Sony - ULT TOWER 7 Wireless Party Speaker with XLR/RCA Inputs - Black

50 pounds of heart thumping sound.... Wow.... Sony has been developing these speakers and they keep delivering. I have an ULT Field and this ULT Tower just ups that anty. Rear plug ins allow for Mic, mic in (multi 3 pin XLR type of plug, standard mic jack, RCA LR jacks, USB a and USB c. This will not take a guitar. Also it will not connect to any older ULT type of speakers. I tried and looked up if it was compatible but they do not connect to each other for party type of connections. No connection for guitar so be aware of that. I did not want to try and plug in my guitar to the mic as it might blow out the speaker due to imbalance in gain. So connecting via Bluetooth is fine with phone and PC. I pulled up my DJ software and it did just fine ... Bluetooth didn't set to have lag. If you want to eliminate lag do direct hardwire plug in. Bass is super deep with the ULT button. Also just the shear volume is huge.... You can probably go deaf if you run this this long and loud enough. Also another good thing is that this can be operated by battery. So you don't need to keep it plugged in. The 50 pounds is heavy .... When it arrived at my front door I had to shlep it into the house and follow the directions to get it out of the box. So be aware of the size of the speaker that you buy. Good thing is it has wheels to roll around. Just be careful as I almost dropped it a few times getting it over bumps and stuff. Lights are a great plus. Also the Sony connect app is easy to use. Lots of features and options to pick from. Overall great party speaker. Super loud. Super portable. Lots of connection options.

BOTTOM LINE: The ULT Tower-7 (SRSULT700) is a beast that wants to be unleashed to realize its fullest potential. Meaning, this system was designed to be played loud “pushing air” in large rooms or outdoors to truly appreciate the vast soundstage that can be projected. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds excellent at lower dB levels, but this may not be the system for your everyday casual background music listening. Sony makes appropriately sized portable speakers (example: ULT Field 5 or 7) that fill that niche. And because this is quite large, you need the space to accommodate its significant footprint. Finally, recognize the TOWER-7 appears to be primarily designed, and is sonically capable, with replacing a DJ’s individual component sound system, especially when used in pairs and coupled with a high-end DJ Mixer. RATING: After using in both home and outdoor environments daily for the past week with all of the source inputs, I believe the Sony ULT TOWER 7 Party Speaker earned itself a solid 5-Star Rating. And it absolutely earned a top “Party Speaker” designation that will give competitors a run for their money. TL;DR BACKGROUND: I have been an audiophile since my first entry level stereo system my dad gave me in 1964 so I would lay off his Scott 340 Stereomaster. Over the years I have been through numerous stereo system brands, BT systems, sound-bars, coupled with my electric guitars and amplifiers obsession. Having the opportunity to demo and review this new Sony ULT TOWER 7 Party Speaker was an immediate “Yeah”. SETUP: My initial depressing of the top power button began the voice alert stating the battery was at 20% and required charging. No problem, just plugged in the power cord and we are off to the races. Second button I pressed was the BT to pair with my Pixel-10 phone that connected quickly. I was then able to demo streaming music from my Sirius XM account. ULT MODES: The 4 modes are available by depressing the ULT knob that will cycle through the APP assignable modes, while rotating will control the volume. Note that this system is mega-bass focused with 2 ULT options taking the low end to beyond the imagination. The Flat & Live modes produce a reduced punch, but they still get the job done and are more attuned to producing traditional EQ results. APP: Here is where the magic happens. You can configure each of the 4 modes with a 10-band EQ to your personal requirements. Very Sweet! If there was only one APP feature, this is the one for me. But leave it to Sony to include features for advanced lighting options, karaoke add-in sounds, remote on/off with AC power, dual BT pairing, MIC with echo, and input source selections. Overall, this is one of the better designed full feature applications. What I could not locate is a way to update the firmware that might only be upgradeable by way of the USB port and downloading code the from Sony website. SOUNDSTAGE: As previously mentioned, this system sounds excellent with the ability to fine tune to your preferences with the APP Equalizer. Mounting the two mid-range drivers forward facing is my preference. (I have a competitor’s system with side facing mid-range speakers that is bass & treble focused lacking mids that I never bonded with.) The large bass driver is bottom ported and will thump the floor not only hearing bass but also feeling bass. I am so impressed, that I am considering a 2nd unit and run in true stereo 8 feet apart. MIXER: There are sufficient inputs allowing most all party situations from the included sources. Note that selecting a source other than BT will not allow both BT and the other source simultaneously. You can use the MIC input with BT and any other source. I really feel this system is designed for a DJ in mind who would be pairing with a mixing control unit with dual Tower-7’s. BUSKING: Because there is only one MIC input you cannot use this system for street busking accompanying yourself with a guitar without additional hardware. Using an acoustic guitar with built in preamp, the MIC input sort-of works and can accompany BT streaming. Electric guitars will require pre-amplification and technically should not be used in the MIC input due to EQ and impedance mismatches. I was able to use a Line-6 POD output driving both RCA inputs with a microphone plugged into the MIC input. That works, but again, additional hardware is required. This design tells me this system is Party & DJ focused and not performing musician focused. To be fair, the Sony website does not state this system will directly support an “instrument”. Although the Best Buy Features currently mentions “instrument” that could in error. LIGHTING: OK, I will admit, I am not a “party light” enthusiast. But this system’s lighting does capture my attention and I have been using this feature more than I expected. Note the APP has options to sedate or accentuate the overall LED effects. BUILD: At 50 pounds, handles are required. Four handles located on each corner along with the top rear built in handle. The two rear wheels will assist moving on hard flat surfaces, but tend to drag on even short nap carpets. The hard plastic (20% recycled) enclosure appears to be road worthy as long as it is not dropped. Lastly, the top phone slot is a nice touch worth mentioning. UNBOXING: The only negative encounter was with the shipping box, or should I say the courier. This is one heavy speaker weighing in at 50 pounds. Picking up at a local store would be acceptable in the original packaging. But when being shipped to your location, reality is it should have been doubled boxed. Reason being, the unit I received had both physical puncture damage to the original box with damage to internal Styrofoam blocks. After removing the unit from its box and packaging materials, the only damage found was the rear battery compartment cover had broken free from its top mounting taps. I was able to resolve by removing the single cover screw, realigning the cover top locking taps and verifying the rubber seal was seated properly conforming to the IPX4 water protection rating.

Not just wow, but literally makes me love music even more and has me searching for more occasions and opportunities to listen to music with it. More than one wow too, although the other wow came in the form of, 'wow is this thing heavy!'. It's easy to see why though. You're not going to get the type of sound that this ULT Tower is capable of in something that's lightweight. When I first unboxed this speaker, I noticed the card that said there's a demo that it can play by just holding the ULT button down for a couple seconds. Usually I wait to fully charge my electronics before ever hitting the power button, but in this case, I couldn't resist, especially since I didn't need to set anything up or even connect my phone. That's when the WOW came. I was immediately blown away by the sound., and with that first impression, it was time to let it fully charge and play some music from my own playlists. So I connected my phone via bluetooth, which was easy with no issues at all, and tried some of the available settings built in to the speaker. First, the reason for the initial wow wasn't just from the deep bass that I could feel in my chest (which I absolutely LOVE), but also from how clear the sound comes through. It may be one tower, but with multiple speakers inside, it produces crisp sound without any flaws that allow you to pick apart all the little details in your favorite songs. That's with the preset EQ settings also, which you can go through by just pressing the ULT button. Speaking of the ULT button (with dial), I was worried at first that it might stick out too much or get in the way somehow, but I'm happy to say that it doesn't. As far as controlling the volume, this is the best way to do it. It's not only easy, but the way Sony integrated the lighting to show the volume level is ingenious. It's a simple thing that I haven't seen in other party speakers that I've had, so there's no guessing what level you're at. It's not all perfect though, my one complaint, or nitpick really, with the ULT button is that when going between eq modes, it only plays a quick DJ 'scratch' sound between modes, with a different number of scratches for each mode. They happen so quick though it's easy to miss and they don't really specify the mode in a way that makes sense. That takes me to the Sony Sound Connect App. Although not necessary, it's useful to get. That ULT button mode rotation I just talked about? You can set which modes you want available in the app. So if you only like 2 of the modes and don't care for the rest, you can take those out of rotation. Most importantly though, the app lets you fine tune the eq to whatever suits your taste. You also get better control of the lighting, and let's be honest, this is a party speaker, that you will probably use at parties, and the last thing you'll want to do is mess around with things like lighting and eq modes directly on the speaker while it's blaring out music! Going back to the tower itself, it has some other nice features built in. Besides basic controls, with the various available inputs, it allows you to select the source so that you can have more than one thing connected at a time. There's also some basic controls for Karaoke since you can't have a true party speaker without letting people sing their hearts out! Besides functionality, there's practicality built in to the unit. As heavy as it is, Sony did a pretty good job adding things to help with that. There's wheels for it to roll on, along with a hand grip meant for you to be able to grab onto it while rolling. If you don't want to roll it, or are moving it where there isn't a good surface to roll on, they built in what are basically dumbbell handles with one on all four corners. This style handle makes it not only feel tough, but also makes it more comfortable lifting it up, whether by yourself or with someone. My only complaint however, and again, this is more of a nitpick, is that it would have been nice to have some sort of extendable handle when using the wheels. As tall as I am, I have to hunch down to use the hand grip to roll it, which makes it a bit uncomfortable. I do have one last nitpick, which is a common one I have for a lot of speakers and things like this, I wish they added a spot to store the power cord. On a positive note, the battery lasts a pretty long time. I used this speaker for a lot longer than any other speaker I've had and it still had plenty of battery life left. If you're looking for a party speaker that can easily fill a room without getting crazy in size and price, this ULT 7 is the way to go. In my case, this is now my primary speaker that I use at home. Even when I don't need to a fill a huge room, or don't need the thumping bass, this still puts out such great quality sound that nothing else I have really compares. The few little nitpicks I mentioned are the only negative things I could find, and even then it was a stretch.

I am utterly impressed with this speaker. It is truly one of the most versatile speakers I have ever reviewed, with more capability than I think 99% of users will ever need to make full use of! It checks the obvious box by offering simple, straightforward Bluetooth connectivity right out of the box. I was able to connect my phone to the speaker via Bluetooth, and right away I could enjoy my tunes without any hiccups! For more advanced users, it has Microphone/Guitar inputs (1/4” jack), XLR inputs, RCA Audio Input for mixers and CD players etc., and USB-A and USB-C ports for charging devices and or hooking up media storage devices like flash drives! However you intend to deliver audio from this speaker, it will let you do so! The sound of this ULT Tower 7 speaker is phenomenal. One of the highest compliments I can give it is that it succeeds at being good for both low-volume and, of course, high-volume listening! I enjoy it not being an overwhelming source of audio and music when my wife and I are just spending a quiet evening in our living room after our daughter has gone to bed, listening to some music on rather low volume. When it comes time to turn up the volume, WOW, just wow. It makes our $2000 surround sound soundbar, bass, and rear speakers sound dull in our living room! I am in awe of how much range and quality Sony was able to get from this speaker through its design. At loud volumes on the ULT 1 setting (which emphasizes deep bass), we are able to get some impressive low frequencies captured on classic dubstep songs like Bangarang by Skrillex and Sirah as well as First of the Year (Equinox). On the FLAT preset which we can swap to simply by pressing the ULT button on the front, we are able to get a more level listening experience that is better suited to our quiet evening music sessions. Between the 4 Presets in this speaker that you can get to in the Sony Connect App or manually on the speaker itself by scrolling through the ULT button changes, you can really complement almost any audio experience you would want to use a speaker like this for. I should mention that the Sony Connect App lets you customize tons of features, including whether you want to remove one of the ULT button settings or have all 4 going! At 50 pounds and more than a couple of feet tall, this speaker is no lightweight. It has some built-in handles and wheels, but I would have really liked to see an extendable luggage-style handle, as some portable speakers in this size range offer. There just isn’t a really easy way to grip this when you are rolling along, even on flat terrain. Truly not a big deal but just don’t expect to wheel this down to the edge of a lake or something on a dirt path with ease. As for portability, the battery life of this speaker is impressive, and there are even features in the Connect App to help you do things like trigger STAMINA mode, which tames down the sound effects and lighting settings to extend your battery life further. Additionally, there is a battery care option that I think is a great add that allows you to reduce the maximum charge that this allowed to charge to (similar to what many phones and tablets now have) which may allow the portable battery on this speaker to have a greater lifespan overall if you are planning on vacillating between keeping it plugged in a lot versus unplugged for more portable use away from wall outlets. One random little gripe I have, speaking of charging this speaker, is the power cord. I really wish they could have made the charging port just a little larger and utilized a more standard barrel plug charger that tends to be pretty standard in the industry for numerous devices from gaming consoles to PC power supplies. I have tons of these cords around my house and having to keep track of this more specific and less popular cord from Sony seems like a bit of a miss to me. Overall, this speaker is a phenomenal electronic accessory. It is hard to convey just how powerful and room-filling (if not yard-filling) the audio this speaker can deliver. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy this and would even one day consider two of them, since these Sony speakers have the easy Party Chain feature that allows you to have them hook up for synchronized audio across multiple devices! Altogether, this is a 5/5 star speaker!

I have been using the Sony ULT Tower 7 Speaker for a few days, and this speaker truly rocks. Setup was extremely easy. I plugged it into the wall to charge, downloaded the Sony Sound Connect app, connected it to my device, and I was ready to go. The sound is powerful and clear, fills a large space, and the bass has impressive depth that I can genuinely feel. The Sound Connect app is one of my favorite features because it gives me extensive control directly from my phone. I can customize the 10-band equalizer, adjust the lighting effects, manage Party Chain, control karaoke features, and fine-tune the overall listening experience. I also like having multiple sound modes. ULT1 delivers deep bass, ULT2 provides a punchier bass response, FLAT offers a balanced sound, and LIVE creates a more immersive, concert-like experience. The 360-degree sound performance is excellent. The combination of a large woofer, mid-range speakers, and front and rear tweeters distributes sound throughout the room, making this speaker ideal for parties and larger gatherings. The synchronized party lighting adds another dimension to the experience, especially when entertaining. Connecting a microphone was also incredibly simple, and the microphone sound quality is excellent. The wide selection of connections makes the ULT Tower 7 extremely versatile. It includes XLR, RCA, USB Type-C, microphone and guitar inputs, making it suitable for karaoke, live instruments, DJ equipment, computers, and other audio sources. Despite its size and power, Sony has also made portability practical. The four integrated carrying handles and upgraded rear wheels make moving the speaker considerably easier. Its IPX4 water resistance also provides added confidence when using it for outdoor gatherings. Battery life is another major advantage, offering up to 30 hours of playback. I also appreciate the fast-charging capability, which can provide up to three hours of playback from only a 10-minute charge. Overall, the Sony ULT Tower 7 is an outstanding speaker that combines powerful bass, room-filling sound, excellent connectivity, extensive app-based customization, portability, and impressive battery life. Whether I am listening to music, hosting a party, using a microphone for karaoke, or connecting additional equipment, it delivers a powerful and highly enjoyable experience. I am very impressed with it and would definitely recommend it.