Sony HT A9 impressions?

As the OP of this thread just an update from me, have ordered on Curry's!! They seem to be getting intermittent stock as it's been going in and out of stock on there yesterday and today. Very excited to give it a try!! No sub yet and will have to play it quieter than I like for now as still in a flat but will be great to give it a try :)
 
So I've got mine from Curry's and had a play! I'm still in a flat so can't push it particularly loud (the calibration runs VERY loud!) and don't have the sub but do plan to get the SW5.
My first experience wasn't the best but it turned out I had the wrong settings on my tv and it was running only the front speakers.....doh! Once that was sorted it was waaaaay better and watching 4k Blu rays, streaming and games were all fantastic!! Obviously 4k Blu rays were best and honestly I think I can tell the audio upgrade with disk even more than visual, and that was never the case before.
Watched Dune, some of blade runner 2049 and the opening to Saving Private Ryan on disk and all we're excellent, the amount of noises happening around you in Saving Private Ryan is incredible and I cant wait to drive this thing louder and with the sub!!
The phantom centre channel is fantastic, some real wizardry going on there.
Gaming on ps5 with Horizon forbidden west was also really immersive and almost a different experience entirely.
The only thing I find is due to my setup with the back speakers very close behind me on the sofa, I can usually tell that the sounds are happening there and not the 'phantom' speakers around the room. The sofa and TV is in the corner of the flat so not sure if I can do anything about that but open to suggestions! I've tried setting the manual calibration to set the sofa to be closer to the back speakers but that hasn't seemed to have done much. Will keep testing! Overall though incredible and can't wait to get the sub and try it at higher volumes!
Oh also I haven't had a single drop out even with my control box in a shelf in my TV stand.
 
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melmac said:
All your reviews seem to be be so positive!! Which is great.
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Yeah it's really great! I will say though I don't feel like a get the sense of all 12 phantom channels. I would say it's a very convincing 7 channels with the proper front 2 and centre and its convincing to the side and behind you. I do get a very wide sound stage at the front of the tv, it sounds like the sounds are really spreading out from the tv and across it at the front. I'd also say I'm not quite at that "blown away" level just yet. However I'm using this in a flat where I have to keep the volume low and don't have the sub.........with the sub and ability to pump it up loud I can see it climbing up to that blown away level!
 
Simmz said:
I suppose it's difficult to pinpoint where the phantom channels should be exactly, seeing how we can't see them :D Obviously you can follow the sound very precisely which is the main thing. Like previous setups I've had where say a spaceship goes from front to rear, you have that drop off sound in the middle, where as this glides all the way from the front to exiting behind me without losing it at all.

I've also noticed I'm hearing a lot more detail which I never could on the Sonos setup. Take the original blade runner scene where it's raining and he's waiting to order his food (near the start of movie). There's more voices, footsteps, sounds in general just going on.

While the movie is proper looooool, watched Moonfall last night and that makes good use of the sound. Plan to revisit Gravity tonight as that sounded very good on the Sonos, so should be very good on the Sony. Also need to make time for Hobbits and LOTR movies again.
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Yeah this is very true! Been watching various star wars films and ships passing over head or from one side to another sound great and you can follow them all the way which is awesome!
Coming from tv speakers and listening to my dad's 5.1 occasionally I agree with the added detail, so good!
Yeah going to be watching Blade Runner (both), LOTR, Dark Knight and Dunkirk in 4k Blu ray :D also planning on getting all the John Wick movies and 1917 as well.
 
Simmz said:
I suppose it's difficult to pinpoint where the phantom channels should be exactly, seeing how we can't see them :D Obviously you can follow the sound very precisely which is the main thing. Like previous setups I've had where say a spaceship goes from front to rear, you have that drop off sound in the middle, where as this glides all the way from the front to exiting behind me without losing it at all.

I've also noticed I'm hearing a lot more detail which I never could on the Sonos setup. Take the original blade runner scene where it's raining and he's waiting to order his food (near the start of movie). There's more voices, footsteps, sounds in general just going on.

While the movie is proper looooool, watched Moonfall last night and that makes good use of the sound. Plan to revisit Gravity tonight as that sounded very good on the Sonos, so should be very good on the Sony. Also need to make time for Hobbits and LOTR movies again.
Click to expand...
Yeah this is very true! Been watching various star wars films and ships passing over head or from one side to another sound great and you can follow them all the way which is awesome!
Coming from tv speakers and listening to my dad's 5.1 occasionally I agree with the added detail, so good!
Yeah going to be watching Blade Runner (both), LOTR, Dark Knight and Dunkirk in 4k Blu ray :D also planning on getting all the John Wick movies and 1917 as well!
 
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