Sony SA-RS5 - Very disappointed

[Earfull]

OK, so I am pissed.

I recently abandoned all my older Home Theatre gear (tower speakers/Receiver etc), bought a Sony HT-A7000 soundbar and SW3 sub to go with my new 65” OLED TV. I felt that it was weak sounding, so just bought a pair of the new (and expensive) SA-RS5 rear surrounds.

After setting it all up today, I am shocked at how quiet and anemic the rear speakers are. Even when set to “Max”, they barely emit any sound whatsoever, and it doesn’t really sound any better than before. Is there something setting-wise that I am possibly missing, or is this all they will do?

 

[shadyJ]

OK, so I am pissed.

I recently abandoned all my older Home Theatre gear (tower speakers/Receiver etc), bought a Sony HT-A7000 soundbar and SW3 sub to go with my new 65” OLED TV. I felt that it was weak sounding, so just bought a pair of the new (and expensive) SA-RS5 rear surrounds.

After setting it all up today, I am shocked at how quiet and anemic the rear speakers are. Even when set to “Max”, they barely emit any sound whatsoever, and it doesn’t really sound any better than before. Is there something setting-wise that I am possibly missing, or is this all they will do?

Surround speakers aren't supposed to be loud. The surround channel doesn't get tasked with playing a whole lot of stuff, just ambient sounds and effects noises. If the surround speakers are set up correctly, they are supposed to be subtle.

The Sony soundbar should be able to produce enough loudness for most people, unless you are sitting far away and have a large room. In that case, it would be underpowered. But if that isn't the case, it sounds like there might be a setup issue.

 

[TLS Guy]

OK, so I am pissed.

I recently abandoned all my older Home Theatre gear (tower speakers/Receiver etc), bought a Sony HT-A7000 soundbar and SW3 sub to go with my new 65” OLED TV. I felt that it was weak sounding, so just bought a pair of the new (and expensive) SA-RS5 rear surrounds.

After setting it all up today, I am shocked at how quiet and anemic the rear speakers are. Even when set to “Max”, they barely emit any sound whatsoever, and it doesn’t really sound any better than before. Is there something setting-wise that I am possibly missing, or is this all they will do?

The real surprise here is that you are pissed off. That was entirely predictable after you bought a miserable sound bar with mini speakers, and a puny useless sub. The problem is you lack common sense, which is actually rare, and not common.

If you had common sense, you would know that marketers lie to the point of criminality, and are a vile subspecies of the human race.

This is the sort of nonsense you got sucked in by.

[Packed into the Sony’s stylish case are two up-firing speakers, two beam tweeters and five front speakers. There’s also a built-in dual subwoofer for added bass. When combined, this impressive speaker array delivers full 7.1.2 surround sound, letting you enjoy the full thrill of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks.]

If you believe that, then you could probably believe anything.

For Heavens sake man, switch on your BS alarms, and up high!

 

[highfigh]

Sorry to break it to you, but small speakers are almost never good and they can't fill anything but a very small room. Low power is never going to make small speakers fill a room and if you didn't read the manual, you won't know how to many any necessary adjustments.

This kind of AV stuff is for people who don't care if it sounds good- don't read the marketing BS, do a bit of research to find out if something will do what you want. This is also a great example of why local dealers were needed, to manage peoples' expectations.

BTW- a 6" woofer isn't a subwoofer. Also, in looking into their 'Separated Notch Edge Technology', they may have used a car speaker in the sub, since that's where that was introduced. By other manufacturers. A long time ago.

 

[Earfull]

Surround speakers aren't supposed to be loud. The surround channel doesn't get tasked with playing a whole lot of stuff, just ambient sounds and effects noises. If the surround speakers are set up correctly, they are supposed to be subtle.

Yes, I fully understand that they aren't supposed to be loud, it's just that they are producing almost no sound at all. When I stand with my ear right next to them, I can barely hear anything, during types of playback that certainly should.

The Sony soundbar should be able to produce enough loudness for most people, unless you are sitting far away and have a large room. In that case, it would be underpowered. But if that isn't the case, it sounds like there might be a setup issue.

The soundbar itself performs fine, as does the sub, normal and acceptable volume levels, it's just these rears that are the problem. It's perplexing as I did go through the prescribed calibration setup.

 

[Earfull]

The real surprise here is that you are pissed off. That was entirely predictable after you bought a miserable sound bar with mini speakers, and a puny useless sub. The problem is you lack common sense, which is actually rare, and not common.

If you had common sense, you would know that marketers lie to the point of criminality, and are a vile subspecies of the human race.

This is the sort of nonsense you got sucked in by.

[Packed into the Sony’s stylish case are two up-firing speakers, two beam tweeters and five front speakers. There’s also a built-in dual subwoofer for added bass. When combined, this impressive speaker array delivers full 7.1.2 surround sound, letting you enjoy the full thrill of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks.]

If you believe that, then you could probably believe anything.

For Heavens sake man, switch on your BS alarms, and up high!

Did you get up this morning and decide to be as abrasive, rude and unhelpful as possible? Good job!

 

[Earfull]

Sorry to break it to you, but small speakers are almost never good and they can't fill anything but a very small room. Low power is never going to make small speakers fill a room and if you didn't read the manual, you won't know how to many any necessary adjustments.

This kind of AV stuff is for people who don't care if it sounds good- don't read the marketing BS, do a bit of research to find out if something will do what you want. This is also a great example of why local dealers were needed, to manage peoples' expectations.

BTW- a 6" woofer isn't a subwoofer. Also, in looking into their 'Separated Notch Edge Technology', they may have used a car speaker in the sub, since that's where that was introduced. By other manufacturers. A long time ago.

No, the system works fine other than these rear speakers. I'm not expecting them to "fill a room", just produce more than they are presently producing, especially given that they are set to "max" volume. I just moved into a condo/townhouse, so opted for the smaller sub out of consideration for my neighbors below, and it works just fine.

I moved from a house where I had a 13' x 19' dedicated theatre room with all great equipment, so I know fully well that this new Sony stuff is not going to be the same and have reasonable expectations, but something is amiss here with these rears.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Did you get up this morning and decide to be as abrasive, rude and unhelpful as possible? Good job!

TLS Guy, aka Dr. Mark, is a retired Doctor and recording engineer who forgot about audio more than you ever knew. He doesn't tolerate bullshit and speaks his mind out. If you're here to learn, at least try to look past his warm and fuzzy personality.

Also, You did buy crappy speakers without asking any of us, then we could've just told you they are crap before you bought them. Now you come here to complain about issues with your crappy speaker like it's somehow our fault.

 

[highfigh]

No, the system works fine other than these rear speakers. I'm not expecting them to "fill a room", just produce more than they are presently producing, especially given that they are set to "max" volume. I just moved into a condo/townhouse, so opted for the smaller sub out of consideration for my neighbors below, and it works just fine.

I moved from a house where I had a 13' x 19' dedicated theatre room with all great equipment, so I know fully well that this new Sony stuff is not going to be the same and have reasonable expectations, but something is amiss here with these rears.

There are two parts to the problem- the speakers can be cranked to MAX but if the volume at the front end isn't turned up, you're not going to hear much.

 

[Earfull]

TLS Guy, aka Dr. Mark, is a retired Doctor and recording engineer who forgot about audio more than you ever knew. He doesn't tolerate bullshit and speaks his mind out. If you're here to learn, at least try to look past his warm and fuzzy personality.

The fact that he has great knowledge on all things audio doesn't mean that he's always right about everything, and in this case he hasn't lifted a finger to try to solve the issue, rather, just jumped into hysterics about how these sorts of sound systems aren't as macho as traditional HT sound systems, like some Ford guy saying that Chevy's are all junk. It's lazy, tribal, and childish.

BTW, tell you "doctor" friend that I am dying of ALS, so he should know that one never knows what another is going through, and a little kindness goes a long way.

 

[Earfull]

There are two parts to the problem- the speakers can be cranked to MAX but if the volume at the front end isn't turned up, you're not going to hear much.

Thanks, yes, I'm aware of that, and I did crank the volume at times, but they still did not produce any detectable sound; it was all still just coming from the soundbar. They are fully capable of producing generous sound, as the calibration setup revealed.

 

[SithZedi]

Have had limited success with wireless speakers in my home. Have you tried running wires to the RS5s to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Earfull]

Have had limited success with wireless speakers in my home. Have you tried running wires to the RS5s to see if that makes a difference.

I could be wrong, but I don't think these can be "wired".

 

[SithZedi]

Apologies, you are right. I just checked the the manual for the 5000. No plugs.

 

[afterlife2]

Have you tried a DC/Marvel bluray with the best surround? As others have said barely anything come from back speakers. S1 Haunted Hill series on Netflix had some great surround back. Made my butt jump. Check it out.

 

[SithZedi]

Not a sound bar guy but do use one in my basement for the kids. After going through a few test periods with a few, the one I settled on was a Martin Logan Vision X. Big sound, very good sound field, didn't feel I needed to go through the trouble of rear surrounds, and I do use a sub with it. It's clunky and the remote is bad but it's great bang for your buck, especially at this price even though its "refurbished". Just a cheaper option if you decide you are unhappy with the 5000.

ttps://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/motion-vision

 

[Eppie]

I second the recommendation for experimenting with a movie that has known rear channel effects, like the Marvel films. Some TV content may just not have the surround tracks that you expect. Are you using HDMI or the optical input? For surround, if the TV has eARC on one of the HDMI ports, that might work better than optical. Can I assume that you tried the Optimize feature on the surrounds for calibration?

It's difficult to predict what to expect. There is no distortion rating or other pertinent information on the specifications, so if that 90W per channel is at 10% distortion then the power rating could be grossly overinflated. If you can stream internet content as well, maybe look for a surround test track to test all channels. We highly recommend that people seek advice here first before purchasing to avoid these sorts of issues.

 

[lovinthehd]

Wow just checked the price....$600/pr! Battery is fully charged I assume? You have the matching soundbar so they should "work"....but something could be defective I suppose (but is the soundbar sending out the correct signal I'd wonder as well)....so exchange them for another pair or soundbar perhaps before giving up? I'd also not expect a lot of content particularly, but since you had a theater before you should have a realistic idea of what surround content is now. Good luck!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

So what is the source material? What sound mode etc?
Was the previous system set to all channel stereo? If you’re used to something like that, it could explain a little as well.

 

[Earfull]

After finding this Amazon review (by “ginandbacon”), I made many “Manual” speaker settings changes:

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Wireless-Speakers-HT-A7000-HT-A5000/dp/B09TG3XX4L#customerReviews

Unfortunately, while they are performing a bit better now, even at max volume on the remote for the rears, they are still quite lame, especially given all the hype about the “up-firing” technology and such, and the crazy price. I don’t expect great performance when watching cable TV, but there should be a mode setting on the remote to have them produce some sound, but even when watching a 4K movie (Netflix), they aren’t doing much.

Probably the worst case of buyer’s remorse I’ve ever had.