Sony - 7.1.2-Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer and Dolby Atmos - Black

I've been excited to get my hands on the HT-ST5000 soundbar ever since it was announced at CES this year, and I'm glad to say that it was well worth the wait. If you're a cinephile looking for the easiest way to bring theater-quality sound into your home, this may be the answer. SETUP AND CONFIGURATION (5 Stars): The soundbar ships in a heavy, awkwardly-shaped box with no handles anywhere, so I would recommend having someone help you out. Once unpacked, the system is incredibly easy to set up. A 4K-capable HDMI cable is included. Plug the HDMI cable into the ports labeled HDMI ARC on the soundbar and your TV (if supported), and then connect your other devices to the HDMI IN ports on the soundbar. The subwoofer is wireless and automatically connects to the soundbar once its plugged into a power outlet. You can optionally connect a magnetic mesh cover to hide the front-facing drivers. Follow the on-screen setup procedures, and you'll be up and running in mere minutes. DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY (4.5 Stars): At first glance, there is no doubt that this is a premium product. The soundbar and subwoofer are heavy and substantial, but should easily blend in with any home theater setup. The top-mounted, upfiring speakers are placed behind sturdy metal grilles. There is a crisp display on the front which shows the volume level and current input selected. There are even keyholes on the back if you want to wall-mount the soundbar. Connectivity is very generous, with three HDCP 2.2-capable HDMI inputs on the rear and a USB port on the right side of the soundbar. You can connect to your home network wirelessly or via the ethernet port on the back. My only gripe is the design of the remote. It looks way too similar to my Sony Blu-ray player remote and feels very cheap in comparison to the rest of the system. FEATURES AND OPTIONS (4 Stars): Sony has made it very easy to customize and adjust the settings of this soundbar. By pressing the Home button on the remote, you can access the Setup screen and adjust the settings for ceiling height, seating distance from the soundbar, advanced HDMI settings, and much more. Spotify and Chromecast are built-in as easy ways to stream content to the soundbar. There are several preset options for sports, music, etc., but I find that "ClearAudio+" suits most content. Unfortunately, there is one glaring omission in supported formats: this soundbar does not support any type of DTS signal. Luckily, my Sony UBP-X800 Blu-ray player seems to detect that the soundbar does not support DTS and sends an LPCM signal instead. But I have read reports of DTS tracks simply not playing on this soundbar with other Blu-ray players. Rumor is that Sony may be preparing a firmware update to enable DTS later this year. But regardless, this is a huge oversight by Sony that will hopefully be corrected. SOUND QUALITY (5 Stars): Simply put, I've never heard anything sound so amazing in my home. Granted, I've always owned soundbars and not dedicated surround systems. But this soundbar delivers rich, enveloping sound. I watched the UHD Blu-ray of Magnificent Seven and actually turned my head several times due to the sensation of bullets flying around the room. The UHD Blu-ray of Mad Max: Fury Road also impressed, with the soundbar clearly separating dialogue, music, and explosions and placing sounds all around my living room. I can't say that I really noticed any sounds coming from directly overhead, but this might require some more fine-tuning of the distance settings. Dialogue is clear, loud, and crisp. There is no distortion at higher volumes. The subwoofer is absolutely thunderous -- anything above volume level 5 is overkill to me. I am absolutely amazed at how Sony put such capabilities into a sleek, compact soundbar. OVERALL: I'm not an audiophile, but the overall package of the HT-ST5000 is amazing to me. Hats off to Sony for delivering such an immersive experience in a product that can be used and installed by practically anyone. I sincerely hope that Sony adds support for DTS formats, as I know that this will anger many potential buyers. That issue aside, you'd be hard-pressed to find another soundbar with such capabilities. Highly recommended!

This is the most expensive sound system I have ever owned so I had high expectations going in. It did not disappoint. It was much larger and heavier than I expected. The design of both the soundbar and subwoofer are impressive. Craftsmanship is very high end. Here are some other thoughts: Likes: Set-up was simple with on screen instructions walking you through the basics. The face plate for the soundbar attaches magnetically. It felt fancy and looks great. Music sounds amazing! The wireless subwoofer connected automatically and worked seamlessly. Nice bass. The soundbar has a display that tells you the input/source you are using and volume levels. Dislikes: The included HDMI cable was short. It will not be long enough for some set-ups and was barely long enough for mine. Access to two of the HDMI ports is difficult with larger hands. Built in Chromecast had some hiccups getting started. Overall, this is a fantastic audio system that is worth the price if it is in your budget range. I look forward to testing out the Dolby Atmos tech as more content becomes available!

I wanted a minimalist approach to a fully immersive soundscape within my living room. I was between this system and beginning to build a home theater with many components... needless to say, I just tried this and felt very satisfied. If you’re wondering whether or not to try this system, remember that the worst thing that would happen is that you’re unsatisfied and can return it. #sonydelivers

So here's the thing, the build quality is A1! Everything from the actual soundbar itself to the subwoofer feels and looks like a premium product you would pay top dollar for. But we aren't here for looks are we? How does it sound? I'd rate the actual sound a 9/10. I have experiences intermittent popping but that goes away for long stretching when changing the frequency within the settings. I've seen other people complain but this issue can be addressed once again in the settings. I bought this soundbar with my A9G OLED and I am in home theatre heaven. Sure it costed $1500 (plus tax) but you only live once and it is a perfect complimentary piece to my $3700 (plus tax) 4k Sony.

The quality is good but still i can feel missing of back speakers. I checked on line and it seems external back speakers are mot compatible with it. I wish it was! In general, i would say sending $1300 is a lot for it and the price should be around 900-1000 to be more reasonable.

I purchased the Sony HT-ST5000 with hopes for a very clear clean sound system and a nice base response. Once I installed it, updated the firmware, connected audioquest cinnamon cables properly and configured the sound setup for our living room, I was not overwhelmed. I found the subwoofer to rumble instead of having more of a punch to the base. The voice was a bit metallic / tinny. Everybody's room is different. I have a great room with 15 foot ceilings with carpet. I connected it to my LG c7p OLED as well as the DirecTV c61k 4K box. Sony makes an excellent product however, bar was a bit short and bulky to accommodate the cosmetics in front of the LG TV - not looking to make the Soundbar the focal point of the home theater. After 2 days of tweaking, my wife and I could not bring ourselves to keep the Soundbar. I previously had a ysp-4000 and a Definitive Technology SuperCube - I was used to a bit more punch in the base and more clear voice with a bit of base to the voice. We did not want to move to the ysp 5600 as we decided to replace the Yamaha YSP with a more minimalistic approach to our home theater. While attending the 2018 CES again this year and saw the LG sk10y and talk to the LG reps quite extensively. I listened to it and was actually waiting on that soundbar. Come to my surprise when I returned the Sony the LG was there and I immediately purchased it. In comparison the bass response is more of a punch and deeper Voice through the soundbar. Running the Dolby Atmos videos through my LG tv the Soundbar was noticeably better. Nothing wrong with the Sony Sound Bar, this is my subjective point of view. Side note: a week later, we now own the LG Spk8 rear speakers and the system sounds even better.

It could easily be a 5 star review but 4 star because sony does not want to include 2 little hooks to hang the sound bar, this is my second sony sound bar and they still do not include that 10 ç accessory.

Since there are other reviews on here telling you what this thing can do, I'll do a comparison on this Sony soundbar against the Samsung HW-K950 Atmos soundbar, which is similarly priced. This Sony soundbar has 3 hdmi capable of hdcp 2.2, and 1 ARC Hdmi. The Samsung only has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 ARC Hdmi. Bluetooth is for either receiving (from phones/tablets) or transmitting (headphones, in case you want to listen to the tv at night). This unit works just like a receiver (similar to my strdn1080 atmos receiver), and displays its menu system onto your tv, which makes setup ultra easy. The unit itself connects to your wifi for worry free updates, and will notify you of any updates available. The samsung k950 requires you to BUY a micro USB to USB A type cable and use a flashdrive to update its software (I could never get the update to run btw, so the updating procedure on the samsung is really really bad/frustrating.) What I've connected to my soundbars: pc to soundbar, tv to soundbar, and a sony 4k player through soundbar. On the sony, the PC recognizes the soundbar and allows me to select ATMOS under the speaker selection. On the Samsung, my only choice was STEREO (disapointing). The TV sounds great to the soundbar, whereas the samsung one felt too much like a stereo system simulating a surround sound. when I hooked up the 4k BD player, it was also much easier to setup/use. Sound automatically gets output to atmos, while the samsung failed at detecting the atmos signal, even when the sound output was selected as a non decoded bitstream. The only advantage the samsung soundbar has, is that it physically has rear speakers. But they're kinda useless, if it doesn't work with your sound system/setup. To me, I had to have Atmos coming out of my pc, and 4k player. Only the Sony was able to do that. The Samsung failed in all of those areas. At the time of this review, both soundbars were priced at $1500. Kudos to Sony for their work. They have something that works well. Pictures show pc speaker config, and what you'll see on your screen, when you go into the soundbar menu