forum thread Posted by sangnguyenz • May 17, 2025
May 17, 2025 5:18 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
forum thread Posted by sangnguyenz • May 17, 2025
May 17, 2025 5:18 PM
[YMMV In-Store Costco] Sony HT-A5000 5.1.2ch Soundbar with Built-In Subwoofer - $299.97
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I bought one of these last week to replace my Samsung soundbar. I have a Sony OLED tv. This thing sucks compared to the Samsung. Both are 5.1 channel. I was sure there are some settings that I should configure so I called Sony support. They couldn't figure out why the sound is very low. For comparison, my Samsung soundbar is super loud on volume 20. This on volume 20 is almost non existent. Maybe I don't understand the soundbars , could you share the Reddit link for configuration?
"So after some playing around, doing some research, and tweaking, I found the following to be optimal.
1. Make sure you do the sound optimation last after tweaking these settings
2. Audio settings: sound field setting should be Sony/vertical surround engine I found in some content that dts neural works better too but if I leave it on than I have to switch back and forth. And Sony vertical gives me best sound so far.
Make sure sound field surround is on
Also make sure your hdmi eARC option is on and hdmi signal format is enhanced.
3. DSEE/audio DRC both as off
4. Advanced auto volume ON
1. Make sure you do the sound optimation last after tweaking these settings
2. Audio settings: sound field setting should be Sony/vertical surround engine I found in some content that dts neural works better too but if I leave it on than I have to switch back and forth. And Sony vertical gives me best sound so far.
Make sure sound field surround is on
Also make sure your hdmi eARC option is on and hdmi signal format is enhanced.
3. DSEE/audio DRC both as off
4. Advanced auto volume ON
I used to own a Bose Smart sound bar 700, and I expected this to be an upgrade in sound quality, but I am afraid it is not. This sound bar is definitely simpler, easier to set up as it has a nice UI interface shown on the connected TV. The remote is quite useful, might have 20 fewer buttons than the bose remote, but I was not using those additional ones.
Nice features: dedicated Sub (bass) level buttons on the remote. Voice enhancement, Night mode and Bluetooth buttons instead of the need to find them in a sub menu.
What I needed a sound bar for: spotify connect. I want WIFI connection on the sound bar that can play audio (without the BT delay and compression) with the TV off.
What is missing after the Bose sound bar: google voice control. Practically I still only played spotify, but now I need to tell my phone to start playing - and it might start the playback on the phone first (even if I tell it to play on the sound bar). One more click on the UI to move it to the sound bar though.
Dolby atmos is mostly a gimmick, there is hardly any content where it is a noticeable upgrade above dolby digital.
The Bose had issues with network connection, I needed to reboot it about once a month. Time will tell if the Sony A5000 has any similar problems. Unfortunately, I did not have the Bose next to this A5000 side by side to compare the audio stage for music, I think they are very similar. Maybe Bose was nicer on the bass, but the neighbors will like the A5000 more
[IMG]https://static.slickdealscdn.com/images/smilies/smile.gif[/IMG]Update:
I bought the satellite speakers to the system, Best Buy has open box ones for $219. It is a mess to set this up correctly, I went over all options on the interface, adjusted every combination, still the volume on the satellite speakers were so low I absolutely though the speakers are broken. I needed to hold them to my ears to notice anything during a movie.
Then after reading through all reddit forums people returning these speakers, I found one comment that mentions that you get an manual adjustment for the volume levels if you turn off every automated step in the setup. You can adjust the volume, then re-run the automated setup and it keeps the volume as you have set! Now, I can hear the satellites and the sound stage is much better than before, though I still have audio glitches on the wireless speakers. Looks like the higher quality audio cannot make it consistently through the wireless channels. If I set the connection to prefer QUALITY, the glitches are constant even if I keep the speakers 2 feet away from the sound bar. I need to set it to CONNECTION preference, then it is much fewer glitches, only sometimes noticeable during music. Still a bad quality issue no average customer could ever debug and root cause. Most people (according to the amazon reviews) simply returned the speakers when they met the volume issue they could not fix (not even after contacting Sony customer support).
So Beware! I currently enjoy spotify and a few movies on this speaker system $299 for the soundbar + $220 for the satellites.