Sony - HT-A9 7.1 Channel High Performance Home Theater System - Light Gray

Like a lot of people here, I am having the same issue with sound drop out through this system. When it does work it's very impressive but having to reset the system half way through a movie is, the opposite, of immersive. It's a shame because this is very difficult to recommend based on the current experience and I hope Sony does something to make these expensive, high-end item, more reliable.

I love the system, but disappointed on the condition of the speakers, they are new but 3 they arrived with cosmetic details, poor packaging from bestbuy, I'll keep them because they are sold out everywhere, they work amazing is the look for 2K usd, you spec better packaging, the box was intact in the outside, no oem sony box inside, not happy with this purchase.

Wow! The perfect audio system. I have it connected to a Sony 85 inch Z8h 8K with center sync from the tv. Best Buy In Home Consultation suggested a Sonos bar with speakers in the ceiling for $4000-$5000. Ht-A9 with sw5 sub cost half of that at $2500. With the benefit of no ugly soundbar and if I move the system stays with me instead of paying to have electrical wires and ceiling speakers for the new owners. The other option was the Bose or Sonos soundbar and sub for $1500 but they lack hi-res auido for music and won't be as immersive of an experience. No complaints with value 5/5 rating. Set up is easy. Room calibration takes 30 seconds with Sony's sound mapping technology. Whereas Sonos makes people walk around the room as if its the early 2000s looking for a cell phone signal. The Bose calibration is probably just as complicated. Only out of box adjustment I made was turning up the rear speaker volume to max using the remote control. One negative is the connection box has 1 HDMI in, which isn't a problem for me because PS5 is connected and I stream for tv and movies but it won't work for people with multiple devices such as PS5 and a cable box. Theoretically Sony can make a connection box with 2 or 3 HDMI in for the Mach 2 version of the product and it can be swapped out. No complaints with ease of use 5/5 rating. Quality is similar to watching tv where it depends on which source is used. 4K movies in 7.1 atmos are going to look and sound much better than HD tv in stereo for 3d immersion. Similar to hi-res and 360 audio compared to mp3. Movies in 7.1 atmos are incredibly immersive. My favorite scene is in James Bond No Time to Die where the car is spinning around in a circle while firing bullets and hearing them all around the room. It makes boring scenes, such as Jungle Cruise where the Rock and Emily Blunt are talking on a boat, more enjoyable because of the positional audio from the fish swimming and birds flying during their conversation. Video Games are more cinematic. I love hearing the sound of a blade being unsheathed going from left to right as a battle begins in Final Fantasy Stranger of Paradise as well as the sub replicating the punches from the pugilist job class. Music is as if you're in a personal concert. My favorite scene is from Peacemaker when John Cena is playing a piano version of Motley Crue Home Sweet Home and the front speakers with center sync from the tv give the impression of the sound stage being right in front of you. The Faster Pussycat House of Pain scene was so emotional and moving. TV/Sports is not as immersive but left and right are done really well. My favorite is the banter during soccer. Experiencing before kickoff fear and apprehension from the Manchester City fans singing Blue Moon knowing they had everything to lose while from my right Villa fans belting out Holte Enders in the Sky. 75 minutes of pure bliss hearing: Every week we support the mighty claret and blue. Conquerors of Europe 1982. Mcginn wins the ball in midfield and the chant: We got Mcginn, Super John Mcginn! Cash opens the scoring and Villa fans sing his affectionate nickname: Polish Cafu. Then dreamland as Coutinho doubles the lead and is serenaded off the pitch. I don't remember much after that except everything happening in a slow motion nightmare. The loudest roar I'll ever hear happened when the 3rd goal hit the back of the net while feeling absolutely devastated. TV/General watching is going to have sound coming from left and right. The best part is not having the volume get really loud when a commercial comes on instead the rear speakers project surround sound, which gets my attention and makes the advertisement more interesting. My favorite is watching a sitcom and hearing the studio audience laughing behind me. No complaints with quality except if tv stations could upgrade to 4k picture and surround sound. 5/5 rating. I highly recommend the Ht-A9 with sw5 sub for people who are against the aesthetic of a soundbar and want the mot immersive audio experience, except if they are using multiple devices because there is one HDMI in connection.

I had problems with sound dropping out until i called sony support who remotely connected to my sony tv and modified the settings and now the hta9 speakers work great. I had to get to the higher level support to have it done. Now its great and i love it. Also get the larger subwoofer with it and the system is impressive. Its not better then my 7.2 surround wired speakers. However for a wireless option its great.

The sound and immersion are great - huge step up from any soundbar. Be prepared for frequent trips into the setup menu to re-calibrate the wireless connection between the speakers. It seems like I need to do this every time I use it, but once done it typically gets me 3-4 hours of uninterrupted movie watching/music listening before it needs to be done again. Seems that Sony is aware of these issues, since they included an insert that is the first thing you see when you unbox (see attached photo).

Took awhile to get these. I was on a wait list for about 3 months with 3 different companies and got lucky one night when it showed available on the Sony website. I bought the sub from best buy. Opened box for $100 off. It was the only one available about 15 miles away. I had random drop outs and scooted the hta9 receiver about a foot further away from my router (which in now about 5 feet apart) and now no drop outs. I get the occasional drop outs when someone walks in between speakers but it is wireless so it makes sense. Deal with it. But so far so good. My living room is pretty big and the hta9 fills the room. The phantom center is the highlight of the system. The dialogue is clear and bright. No more subtitles….. finally. Coming from a traditional atmos 5.1.2 setup with SVS PB200 sub setup, I’ll give this sound system a solid 8. If Sony ever patches and implements an option to adjust tone such as treble etc or even add our own sub then it’ll be 10. I’ll throw in a few more: better volume response (it’s slow/delayed) and an option to increase atmos up firing volume. Until then it’s an 8. These speakers are bright (a tad bit high-pitched). Give us an option to correct it and it’s golden. If you’re coming from a soundbar with wireless sub setup (or soundbar with rears + sub) then it’s a 10. They look great too. Blends in well. Wifey approved. I was on the fence to return these at one point due to the fact there’s minimal tonality adjustment options. The reasoning that tilt the scales to keep them were cosmetics and wireless capabilities. My wife would not want my traditional floor standing speakers in our new home living room. But hey… that’s life. We can’t have everything.

I'm very happy with the sound quality, and it sounds more like all the speakers are working together to make it truly surround you cleanly and clearly, which IMO comes out more realistic than other systems. No dropout from day one, my system is so close to the modem.

If you have sound-drops. Try to connect your streaming devices straight to the Sony Hub. I have the system for about 2 weeks now. I had the Nakamichi 9.2.4 soundbar system before, and this Sony system totally out perform the Nakamichi. I pair the Sony system with the SW5 subwoofer, and I think it is a must. I use Nvidia Shield TV as my streaming devices. When I connect the Shield TV to my Vizio Tv and connect Arc Hdmi to Sony A9, I have sound drops every often. I dont think it is the connection issues between the Sony hub and the speakers because the light on speakers still green. I have other devices (ps5, Nintendo Switch) connect to Vizio Tv and using Arc Hdmi back Sony hub, but the sound-drops only happen when I used the Shield TV. So, I connect Shield TV straight to Sony hub, and it works flawlessly. I assume that my Vizio TV is the problem. I may need a TV that has eArc instead of Arc. I know that all streaming services like Netflix only has compressed Dolby Atmos, so technically, I dont need eArc for it. A firmware update in near future may also fix my initial problem when I use the Arc connection for my Shield TV. Now, because Sony Hub only has 1 hdmi in, so I need a HDMI switch. Because I have a 4k blu ray player, which will play un-compressed Dolby Atmos, so I need to connect 4k player straight to Sony Hub (Arc Hdmi will not work will un-compressed dolby atmos, but eArc will) The bottom line is, if your TV does not have eArc, try to connect your streaming devices straight to Sony Hub. It may fix the sound-drops issues. Keep in mind, you can buy a Hdmi switch if you have multiple devices that need to be connected straight to Sony hub.