Christmas Spatial

The HT-A5000 takes everything that made the HT-A9 special and puts it in a soundbar with easy-to-upgrade add-ons which only heightens the experience.

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Unlike the HT-A9 which are four cylinder-shaped speakers that are meant to be placed in a box-shaped manner for the surround to take effect, the HT-A5000 soundbar has an old-school design and sits right below your telly.

It has two up-firing speakers for overhead sound, two beam tweeters and three front speakers and a built-in subwoofer. Throw in the SA-SW 5 subwoofer (*61,990) and the two SA-RS5 wireless rear speakers (47,990) and you've got one easy-to-assemble surround sound set up.

360 Spatial Sound is Sony's proprietary standard for enveloping your ears with pinpoint surround audio. To get all these units working in unison, the speakers use microphones to detect the distance between the units and the surrounding walls to map out the best possible way to dip you in the 360 surround bubble.

Power up and wire down

The soundbar, subwoofer and rear speakers each require a separate power source. The SA-RS5 wireless speakers can work for up to 10 hours on an in-built battery but you might want to have a cable running to it regardless because losing rear audio in the middle of a movie is bothersome.

Unpack and unwrap

This is also the easiest implementation of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X we've seen from out-of-box products. Unwrap, set up and get going. The Sony HT-A5000 makes Dolby Atmos movies an achievable option for any living room even if the asking price comes at a premium.

King kong bass

Godzilla vs. Kong fight scenes are thoroughly immersive. You can hear the jet fighters and missiles swooping across as if you're sitting smack in the middle of the fight between the two monsters. The thunderous footsteps of Kong and Godzilla are impactful and precise from the SA-SW 5.

Play the sound