{"id":5605,"date":"2021-11-18T14:26:16","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T08:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.gowarranty.in\/?p=5605"},"modified":"2021-11-18T14:46:34","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T09:16:34","slug":"sony-ht-a7000-a-next-gen-atmos-soundbar-that-is-perfect-for-gaming-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gowarranty.in\/blog\/sony-ht-a7000-a-next-gen-atmos-soundbar-that-is-perfect-for-gaming-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony HT-A7000: A Next-Gen Soundbar That is Perfect for Gaming Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sony HT-A7000, the INR 120,000 (approx.) soundbar doesn\u2019t have much room for compromises. You can spend a fraction of that on a perfectly competent Vizio soundbar, and even premium options like the Sonos Arc cost hundreds less. There will always be people that balk at the notion of spending so much money and not putting it toward a traditional surround sound system, and that\u2019s especially true (and a fair argument) when you reach this price level. So when designing its latest flagship 7.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos soundbar, the HT-A7000, Sony knew it couldn\u2019t settle and had to throw in the entire kitchen sink to justify the steep investment. And that\u2019s exactly what the company tried to do. The HT-A7000, which starts shipping in September, embraces gamers with two HDMI 2.1 passthrough inputs capable of 8K, 4K at 120Hz, and Dolby Vision HDR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are still very few soundbars on the market that are so well optimized for next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X \/ S. You can plug both Sony and Microsoft\u2019s consoles into the HT-A7000 and enjoy their full visual fidelity \u2014 with one unfortunate exception that I\u2019ll explain later. If your TV cruelly only has a single HDMI 2.1 \/ eARC port, Sony\u2019s new soundbar gives you an extra one. That\u2019s something the Arc or lower-priced soundbars can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sony has also stuffed this soundbar with practically every way to stream music you could possibly want. Bluetooth and a 3.5mm aux port really aren\u2019t going to cut it for this much scratch, so you also get Chromecast, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, plus the option to integrate the HT-A7000 with your Google Home or Amazon Alexa systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can pair a set of Bluetooth headphones to the soundbar and listen that way to avoid disturbing anyone. There\u2019s a USB port if you want to plug in a drive that contains your FLAC collection or whatever local audio you feel like playing. The soundbar also supports pretty much every home theater audio codec under the sun, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HT-A7000 is about as future-proofed and loaded with tech as soundbars come. It\u2019s not intended for home theater enthusiasts who want to carefully consider and piece together every individual component of their ideal surround system. Surprisingly it comes with one year standard Sony care. We strongly recommend to have an extended care pack for the soundbar<\/a> to ensure it keeps delivering the best performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is for the sort of person already splurging on a Sony A90J OLED with enough disposable income to add Sony\u2019s top-tier soundbar to their cart. But to really, truly get the most from the HT-A7000, you\u2019ll also eventually want the optional set of wireless rear speakers and standalone subwoofer. All in, the bundle of products <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So while testing the HT-A7000, I\u2019ve gone about it in two different configurations: I\u2019ve used the soundbar by itself plenty since some buyers will just stop there. But I\u2019ve also put the kitted out, exorbitantly priced system through its paces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HT-A7000 on its own<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"SONY<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When set up by itself, the HT-A7000 is a 7.1.2 soundbar. That breaks down into five front-facing speakers plus two beam tweeters (7), a built-in subwoofer (1), and the pair of upward-firing Atmos speakers (2). For comparison, the Sonos Arc is a 5.0.2 speaker (and becomes 5.1.2 if you add a Sub to the equation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It certainly looks the part of a premium soundbar, though I\u2019ll let you decide whether the glass top surface and mix of textures and materials are befitting of the price. On top are capacitive touch buttons for power, input, volume, Bluetooth, and so on. And behind the HT-A7000\u2019s front grill is a small display that shows what input it\u2019s playing from (HDMI 1, 2, or TV) and shows the volume or sound mode when you\u2019re making adjustments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re watching something through one of the two passthrough HDMI ports, you can hit the remote\u2019s \u201cdisplay\u201d button for a summary on your TV screen that details the current audio signal and whether the vertical speakers are active. When the soundbar is outputting TV audio, you\u2019ll see those details on the tiny front display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around back is the arsenal of ports: two HDMI in, one HDMI out, inputs for analog and optical audio, a USB type-A port, and power. Aside from the bundled remote control and HDMI cable, Sony also includes brackets and screws for the HT-A7000 in the box if you want to wall-mount it. We can\u2019t really find any faults with the remote: it\u2019s very typical Sony, but at least there are individual buttons for both HDMI inputs and all the sound modes you\u2019ll use most often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting up the soundbar was quite simple thanks to Sony\u2019s on-screen instructions. We plugged in the devices we wanted to run through the soundbar, plugged it into my LG CX\u2019s eARC port, and it was good to go. In terms of sound performance, the HT-A7000 ranks up there with the very best Atmos soundbars. Car chases and action sequences are enthralling when coming out of this 7.1.2 bar, and it does manage to provide a distinct feeling of sweeping surround effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also spent some time watching Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City \u2014 a Blu-ray I\u2019ve seen used as a demo at audio briefings more than once. Both acoustic guitars came through with warmth, terrific detail, and just the right kind of jangle. The vocals stayed crisp and distinct in the center channel throughout every song. Sony\u2019s S-Force Pro Surround and Vertical Surround Engine technologies do a good job of dispersing sound around the room when you\u2019re watching anything that has a surround mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immersion factor grew more impressive when we watched Atmos content from Netflix or through my Movies Anywhere library. Sony has a \u201csound field optimization\u201d process that helps the soundbar tune itself for your room. It plays a few loud noises that help the device detect how far away the walls to its left and right are (like Sonos\u2019 TruePlay tuning system), and it detects ceiling distance as well. You can manually input these numbers if you\u2019ve measured for yourself and want to make sure they\u2019re perfect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With more drivers at its disposal, the Sony outperformed Sonos Arc – though not by as nearly as much as we expected considering the $500 price gap. The effect of the height channels was very similar in both speakers. Sony includes different sound modes like auto, standard, cinema, and others like \u201cvoice\u201d that emphasize dialogue or \u201cnight,\u201d which limits the boominess when you\u2019re watching at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly there\u2019s no preset audio mode for gaming. But even so, the HT-A7000 kicked out powerful audio when we were playing Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart on PS5, with no noticeable audio and video sync issues. Switching over to my Xbox Series X, the story was the same. Passthrough largely worked flawlessly, with the soundbar correctly detected different audio codecs being sent from games and streaming apps on the game console.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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