Sony announce new premium home theatre speakers, soundbar and subwoofers

Sony has today announced several different home theatre products designed to bring a “new and revolutionary multi-dimensional sound experience”. The two headline products are the HT-A9 Home Theatre System, the HT-A7000 soundbars and alongside them the SA-SW5 and SA-SW3 wireless subwoofers and SA-RS3S wireless rear speakers.

HT-A9 Home Theatre System

The HT-A9 Home Theatre System comprises four wireless speakers, each housing a tweeter, a midrange driver, a bass duct, and an upward-firing driver. They are connected using a small control box which contains a HDMI input, a HDMI ARC/eARC output, an Ethernet port, and a centre channel output. The control box is what connects the system to your Wi-Fi.

The A9 supports Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping Technology which uses microphones in each speaker to measure their height and position which then creates up to 12 phantom speakers by synthesising sound waves. This allows the sound to fill the entire room giving that full immersive audio experience. This technology also allows more flexibility in positioning the speakers.

The HT-A9 also supports Bluetooth connection, Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect and can also be controlled using Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The system is a simple set up with it being just a matter of powering on and connecting the control box to the HDMI port of your TV/AV receiver — the four speakers connect automatically to the control box.

HT-A7000 Soundbar

Announced alongside the A9, the A7000 Soundbar is a 7.1.2-channel soundbar featuring two up-firing speakers for overhead sound, two beam tweeters and five front speakers along with a built-in dual subwoofer. The A7000 uses all of these to create virtual surround sound that supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

The A7000 supports all the latest formats including 8K HDR, 4K 120fps and Dolby Vision to create that premium entertainment experience. If paired with a Bravia TV, the soundbar will appear in the TV’s settings and the volume of it can be controlled using the TV remote control.

As with the A9, the A7000 supports HDMI eARC connectivity, USB, optical and analogue input to provide an easy-to-use premium audio sound. Once again, the speaker has support for Chromecast, AirPlay 2, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Subwoofers and rear speakers

Sony has also announced the SA-SW5 wireless subwoofer capable of 300W bass, the SA-SW3 for a decent 200W of deep bass and the SA-RS3S wireless rear speakers to provide an additional 100W of wider surround sound.

The new speakers will be available mid-September this year for:

• HT-A9 – SRP $2299
• HT-A7000 – SRP $1699
• SA-SW5 – SRP $999
• SA-SW3 – SRP $599
• SA-RS3S – SRP $649 (pair)