Sony HT-ST5000 review
Sony HT-ST5000 review: Atmospherics with style in a little package
The Negative The Sony sound bar does not support DTS:X. The competing Samsung HW-K950 is $300 less expensive, and it includes dedicated surrounds, making the sound more immersive.
In conclusion The Sony HT-ST5000 Dolby Atmos sound bar is pricey, but it provides outstanding sound quality and reasonable versatility.
The Negative The Sony sound bar does not support DTS:X. The competing Samsung HW-K950 is $300 less expensive, and it includes dedicated surrounds, making the sound more immersive.
In conclusion The Sony HT-ST5000 Dolby Atmos sound bar is pricey, but it provides outstanding sound quality and reasonable versatility.
Yamaha released the world's first Dolby Atmos sound bar eighteen months ago. That amazing device blasted sound effects from all around and above you, with no need for a room full of speakers! Despite its apparent brilliance, the YSP-5600 had flaws: it was just too large and too costly.
Today, Atmos bars are available in a variety of sizes to suit a wide range of wallets, particularly ones overflowing with cash. The Atmos-capable Sony HT-ST5000 is priced similarly to the Yamaha, but it provides sound quality that the Yamaha cannot, thanks in part to the huge subwoofer.
The HT-ST5000 builds on the outstanding, open-sounding HT-NT5, delivering a tight performance with music and movies. It supports 4K resolution and Wi-Fi audio streaming across your home, as well as "Chomecast built-in" and Google Home ($99 at Target) integration. If you can justify the price, it's a pretty elegant bundle.
The Sony HT-ST5000 is available for $1,499 or £1,500, with Australian availability to be confirmed – however it is likely to be approximately AU$3,000.
Exposed tweeters have a distinct appearance.
All sound bars appear similar, but the Sony's installed, coaxial tweeters help raise the speaker beyond the rest of the black rectangles on the market. The 'bar is 46.5 inches broad, so it will look best with TVs measuring 46 to 50 inches. It's 3.25 inches tall, with no IR repeater if it happens to obstruct your remote sensor, and 5.6 inches deep.
The front of the soundbar features five 2.6-inch drivers, three of which have a coaxial soft dome tweeter hung above them. Two more upward-firing drivers are located at the top of the bar. It comes with a metal grille if you want to shield the fairly bare tweeters, however, the grille didn't fit correctly on the sample we received. It's conceivable that it bent during transport.
Meanwhile, the big wireless subwoofer features a 7.13-inch woofer that powers a passive radiator, and the sub, like the 'bar, feels reassuringly heavy.
The onscreen menu is simple, with a list of inputs and a restricted settings menu that includes connections to streaming providers.
The remote is a scaled-down version of the clicker included with the company's televisions. It's vividly colored where it matters and easy to utilize.
Ins, outs, and applications – as well as Dolby Atmos
The Sony HT-ST5000 is a 7.1.2 soundbar with three fronts, two overheads, and simulated surround sound that supports Dolby Atmos. However, DTS:X is not supported. For some reason, none of the "atmospheric" soundbars we've seen thus far support the competing DTS:X technology, so if you have discs encoded in that format, Sony's own STR-DN1080 receiver and a set of compatible speakers are a better choice.
The Sony features three HDMI inputs, one of which supports 4K HDR video. It also has an optical input as well as a 3.5mm analogue port. The system has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for music streaming.
Sony has been a long-time Google collaborator, having introduced the first Google TV in 2010. This speaker also supports Google's amazing "Chromecast built-in" multiroom technology, which makes sense. Spotify, Pandora, Google Music, YouTube, and Tidal are all popular apps. Sony's Music Center app may also be used to stream music at file rates of up to 24-bit/192kHz. One of the advantages of Chromecast is that it may be controlled by the Google Home smart speaker. For example, tell the Home Assistant to "play The Cure on the Sony sound bar," and the HT-ST5000 will begin playing the band from your preferred music provider (which can include Spotify or Google Play Music).
Changing the sound
We were surprised that the Sony HT-ST5000 did not include a calibration microphone or auto setup, given its expensive price. To improve the sound quality, go to the onscreen configuration settings and manually input the distance between the main listening location and the sound bar, as well as the height of your ceiling, before adjusting the speaker volume levels. The routine, on the other hand, is quite simple, and we finished it in a matter of minutes.
What it sounds like
The HT-"Dolby ST5000's Atmos offers astonishing realism with 360-degree surround sound, perfectly placing sound inside your surroundings so that the 7.1.2 speaker channels totally immerse you in sound — even from above," according to the Sony website. We'd never go that far. True 360-degree surround sound would entirely fill your listening space with surround sound, but the HT-ST5000 fell short. It provided a huge soundstage, albeit just over the front wall of our listening area, with outstanding height and depth.
The HT-ST5000 suffered from a lack of independent wireless surround speakers, while the Samsung HW-K950 produced a more immersive, room-filling experience.
When we played "The Revenant" Blu-ray, the HT-clarity ST5000's helped set it out from the other sound bars. The dialogue seemed realistic, and the locations in the 1820s American wilderness had a lot of depth and richness. Because of the HT-uncompromising ST5000's realism, the brutality of the bear assault scenario was extremely horrifying.
Then we played some music, and the HT-ST5000 didn't let us down. Its combination of clarity and substantial bass assistance from the subwoofer appealed to listeners of all musical tastes.
Should you purchase it?
The Sony HT-ST5000 is not cheap, but its modern feature set and outstanding sound quality make it worthwhile. However, as wonderful as the Sony is, at this price point, it's impossible to ignore the existence of the Samsung HW-K950. This competing sound bar is not only less expensive than the Sony, but it also provides superior immersion due to its dedicated up-firing rears.
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