HT-A5000

Overview

HT-A5000 is a 5.1.2-channel Sony soundbar from 2021. It is 1210 mm wide, 67 mm high and 140 mm deep, comes in black and can be wall-mounted. Sony lists a weight of 13 lb 8 oz (about 6.1 kg) for the bar.

Sony lists a 9-channel S-Master HX digital amplifier with 450 W of total power, a built-in subwoofer, and its Vertical Surround Engine and S-Force PRO processing.

The box contains an HDMI cable, a remote control, an audio adapter, a power cable and booklets. The TV connects over HDMI eARC, and one HDMI input takes a console or player. There is also an optical input, a USB port for music files, Bluetooth 5.0 (receiver and transmitter) and Wi-Fi.

Over Wi-Fi, the bar supports AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in and Spotify Connect, and works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. You can control it with the buttons on the bar, the remote, or the iOS and Android app.

What the specs mean

• 5.1.2 speaker setup: five main channels, one subwoofer channel and two height channels, all from the bar itself. The height channels are what let the bar play Dolby Atmos and DTS:X with sound from above.
• HDMI eARC: the enhanced Audio Return Channel sends the TV's sound to the soundbar over one HDMI cable, including high-bitrate formats such as Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos and uncompressed multichannel audio.
• HDMI passthrough: the HDMI input passes up to 8K at 60 Hz with HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, plus VRR and ALLM for gaming, and supports HDCP 2.3.
• Audio formats: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS:X, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-ES, DTS 96/24, DTS Digital Surround, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and LPCM 2ch.
• Room correction (Sound Field Optimization): Sony says this measures the distance from the bar to the ceiling and side walls, and to the optional subwoofer and rear speakers when connected, then adjusts the surround sound to the room. The measurement takes up to 30 seconds.
• Expandability: an optional Sony SA-SW5 or SA-SW3 wireless subwoofer adds deeper bass, and the optional SA-RS3S wireless rear speakers add rear surround channels. With rear speakers, Sony lists 360 Spatial Sound Mapping, which creates multiple phantom speakers arranged around the room.