Last year’s ST5000 Atmos soundbar will carry over into 2018 where it will be accompanied be two more affordable options, one of which is designed to supplement Sony’s new 9 series LCD TV. The new soundbars are now available in the US and Europe.
Sony 2018 soundbars
Sony is expanding its partnership with Dolby. The company has begun supporting Dolby Vision on its TVs and the latest and greatest soundbars from the Japanese company will support Dolby’s object-based Atmos technology.
In addition, the soundbars will support the competing DTS:X format, which is DTS’ flavor of an object-based audio format. DTS:X was added via a firmware update to ST5000 last year and the new soundbars will support it at launch.
With the launch of the two new soundbars, Sony will offer a total of three soundbars with support for Dolby Atmos. Last year’s flagship ST5000 is still the flagship, whereas the more affordable Z9F (or ZF9 in Europe) is a classic 3.1 soundbar without roof-firing units. Sony claims that it can simulate a vertical sound stage. Rear speakers are optional.
The third soundbar is the X9000F (XF9000 in Europe), which – hence the name – is designed to supplement Sony’s X900F (XF90 in Europe) LCD TV that was launched earlier this year. It is a 2.1 channel soundbar that can simulate a vertical sound stage with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, according to Sony.
Sony is not alone in offering products based on the relatively new object-based audio formats. Samsung has sold Atmos-capable soundbars for a couple of years now and will refresh its line-up later this year. LG has started integrating Atmos decoding and Atmos speakers into its OLED and LCD TVs, and is selling Atmos-capable stand-alone soundbars. Brands such as Onkyo and Yamaha also offer Atmos-enabled soundbars.
Sony’s 2018 soundbars are now available in the US and Europe. Follow the links below for more information on prices and dealers.
Prices & dealers
USA: Sony HT-Z9F
USA: Sony HT-X9000F
UK: Sony HT-ZF9
UK: Sony HT-XF9000
DE: Sony HT-ZF9
DE: Sony HT-XF9000
