Customer Ratings & Reviews

Purchased for a family member who needed a soundbar

Got a new tv so decided to get the new soundbar. Great choice!

Associates in the store were very helpful and it turned out to be a pretty good selection.

System was fairly easy to install and definitely improved the sound that originally came with just the TV.

This has to be one the best purchases I have ever made! The sound is so crystal clear is unbelievable!!!

Great little speaker system. Very clear vocals. Powerful loud sound without distorting.

This was purchase as an open box item. I was told that all the parts were in the box and nothing was missing. When I got home the remote was missing. This review is for the incorrect labeling on the box only. Sony makes good products so I would still recommend this to buy.

Purchased this as an upgrade to our previous soundbar when we upgraded our TV. Very pleased with the output!

Action scenes are explosively loud and dialogue is low and hard to hear. Tried different settings finding standard to be the best. Great for music. I would buy the 7 channel or 5 channel next and try to separate sounds. Just learning.

Is ok not enough bass is good but not for the price

Rich bass and clear vocals, look good and made tough

This is an awesome sound bar! When watching movies, the sound is as authentic as sitting in a movie theater!

Nothing but problems from day one. Setup was definitely easy, and it looks great, but I'd prefer a product that works consistently. The sound kept cutting out, which required a power down/restart to fix every so often. The sound was clear and filled the room (when it worked), it's only a 2.1, so it doesn't have a dedicated channel for voice, so the speaking parts were sometimes a little muffled during actions scenes. I ended up returning it for a JBL 3.1, and much happier with that product (it was also a little cheaper, but I'd say the sound is equally as good) Don't buy into the fake dolby atmos, a soundbar is not an effective way to achieve that level of immersion.

Good speaker for 2.1 channel easy install crisp sound

This is going to be a serious multi-part review extended via Comments. Sections will be: VERDICT, BACKGROUND, MY ENVIRONMENT, HT-X9000F SETUP, 4K BLURAY HDR/ATMOS EXPERIENCE, YOUTUBE 4K VISION/ATMOS EXPERIENCE, VUDU 4K VISION/ATMOS EXPERIENCE, BROADCAST HDTV EXPERIENCE, MUSIC EXPERIENCE, 4K DTS BLURAY EXPERIENCE and FOOTNOTES. VERDICT 3.5 of 5 *-s 4k HDR/WCG HDCP2.2/HDMI2.0a pass through works. In all cases of lossless BluRay Dolby ATMOS decode/reproduction, the HT-X9000F presented a very rich, detailed, nearly 180°-hemispheric, vertical/surround soundscape, using "Sound Mode ON" and Vertical S enabled. Of course, no sense of from-behind LFE and/or from-behind mids and trebles. Mid and treble vertical/surround sounds fall 10°-15° short of a frontal 180° hemispheric ATMOS soundscape. The resulting soundstage is like a sonic 3D diorama, from the listener to slightly behind the smartTV. There is very smooth and vivid panning of effects, left-right, level-overhead within this ATMOS dioramic hemisphere. There are also smooth and vivid Doppler effects of approaching and departing objects. Diagonal and curving Doppler sounds, too. Vertical S ATMOS is fully capable of distinct overhead panning, left-right, front-overhead. ATMOS effects that are supposed to originate from behind the listener, suddenly appear out of thin air 80°-65° from center (0°, facing the soundbar). ATMOS effects that are supposed to pass behind the listener, suddenly disappear at the same 80°-65° radius, in front of the listener. Not the same as the theatrical Dolby ATMOS soundstage that fully surrounds the listener, but definitely exceeds discrete, channel-based, non-ATMOS 5.1 surround. This applies to engine sounds, gun fire, kaiju, avalanches, etc. LFE is otherwise excellent for my test environment. Never overwhelms the mids and highs (once soundbar/subwoofer are balanced via sweep-tone tuning), but strong enough to be felt in-body. ATMOS vectored mids and trebles trick you into sensing some LFE motion. ATMOS effects work as described when the listener's head is turned up to 45°-30° away from center, when the listener is generally within the width of the soundbar (perhaps up to 15° outside the width of the soundbar). ATMOS effects fall off very quickly if the listener is too far outside the width of the soundbar. (This ATMOS coverage area might expand horizontally with the dedicated center driver of a 3.1 HT-Z9F system, allowing L & R to focus outward more.) vudu streaming ATMOS is slightly, but noticeably diminished by lossy Dolby Digital Plus compression and clipping of highs and lows/LFE. BluRay ATMOS discs definitely sound better than streaming. vudu streaming of 4k HDR10 video is also slightly attenuated, relative to BluRay disc, comparing the exact same titles. Still, far exceeds vudu streaming of HDX/Dolby Digital 5.1. Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 are decoded as "Dolby Surround." Enabling Vertical S then simulates a nearly 80° vertical expansion of a nearly 160° semicircular surround soundscape, but it's not nearly as vectored as ATMOS decode. No unnatural sibilance is noticed, but synthetic Vertical S makes trebles notably hotter. For from-behind/to-behind ATMOS/surround, the HT-X9000F really needs two physical rear surround drivers, as it is now. The rear-less 3D dioramic ATMOS soundscape from the 2.1 setup is not unlike a visual 3D theatrical experience, where nothing can visually extend behind the viewer or even directly to their left/right. Sadly, unlike the 3.1 HT-Z9F, the HT-X9000F has NO WAY to add two physical rear drivers. Not hardwired. Not wireless. (Direct WiFi expandability of the HT-X9000F has been erroneously reported by some in the trade press. The 3.1 HT-Z9F can add two wireless, self-powered, Sony-only, surround drivers via direct WiFi-only connections.) Music reproduction surprisingly shines using Vertical S on MUSIC mode. The HT-X9000F is terrific playing ATMOS mixed music. So, is the HT-X9000F worth the SRP of US$599? Not if you want a truly 360° 3D Dolby ATMOS soundscape. The best the HT-X9000F can deliver is a ~160°, frontal hemispheric 3D Dolby ATMOS soundscape. The HT-X9000F is closer to 5.1.2 ATMOS than "7.1.2." Within its 3D ATMOS diorama, HT-X9000F effects are very nicely and sweetly detailed. Vertical S manages to decode the ".2" of "7.1.2" (but more like, "5.1.2"). And, what the HT-X9000F does deliver is NOT dependent on the physical geometry of its environment. The "surround" is directly projected to the listener. If Sony intends to sell a lot of HT-X9000F-s, they would do well to drop the street price down to US$399-$450. US$599, especially with zero physical rear driver expandability, is just too much to ask. This is, at best a 5.1.2 ATMOS contender. Fully immersive, 360° 3D ATMOS sound can be heard using very good stereo *headphones*. So, why not a 2.1 speaker system? Only if/when Sony manages to further tweak the DSP firmware, to deliver actual sensations of to-behind/from-behind ATMOS surround, can the HT-X9000F be called 7.1.2 ATMOS. THIS SHOULD BE POSSIBLE. Vertical S needs to be further tweaked to work significantly better with DTS (too much sibilance and tinny trebles). Otherwise vanilla DTS Master 5.1 decode is decent, as good as unaugmented non-ATMOS Dolby Digital 5.1. Then, and only then, would SRP US$599 feel right. As such, I give a highly caveatted Recommend to a Friend. [ stay tuned for the sections to follow ]

The sound coming out of this sound bar is great. He sound and a good subwuffer makes this a must buy

adequate, works as required, you asked for my review and then set requirement, ain't happening

This sound bar makes it seem like I’m not only at a theater, but in the movie or program I’m watching!

This sound system fluids my living room with amazing audio when I’m watching my movies

Perfect match for the XBR 65X900F, great sound solid explosions. Perfect for mid to small rooms