TechLife Australia – September 2019

[ 062 ]

SonyHT-S350Soundbar

SONY’S2.1SOUNDBARGOESLOUD,BUTWENEVERTRULYFELTLIKEITWASGREATSOUND.

SOUNDBARSLIKETHESonyHT-S350area

godsend– asbuilt-inTVspeakersaregetting

worse,2.1channelsoundbarsandsubwoofers

havesteppedintomakeourfavoriteshows

andmoviessoundlikethey’resupposedto.

WithSony’sHT-S350,yougetbothinthe

box,andwiththeboomingsoundthey’reboth

capableof,theresultsspeakforthemselves...

well,mumblemightbea betterwordforit.

WhileSony’ssoundbardoesdeliverbetter

soundthanmostTVspeakers,it stilldoesn’t

liveuptothehighbarsetbyother2.1setups.

Onceweunboxedthethesoundbarand

subwoofer,whichcomeinanL-shapedbox,

weimmediatelynoticedhowunderstatedboth

are.Neitherhasa particularlyflashydesign-

they’rebothinmatteblackandthereareno

distinguishingfeatures.

Measuringabout88cmwideand5cmhigh,

thesoundbarshouldbeshortenoughtoslide

undera TV– howeverthatcandependonthe

widthofyourTV’slegsthough.If yourTVsits

toolow,you’llhavetoplacethebarrightin

front;somethingyoucouldprobablydoif you

haveenoughrealestatetoworkwithonan

entertainmentunit.If theTVis wall-mounted,

thenroombecomeslessofanissue.

If you’relookingtogowireless,Bluetoothis

youronlyoption.There’snoWi-Fi,which

negatesanypossibilityofstreamingdirectly

frompopularappslikeSpotify,andnoAirPlay

orcasting,either.That’sa hugemisstepthere.

Intermsofotheraudiostandards,the

soundbarsupportsDolbyDigitaland

DolbyDualMono,butnotDTSorthe

vauntedDolbyAtmosthat’savailablein

higher-endsoundbars.

If there’soneadvantagetosucha basic

soundbarit’sthatthereisn’tmuchtosetting

thisallup.Wehada TVwithanHDMIARC

input,sopluggedinthatwayfirst,butalso

testedit viatheopticalaudioconnection(Sony

includestheopticalcableinthebox,butnotan

HDMIoneandtheadvantageofHDMIinthis

scenariois thatit’sprettymucha one-and-

donejob).WecontrolledvolumeusingtheTV

remote,thoughwealsotestedtheincluded

remotethatcameinthebox,too.

Withupto 320 wattsofpower,theHT-S350

cangetplentyloud,butweshouldprefacethat

bymeasuringexpectations.Thebalancetends

toshifta littlemoretowardthelowend,largely

becauseofthesubwoofer,butthere’salsoa

reasonablysharphighendmostofthetime.

Normally,distortionsetsinwhenyougo

reallyhigh.Here,wefoundthatweneededto

raisethevolumea certainleveltofeelthe

punchyandresonantsoundthesoundbar

couldmuster.Wewereneverblownaway, but

at leastwefeltsomelevelofimmersion.

TheSonyHT-S350hasalltheappeal of

other2.1soundbars– it’sa systemrather than

a singlepieceandit’smucheasiertosetup than

twobookshelfspeakers- butthesumof those

partsis a littletoolimiting.Wewould’ve loved

toseemoreconnectivityoptionsorjust better

soundat thisprice.

[ TEDKRITSONIS]

SO

$3

ww

CRITICALSPECS

320W, 2.1ch Sound bar; S-Force PRO Front

Surround; Bluetooth connectivity; 12.6Kg.

TE

ST

BEN

CH

RA

DAR

ONY HT-S 350

99

ww.sony.com.au

3

THE BALANCE TENDS TO

SHIFT A LITTLE MORE TOWARD

THE LOW END, LARGELY

BECAUSE OF THE SUBWOOFER,

BUT THERE’S ALSO A

REASONABLY SHARP HIGH

END MOST OF THE TIME.