The Phantom system

Atmos is the new stereo and everyone wants it. But not everyone has the space and will to litter their room with black boxes. Sony has the answer

- Nishant Padhiar

TESTED SONY HT-A9 +SW5

₹1,97,980 / sony.co.in

Sony is no stranger to history-making tech and they’ve done it in recent times with their ANC headphones, OLED TVs and to a lesser extent, 360 Reality Audio. Finding traction on the same treadmill as Dolby may be hard, but Sony is determined to nudge its way into the Dolby Atmos ecosystem any which way. Enter the HT-A9 home-theatre system. It’s a unique system where four identical satellite speakers talk to a control unit wirelessly and aims to drench you in immersive audio.

Just about qualifying as a HTiB (Home-Theatre in a Box) system, the HT-A9 isn’t the most compact, with speakers that are giants by usual satellite speaker standards. You could still hold one in the palm of your hand, but you better be built like an Austrian weightlifter. The optional SA-SW5 subwoofer is boxed separately, but should be imperative if your goal is “immersing” yourself in the sonic experience.

Power ranger

Although the satellite speakers are “wireless”, they still need power, and you’ll need a total of six outlets to power the speakers along with the subwoofer and the control unit so yes, it’s a bit of an ask if you thought this system is similar to a Bluetooth speaker. No sir.

Easy squeeze