Customer Ratings & Reviews

Works sporadically , geek squad out twice in a week. Would not purchase again

I wanted a simple soundbar for a gaming/rec room setup that sounded good without putting a big hole in my wallet, and the Sony HT-S400 fit the bill nicely. The bar itself is fairly small and light, and can easily be hung on the wall with toggle bolts or similar. The subwoofer, on the other hand is relatively large, though thanks to its wireless design can be put pretty much anywhere in the room that fits your aesthetic. Sound-wise, the the system isn't "Atmos", but that shouldn't be regarded a negative since it neither claims to be nor is it priced like one. It's a 2.1 setup with the option to toggle between a normal and an expanded soundfield that can help it sound bigger than it is, but there's no doubt it's a 2.1 system with a big heart. Far from a negative, this is exactly what I needed and wanted for this room - the 2 channel aspect of the bar works well and sounds well, though whether you prefer the normal or expanded field will entirely depend on your tastes and your environment. I found I liked it better set to the normal field for music, and expanded field for TV and movies, and it's as simple as a button press to literally toggle between the two at any time. There's also a "voice" mode toggle that's supposed to help voices rise above other sounds, and technically it seems to do just that, but from an audio aesthetic perspective I never liked the ultimate effect it had on the overall soundscape, but that of course is going to be very subjective and will depend on your content. It might be OK for a news program or other talking-heads show, but for movies and music it never sounded "pleasant" even if it otherwise did exactly what it clams to do Thankfully this too is a simple toggle so it's no problem to quickly switch when you want it or don't want it. The Subwoofer I'm a little more mixed on. Compared to the soundbar the sub is physically hefty, and though it sounds fine and adds definite substance to the overall soundscape, but it never quite met my expectation -- I kept wanting to turn the bass up, to find it it was already at max. To be fair, your room and placement can have a surprisingly big impact on how the very same subwoofer sounds so you should take advantage of the freedom with which the wireless sub can be moved. In my case I just never found a placement that resulted in the performance I would expect from a sub of this size. For my intended use case of gaming/rec secondary setup it's fine, but I wouldn't recommend this as a primary soundbar unless you're just really constrained for space and budget. For an apartment this would be plenty, for an individual home where your audio is less likely to impact others it's slightly underwhelming. In terms of raw volume it can get plenty loud for either case, it's just the bass that I found a little wanting. Connectivity is OK -- Optical, ARC (over HDMI), and Bluetooth -- there is no 3.5mm input which isn't entirely surprising but worth mentioning. Of these ARC is technically your best option with optical being an entirely sufficient fallback option for a 2.1 system like this. There is a simple display behind the grill that clearly shows your volume, bass, active input, voice mode, and soundfield as you cycle through those options on the remote.

The subwoofer stopped working within a 1.5 month and vest buy support is so poor.

I just use it once, now its not working, and they said u cant even return it even though you have insurance

Expected it to be better room sounds for my workout in a basement.

It’s Ok. Better than Sonys TV speakers but very trebly sound even with the bass tuned up. I prefer the JBL in the same price range.

This has terrible sound. It sounds like it’s in a box.

Sounds is not good, it’s low, trying to figure out if it’s even on.

The reason for the one star was because the sound quality was horrible.

Not happy with performance of sound bar works off and on

The Sony HTS400 is a 2.1 channel soundbar. What that means is you have two front speakers (the sound bar) and one subwoofer. Rated for 330W combined, this is a decent amount of speaker power for small to medium rooms. As I've moved to a new home where the living room isn't amenable to my sound projector virtual magic, this was a great opportunity to try out this option from Sony. The first thing you notice, like almost anything Sony, is that regardless of the price point, you're unboxing a beautiful piece of kit. The sound bar (and sub) look to be premium and well made. My TV is on a mount but I got a soundbar hanger on which the HTS400 sits perfectly beneath the TV. That said, it is low profile enough that if I were using the stand, it would fit between the legs (55") and not block anything. The subwoofer is wireless and can be placed anywhere within reach of a power cord. As far as inputs you've got HDMI ARC, optical, bluetooth, and wireless. However, the wireless is limited to specific Sony televisions so unless you happen to have one of those, you're going to use up one of the three. If you're like me who has a lot of things connected to your soundbar or TV, well, you're going to rely on your TV inputs a lot more and you're forced to go digital, no analog connections here. I've got a TV, streaming box, video calling camera, and alexa device to connect. Previously, these all went to the soundbar of my projector (plus a second streaming box which I'm no longer using). Now, these go to the TV with the alexa device connecting to the soundbar via bluetooth. The optical and HDMI arc input are effectively the same as far as the soundbar is concerned (you can only switch between TV and Bluetooth). That said, the soundbar chooses which one to use based on what it detects first so you could theoretically have another device hooked up and as long as one is off, the soundbar will play from the other without any confusions as to what you'd get. Volume and bass wise, this is decent. Definitely higher power than the TV speakers and better sound. The TV can have a wooden sound at times which isn't noticeable when the kids are watching their shows but is pretty obvious when watching something drama or sci/fi. It's definitely an improvement over the TV and great to multi-task as my streaming music player when the TV is not being used. Definitely great for stereo sound, but after having lived with my virtual surround sound, I think if you're dropping down, you will miss the additional channels. I did not have any issues pairing over Bluetooth and was able to stream my music flawlessly. It seems the soundbar stays connected over bluetooth even when you switch inputs so there's no lag waiting for a Bluetooth reconnect. The remote is ok, worked well, and was pretty straightforward. I liked that there were no submenus to jump into, each button was pretty straightforward giving you direct control. My rating is 4 stars. Sleek design, looks well made, straightforward remote and inputs. Perhaps having a center channel and the ability to add some additional wireless surround speakers to turn this into a 5.1 surround system would be nice. Also, having the optical input be it's own input would help with the relative dearth of inputs. This is definitely geared towards homes where the smart TV does most of the heavy lifting in terms of inputs and being just a 2.1 system, that kind of makes sense.

Very bad quality of sound. Damage piece. Incomplete parts.

Sounds worse than tv speakers, doesn’t have enough bass.

I ordered from best buy they didn’t delivered my soundbar and also charged me

The Sony HTS-400 Soundbar and wireless subwoofer turned out to be one of the easiest devices I’ve ever set up — and the sound reproduction is spot on. I made the connection with my Vizio TV, using the ARC output. Once both the soundbar and the sub are plugged in to their individual outlets, they immediately ‘find’ each other and are ready to enjoy. The background soundtrack for Destiny sounds amazing, as did some Dave Mathews that streamed flawlessly from my son’s iPhone. Absolutely no issues with connectivity. It probably took longer to unpack than it did to set up. Easy, peasy. By the way, the packaging from Sony was substantial and sufficiently protected both pieces from any damage. Note: this is being used in a medium sized bedroom so there are no issues with room-filling sound…but it seems as though it would do just fine in a much larger room. The sub really kicks and the highs are crisp and clean. The bass response can easily be adjusted if you are overwhelmed, and there are different sound presets should you desire. Overall, the HTS-400 is a decent setup. Good job, Sony.

Not real happy with this Soundbar... liked my old one better.

My LG OLED55C9PUA TV has remarkably good sound with the internal speakers, but addition of the Sony HT-S400 Soundbar took it to another level, particularly with streaming Dolby digital audio. Setup was simple using the HTMI ARC port on my TV for the connection. I had an older HDMI cable and had a notable delay when switching between the internal speakers and the HT-S400. A shorter, 8K-10K HDMI cable made a significant improvement in the interconnection and reduced the delay from >5sec to <1sec. Aside from volume, there are four other sound controls. Sound Field: When on, the Sound Field control provides a more immersive audio experience for movies, sports, and most streaming video content. Sound Field off is intended for music and other simple stereo sources. I almost always keep Sound Field on. Voice: When on, the Voice control enhances the mid-range frequencies to make dialog clearer. As there are very few instances when I do not want clearer dialog, I keep Voice set to on. Night: This controls is intended to provide clear audio at lower volume. I have no use for this control as the TV is in a relatively insulated room in the house and, if I didn’t want to disturb sleeping family members, I would use headphones. Bass Volume: The subwoofer volume can be controlled independently from the soundbar, from thunderous (+10) to inaudible (-10). I find the default setting (+0) to be fine. I have no need for the IR repeater function, but I can imagine situations when it would be a great advantage. There are scenarios in which the soundbar could obstructs the IR receiver for the TV. The soundbar has an IR receiver in the front and an IR repeater in the back. Turning the IR repeater function on will allow the soundbar to pass the signal from the TV remote to its rear-facing IR repeater allowing the signal to be received by the TV. There is a USB port to allow for software updates. There are none as of the writing of this review. Pros: easy installation and use; sound quality; audio controls; Bluetooth functionality; IR repeater; Cons: small scrolling display;

I was initially skeptical when I first tried out this soundbar. I have always been a receiver/speaker/speaker wire type of audio user. A soundbar, for me, was a downgrade from what I have always used for TV, movies and music. However, I don’t have a lot of space where I live to have a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup in my living room. I decided to try out the Sony HT-S400 for my daily need living room audio needs. I had low expectations that this would be a viable replacement for my traditional audio setup. So, I played quite a few music tracks across a variety of genres, from Miles Davis to Seal to Tupac, orchestral movie soundtracks and the like. I’ve watched quite a few movies and a bit of television to round out my testing. I was surprised that the audio quality met my standards and had the clarity of sound and clean bass that I was expecting to hear from this soundbar and subwoofer. I’ve tried other unnamed soundbars and was disappointed as they sounded like “speakers in a plastic box”. The Sony HT-S400 does not sound like this at all. The sound is clean and the transition between the lower frequencies of the subwoofer to the higher ranges with the soundbar is quite smooth. Does this replace a complete surround setup? Not necessarily, but if you are looking for a great stereo sound experience with clean bass, while saving a lot of room, then the HST-400 is for you. My speakers and receiver now sit in my closet, while I enjoy the compact and clean look and sound of this product. I couldn’t be happier with it. I would suggest that if you are looking for compact and simple to use audio setup, then please consider trying out this soundbar. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, nor will your wallet. Bonus, I have a fairly recent model Sony 4k TV (55X90J) and this works wirelessly with zero audio lag (even with BT) and offers some direct device controls through the TV when connected via HDMI using ARC. Give it a try!

Sound bars come in all sizes, shapes, colors and flavors, from way too expensive to far too cheap and everything in between. With each consecutive generation they tend to sound better and are easier to connect. The Sony HT-S400 is really a wonderful device. Connectivity is straightforward either with HDMI ARC or optical (I chose to use ARC, although I tested the optical, they sound equally good). It's a one-wire connection to the TV, plus power. The subwoofer is wireless and it 'just works'. Unlike many sound bars, this only includes the HDMI ARC input and does not have an HDMI passthrough option, so if you choose to connect this way, you will be sacrificing one HDMI port on your TV, using the optical capability will allow you to keep that port available. On the back of the sound bar are integrated wall hanging cutouts for ease of mounting, which I intend to use in the future. Once connected there's a handful of settings you're able to adjust including surround mode and a few options that adjust the audio output for type of audio (such as voice mode). Settings are simple to change, I really did not need to adjust them to have great sound out of the device. In using the sound bar the sound is full and loud in mids and highs, and the subwoofer adds a richness that appropriately balances against the soundbar itself. In watching Jurassic Park, I was easily able to deliver earth shattering sound with each dinosaur movement and roar. Overall, the sound bar has great sound, it may not have some of the features of the more expensive options but it doesn't need them. It's a great addition to any home TV setup for someone looking for more from their home theater experience.

The Sony HT-S400 Soundbar and Subwoofer is an easy to use addition to your home entertainment system! The product was very easy to setup and I had it up and running within 5-10 minutes of unboxing. The Wireless subwoofer kicked on immediately and the soundbar fit perfectly on my mantle below the tv. I am a big music geek so its a big deal for me with soundbars to have good quality sounding music and the HT-S400 delivers on that very well. Music is crisp clear and robust and the vocals sound great out of the main speaker. The soundbar allows you to switch between TV and Bluetooth easily as well and instantly paired with my phone with zero issues. The input displayed on the soundbar itself is a nice touch as well so that you know what input is selected. My Samsung tv recognized the sound bar instantly and allowed me to control the volume with my tv or my soundbar remote which is a nice touch. We have watched a few movies so far and the subwoofer does a good job with the bass, during intense battles it would be nice to have surround sound speakers but its not completely missed with this system plus I have no room for them in my family room. Overall I am very happy with the HT-S400. The sound is crisp and clear and the speakers do exactly what they need to do, be functional and provide great sound for a great price. Overall I am very happy with the soundbar and highly recommend it