MSRP: £599.00
What is the Sony SRS-X99?
The SRS-X99 is Sony’s top-end wireless multi-room speaker for 2016 with support for high resolution audio and, of course, Bluetooth streaming. Other speakers in the multi-room range include the SRS-X77 and SRS-X88 that are both considerably lower than the £599 list price of the X99. Occupying two major growth areas in the audio industry – multi-room and wireless streaming – pits the SRS-X99 against an awful lot of competition and it’s going to have to deliver in spades to justify the price-tag. Read on to see if it does.
Design
By wireless speaker standards, this a big one but the SRS-X99 sports an understated design that will blend in with any environment. The actual footprint is 430mm, in width, and it is 125mm deep with a height of 133mm. The SRS-X99 features a natty, touch-control enabled top panel with buttons that only illuminate once it’s touched. Those controls include the Network button, various input selections, a software update button, plus volume and power controls. By default, the SRS-X99 comes with a silver coloured fine-mesh metallic grille but you can take it off with the supplied removal tools – a pair of magnets that look like WiFi antennas – if you prefer your drivers exposed.
Connections & Control
At the rear of the unit is where you will find all the physical connections and those include a LAN port, a 3.5mm stereo jack and both USB-A and USB-B connections, and it’s with the latter with which you will be able to playback high resolution audio files through; note Sony says support is limited to their Walkman DAPs and PCs and you will need to purchase the WM-Port Cable from Sony for it to work – for a £600 device, the lack of a circa £15 cable seems a bit stingy.
In amongst the inputs is also a WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) button which can be used in conjunction with a supporting router – most newish ones do – to create the network connection – it’s much quicker and easier than the manual method so we’d recommend it where possible. The Wi-Fi antenna is located in a recess at the rear and can be positioned for best reception -we found the range to be pretty good with no issues connecting from the app in the furthest-away-room in the house.
In amongst the inputs is also a WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) button which can be used in conjunction with a supporting router – most newish ones do – to create the network connection – it’s much quicker and easier than the manual method so we’d recommend it where possible. The Wi-Fi antenna is located in a recess at the rear and can be positioned for best reception -we found the range to be pretty good with no issues connecting from the app in the furthest-away-room in the house.
The SRS-X99 comes with probably the skinniest remote control we’ve ever seen so it’s ideal for tucking away next to your computer but it will, most definitely, get lost down the sofa if you don’t store it safely. It would have been preferable, at least for us, had it not operated over infra-red, some form of wireless connection would have been nice but, then, there is the app for that…
Setup
If you want to make use of all the features the SRS-X99 has on offer, you must download the Song Pal app. Your initial access will be via Bluetooth but once the app and speaker are paired, you can then use the network connection as well/instead of, which will give you much better range. If your phone or tablet is capable of NFC pairing, the app will instruct you to place it on the tag on the top panel, else you will be guided to your Bluetooth settings page where you establish the connection in the time honoured manner. For those with a lot of audio files stored on their computer or networked storage, the easiest way to get things running is by using Sony’s Media Go software which will scan your machine for files and you can manually add files on the network.
SongPal App
The interface of SongPal is very friendly and the navigation is slick. From the home screen, you get direct navigation to various online streaming services and you can choose which in the initial setup. We had it running very happily with TIDAL, BBC iPlayer Radio and Google Play Music but you can choose absolutely any app you have downloaded to your device. Using the app is simply a case of making sure your phone or tablet is connected to the SRS-X99 and then choosing your music source from the main screen. There are some volume and EQ settings available from a context menu top right and all the other settings are accessed from a finger-over menu on the left. You can also use it to chain together other wireless speakers in the Sony range (SRS-X77 & X88) where you can play the same audio through at the same time.
In light of other systems on the market, this is actually somewhat limited as you can neither group as stereo pair nor play different music to different speakers. Another annoyance was the fact that you seemingly can’t use any of your nominated apps for multi-room, only the one Sony prescribe – Spotify, TuneIn, Google Play Music, Deezer for multi-room; we say seemingly as, whatever we tried, we couldn’t get our own apps to show on the Sony Pal grouped speaker screen, only for the individual speakers. You can relay contents stored locally on your device and from the network, but this is still a serious limitation in the execution.
Video Review
Audio Quality
The Sony SRS-X99 has a veritable arsenal of speakers and amplification that are largely put to very good use. To deal with the specifics, the SRS-X99 sports seven speaker drivers, in all, including four 19mm tweeters (2 upward/2 front firing), two 50mm mid-range speakers and a 90mm subwoofer to take care of the low end. The most striking thing about the performance of the SRS-X99 is the level of detail present, especially when you compare it to lesser wireless speakers. You feel like you’re hearing virtually every note, with the tweeters especially impressive in delivering a cultured, yet striking top-end performance.
The rest of the package also play their parts, with the compact sub packing more of a punch than you would expect from something so relatively small and the 50mm speakers producing a commendable mid-range. Sony has also managed the crossover points between the speakers with an assured hand, although it can, at times, be a little bass heavy which could detract somewhat from the mid-notes but generally this wasn’t an issue. Whilst we’re dealing with some slight negativity, there’s no getting away from- or rather the opposite – the fact there’s very much a sweet spot in which to listen to the SRS-X99; move a few centimetres off-centre and the reduction in stereo imaging is noticeable.
In a more positive vein, we found the Sony SRS-X99 to sound excellent with virtually everything we threw at it, whether that be ‘lossless’ quality via TIDAL, 320 kbps from Spotify or direct CD rips stored on a NAS. The Clear Audio+ processing of the Sony is particularly beneficial with the lower-end sources and certainly minimises the feeling that you’re listening to quite compressed material by ‘retrieving’ detail that would have been otherwise lost. Don’t expect miracles if you’re listening to 128kbps MP3 but, then, we wouldn’t expect anyone who’s spending £600 on a wireless speaker to be doing so.
The rest of the package also play their parts, with the compact sub packing more of a punch than you would expect from something so relatively small and the 50mm speakers producing a commendable mid-range. Sony has also managed the crossover points between the speakers with an assured hand, although it can, at times, be a little bass heavy which could detract somewhat from the mid-notes but generally this wasn’t an issue. Whilst we’re dealing with some slight negativity, there’s no getting away from- or rather the opposite – the fact there’s very much a sweet spot in which to listen to the SRS-X99; move a few centimetres off-centre and the reduction in stereo imaging is noticeable.
In a more positive vein, we found the Sony SRS-X99 to sound excellent with virtually everything we threw at it, whether that be ‘lossless’ quality via TIDAL, 320 kbps from Spotify or direct CD rips stored on a NAS. The Clear Audio+ processing of the Sony is particularly beneficial with the lower-end sources and certainly minimises the feeling that you’re listening to quite compressed material by ‘retrieving’ detail that would have been otherwise lost. Don’t expect miracles if you’re listening to 128kbps MP3 but, then, we wouldn’t expect anyone who’s spending £600 on a wireless speaker to be doing so.
Conclusion
Pros
- Great detail
- Enough volume to fill a room
- Multiroom integration
- Flexible mobile app
Cons
- It is expensive
- Lack of streaming freedom with multiroom
- Bass can over-power mid-range
Sony SRS-X99 Wireless Speaker Review
Should I buy the Sony SRS-X99?
First things first, you could get yourself a pretty darned reasonable stereo set up for this kind of money with enough budget for a decent pair of speakers, a two channel amp and a budget/mid-range DAC; if you’re truly serious about stereo, there is no doubt you will get better bang for buck that way. That said, we have to make the assumption that for whatever reason, be it space saving, aesthetics, multiroom capability or portability, you’re exploring this space and the Sony SRS-X99 does plenty to justify its place in the market.The design is classic Sony – elegant and understated – the connectivity is decent with stereo, USB A/B and high quality Bluetooth at your disposal, in addition to integration with streaming apps and network playback. The SRS-X99 also delivers lots and lots of detail, via its impressive speaker array, with enough volume to fill most living rooms although the stereo imaging is lost quite quickly as you begin to move off-centre. The Sony is also impressive with lower quality sources, with Clear Audio+ really helping to restore what was taken away during compression but there is no getting away from the fact that this is an expensive product that now finds itself with true audiophile competition. The best recent example we have of this would be the Naim Mu-So Qb and the Bowers& Wilkins Zeppelin which, arguably in the latter case and almost certainly in the former, have a better all-round sound quality, although the B&W lacks the bespoke app the other two are afforded. Still, there’s enough to like about the Sony SRS-X99 to merit it an AVForums Recommendation.
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