Sony - Wireless Rear Channel Speakers (Pair) - Black

*NOTE* It took me a little longer than anticipated to write this review. On the day I was going to write it, an issue cropped up with my system and I wanted to get it figured out and fixed before posting the review. I wanted it to be more beneficial to anyone interested in the HT-Z9F system or these speakers (SA-Z9R). Enjoy! After testing out the base sound bar (model HT-Z9F) for a few days, I went ahead and hooked up my pair of wireless rear speakers (model SA-Z9R) to see how much of an improvement it made to the system, overall. Other than one minor hiccup (which I've since gotten fixed), all I can say is...WOW! You are welcome to reference my review here for the base sound bar setup, which was a glowing review. Absolutely love it! As for these rear speakers, setup was stupid simple. I literally just plugged them into the wall and they auto-synced to the sound bar. No firmware updates have yet been released for the sound bar or any of the wireless speakers at the time of writing this review. I'm going to say it here as well - if you get the HT-Z9F sound bar, get these speakers! Now, for the minor hiccup. Everything seemed to work pretty great up until a few days ago. That morning, I had a minor power flicker...not really enough to cause an outage, but the lights flickered and later that day when I went to turn my PS4 Pro on, it was powered off. So, it must have been enough to knock the power out for at least a few seconds. Once I got everything booted up, I noticed that my sub and rear speakers where not emitting any audio at all. I unplugged the sound bar and both rear speakers from the wall and plugged them back in. No improvement. So, I go into the sound bar menu and do a test-tone. Sure enough, only the sound bar itself was doing a tone. Everything else...silent. So, I got this grand idea - not sure where it came from...but my internet was wonky due to the outage, so I decided to turn off my modem and router (I use the Linksys Velop mesh networking system), which are both located in the same room as this sound bar system. After I did this, I did a test tone and sure enough, all the speakers worked! I couldn't believe it and had a small wave of panic, not sure if I'd be able to use this system in this room now, due to the amount of wireless "noise". I booted the modem and router back up and wouldn't ya know it - the wireless speakers no longer had sound.... So, after digging around in the sound bar settings, I found a setting called "RF Channel", which is described as to help minimize interference with "other devices". I turned this feature OFF and the difference was night and day! All my speakers now work (I have tested it now for 3 days after the initial incident and no issues at all!). In addition, the weird/random audio dropouts I had before from the rear speakers completely disappeared. The audio is so much better now and much more immersive! After digging in the manual afterwards, I did locate a spot on page 33 for the sound bar manual stating that the "ON" setting may cause sound drop according to user environment. Above that part, it also says "If you use multiple wireless systems, such as wireless LAN, the signals may become unstable. In this case, the transmission may improve by changing the following [RF Channel] setting > OFF. So, I'm not sure why this would be enabled by default, as this did cause me a lot of issues in and of itself. But now that I've got it set to where it needs to be...I guess due to my personal environment", everything is great! **TL;DR: These are a must-have for the sound bar system! However, if you experience audio loss, crackling/stuttering of audio, etc, go into the sound bar settings under "Advanced" and change the RF Channel setting to "OFF". Heck, you may want to do this regardless for the best experience.** 5 stars, just like the sound bar they go with. I've not had any audio issues (outside of the above) and these speakers emulate environmental audio, such as fire crackling, flawlessly! The are loud enough and I've not had any problems with the overall volume level of them. They also mounted to my Atlantic satellite speaker floor mounts I used with my old wired 5.1 system perfectly! They can also be wall mounted, if preferred.

The Sony SA-Z9R rear speakers are a must-have *ONLY* if you purchase the Sony sound bar HT-Z9F *IF* you watch a lot of movies. Added rear sounds are about all that is gained here, but that can make the difference in listening to your movie or being entrenched in your movie. The package comes with the 2 speakers and paperwork. PROS: ----------- * Simplistic, small, and looks good. * Plug in power, and that's all. Speakers connect to Z9F sound bar seamlessly. * They give the rear surround sound to the Z9F sound bar and they sound great. There is no real bass as this is only secondary sound for watching movies. * Mountable, though no mounting hardware is provided. CONS: ----------- * Pretty expensive considering they only work with the Sony HT-Z9F sound bar. If the sound bar stops working, you're stuck with two ($150x2) paper weights. * Each speaker is powered by a normal sized power cord (think about a lamp or a TV power cord). For rear speakers, if you use stands or need to use the carpet/baseboard for concealing wires, it would be better to have a much skinnier wire AND LONGER wire. The given AC cords are about 5-6' long. If these are mounted high or set on a tall shelf, the cord (after routing) may not reach the AC outlet without the aid of an extension cord. Thinner & longer cords would help quite a bit. OTHER OBSERVATIONS: ----------- * Unlike its sound bar brother, the front grills are not removable. CONCLUSION: ===================== Saying this product is a "must-have" is only partially accurate. However, if you have the HT-Z9F sound bar and you would like a much better surround sound, then yes, you must have these speakers - because they are your *only* option. Having said that, if there were other rear speakers that were $150 total and could connect, I'd likely go with those since these only provide surround sound (which nearly any low-power speaker can do). IMO, including these 2 speakers with the HT-Z9F sound bar package (and price) would be a better idea, especially since that's the only product it will work with.

These are good speakers that I would consider to be almost an essential add-on to the HT-Z9F. They sound great and do add a lot of dimension to the HT-Z9F's sound. The fact that each speaker has its own very short AC power cord is pretty annoying though. To start off, these speakers are only compatible with Sony's HT-Z9F soundbar (at least as of this writing), so unless you have that then these would be an automatic no-go. The HT-Z9F soundbar is technically a 3.1 channel system, but Sony advertises it as being able to deliver a 7.1.2 experience with its Vertical Sound Engine. It sounds great on its own, but it still lacks some immersion and these speakers go a long way towards giving you the complete experience. Both rear speakers are wireless and both have to plug into a wall outlet. The cords coming out of each speaker are only about 6 feet long, which was pretty annoying for me since my original system had my rear satellites way up on my wall and not very close to an outlet. I was forced to buy a pretty long extension cord to make the setup work and hiding the larger cords was not as elegant. I haven't dealt with a ton of wireless rear speakers, but most of the ones I have seen run normal speaker cables to some kind of central connection box and that is what plugs into the wall and interfaces with the soundbar. I feel like that would have been a much more efficient way to design these speakers and it would make pairing them a little simpler too. That's my biggest gripe with these speakers. The rest of the experience with them was very good. Each speaker pairs individually and you do have to pair and use both at the same time (not sure why anyone would want to use just one anyway). The pairing process was fairly painless through the HT-Z9F's settings and the connection has been strong ever since. I did use the HT-Z9F by itself for a while before I figured out how to hook these up and I can tell you that these make a big difference to the overall sound. The rear speakers have great sound and the rear channels come through really well. They’re expensive for sure at about $300 for the pair, but if you’re investing in the HT-Z9F soundbar I would get these too, at least eventually.

These make a great addition to the HT-Z9F Soundbar that I previously reviewed. I also included these speakers in that review as they were setup at the same time. The speakers do exactly what they need to do! They sound really great and offer a lot of depth that would be missing from just using the soundbar alone. There's definitely an added effect when using the Vertical Sound setting that enables Dolby Atmos. Everything gains a bunch of depth and height to the sound track. I tested this out with everything from music to movies. Some of the movies I tested it out on was The Fifth Element, Mad Max Fury Road, Thor Ragnarok and few other 7.1.2 Atmos enabled movies and they all sounded incredible. I've also got our TiVo unit connected to the soundbar and in a lot shows the speakers work great. This does assume though that the show has a proper 5.1 or greater audio track. There were some shows I watched like NCIS but only every now and then would sound come through the rear speakers. To make sure it wasn't something wrong with them, changing the channel to something like a movie confirmed this. In short, if you have the HT-Z9F 3.1 Dolby Atmos Soundbar, do yourself a favor and pick these up. Being wireless also is such a boon cause it just means less wires. I'm incredibly impressed with the quality of this whole setup as I've always been skeptical about soundbars outside of their utility as an alternative to the often lackluster performance of built-in TV speakers.

Yes, yes and yes! If you are asking yourself, “should I get these to go with my new Sony HTZ9F soundbar and subwoofer system”, the answer is “YES”. Do you “need” them, no, the soundbar and subwoofer sound great without them however by adding these speakers your Sony soundbar system instantly gets upgraded from a 3.1 channel system to a 5.1 channel system and you can absolutely tell the difference. You can now hear sounds from behind you.. a squeaky door is opening, footsteps are approaching from behind, explosions are now all around you.. You get it all by adding these speakers! The Sony Z9R wireless speakers truly are wireless in that they don’t have any speaker wires to connect to a receiver unit like many other “wireless” rear speakers on the market. This is so great since you no longer have to find a place to hide that receiver unit because they don’t have one. The receivers are built into each speaker individually. The speakers came nicely packaged and were very easy to set up, really, you just plug each speaker into an outlet and presto! The soundbar pairs to them within seconds without you needing to press any buttons or anything extra. Something nice to note is that with your Sony HTZ9F soundbar remote you can control the sound volume of the rear speakers separately. I keep the volume on mine on the max setting all the time but being able to control this is a great feature. I encourage anyone with the extra funds to purchase these rear speakers to accompany their Sony HTZ9F soundbar system, you will not be disappointed!

Glad I bought these rear speakers. Expensive, but to me, worth it. I kept reading how little sound these put out from disgruntled reviewers, even when up to full volume. I quickly stumbled upon the solution to get much more volume. This worked for me: 1. On the remote, press "Home". 2. If the next screen says, "Perform Easy Setup. Do you want to proceed?" press cancel. 3. On the next screen, move the block cursor up 1 and 2 to the right to the toolbox which will say "Setup". 4. Next, select "Advanced Settings". 5. Next, select "Speaker Settings". 6. Next, select "Manual Speaker Settings". 7. Next, select "Level". 8. Next, adjust upwards the decibel level of each rear speaker. I have mine set to the highest, which is 6. The subwoofer is also set to the highest (6), and the front speaker (soundbar) is set at 3. From this point on, I can easily set the volume for each channel of speakers to the optimum level based on what I'm listening to, or watching. When done, don't forget to go back one screen and input into the system the distance the speakers are set up from your watching/listening chair. Hope this helps.

I recently purchased a new Sony 4K TV and really wanted to upgrade my external sound bar system to take full advantage of the new purchase. The Sony HTZ9F 3.1 Channel Sound Bar with Wireless Sub Woofer is the perfect solution. But if you want to step up the 3.1 system to a 5.1 system I would highly recommend adding the SAZ9R wireless rear channels speakers (optional) to the system. Similar to the sub woofer, the SAZ9R rear channel speakers automatically pair with the soundbar once they are both powered on. Within minutes, the system was up and running...and man the difference was so noticeable. My Xfinity remote supports the Sony systems, so the remote controls TV and audio no problem. You still need to use the included Sony remote to set up other functions and sound settings. The soundbar and sub woofer sounded great on their own, but adding the rear channels really amps up the full immersion effect. Once I played around with the placement, the overall surround effect was absolutely incredible! Pros: - Easy set up - Self connecting Rear Channel Speakers - Modern design and looks and plenty of power at 50W - Full 5.1 immersion - Wall mountable option Cons: - Currently only supports the Sony HTZ9F soundbar/sub woofer system - Wireless is great, but still need to deal with power cords Overall I would recommend to anyone who purchased or is considering purchasing the HTZ9F to also spring for these great wireless rear channel speakers.

As far as I know these speakers pair only with Sonys HT-Z9F soundbar. As such I also included them in my review of the that soundbar. This review is for the Sony wireless SA-Z9R rear speakers. In the optional SA-Z9Rwireless speakers box; 2 wireless speakers Assorted instruction/guides Pros; Rear speakers are somewhat small as most back speakers are - but have good heft to them as well. Power and information indicators are around back (same light info as sub-woofer), power button, a link button, a wall mounting hole and another hole if attaching to a speaker stand. They paired as soon as I plugged them in and I have had no “drop outs” of sound/signal. They can be turned up/down from remote with more tuning options thru Home menu. They have plenty of power and really completed the sound experience. Cons; None really but be aware these must be plugged into a power source – so you will need an outlet close by. If you purchase the soundbar – DO plan on getting these wireless back speakers as they really make a difference and truly complete the sound experience!