Sonyh t-st5000 atmo s soundbar
Sony’s first Dolby Atmos soundbar is worth digging deep for, if you love action movies and High-Res Audio
Sony’s super cinema bar.
If you’re going to pony up the best part of £1,500 for a soundbar it had better be darn special. Happily, Sony’s HT-ST5000 is a serious performer.
A full-width (1.18m) offering, it’s best partnered with 55-inch plus screens. In addition to Dolby Atmos compatibility, it offers 24-bit high-res audio support and DSD playback. It comes with a smartly designed wireless subwoofer.
The finish is fittingly premium. The bar’s fabric cover is removable, so you can admire the high-end drivers. Two matching coaxial speakers with gold-rimmed tweeters sit left and right, while a less-golden coaxial driver flanked by a quartet of mid-rangers take centre stage. Top mounted, behind metal grilles, hide upfiring Dolby-enabled speakers for Atmos and Surround duties. Sony describes the configuration as 7.1.2.
A display window relays input and volume, while a selection of on-body controls are provided for those that don’t like the stubby IR remote.
Connectivity includes three HDMI inputs, with one ARC-enabled output; all support HDCP 2.2 for 4K sources. There’s an optical digital audio input, stereo via minijack and Ethernet. Wireless support includes dual-band Wi-Fi with NFC pairing and Bluetooth with LDAC (Sony’s own high-bandwidth protocol). To the right edge is a USB input.
While the system doesn’t ship with a calibration mic, you can manually fine-tune distance, level and ceiling height settings. There are also video display options, although these are all best left on Auto.
The user interface is similar to that seen on the brand’s Blu-ray players, and proves intuitive to use. The only integrated music service is Spotify, however the HT-ST5000 has Chromecast built in, so you can stream all sorts from your mobile.
Sony has a bit of reputation for tightly corseted control when it comes to soundbars, but this model has been brought up on the wrong side of the tracks. It gets rowdy when a soundtrack demands, and that sub has genuine 50Hz lowfrequency heft. Yet it still sounds fancy when playing chamber music.
If you’re expecting an full-on Dolby Atmos experience, though, you may be disappointed. Despite those upfiring drivers, we never got a sense of Atmos-style immersive audio. Instead we cowered before a veritable wall of sound, lost in admiration at the superb image placement. During the opening of
Mad Max: Fury Road, we were front and centre as the War Boys roared into shot. It does a magnificent job managing scale and depth.
Total power output is quoted at 800w, which may be somewhat optimistic, but we never felt that the S-Master HX Digital amplification lacked welly.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is how sweet the HT-ST5000 sounds with music: it’s rich and rounded, with a wide theatrical soundstage. The sub integrates perfectly. Christy Baron’s rendition of Ain’t
No Sunshine (LPCM 96kHz 24-bit), confirms a natural mid-range vocal performance, while Megadeth’s Holy
Wars (DSD vinyl rip) demonstrates thrilling attack. Yet the system sounds equally at home with String
Quartet No.16 in F Major, by the Belcea Quartet, (FLAC 96kHz 24-bit). Those shiny stereo tweeters could make a preacher swoon.