Sony - HT-A5000

I too own the A5000, love it!!!

Costco has sony ht a5000 on sale rn. I love it. But need to buy speakers to get full exp.

I bought the 85 inch x90cl with the HTA5000+SW5+RS5 and I'm very happy with the set up. Keeping everything in the Sony ecosystem allows it all to run very smoothly.

I'll go against the grain and say that I bought a Sony HTA5000, SW5 and RS5 to go with my new Sony X90CL TV and I'm very happy with the setup.

The A5000 is decent on it own but becomes great when paired with the SW3 or SW5 subwoofers so i would definitely recommend you getting a sub with it

A5000 is pretty great with my Bravia 8

I paid 1400€ for a5000 8 years ago and it is still solid. But it is downgraded to the living room TV, and installed a q995f. It is immersive, a stunning upgrade over a5000. 60w TV speakers are also working with Samsung Q-Symphony. Really like that using all the performance. If you don't like cables around, this device is a beast when pair with a compatible TV.

I know it's all personal preference but I wouldn't count on JBL for longevity personally. I am sorry to hear that tho, def a bummer. It's the JBL Bar 500? Same model they have out now or an older version? Jw. Also, I have personal experience and have heard some others report bad connections between LG sound bars and subwoofers. My sister's setup is very confused where the crossover is and decides to cut out entirely for minutes at a time. So I lean away from LG for audio personally. If looking at $500 roughly for price point I'd suggest the Denon S517, The newer Klipsch Flexus Core 200 line, Polk Signa S4/S4D.. If you can get one for the steal snag a Sony A5000 before they're all gone as they bring in the Bravia 8/9 bars etc. That A5000 is a beast at its price point imo and the system is buildable. I set my parents up with it for their family room cu they have a proper basement theater, so they use it with no sub nor rears, but you can always add both or either of them later. Sony is really in a good place rn imho hardware-wise. I was aiming for that bar for them for Bravia Sync to maximize the use of their brand new TV in a new home, but I didn't expect to be so thoroughly impressed with Sony's virtual surround capabilities rn. They're doing something right. Stinks to have to replace that that soon tho 2 years is a joke. Edit: +1 any device from any brand can fail early or malfunction before too long or even right out of the box. But I did wanna say my personal 2 cents on JBL. I think the brand has its place, just longevity in home theater systems isn't my first place I'd give them points. Their portable and more rugged speakers tho that are more designed asking to take a beating, that's where they shine imo. Pretty much every other application there's another product I'd prefer. But again, that's just my preference! I won't say I have never been impressed by their sound. I may often find some of their tuning a bit bassy, but it depends on the exactly product really.

Sony a5000 from Costco was $899 and if they still have it it was $299. Doesn’t come with rear speakers or sub but you can buy the rs5 rear speakers for between $499-599 when they go on sale before Christmas. Total $8-$900. You will love it as many have been on this thread saying how awesome it is. Remember, please do not settle with the first bar you get if you don’t like it. Don’t be lazy and just return it. A5000 is awesome to start at only $300

Sony HT-A5000 was $279 on clearance at Costco. It’s got upfiring speakers and was $899 brand new. So save $600 for a brand new awesome soundbar. Don’t know if it’s still available but it was as of Thursday

Oh without a doubt. It won’t have great bass, but enough to make it sound very good and does a very good job of sending sounds to the left and right depending on what the scene calls for while having upfiring drivers instead of virtual Atmos is a big difference. In fact, I had the flagship a7000 when these two came out and the a5000 was basically as good with the difference being 2 less total drivers. It’s sounds just like the newer Bravia 8 soundbar that costs$800. This a5000 was $899 when it came out and still sells new for 999 at Sony and between $499-$599 at most other stores unless you get refurbished for $350-$450 but $299 for brand new is a fkn steal. It’s gonna be gone soon so hurry and update us on how you like it.

It’s basically as good as the a7000 with real upfiring speakers which actually make a difference especially between cheaper bars that use virtual Atmos.

Sony a5000 at Costco was $899 and I’ve been recommending this to many people with a budget of 3-$400. It’s on clearance at $299 and has an internal Subwoofer plus it has upfiring speakers for real Dolby Atmos and not that virtual crap. This is the best deal for a premium standalone bar. I’m not sure if Costco still has them but many people here bought one and have sent me thank you messages saying how much they love it. Good luck with whatever you decide

I hope you do because these are Sonys flagships from 2022-23 with the a7000 being $1299 and the a5000 being $899 and the only difference between them is that the a5000 has 2 less drivers, but it is still fairly big, as one person couldn’t fit it on his console and between the tv. Wish you the best

Look and see if Costco still has the Sony a5000 on clearance for $299. It has upfiring speakers for real Dolby Atmos and doesn’t come with a subwoofer but has just enough bass with a built in subwoofer. It was a $899 bar when released and I got at least 9 people to buy it and they all love it. You can buy rear speakers and a subwoofer in the future if you want but most people will be satisfied with this by itself. I had the a7000 and it just has 2 more speakers than the a5000. It’s a phenomenal deal and if you’re near a Costco you can always return it if you don’t like it but nobody else returned it. Good luck

Do you have Costco near you? If so they have the a5000 Sony soundbar on clearance and it’s a premium soundbar that you can add rear speakers and a sub to in the future. US price is $299, so you’re right there money wise.

If you want an incredible experience and have a Costco near you see if they still have the Sony a5000. It’s a $900 bar brand new on clearance for $299 and has an internal subwoofer that has just enough bass to satisfy. It’s really good if it’s still available and it comes with upfiring speakers for real Dolby Atmos sound.

From Costco, get the A5000, but add the SW5 and RS5 to complete the system

I have an HT-A5000 and HT-A7000. They sound amazing. For a bigger room, you'll need to add the rear RS5's, eventually. Totally changes your experience. And get a sub no matter what. You can use dual subs and/or a 3rd party sub. For my 7000, I have the wireless SW5 and a basic klipsch 10" that's hard wired. And also have the S-Center connection. It's not life changing but I can tell the difference...adds a bit of life to the vocals and brings it up a little bit.

Yeah there's a little panel underneath. 3.5mm connection. Use a 3.5mm to RCA connection and you're in business. My 5000 is in a smaller sunroom with no rears, and it's really submersive

On FB marketplace, look for a Sony HT-A5000. Then, as budget allowed, add the SW3 or SW5 sub, and then the RS5 rears (not the RS3).

Atmos from a soundbar is mostly about the sound bubble. It's never gonna be technicly accurate - so you can have a pretty good experience if you have the right expectations up front. (1) the quads are made for less than perfect placement, so that would be a place to start. (2) the Q990 series allow you to also set up the surround speakers up front, which might be great for your room (I have an HT-A500 with no rears in a small sunroom and the SSM "bounces" the sound around enough to give me that nice sound bubble). (3) don't go Sonos - and the 300's disable the front firing speaker during surround mode - it's very odd. And super expensive for what it does

If you have a Costco membership, you can order the Sony A5000 for clearance pricing of 299.97 new . But there are used ones on eBay and facebook for around $250 , So yeah the A5000 is a good choice. You can upgrade them later on with rear speakers and then subwoofer.

Sony soundbars match well with Bravia TVs not just because of the sound but also their menu integration that is added to your tv quick menu for easy changes. What to get will depends on your budget. Just the Bar alone with a somewhat all in one that you can upgrade later, I would say Sony HT-A5000 that is on clearance at Costco for $299.97 website or if you can find it. its 199.97 in warehouse stores. This will give you all the clarity you want along with some extra base and somewhat surround and up firing Atmos sounds. When you what to upgrade, you can then look for rear speakers, (SA-RS3 or SA-RS5) when you add those its changes the whole feel of the system.. . If you need more base, then its time to get the subwoofer , (Sa-SW3 or SA-SW5) Those rear and sub can also match with other Sony sounds bars too. Theater bar 9, 8, 6. A7000, A5000, A3000. Many of the those Sony sound bars some somewhat build-in mini sub woofers so if you are ok with less base, then just adding a set of rear speakers will give you more immersion than adding a sub woofer. Of course you really should add he Sub in for the full immersion. They also have all in one system 5.1 call Sony Theater system 6 that have bar, sub, and rear speakers but I don't think you can upgrade or mix and match and it does not have up firing speakers.

I have the a5000 with my x93l and it’s fantastic. I paired it with the higher end wireless subwoofer and it has far exceeded my expectations.

The Sony ht a5000 soundbar is excellent .. Got a new one for $200 on eBay. Not open box, new . They were $699 but have been superseded by the Bravia 8 ( also called 8000) soundbar for $699. R*tings rated the 5000 higher than the 8000

Really like my Sony ht a5000. $200-$300 new on eBay. Wired in an old jbl pb10 that I hardly used 15 years ago and has been sitting around. Great sound for $210. Room shaking bass, if desired. Music is great, even the bass heavy test tracks.

I got a $200 Sony a5000 from Costco and the upgrade is HUGE on my Vizio tv in my living room. But I'm not audiophile though. Just want to understand what they say watching the office 

Ordered. Super stoked to see how it performs. Thanks!

Gorgeous sound. Beats the absolute brakes off of the TCL I had in here. I need to spend some time learning about the settings and tweaking but even out of the box it’s just beautiful. Very glad I found this thread. Thanks again for the recommendation.

Everyone agrees that the TV sound is inadequate for watching quality movie content. Below are some observations for sound system newbies - this is NOT for audiophiles: If you really like managing your audio menu options with your Sony TV remote, you can add a Sony Soundbar or Home Theater In a Box system - these get heavily criticized but IMHO they are not bad for most average users. You don’t need to get caught up in gimmicks like virtual surround, virtual Atmos, etc. If you have a cozy space less than 15ft x 15ft and you’re just trying to enjoy life and have a simple elegant looking set, you will have a very solid stereo sound experience and excellent bass from the economical Sony HT-S400 2.1 system with subwoofer included. If your space is larger than 15ft x 15ft and you want movie sound effects and swooshes across the room to come from the rear of your seating position, you can get the HT-S40R for affordable powerful sound, again with subwoofer included. For Music, 5.1 is NOT good; you are better off investing in an awesome 2.1 configuration with a set of large active bookshelf or floor standing speakers (ideally with 4 to 6 inch mid-range cones and a subwoofer output) AND maybe also get a powered subwoofer. eg Klipsch Fives with a Klipsch 10 sub. This will produce an amazing musical performance while still letting you enjoy your movies. The only downside is that you will need to use the speaker systems remote to make adjustments to bass, treble, balance, etc. Thanks to HDMI, you will still be able to adjust the volume level with the TV remote. It’s all plug and play. The whole 5.1 speaker concept was designed for watching movies so the main sound would come from the front three speakers while the ambient sound effects like background street noises, door knocks and laughter would come out of the rear speakers. The subwoofer is meant to carry all the weight of thunder and deep bass from the sound tracks - its location is usually in a corner of the room. If you are value-minded Ignore the hype about Atmos, virtual surround, etc. Of course if you have larger than 15 x 15 feet of space, and you can afford to splurge, you can upgrade to the HT-A5000 or HT-A7000, Bravia Bar 7 or 9. You could even get a higher-end systems such as a Sony HT-A9 or Sony Quad with a wireless subwoofer like the SW5 to give you true spatial seperation. And of course, if you have more refined taste with a desire for absolutely real cinema sound, then you can spend the money to get a full-blown receiver and component speakers with real Atmos speakers mounted in the ceiling. All of the extra effort and spending on the premium sound systems will improve your listening experience by 5 to 10% at every step and is only worth it if you have the ear for it. For most average people there is no need to go overboard, just stick with basic 2.1 (if Music is priority) or 5.1 (if Movie is priority). All the best!

The Sony Home Theater systems sounds really good. Atmos is overrated for causal viewers tbh. Everyone agrees that the TV sound is inadequate for watching quality movie content. Below are some observations for sound system newbies - this is NOT for audiophiles: If you really like managing your audio menu options with your Sony TV remote, you can add a Sony Soundbar or Home Theater In a Box system - these get heavily criticized but IMHO they are not bad for most average users. You don’t need to get caught up in gimmicks like virtual surround, virtual Atmos, etc. If you have a cozy space less than 15ft x 15ft and you’re just trying to enjoy life and have a simple elegant looking set, you will have a very solid stereo sound experience and excellent bass from the economical Sony HT-S400 2.1 system with subwoofer included. If your space is larger than 15ft x 15ft and you want movie sound effects and swooshes across the room to come from the rear of your seating position, you can get the HT-S40R for affordable powerful sound, again with subwoofer included. For Music, 5.1 is NOT good; you are better off investing in an awesome 2.1 configuration with a set of large active bookshelf or floor standing speakers (ideally with 4 to 6 inch mid-range cones and a subwoofer output) AND maybe also get a powered subwoofer. eg Klipsch Fives with a Klipsch 10 sub. This will produce an amazing musical performance while still letting you enjoy your movies. The only downside is that you will need to use the speaker systems remote to make adjustments to bass, treble, balance, etc. Thanks to HDMI, you will still be able to adjust the volume level with the TV remote. It’s all plug and play. The whole 5.1 speaker concept was designed for watching movies so the main sound would come from the front three speakers while the ambient sound effects like background street noises, door knocks and laughter would come out of the rear speakers. The subwoofer is meant to carry all the weight of thunder and deep bass from the sound tracks - its location is usually in a corner of the room. If you are value-minded Ignore the hype about Atmos, virtual surround, etc. Of course if you have larger than 15 x 15 feet of space, and you can afford to splurge, you can upgrade to the HT-A5000 or HT-A7000, Bravia Bar 7 or 9. You could even get a higher-end systems such as a Sony HT-A9 or Sony Quad with a wireless subwoofer like the SW5 to give you true spatial seperation. And of course, if you have more refined taste with a desire for absolutely real cinema sound, then you can spend the money to get a full-blown receiver and component speakers with real Atmos speakers mounted in the ceiling. All of the extra effort and spending on the premium sound systems will improve your listening experience by 5 to 10% at every step and is only worth it if you have the ear for it. For most average people there is no need to go overboard, just stick with basic 2.1 (if Music is priority) or 5.1 (if Movie is priority). All the best!

I beleive your TV has 50W speakers, so it should sound really great for dialogs when you use the s-center speaker technology. I currently use the HT-A9 with my X93L and love how it sounds. If you are going to get a sound bar + rear speakers to complete your surround sound experience anyway, then you might as well just get the Sony Quads 4 speaker system with the SW5 for a little extra cost. If you didn’t care about the virtual bounce-from-ceiling Atmos, which I would agree is not worth the extra money spent, you can get the much much cheaper A5000 soundbar and pair with the 3 series rear speakers and the SW5 subwoofer.

Costco has the Sony HT-A5000 for 500 and you can add a 300 or 500 dollar sub. I went with the 500 one off Amazon. The sale ends Nov 17 at Costco. I paired up with my Sony 85

I tried it 1 day by itself and orders 2 day ship Amazon for the subwoofer, adds more warm sound. Must tune your specific liking

Depends on your budget. I have a Sony 85 tv and got the Sony sound bar at Costco. Sale ends Nov 17. It was 500 for the A5000 model. Then I paired it with an optional subwoofer for 500. Reason is 1K was my budget and I am able to use 1 remote and it sounds real good after tuning. I mainly watch sport and some tv shows so it's good setup for me.

There's a Sony coupon in there for 100 off accessory from Sony but you gotta register and wait for them to approve and send the code so you can add rear speakers or subwoofer. Some say the smaller one hits but the big one I got is 360 wave or whatever. I just bought it instead of waiting for the code. If you do get it I'll try to find the vid that showed me to fine tune the settings. Out of the box I had the volume at 50-60, afterwards it's like 30-40 and made a big difference

Okay, I've got a full home theater with all the goodies. And I just recently acquired for my general watching TV. A Sony a5000, Costco has them on sale for 250 bucks. It's a steal. It used to be $1,000 plus unit. And before that I had a generic little soundbar that I had from the old days that I had just plugged in because I had it. The built-in speakers in my Bravia versus the tiny cheap soundbar wasn't much difference. The a5000 actually sounded really good and surprised me at how well it was able to create sounds behind me, above me, etc. I was really truly impressed with how good a job it did in the space I was in. And my theater has 7.1.2 plus seat shakers. So it's a complete experience. So on a scale of 1 to 100, with the built-in speakers being a 1 in my theater being 100. I probably rate the good soundbar at a 70 and a cheap soundbar maybe a 20?. Now my good soundbar I could probably make even better by adding a sub which it supports and it also supports wireless surround speakers. But that would drive the cost up and logistics up as the surrounds would have to find a place to plug in or some of them are rechargeable. But that just seems like a pain in the butt to me. I had looked at the higher end. Samsung units and I'm sure they'd be really good too.

Yeah I got in on that deal. I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. Especially since I have a full home theater set up in another room.

I got mine and I would been surprised by it. A couple of times. I was watching some show and there was this knocking sound that was coming from behind me. I thought what the heck's going on. I thought my cats were doing something and I looked both. My cats were in front of me and it turned out that the soundbar had actually managed to make the sound come from behind me which completely shocked me since I have just the a5,000 and nothing else in this setup. That being said, there are other places where I knew that there should be some from behind me and they really weren't as prominent. I think at certain frequencies because those are the ones that bounce well in my room. So your mileage may vary

I'm gonna get crucified here but I prefer the sound of A5000 over the A7000.

Take Sony A5000 which is way better than A3000 and Samsung. I consider Sony is better than Samsung Q990f in terms of quality and usability. A5000 have built in subwoofer which makes it better soundbar than Samsung as standalone unit plus 8k hdmi passthrough for gamers . You can get great sound which is sufficient for most of the people to experience cinematic movie and spatial music. If you want more, you can also add in Standalone Sub and rear speaker of your choice. Sony have 2 kind of subs and rear speakers. Samsung doesn’t have those flexibility. Sony’s 360 spacial sound experience is great for Dolby atmos experience . I have full Sony setup in my living room with SW5 (subwoofer) and RAS-5 ( wireless speaker) with A5000. When I don’t want subwoofer and rear speaker. I simply don’t turn them ON and my soundbar is enough to rumble my room with cinematic sound and even music and when I want more I simply turn on sub and rear speaker (which connects wirelessly) to shake my room.

Got an A5000 on Amazon renewed for $250. Not a mark or dent and works perfectly. Then a got the SW3 sub and SA-RS5 surround speakers on Greentoe. All together spent $850. Works great!!!

I think the recently discontinued HT-A5000 would give you a lot of bang for your buck since they’re now discounted.

I had one and liked it. It was paired with the SW3 subwoofer and the RS5 rear speakers, and the combination of those gave me nice surround sound. I ended up replacing it with the Theatre Bar 9, which has the additional advantage of side-firing drivers. I'm not sure that makes all that much difference. The main advantage of the Theatre Bar 9 is that you get louder sound out of the rear speakers. With the 5000 I had to turn them all the way up to get what I considered adequate sound out of them, which isn't necessary with the Bar 9. That being said, with the rears turned up all the way I felt it was a good system, more than adequate for my needs.

A5000 is $300 at Costco. I enjoy mine 

Great I'd definitely recommend buying new so you have at least 1 year warranty. Plus Costco is very generous with returns from what I hear if you don't like it. I bought mine from Sony directly over a year ago I believe for $500. I have the subwoofer and I had the A7000 before and I actually think this one is better.

I have had the q990f but I returned it because it is a bar that for me seems to have a lot of recording power and all the technology but I kept my Sony HT-A 5000 bar and I put the SW3 subwoofer and the SW3 rear ones in it And I like it much more than the q990f, the voices sound much better on the q990f, I don't like the way they sound

HT-A5000 has a great Voice Mode, I just bought one and a 55 Bravia 8 tv... super clear (I'm hard of hearing and with voice mode on it makes a huge difference with dialog). I have a medium large room, and it easily fills the room so much that my dog goes outside and my wife gives me the look, especially when I play music.... it just sounds great.

I use Sony Ht - A5000 plus 2 rare speakers SA RS3S. Good thing about this soundbar you are not necessarily need rare speakers and subwoofer to have a decent sound which will save you money

I can confirm it’s very good sound bar , and if you don’t have a big room just soundbar maybe will be enough for you.

Had to return that 5000. It was pretty bad. Sound levels all messed up. Some apps the quality was terrible. When you paused, then resumed play, it slowly ramped up the level. Playing music was an unreal upgrade. But the tv experience was hindered.

Get the a5000, love mine

My a5000 sounds better in my home than it ever did in the store.

Sony HT-A5000 at Costco for $500. You can add a subwoofer later if you think you need it. You can also add rear speakers later if you change your mind.

I bought mine in January in store. Regularly $800, on sale for $500 (and it seems like it is on sale all the time). I haven't looked at the store for a while, so maybe it's up to $550? Or $550 is just the online price. Not sure.

Yea get that instead it’s worth it I got one for $200 in store online $299

You also don’t have to buy the overpriced rears or sub from Sony. the bar has a plastic panel that can be popped off on the back with a wired aux port for L and R rear speakers. aswell as a Sub port and yea you can’t go wrong with getting it.

I have this exact combo and it’s incredible. The SW5 has the best bass I’ve ever heard from a sound bar system. Then in the future you can always upgrade to the Bar 9 and keep the SW5 and RS5s. That’s my plan

You could look at sennheiser ambeo mini but the sonos beam is probably better. The sony ht-a5000/ht-a7000 are going to be way better than ht-s2000 and depending on your usage; you may prefer them over the sonos beam.

100% I'm voting the Klipsch. Sony just doesn't sound good to me & they're too expensive for the performance in my opinion. & Sonos is just a disaster right now so I can't recommend Sonos to anyone. But the Flexus system is a fantastic system. 2 4" Subwoofers that hit quite well, & it just ROCKS. And the Sub 100 is a mean subwoofer!

Room calibration doesn't make or break sound staging. I can't exactly speak on the A5000 but I can speak on the S2000. To me, all Sony soundbars are underperformers. Yea they might do DSP work better but if it doesn't sound good overall then that's a deal breaker for me. And Sony is delivering systems that are nowhere near my expectations of them. I think they're starting to get better & closer to my expectations with the Bravia bars, but I've only heard a demo before. The S2000 is their "entry level" bar that some reason can apparently get louder than the A3000-5000-& 7000 (according to rTings.com with SPL readings). And I won't lie it does get quite loud, but it definitely does NOT sound good at high volumes without doing a decent amount of EQ tweaking on my phone. Also that SW5 is the biggest joke of a "flagship" subwoofer I've ever seen. I had an old Sony 5.1 AV unit with a single 8" subwoofer and let me tell you, it was so much better than this SW5, Like twice the performance at about the same size. Hell I honestly can't personally even recommend Sony until they release new subwoofers cause these subs are just ass. The Sonos Mini Sub was legitimately half the size, sounded 10x better & honestly can probably get louder too. I had the Sonos Mini Sub literally sitting on top of the SW5 & honestly I think it might be able to sit 2 mini's on top of the SW5. My Klipsch Flexus on the other hand, entirely different animal. Has been one of my absolute favorite systems along with the Q800B & Sonos Arc + Sub Mini as close runner ups. EDM & especially guitars have an incredible richness to them on this Flexus system that the Q800B & Sonos Arc just don't come close to. And if I'm honest I think this bar has an incredible soundstage. I was watching something the other day and something was happening to the left off screen & it was madly impressive how much I actually thought there seemed to be a whole separate speaker actually making the sound instead of the bar. Also choice of a 10" or 12" subwoofer, & choice to run 2 of them if needed. I have a single 10" (Sub 100) and its definitely a subwoofer that really means business.