Sony HT-A3000

Cinematic sound and Dolby Atmos at an affordable price

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The HT-A3000 is a middle rung in Sony's range of Dolby Atmos soundbars, sitting above the HT-A2000 but below the HT-A7000 and HT-A5000, which have now been superseded by the Bravia Theatre Bar 9 and Theatre Bar 8 respectively.

Though it is still a Dolby Atmos soundbar, Sony has cut a few features out in order to reach a lower price point - which means no upward-firing drivers or additional HDMI inputs.

The A3000 shares the same DNA as its larger and more expensive counterparts, and hereditary design cues are apparent. The smooth black plastic build with subtle copper accents immediately draws A5000 and A7000 comparisons, though you won't find grilles adorning the top panel for upward-firing drivers.

What you do get on the soundbar is a selection of capacitive touch buttons for power, input, streaming, Bluetooth and volume control, as well as a remote bundled in. There is also a small builtin display on the front panel, which indicates the input you are using as well as showing update progress status and various other settings.

The soundbar measures 6.4 x 95 x 13cm (hwd) and weighs 4.6kg, putting it on the more substantial side of mid-range soundbars. It dwarfs the Sonos Beam, which appears tiny in stature when placed side by side with the Sony. One grievance we have with the A3000 is its recessed ports, which can be slightly awkward to reach and don't play nicely with particularly stiff HDMI cables. There are also no HDMI passthrough ports, meaning the eARC connection that you will be sacrificing on your TV won't be replaced with one on the soundbar - though this is also the case with the Sonos Beam Gen 2 and Klipsch Flexus Core 200.

Well specified