I’ve been through ). The soundstage is just so much better. IMO, with the A9’s excellent phantom center, the 7000’s dedicated center channel advantage all but disappears. I also don’t understand the Rtings comment that it doesn’t get loud. I can drive anyone out of the house, the A9 can get that loud. IMO, the biggest challenger to the A9 is the Q950. Yup, had that one too. I wound up just returning the Q950 after countless A/Bs with the A9. My biggest issue with the A9 had been a tinny, hollowness from Directv which the Q950 didn’t have. However I finally ‘solved‘ that by switching the Directv box’s output from DD 5.1 and Dolby Atmos to PCM. True, that results in only a stereo output to the A9, but my more critical sources, my ATV 4K and my Panasonic UHD BluRay player, both sound superb. The Directv source now sounds much better, even though now not a true 5.1 output. I believe this is a software issue with the A9 and I’ve alerted Sony to this. Hopefully this is addressed in a future firmware update, though I’m not hopeful. In the end I find the results from the A9 to be, overall, superior to any of the systems I’ve mentioned. As I said above, I think the Q950 is the closest competitor. Click to expand...

Has anyone compared this to the bose lifestyle 650 system with two subs. I just tried to order the a9 from best buy to test it out but all sold out. My current set up is the lifestyle 650 with two subs. I want to test the A9 and see if I need to move the bose into the bedroom. Just cant get my hands on it, haha. P

posterus

· Registered Joined Dec 26, 2010 · 68 Posts

SloPoke23 said: Well mine is set up, shows up in the Music Center, shows up in Alexa, and I did get it to play some Atmos and 360 Music from Amazon Music, but I can't figure out how play a specific album or song from my library to it any more. It seems it's stuck playing what I first played and I can't change it. I tried a voice command from Amazon Music: 'Play <some album> on HTA9' and it just tells me it can't find any video skill to do that. Any other album I select to play just plays on my phone app and there doesn't seem to be any way to cast it to the HTA9. Click to expand...

Do you see an Atmos/360 badge on your TV when playing from Amazon Music? S

SloPoke23

· Registered Joined Feb 17, 2006 · 88 Posts

posterus said: Do you see an Atmos/360 badge on your TV when playing from Amazon Music? Click to expand...

I did see the 360 Spatial Audio icon once and I'm trying to get an Atmos track to play on the HTA9, but the whole Alexa/Amazon Music/Music Center is maddeningly frustrating. It seems it only works through voice controls? There is no cast button in Amazon Music to force whatever you picked from your library to play on the HTA9? And the voice controls either ignore my command to play on the group the HTA9 is in, or tell me that something else is playing, or just play on my phone, or cast the tracks to the HTA9 without 360 or Atmos. I'm still trying to figure out how to just pick an album from my library in Amazon Music and just play it on the HTA9. It should not be this difficult. J

Jarrett Wu

· Registered Joined Jun 5, 2017 · 35 Posts Does anyone here have their Mac mini setup to A9 and eARC to tv? Assuming the Mac mini can't output Dolby Atmos, which I highly doubt. When I click display im just getting LPCM 7.1 48kHz - I change the settings in in audio MIDI to 8ch 24-bit integer. It sounds good, but not Dolby Atmos tho. D

DontPeek

· Registered Joined Sep 1, 2018 · 66 Posts I have a 14.5' x 9.5' space with the couch and TV up against the long walls. So only about an 8' viewing distance. Would the HT-A9 be suitable for a small space like this? I was reading this review and it says at the end that it's not practical for small living rooms. S

SloPoke23

· Registered Joined Feb 17, 2006 · 88 Posts

SloPoke23 said: I did see the 360 Spatial Audio icon once and I'm trying to get an Atmos track to play on the HTA9, but the whole Alexa/Amazon Music/Music Center is maddeningly frustrating. It seems it only works through voice controls? There is no cast button in Amazon Music to force whatever you picked from your library to play on the HTA9? And the voice controls either ignore my command to play on the group the HTA9 is in, or tell me that something else is playing, or just play on my phone, or cast the tracks to the HTA9 without 360 or Atmos. I'm still trying to figure out how to just pick an album from my library in Amazon Music and just play it on the HTA9. It should not be this difficult. Click to expand...

Finally got it to play a Dolby Atmos track. No, no Atmos icon shows up. It sounds like Atmos, but you can turn off the Immersive AE on the remote, which is something you can't do with the 360 Reality Audio tracks, which do show an icon. 3,041 - 3,060 of 10,493 Posts 1 153 of 525

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