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Customer Reviews Collected from sony.com |
Sony - 7.1-Channel Hi-Res Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer - Black
Average Customer Rating:
2.6
Rating breakdown 14 reviews
5 Stars
1
4 Stars
5
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Star
6
43%of customers recommend this product.
(
6 out of
14)
Customer Reviews for Sony - 7.1-Channel Hi-Res Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer - Black
Posted by: Tober
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
Purchased this Sound Bar with a new Sony 4K TV and 4K Blueray Player. Despite Sound Bar being advertised to "maintain 4K quality from source to screen - the 4K passthrough feature allows data to pass through the sound bar without compromising image quality and is HDCP 2.2 compatible", the sound bar does not pass High Dynamic Range (HDR) and does not pass 4K DirecTV to a 2017 Sony 4K TV. My only option is to return product and wait for new Dolby Atmos Sound Bar from Sony.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Good Soundbar
on February 26, 2017
Posted by: Merv57
Gender:Male
Just picked this up at a local retailer for a very good price. It is a good soundbar that has a lot of functionality. When set up properly you can achive very good sound that should satisfy most audiophils.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Posted by: Anonymous
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
After months of listening to sound bars and deciding weather I wanted the unit just for TV, or both TV and Music, I chose the Sony. After the first hour of listening after installing it I was concerned that I had made the wrong decision.
Once I felt confortable with the operational features I was able to tayor the sound to fit the room it was in. Its a long room about 11' x 28' with a 9' ceiling. It's an acustical nightmare with ZERO sound absorbtion. It took about 3 hours of adjusting the different modes but after that, "that room rocked"
I have it paired with an 4K TV and it communicates and sounds great!
I'll give the HT-ST9 a score of 10 out of 10 for all features except for the units mounting. That score would be about a 3. I would have expected more from SONY.
I had trouble justifying the cost but after I had compared to its competiors I always came back to this unit. I would purchase this unit again and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys both Movies and Music.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
Excellent Product with some integration issues
on July 10, 2015
Posted by: GeekinMaryland
I bought this soundbar for TV programming/movies as well as music. As I listen to somewhat conservative genres of music such as classical, adult contemporary, jazz, and K-Pop, I wanted a speaker system suited for music with prominent vocals, i.e., with an acceptable ability to reproduce midrange and low midrange sounds. Most all-in-one systems I’ve tried have overpowering bass and treble, with thinnish sounding midrange. The HT-ST9 has decent midrange, especially considering its physical size, and its treble and bass are prominent without being overbearing. Sound is very natural as a result. I tested the system with various vocalists (Sarah Bareilles, Selena, Bigbang, Lee Seonhui) and a classical song (Moonlight Sonata) at low/mid volume, and found the sound pleasing, with just a bit more thinness of midrange than I prefer. All in all, it sounds nice, but the mids do lack the depth and warmth I experienced with larger 6” freestanding speakers hooked to a conventional receiver. However, living in an apartment I need a compact system, and the HT-ST9 is incredibly compact and good sounding for its size. I found the “Standard” sound field gave best results with music. The “Music” mode emphasizes bass too much for my taste, and the “Clear Audio+” sounded a tad artificial to me. The “Music Arena” mode provides a realistic echo which is fun to use. I did my tests using iTunes 256kbps AAC files playing through an Apple TV connected via HDMI to the HT-ST9.
Dialogue of TV shows is incredibly clear, much more so than with the 5.1ch HTIB I replaced with the HT-ST9. The various “Voice” modes do make dialogue even more distinct, helpful for those with hearing difficulties. I particularly like the Night feature, which eliminates most of the deep bass and also compresses the dynamic range, so I can watch shows at night without waking others. The “Clear Audio+” mode and “Movie” mode gave good results.
The user manual fails to clearly distinguish between the “Clear Audio+” and “Standard” sound settings. The remote allows one-button access to the “Clear Audio+” and “Football” sound modes. As I rarely watch football, I’d rather Sony allowed the user to customize the buttons to access the user’s two favorite sound settings (e.g., Clear Audio+ and Movie).
The user interface is very good. In addition to the small digital screen on the soundbar, there’s an on-screen GUI that enables easy selection of inputs and settings. Being able to choose which inputs are “skipped” when cycling through them via the Input button on the remote is a nice touch. It would be nice if they allowed one to customize names of the HDMI inputs to make them more meaningful.
Integration with other AV gear is lacking. When turning on the Soundbar, a Sony BDP-S6500 Blu-Ray player connected to the HDMI-2 input will power up. Unfortunately, when shutting off the Soundbar, the Blu-Ray fails to shut off. Considering both are Sony’s latest and top of the line models, this is unacceptable and will hopefully be fixed via a firmware update. Similarly, when I turn on my Panasonic TC-L47E50 TV (connected to the HT-ST9’s HDMI-1 input), the ST9 turns on as expected. But, when I turn off the TV, the ST9 goes to standby, then after a moment the TV turns back on again, causing the ST9 to also turn on again. This is an issue because the HT-ST9 remote cannot control non Sony TVs. Basic on/off control over HDMI should be compatible with major 3rd party brands of AV equipment, not to mention with Sony branded equipment. Another oddity: The HT-ST9’s remote control’s arrow and play/stop buttons cannot control my Sony Blu-Ray, which was an unexpected deficiency; I’d specifically purchased the Sony brand Blu-Ray player because I assumed I could operate it and the soundbar with a single remote control. I therefore need to use a Panasonic remote to turn on/off the TV, the Sony HT-ST9 remote to control the volume and select inputs, and the Sony BDP-S6500 remote to start/stop the DVD player. I expected better integration from such an expensive flagship soundbar.
Bluetooth works fairly well, although I had to repeatedly re-connect (but not re-pair) my smartphone (iPhone 5S, iOS 8.4) after switching the HT-ST9 back and forth between different inputs while the phone was streaming music to the “BT” input. Playing the same songs back to back through Bluetooth (iPhone) and HDMI (Apple TV), it was clear that the Bluetooth audio quality was inferior. Album art does not display when playing via Bluetooth. Further, non-English characters in song titles (e.g., Korean or Japanese) will not display on the TV screen when streaming. Sadly, the HT-ST9 does not support Apple’s Airplay, so it is not possible to stream video from an iPhone to a TV connected to the soundbar; of course, if one has an AppleTV, video can be streamed to it.
The USB port is incompatible with my iPhone, so I was unable to try it out. It’s limited to reading songs off of USB sticks.
The USB port is incompatible with my iPhone, so I was unable to try it out. It’s limited to reading songs off of USB sticks.
I have not tested the surround sound capabilities of the unit. I do note that it does not have support for external rear speakers, which is a shame considering it can transmit via Bluetooth (to headphones). It’d be nice if they added the ability to pair with two Bluetooth speakers placed behind the listener, enabling transmission of rear channel audio to such speakers for more realistic surround sound.
On the bright side, the materials and build quality are superb - on par with Sony’s ES line. The soundbar has a piano-black metal top panel with an embossed Sony logo, and comes with a removable metal grill that affixes to rubber vibration damping fasteners. Inspection of the grill reveals that its subcomponents are held together with screws, as opposed to plastic snaps. The LED display is attractive and legible and has several brightness levels. The subwoofer features the same level of quality, with a piano-black metal top panel, metal front grill, and closely spaced screws securing a sturdy metal rear panel. The system is truly beautiful to look at. Also, the remote control, despite its faults, is of better quality than most others. The buttons click nicely, giving haptic feedback, and are laid out well.
For those curious how the HT-ST9 compares to the much cheaper HT-CT780: I bought the CT780 and returned because I didn’t like how music sounded with it. The 780 did an excellent job for TV viewing and basic music use. However, vocals lacked richness - it sounded no better than the HTIB I’d had previously. Other differences between the two:
HT-ST9’s speakers are about a half cm larger in diameter. Sound quality is much better.
HT-CT780 has plastic cabinet with fabric grill; it’s not bad looking, though.
HT-ST9 has 7.1 channel surround sound; the HT-CT780 is a 2.1 channel unit.
HT-ST9 remote control is far better - buttons click and there are more media control buttons
HT-ST9 allows optional skipping of certain inputs when cycling through them with the “Input” button
HT-ST9 has on-screen GUI
HT-CT780 has adjustable “bass” and “treble” settings; HT-ST9 lacks these.
HT-ST9’s subwoofer has a passive radiator; the sub’s driver is a bit larger, too
HT-CT780 has plastic cabinet with fabric grill; it’s not bad looking, though.
HT-ST9 has 7.1 channel surround sound; the HT-CT780 is a 2.1 channel unit.
HT-ST9 remote control is far better - buttons click and there are more media control buttons
HT-ST9 allows optional skipping of certain inputs when cycling through them with the “Input” button
HT-ST9 has on-screen GUI
HT-CT780 has adjustable “bass” and “treble” settings; HT-ST9 lacks these.
HT-ST9’s subwoofer has a passive radiator; the sub’s driver is a bit larger, too
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
1
HT-HTS9
on November 7, 2017
Posted by: John1965
Gender:Male
The Sony Sound Bar seemed to work at first, but after a few months it has become raspy, and tinny. At low volume it becomes very distorted. We are going to unplug and hopefully sony will fix the problem. This a very expensive sound bar and I am very disappointed.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from sony.comBy Sony North America Customer Support, November 9, 2017
Hi John1965, we are sorry to hear what happened with your soundbar. Kindly follow the steps from this link to troubleshoot the issue:
https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/42755
Regards,
-Erin
https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/42755
Regards,
-Erin
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Posted by: Matt2993
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
Okay, sound is just amazing when using Google cast or direct link to a smart tv. Not sure why but when using these two methods everything is just better. Wish there was a way to adjust sound like on the st7. Other than than that, I love it, build quality is very good.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Customer Rating
4
High end sounding bar, nice wireless capabilities
on March 22, 2017
Posted by: tcgompf
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
I was looking for a replacement for my Sony Receiver and this fits the bill. It sounds great and has 3 HDMIs (only 1 for 4K), USB, and optical inputs, bluetooth input and output, and the ability to add on (optional) Sony wireless (wifi) speakers in other rooms.
Downside: It has rare random digital signal pops (once every few hours of use) and it also takes a while to boot up (much longer than typical HDMI equipped receivers).
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com
Posted by: Sony Customer
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
We don't use it. The sound is awful. The centermost speaker is raspy, tinny, distorted.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting sony.com