T3 India – August 2019

WWW.T3INDIA.COM AUGUST 2019 T3 Tomorrow’s Technology Today 81

Tested

Sony’s latestsoundbarbrings

cinematic sound inyourliving room

IMMERSIVE

ithexceptionalcontentbeingchurnedoutby

streamingserviceslike Netflix andAmazon

PrimeVideo,havingagoodaudio-videosetupin

ahomeis nowessential.Whilehigh-endTVs

bridge thatgapbyprovidingtopnotchvideoexperience,Sony

is offeringitsaudiosolutionwiththeHT-Z9F.It’s a 3.1ch

soundbarthataimstobringthe goodnessofDolby Atmosand

DTS:Xin yourlivingroom.

The mainsoundbarunitis abouta meterwide thathouses

itsthreedriversandcanbehiddenawaybehindthe magnetic

grille.Eitherway,the soundbarlooksfantasticwithitsclean

designanda smalldisplayonthefront.(whichbytheway,

isn’tclearlyvisibleifyouputonthegrille). Thetopfeatures

touch-sensitivebuttonswhereastherearboaststhe

importantconnectivityports.

The 52Wsoundbaris complementedwitha 20Wwireless

subwoofertohandle thebassandifyouneed5.1channel

audio,Sonysells the wirelessSA-Z9Rseparately.S o nyalso

bundlesaremotecontrolwiththeunit.

Settingupthe soundbarwiththe subwooferisfairly easy

as Sonyhasdoneanexcellentjobwalkingusthroughthe

process.Therearwirelessspeakersdo needsomedabbling

beforeit cantalkwiththe mainunit.Butwhenyou’reready

to go,thedifferenceinthe audiois night andday.

The wide soundstageis evidentandenhancedfurtherby

the Vertical SurroundEnginethataddsdepthwhile the

W

VERDICT

WE’REIMPRESSEDAudioquality

WE’DIMPROVEN/A

THELASTWORDTheHT-Z9FretailsforRs. 62 , 990

but adds awholenewdimensiontoenjoygood quality

videowith top-notchaudio.

WORDS KUNALGANGAR

subwooferhandlesthebasswithease.Watchinga showlike

GameofThroneswiththe HT-Z9Fgivesyouanideahow

muchyoumissedthe audiocuesinyourfirstviewing.Adding

toitsaudioprowessarethedifferentaudiomodeslike

Cinema,Music,GameStudio,NewsandSportthatoptimise

audiodependingonwhatyou’rewatchingorlistening.

Moreover,the HT-Z9FcomeswithChromecastbuilt-i n

thatmakesit easytostreamcontentfromthe phonedirectly

tothe TVandcanstreamaudiowithSpotify Connectorvia

Bluetooth. Thesoundbaralso supports Google Assistantand

Amazon Alexa.

PRICE` 62 ,9 90 URLsony.co.inDIMENSIONS

1 000×64×99mm(mainunit), 190×382×386mm

(subwoofer)WEIGHT3.1kg(mainunit),8.1kg(subwoofer)

AMPLIFIERTYPES-MasterHXSPEAKERLAYOUT 3 .1

channelINTERFACEHDMI(ARC),Optical-audioinput,

Analoguein(stereomini),USBtypeA,Ethernet,802.11n

Wi-Fi,Bluetooth4. 2 HDRYesAUDIODolbyDigital,

DolbyAtmos,DTS:X,SBC,AAC,LDACSOUNDMODE

AutoSound,Cinema,Music,GameStudio,News,Sports,

StandardVIRTUALSURROUNDS-ForcePRO/Vertical

SurroundEngine