Podcast #1110: Sony HT-AX7 Portable Theater System Review

This week we take a look at the best speakers for 2023 that are priced between $50 and $1000. And Ara reviews the Sony HT-AX7 Portable Theater System from Sony. We also read your emails and take a look at the week’s news. 

News:

TCL's new 98-inch 4K TV is as ridiculously cheap as it is ridiculously big Sony's latest QD-OLED TV is significantly brighter than last year’s models Charter to Make Its Comcast JV Xumo Its ‘Go To’ Video Platform Disney just delivered potential death blow to DVDs and Blu-rays Best Stereo Speakers for 2023

Whether you're shopping for bookshelf models or a pair of floorstanders, these are the best speakers for the money. Full article here…

HT-AX7 Portable Theater System with 360 Spatial Sound Mapping

The Sony HT-AX7 is a portable Theatre System with 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology that attempts to bring cinematic surround sound to any room. It is a portable speaker system that has two detachable speakers that can be placed behind you to create a sound bubble that, according to Sony, will make you feel completely immersed in sound. We saw reviews and were excited to buy the $500 speaker and put it through it's paces. 

Features:

Cinematic sound. Anywhere When Sound Field effect is off, place the three speakers in the corners of your room for whole room audio No wires - battery rated to last for 30 hours. 10 min Quick Charge will get you 2.5 hours Weighs 3 pounds (1.4 Kg) so it's easy to transport

Setup

This was trivial. From the time I took it out of the well packaged box to when I was listening to sound took about five minutes. And I was going slow! All you need to do is pair the speaker with your device and start watching something. You can use the Sony Home Entertainment app to tweak it a  bit more. But beyond that there isn’t much to do.

Performance

I had high hopes that this would be something cool. But it's important to note that Bluetooth does not support Dolby Digital and the box does not have a Dolby or DTS logo anywhere so all the spatial sound is completely synthetic and processed by the HT-AX7.  

Top Gun Maverick was the first movie watched and quite frankly the experience was underwhelming. I could barely hear anything coming out of the satellite speakers. I went into the app and maxed out the volume for the speakers which made a big difference. In some respects the satellite speakers enhanced the experience but I wouldn’t say it was immersive. 

Then I watched the opening sequence to 6 Underground which has the most action packed opening sequence I have seen in a long while. It's the perfect scene to show off your Atmos system. Watching on my ipad with the front speaker two feet in front of me and the surround speakers one foot behind me. I did get a more realistic surround experience than just watching on my iPad. But it wasn’t until I balanced the surround speakers on their sides and aimed them right at my ears that I began to really think that this product was something pretty cool. 

The experience was similar to the old Dolby Pro Logic surround from the 90s. And I did not feel as though I was in a sound bubble like the marketing material claims. By comparison, my Atmos system makes you feel like you are on the street in the Italian square that the opening sequence was shot in.  

Spatial Audio from Apple Music sounded fuller and did make the experience more immersive. But from an audio point of view the quality wasn’t as good as my Audioengine Desktop speakers. In general I was not impressed with the sound from the speakers. It was a bit thin and there was no LFE  output that would allow me to add the low end with a subwoofer. But still much better than your speakers on your devices.

When the satellite speakers are connected to the main unit it functions like any other wireless Bluetooth speaker. However, there is no support for Airplay. If you remove the satellites and turnoff the sound field effect you get three speakers playing the same thing. It's a nice way to fill a room with ambient music for get togethers.

Who is this device for?

Someone with deep pockets who wants to improve the audio experience when watching movies on a tablet, phone, or PC. It is kind of cool sitting on your bed watching something on your personal device in surround sound. But at $500, I think the market for this device is small.