Customer Ratings & Reviews

I am not happy with the speaker system at all. It is connected to a new Samsung HD 4K TV through the HDMI Arc connections on boyh sides. The subwoofer goes in and out and the audio format seems to be a miss match when watching live sporting events or live TV. On multiple occassions now it has quit working and makes screeching sounds.

After almost two years, I must admit, that this was the biggest tech mistake I ever made. Coming from a 7.2.4 Klipsch set up, I was looking for a way to save some room space. I knew that the sound will not be comparable to my old set up, but based on the consumer reviews at the time of purchase, and the in-store sound tests, I thought that I could live with it. I was wrong! Even the Sonos Beam in my bedroom sounds better than this unit. Save your money and get something else. Anything else will sound better than this.

I bought this thinking wow but getting it home and listening turns out not what I hoped. I really wished i would have bought the samsung

Originally thought tis was the best soundbar you could get...but Sony knows these have flaws and doesn’t provide support..wish I had purchased Geek Squad protection for this one...

Purchased this product for a small theater room thinking it would be the best solution. I was wrong. This is a poorly designed product that needs more engineering. The connection between the subwoofer is very poor, and it drops during movies. This system also stops working for no reason while watching TV. When it stops, the tv and the soundbar must be unplugged for about 5 minutes. His is a very annoying problem. I Will be returning.

The Sonly HT-ST5000 Soundbar is awesome. Admittedly, it's not inexpensive, but it's worth every bit of the price. My last soundbar was old and basic, but an improvement over TV speakers. The Sony system revived my appreciation of good music and quality sound. Basic installation was simple. It was up and working for TV sound quickly. I was a bit overwhelmed by the vast number of features and options when I previewed the manual. However, once I sat down and began to work with it I found it very accessible. The full set-up was new to me in that you plug your video accessories (devices) into the soundbar and it send a single HDMI out to the TV from which you control your sources, the soundbar and all of it's features. It actually works great. I plugged my Apple TV, Roku and Xbox into the bar and choose what I watch or listen to via the on-screen controls. Simple and elegant. The Sound is EXCELLENT and the choices of 'modes' for Clear, Movie, Music, Sports, Surround, etc. are very good. It includes 2 levels of 'Voice' settings for dialog and I found it far superior to other attempts at bringing dialog out while keeping it natural-sounding. Other features I've used so far include: 1) playing Pandora via my iPhone thru Bluetooth 2) Playing music via my Google Home thru the soundbar's built-in Chromcast, and 3) transferring the sound from my Echo Dot thru Bluetooth. Perhaps if it hadn't been so long since I'd heard sound through such a good system, I might not be as enthusiastic as I am. But since getting the Sonly HT-ST5000 Soundbar, I've actually sat down just to enjoy music. Something I haven't done in a long time.

I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money on this sound bar when I started shopping but after hearing it in the store and doing some research I decided to make the investment. After getting it home and hearing how it sounds in my living room I knew it was the right choice. The sound quality is excellent and the surround effects are awesome. The bass is powerful and after watching a few action movies this weekend my son was giving me a hard time because he could feel his walls and floor in his second floor room shaking during the action scenes. There are cheaper alternatives out there but with the features and overall quality of this sound bar I have been very happy with my purchase.

I am writing this review for the open box item specifically. I ordered a unit that was described to be in “excellent” condition, only to receive a pretty beat up unit (scuffs all over both units, ripped subwoofer screen). It seemed to been used for a while and moved around a lot (can’t imagine a new open box unit being so worn out). Ended up returning it right away.

The soundbar and subwoofer comes in a large “L” shaped box that is quite heavy (60+ lbs.) and difficult to carry by yourself so an extra pair of hands is recommended in moving it before taking it out of the box. It is packaged very well and the components are protected nicely. Once unboxed, the basic setup and installation instructions are detailed and easy to follow. It includes a 4K-capable HDMI cable which is nice. You simply plug one HDMI cable from the OUT port on the soundbar and into the HDMI1 port on your TV. Next, connect any other devices (i.e. cable/satellite box, game system, etc…) you are going to use with the soundbar into the HDMI IN 1/2/3 ports. Plug in the power cables for the soundbar and subwoofer and power on your TV (make sure it is set to the correct input). Power on the soundbar system and follow the simple setup wizard displayed on your TV. I was unboxed, installed, and completely setup in about 15 minutes. The one thing we are not too sure about is wall mounting the soundbar. The mount points on the back of the soundbar do not line up with any wall studs below our TV. Due to its weight we are still trying to figure out the best way to mount it on the wall. There are a quite a number of advanced options and extra features that really allow you customize the soundbar to your particular tastes. These allow you to take advantage of any number of devices that you would like to utilize the soundbar with. Connectivity – HDMI / Analog IN / Optical TV IN / USB / LAN / WLAN / Bluetooth (supports device and BT headphones) / Chromecast / Music Services. As you can see from the list you can connect and use just about anything with this soundbar. I recommend customizing the sound settings for your room environment (speakers distance and ceiling height). I also recommend playing around with the different sound fields to find the one(s) you like best based on the sound source (i.e. various movie and TV show types, music, video games, etc…). The ClearAudio+ sound field does a pretty decent job of automatically selecting the sound field for you based on the source and we leave it set to that most of the time. You also have the options of amplifying voice dialogues, subwoofer level, and a low level night volume. This is where we were really impressed. After customizing the settings and finding the sound fields we liked best, we were amazed by the rich and enveloping sound quality. We have listened to just about every possible type of TV show, movie, sports, and music type and the sound is awesome! Every once in a while we have to adjust the sound field or voice dialogue setting but mostly we only have to sit back and enjoy things. You can clearly hear dynamic sound all around you. There is no distortion when listening at high volume levels. My only complaint is there is no DTS support. This is definitely the perfect solution for our master bedroom entertainment setup. Although it is a little pricey, the HT0ST5000 is definitely and excellent option if you are looking for an easy to install and excellent sounding soundbar solution for your home entertainment system. You are not having to run wires all around to connect multiple speakers and the subwoofer is wireless so it can be placed anywhere to meet your room requirements. This is our third soundbar with subwoofer solution and it is hands down the best. Highly recommended product!

Returned unit. Had an awful echo due to the simulate surround. Does not compare to the sound of even regular 2.1 audio.

Purchased as a gift. It was an open box item and was assured in excellent condition. Once the gift was opened and connected to sound the subwoofer was blown. Contacted customer service and no help since it was 4 days past the allotted amount of time for a return or exchange

PUSH POWER PRTCT stays on the screen despite the recommended fixes Sony suggests on their website (unplugging for 30 minutes, resetting...). Good luck finding a Sony repair shop. You lost all of my business forever. 5 months out of the 1 year warranty.

Not impressed with sound. Expected better sound. Expected better quality for the price.

Horrible. I've sent it back twice. Certain frequencies cause horrible distortion. After an hour or so I have to switch to the TV speakers.

I normally don't write reviews, but felt that I should for this product because I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have owned the Sony HTST 5000 for 3 weeks and love it so far. I switched from the LG SJ9 (owned for one year) and am very satisfied with this bar. The SJ9 was good, but this is great. For reference, I am using it with an LG C7 OLED TV, Sony X700 blu ray player, xbox one, and cable box. Pros: 3 HDMI inputs, effective Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, and 4K HDR pass-thru, powerful room shaking bass, 7.1 channels, sound level adjustability (including seating position and the ceiling). You can turn off the led light in settings. Cons: Price. Audio/Video sync is good for everything except I had to tinker with it for Blu-Ray movies. I delayed the audio on the Blu-Ray player itself to sync everything and now it’s good to go. Atmos effect is mostly noticeable in my specific room at volume level 35 and higher (max is 50). Not a huge con unless you are worried about waking the neighbors. Full review: First off, the Dolby Atmos effect is incredible. I played the Dolby Vision and Atmos demos on the Dolby app on my LG TV, and the rain scene is perfect for simulating rain above your head, true immersion. I don’t have a flat ceiling, but Atmos still worked phenomenally for me. I am definitely experiencing sound over my head, to my sides, and sometimes even behind me! I am enjoying movies on the 37 or 38 volume level, 40+ really shows off the Dolby Atmos for those special scenes. You can increase the voice level from the remote, but I haven’t found it necessary. There is also subwoofer volume control on the remote which is a cool feature. I turned Audio DRC off, and prefer the 3D Surround setting for all sources, including XBOX. I also noticed during Atmos blu-ray movies that if I left it on 3d surround, then pressed the sound bar remote Display button, the sound bar confirmed I was playing Dolby Atmos. I’m not sure if it did for the other sound fields FWIW. You can also adjust the decibel level for the front facing, vertical facing, and subwoofer speakers. Setup recommendation: I recommend connecting your devices to the HDMI inputs on the sound bar, and then connecting the sound bar to the TV with HDMI. This helps you to avoid using your TV’s ARC function for your devices, which is known to have quirks. I chose to connect the sound bar HDMI output to the HDMI ARC input on my TV, which has turned out to be a great setup but with one quirk. Everything plays phenomenally, and I use HDMI ARC to watch the Netlix app directly on my TV from the sound bar, but if I pause a Blu-Ray movie, then restart it, the ARC connection triggers the sound bar to switch to the “TV” input, instead of my HDMI 3 input for my Blu-Ray player audio. This can be easily avoided by not connecting the sound bar to the ARC HDMI input on the TV, but I prefer to watch the LG TV Netflix app because it offers Dolby ATMOS and VISION. If you don’t watch the Amazon or Netflix app built in your TV, and use another device instead, then I would suggest not connecting the sound bar to the HDMI ARC input on your TV. It is a quirk I am willing to live with because I love the VISION and ATMOS on my Netflix TV app. I simply change the input using the sound bar remote when I restart the movie. Believe me, it’s not a big deal because of the excellent sound, and only takes like two seconds, but worth noting as con if you like using your TV apps. Overall, I highly recommend this sound bar, it is awesome. The intro to Blade Runner 2049 is just insane. It was a level of sound I have not experienced before. The motorcycle chase scene in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation was also a blast to watch. This is how movies are meant to be experienced.

Sound bar stops playing sound and have to call Sony tech support to redo factory settings and unplug the sound bar from the tv and power to reset with tech support to get it to play sound again.

A truly terrible system. Sound is tinny, base box disconnects all the time and no way to wire it. Save your money. Buy Sonos.

I’m not worthy. This Sony Sound Bar is absolute overkill for my TV setup. I have a 43” 4K, Smart TV, and it doesn’t even feel close to being able to take full advantage of this device. The sound bar arrived in an enormously heavy and awkwardly shaped box. Dragging it to the elevator to get it up to my top floor apartment was not a pleasant experience. The sound bar extends a good five inches past the edge of my pedestal style TV stand. I opted for a pedestal style stand since I’m not comfortable hanging expensive electronics from my cheap plaster walls, but that proved to be a detriment with this sound bar (side note: the sound bar comes with a mounting guide and instructions to mount it if you’re more daring than myself). Placing the sound bar directly beneath my TV on the top of the pedestal ended up blocking the IR port for the remote on my TV. I ended up moving it to the shelf directly beneath that where it awkwardly extends beyond the edges of the pedestal and blasts sound into the support rails (producing a faint but noticeable buzz as the metal vibrates on heavy bass). I plan on eventually buying a new TV stand with an integrated riser to get around this problem. The accompanying wireless subwoofer is huge. It’s actually larger than my home theater PC tower that I have sitting next to my TV stand. I’ll confess that I’m not even sure if the subwoofer is working. The light turned green indicating that it’s on and connected, and turning the subwoofer volume up and down using the included remote does indeed affect the total output volume. That being said, I am literally drowning in sound and can’t gauge the direction that all the sound is coming from. Suffice it to say, this sound bar makes for an immersive experience. TIP: Make a note of where the HDMI input and output are BEFORE installing the sound bar somewhere awkward and hard to reach. The ports are positioned at an odd angle, and trying to wire the bar up with it wedged on a shelf and shoved up against a wall proved difficult. Also, make sure that you’re using the appropriate HDMI cable for your devices. HDMI standards have changed, and you now need a new 4K compliant cable if you’re switching from something like a 720p TV to 4K. Your devices should still work without the new cable, but you won’t be getting the best quality that your device is capable of. Fortunately, this sound bar came with a single 4K compliant HDMI cable. Another side note: Your TV has to support HDMI ARK to take full advantage of this sound bar. If you don’t have HDMI ARK, then you can use an optical audio cable to get improved sound quality as well. The user interface requires a display to setup and use. The sound bar has a small digital readout, but it really only tells you what menu you’re in. It doesn’t list the options themselves. The interface is quite intuitive and easy to operate. The sound bar comes with both Chromecast Audio and Bluetooth. I do utilize both systems, but it seems a little redundant to have them both in the same device like this. As far as web services go, this sound bar is compatible with Spotify Premium . . . the end. There is no support for Pandora, Google Music, or any other service at this time. I have a media server for my movies, but the sound bar didn’t appear to even see it. This is probably because it only contains movies and not any compatible audio files. That being said, I didn’t test this extensively, and it’s entirely possible that additional setup was needed to access media from network storage. That being said, it did automatically identify my Blu-ray player as a network attached device. This is a great sound bar, but I would recommend making sure that your setup is configured to work with it before taking the plunge. Highlights: - 43” TV too small for this. - Pedestal style TV stand could prove problematic. - Make sure to use 4K compliant HDMI cables, and make sure to note port positions before installing. - HDMI ARK or optical audio are needed to get full quality with this sound bar.

Bought and returned in a hurry before store warranty expired. If see this product ....... Run...... Away from it. Don't let the sales guy tell you It's a great product ...... It's not.

Mine has been defective for over a year. Now it doesn’t work at all. Do not buy this.