That is the general consensus amongst reviewers.
no it isn't
https://www.avforums.com/review/sony-ht-st5000-dolby-atmos-soundbar-review.13776
"our favourite Dolby Atmos soundbar is the
Samsung HW-K950which has a wireless subwoofer and wireless surround speakers with built-in upward-firing drivers that allows it to deliver a genuine 5.1.4-channel experience. It's well made, sounds great and can be picked up for £1,299, making it the Dolby Atmos soundbar to beat at the moment"
"
The
Sony HT-ST5000 is a very capable Dolby Atmos soundbar and certainly comes recommended but at £1,499 it is expensive and it simply doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from the competition.
What are my alternatives?
In terms of the competition, we have recently reviewed the
Samsung HW-K850and the
LG SJ9 soundbars, both of which deliver a similar front-heavy version of Dolby Atmos with overhead effects but no real surround presence. However the Samsung and LG soundbars can be bought for £899 and £799 respectively, which makes the Sony very expensive in comparison. None of them support DTS:X but the Samsung and LG soundbars do at least support 5.1 DTS, which is more than the Sony currently does. If the reports of a DTS:X upgrade to the ST5000 prove to be true then it would give the Sony the edge and help justify its price but as things stand it's at a disadvantage."
https://www.avforums.com/review/samsung-hw-k950-dolby-atmos-soundbar-review.12848
"
What are my alternatives?
In terms of alternatives, it's worth pointing out that for £1,300 you could definitely buy a Dolby Atmos capable AV receiver and speaker package, although such an approach won't be as tidy or easy to install as the HW-K950. However if we assume that you're specifically interested in getting a soundbar and you'd like one that supports Dolby Atmos then you currently have two choices, the Samsung HW-K950 or the
Yamaha YSP-5600. In terms of simple pricing the HW-K950 is clearly the winner, it's not only cheaper but comes with a subwoofer included. The YSP-5600 is also quite large, so the HW-K950 is undoubtedly easier to install, either under your TV or on the wall. The YSP-5600 creates all of its audio channels from the soundbar itself by bouncing sound beams off the side walls, rear wall and ceiling and although this approach certainly works, it will depend on the shape of your room and it does tend to create a very focused sweet spot.
The HW-K950's use of actual surround speakers creates a genuine 5.1 configuration and the Samsung has been designed to deliver an immersive audio experience over a larger area. Whilst both soundbars create the overhead channels by bouncing sounds off the ceiling and thus will be dependent on the type of ceiling you have, the HW-K950's use of rear speakers certainly helped create a better sense of sounds coming from overhead. In fact in general we found the multi-dimensional audio created by the HW-K950 to be superior to the YSP-5600 and overall we preferred the Dolby Atmos experience produced by the Samsung. The Yamaha does include four HDMI inputs, DTS-HD Master Audio/DTS:X and support for MusicCast but the YSP-5600 has a serious limitation in the fact that it can't pass HDR content. The HW-K950 has no such problems and is thus more future-proofed of the two soundbars. So although the Yamaha YSP-5600 has much to recommend, we'd be inclined to choose the Samsung HW-K950 instead."
apparently the samsung is the one to buy going off of avforums and the only competition which comes close is yamaha, however be aware one is a soundbar the other is 2 rear speakers a soundbar and a sub, so it's not a like for like comparison so that shows you how good the yamaha is as a single sound bar. i wouldn't trust reviews from anywhere else in the uk tbh. uSA has a decent forum with info but i don't feel the need when avforums is so easy to use.
so if you are after a single sound bar the yamaha is the best.
samsung has a soundbar offering which is better but it includes a separate sub and 2 rear speakers.
