Icon Sony SRS-RA5000

It’s transparent and horizontal

£500 / sony.co.uk

Can’t help but want to whack those pads.

We understand the impulse, but sadly you’re buying a high-end speaker here, not a drum kit.

It’s fair to say Sony’s 360 Reality Audio has hardly conquered the world; but now the company is making hardware to pair with the tech, maybe that’s about to change. Both the pictured SRS-RA5000 and the smaller SRS-RA3000 can deliver 360° audio, but unsurprisingly it’s the more expensive model we’re itching to get our ears around.

How does it work, then?

If you wanted to thoroughly cover your lounge in yoghurt, you could do worse than sticking a Muller Light fountain in the middle of the room and turning it up to 11. This wireless speaker takes the same approach to sound, but makes a lot less mess. The RA5000 has seven drivers in total: three of them fire audio upwards and three face outwards, with a 2.75in woofer to handle the rumbles. Combined with Sony’s new Immersive Audio Enhancement algorithm, it creates a fountain of room-filling sound even for stereo tracks that aren’t in the 360 Reality Audio format.

Will my audio yoghurt sound good wherever I put this thing?

It should do. The SRS-RA5000 is Hi-res-certified and can be calibrated to your room for the best spatial audio. Sony’s 360 Reality Audio now supports video streaming too, the idea being that you can recreate the feeling of being at a live gig – handy when attending a real one is off the cards. Connectivity is a win too: you’ve got both Wi-fi and Bluetooth on board and it supports Spotify Connect and Chromecast, with Alexa and Google Assistant arguing over the voice control.

THE SEVEN DRIVERS CREATE A FOUNTAIN OF ROOM-FILLING SOUND