While a soundbar might be the best place to start when you want to move from the unsatisfactory built-in speakers in your TV to a more dedicated solution, not all setups allow for this.
Then there’s the whole issue of surround sound, because while manufacturers have elegantly created an Atmos effect that surrounds the listener by having the drivers shoot up rather than directly at the receiver, that’s not the same as a dedicated unit placed around where you sit.
To solve this problem, Sony created the A9, or HT-A9, a sound system you can buy that has no sound bar, no subwoofer, and consists of just four wireless speakers placed loosely between you and surrounding your TV, resulting in true depth and surround sound.
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The four units use Sony’s own 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology, which is a combination of different technologies; Sound Field Optimization and Monopole Synthesis. It’s all soft, fuzzy HI-FI language, and by equipping each unit with two microphones, they can instantly understand where they are, what the room looks like, where each other is and where the TV is. By doing this, they create a surround network around your position, ensuring a certain symmetry of sound.
It works brilliantly, during testing for me“weave”The soundscape of , especially after encountering the exact opposite horror multiple times with the other test sets, is far more difficult to symmetry or balance.
According to Sony itself, these four units together can create 12 ““Phantom Speaker”of“Feel”, the idea is that four drivers in each unit, a 19mm tweeter, a full-range X driver, and a Sonos Arc-inspired driver fire upwards, working together to give the impression of multiple sound sources surrounding the audience. This versatility also means the A9s really don’t care how you position them. They use 360 Spatial Sound Mapping and its drivers to create custom settings, regardless of where they are, which applies to height and distance from each other.
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It’s great because each A9 unit is tall like 30cm so they really come out at home and they’re slightly matte“Light Pearl”The colors don’t exactly match the modern decor. Setup, on the other hand, is completely painless because you have a little HDMI box that connects to your TV’s eARC port like a soundbar, and then you’re basically set.
You’ll also pay a solid premium for it, and the A9 bundle should set you back around £1,800, enough to buy a Sonos Beam, Sub Mini and two Ones, and still have around £350 to spare. Is the A9 really that much better than a slightly cheaper setup with a subwoofer and soundbar?Yes, in some ways the surround sound effect is far more accurate, to say the least, in terms of what appears around you“Foam”is magical.
In the end it should be said that there is a slight problem with the dialogue as there is no such central channel to anchor the dialogue in front of the TV. So a lot of the dialogue can get a bit lost and lose some of its gravitas, but that’s only in the flashes, like when Immortan Joe delivers the opening line with Mad Max: Fury Road, which is more musical and authentic than his baritone sound.
But other than that the A9s are a great set of speakers that really offer a different experience than traditional alternatives and if you want to somehow avoid the usual subwoofer/soundbar combo this is the way to go .
