Z9F 3.1ch Sound bar with Dolby Atmos and Wireless Subwoofer (HT-Z9F)

The Sony HT-Z9F is an amazing device! From receiving the box to watching a movie while listing with the sound bar took about 45 minutes. Instructions were clear and concise and having the wall mounting template made the install process much easier. The ability to pair speakers wirelessly made the install of the sub-woofer a breeze. Once installed the onscreen menus for the sound bar and set up process were great. Having the option to auto power on the unit when my TV is turned on was a welcome surprise. The sound is immersive and the base is deeper and rounder than I expected. I'm still playing with the Chromecast and Bluetooth music streaming. So far being able to access my Spotify has been amazing. I punch a couple quick buttons on my phone and I' rocking out to my playlist. Pros: Quick set up Seamless integration with my TV Ability to stream my Spotify account Overall sound quality Cons: Yet to find any I would happily recommend this to anyone looking for great sound quality and ease of use.

Primary function is to listen to local radio stations, and generally play music throughout our condo. We accomplish this with several Alexa products set up for multi room music. The second function is to provide sound for out TV. An added bonus is being able to simply turn on my wireless earbuds, later at night, to mute the TV Sound. All of this is easy to set up and works seamlessly. On the other hand, though adequate I found The maximum sound level using my earbuds was too low and I was straining to hear clearly,

Barre de son achetée en novembre 2021 et j'ai aussi acheté les hauts-parleurs SA-Z9R pour le 5.1 surround. J'adore la clarté du son et les effets sonores pour les films. Parfait pour le gaming Ps5 et xbox series x. Excellent achat de qualité.

Ps5 is my main entertainment for movies, games and music. Ps5 is directly Connected to sound bar and out to tv. I have rear speakers as well With the sound settings in the sound bar on ”sound mode" Ps5 on linear pcm, sound bar shows 7.1 vertical engine neural x Ps5 on Dolby, sound bar shows 5.1 vertical engine Dolby surround Ps5 on DTS, sound bar shows 5.1 vertical engine neural x Linear pcm: 55/45 front/back. This has great sounds but it can sound like the all the front speakers are going off with no channel isolation (without vertical engine it has better isolation) Dolby: 70/30 front/rear. I didn't like this setting because it's to front focus and Dolby compression makes some sounds very subtle so they fade in the background and I don't get to hear it. (Without vertical engine. Has better left right but still front heavy) DTS: 50/50 front/rear. This is the settings I've chosen to keep. I can hear more detail. Left/right/back/front speakers have great isolation (even better isolation without vertical engine)

Update 2: Candidly I have been very, very tough on this system given the high expectations. My first review was very tough given the money I spent on it, and how long I saved to buy it. As an update, I would happily spend the money on this system again given what I know now. There are other system options out there. However, in the end, you will still spend about the same amount of money (give or take $200). I added a new Blu-Ray player in March 2021 that supports modern audio standards.... Just wow... The difference is truly night and day. This system will truly reveal the quality of your source material. When watching normal TV, you can tell the difference between the well-produced content and content that is hastily created (e.g. quality shows vs commercials). Even on modern streaming platforms, you can tell how much effort was put into the audio mixing. I will not call out specific services by name here, but they will be hearing from me via their customer service lines about the lack of quality in their audio streams. For what they charge, I would expect A LOT more (Dolby 2.0 Stereo ... really?). Just for the sake of comparison, I happened to catch a newer movie that I knew carried Dolby 5.1 and DTS:HD. The 5.1 was on a streaming service, and DTS:HD was on the disc which I own. I caught the same movie on a live streaming service that was only passing Dolby 2.0 Stereo that I had on DVR. You could pick out the differences in the corresponding scenes among the three audio standards. I was honestly shocked at how much of a difference it actually was. In summary, the source material makes a huge difference. This will also be why I will try to only watch movies on discs. To get back on point, this system is truly very, very good. It is easily a 4-star rating with the rear surrounds (not included). However it will not get 5-stars because the Dolby Atmos reproduction is not perfect since there are not physical speakers in the ceiling. Although that is expected. As a caveat, this experience is also highly dependent upon the listener. If you want a very solid system that will do what it can to make the most of your audio sources, buy this with the rear surrounds but be prepared to ask honest questions about the sources for audio. Anything older than 2017 with lower native bitrates or standards will be noticeable, and you will have to make compromises on the processing and upscaling features. If you plan on pairing this with a nice Blu-Ray player, ATCS 3.0 TV and other high quality streaming services, you will likely be happy with this choice when it comes to bang-for-your-overall-buck soundbar systems. Be prepared to ensure your cables are HDMI 2.1 certified to get the clearest sound. Yes, quality cables do make a difference, and this system will reveal that. I also love the functionality that this system will talk to my super old TV and tell my new 4k Blu-Ray player to only output 1080p at 24 fps. I had a small moment when I was wondering about actually getting a picture out of my Blu-Ray player when I first connected it to my sound bar to pass video to the old TV with all settings set to 'Auto'. As you can see from this review, everything worked well. Update 1: Some additional experimentation has yielded better sound. Given that, I'm upping the review to 4 stars. Original review: I purchased this soundbar with the expectation of great sound and lots of connection options, and it was the first purchase for the living room upgrade. I overall it's Ok and generally acceptable, but I was disappointed. Full disclosure, I acknowledge my review is based on my home theater equipment. Some of that equipment is dated as well. I am not advocating against the purchase of this system as my opinion may change as new equipment is cycled into my living room. Other purchasers are having good results. The high points: 1) Two HDMI inputs. 2) eARC. 3) Fantastic bass. 4) Very good highs and overall clarity. 5) Rear surrounds available (and necessary if you buy this soundbar). 6) Lots of other ways to connect sources. 7) Some ability to control the soundbar via a smartphone app. The low points: 1) Mid-range audio and vocals are deficient for something at this price point. The vocal enhancement setting makes the audio sub-par. 2) Lack of an equalizer for further customization. 3) Difficult to customize due to the need to go to a home screen and settings menu. 4) No stored settings for individual inputs. My set-up includes a 42" Vizio TV from 2009, 2016 FireTV and 2010 Samsung Blu-Ray player. I am using a TOSLINK connection between my TV and soundbar. I have HDMI cables running from my FireTV box and Blu-Ray player to the soundbar. I am using the HDMI out to pass video to the TV with eARC deactivated (since the TV does not support it). When I first connected my sources, I was using some older HDMI cables, and the sound was absolutely terrible. I was able to remedy the situation by purchasing new HDMI cables that meet the HDMI 2.1 spec. That helped tremendously. The mids are still lacking though. I also was not initially using the rear surround speakers. I purchased some from another retailer, and those helped fill in some of the audio gaps even though they are not yet properly mounted on the wall. I had one instance of the rear surrounds and sub disconnecting from the soundbar. If you experience this, ensure your 5 GHz Wi-Fi is not interfering with the soundbar and its connected sub and satellites. I was able to remedy my issue by setting my Wi-Fi network to a specific channel to operate on. If you are using some older sources like I am, you will need to do A LOT of experimenting with the processing settings on the soundbar. You can get decent sound out of it, but you will be making compromises. I intend on keeping the soundbar and rear surrounds as I cycle in new equipment, but the next purchase will be a PS5 or a new TV that supports both HDMI 2.1 with at least two ports and ATSC 3.0. Both the PS5 and a TV with those specs are scarce at this point. I'll update this review as I do make a purchase.