NEWS: Sony launches HT-G700 Dolby Atmos soundbar

A Dolby Atmos soundbar without rear speakers but a vanilla 5.1 with rears. Stupidity at its best...
 
I don't understand Sony. They spit out mid-table soundbars all the time, but a successor to the HT-ST5000, with proper rear speakers, is nowhere in the horizon.
 
The S20R offers a lot for the money; subs, rear speakers. The whole lot for a cheap price.

Are they not replacing the aging ST5000, their top of the range of Atmos soundbar this year.
 
The new lineup consints of the soundbars:
  • Sony HT-G700 3.1 Atmos Soundbar with no rear speaker suppoert
  • Sony HT-S20R 5.1 Soundbar with rear speakers with no atmos support and EARC
i had the ST5000, my first atmos Soundbar and it was amazing. The sub / Soundbar combo was great. dialoge clear and the on-screen options were great. I wished you were able to upgrade the systems with rear speakers. It received an EARC update so i think if it has rear support, it would be one of the best or the best Soundbar Solutions on the market.

So Sony launches a new HT-G700 I still think it has a good price point and will be received well on the market. Not all are willing or have the space to set up rear speakers. As a consumer i am still waiting of a ST5000 successor with rear speakers.
 
The Atmos speaker doesn't even have upward firing speakers, how can they be allowed to call it Atmos? At least the Sharp one does have specific upward firing speakers in the bar.
A bit like calling LCD panel TVs LED <shakes head>
 
While LG/Samsung and others are looking to push their premium atmos soundbars we've got Sony who think what people really want is no upfiring drivers a cheap a cheerful price and a new name.
 
The lack of Atmos upfiring drivers aside, while some people will scratch their heads at a 3.1 soundbar + separate speakers for sides I actually think Sony did it the right way for good 5.1 audio.

After having used the Samsung HW-Q90R for a month I must say that I don't like the implementation of side channels in the soundbar.
Maybe I'm too used to my AVR setup in the living room (where side speakers are at 90 degrees from the seating position), but I feel side audio should be coming from the listener's left+right sides, not from the very far left+right front. Standalone speakers for the side channels are a must, in my opinion.
I missed the window for returning the Q90R due to circumstances out of my control, but I really wish I'd have gone with the ZF9 (or this new S20R) plus side speakers instead.
I'd prefer having proper 5.1 separation over getting Atmos capabilities, but maybe that's just me...

LE- What would be really nice is if at least one of the bunch would come up with a 5.1.4 solution: 3+2 drivers in the soundbar and two wireless speakers with 1+1 drivers (akin to what Samsung did with their rears for 7.1.4); or even go nuts for 7.1.4 with 4 wireless speakers (sides and rears) :)
 
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The lack of Atmos upfiring drivers aside, while some people will scratch their heads at a 3.1 soundbar + separate speakers for sides I actually think Sony did it the right way for good 5.1 audio.

After having used the Samsung HW-Q90R for a month I must say that I don't like the implementation of side channels in the soundbar.
Maybe I'm too used to my AVR setup in the living room (where side speakers are at 90 degrees from the seating position), but I feel side audio should be coming from the listener's left+right sides, not from the very far left+right front. Standalone speakers for the side channels are a must, in my opinion.
I missed the window for returning the Q90R due to circumstances out of my control, but I really wish I'd have gone with the ZF9 (or this new S20R) plus side speakers instead.
I'd prefer having proper 5.1 separation over getting Atmos capabilities, but maybe that's just me...

LE- What would be really nice is if at least one of the bunch would come up with a 5.1.4 solution: 3+2 drivers in the soundbar and two wireless speakers with 1+1 drivers (akin to what Samsung did with their rears for 7.1.4); or even go nuts for 7.1.4 with 4 wireless speakers (sides and rears) :)

That's what the JBL 9.1 bar is.....
 
LE- What would be really nice is if at least one of the bunch would come up with a 5.1.4 solution: 3+2 drivers in the soundbar and two wireless speakers with 1+1 drivers (akin to what Samsung did with their rears for 7.1.4); or even go nuts for 7.1.4 with 4 wireless speakers (sides and rears) :)
Something like this beast..... :D
Shockwafe Ultra 9.2 SSE with Dolby Atmos Soundbar | Dual 10" Wireless Subs | Quad Rear Surrounds | Nakamichi USA | True Surround Soundbar with Dolby Atmos & DTS:X

A beefy 9.2.4 setup! :eek: :D
 
Oh that's cool then. Didn't notice this mentioned in the online manual, but I only skimmed through it.
 
The detachable speakers not having independent charging is... Annoying to say the least. That and... It's JBL :)


Well that's... interesting :)

Nowt wrong with JBL! They're owned by the same parent company as Samsung and Harmon Kardon.
 
Confused? how do these 'new' soundbars differ from what they currently offer?
 
So is this soundbar replacing the HT-X9000F? It seems it's not replacing the ZF9, as that soundbar supports wireless rear speakers.
 
Debating picking this up, currently £450 at John Lewis but I have £100 worth of vouchers bring it down, watched a youtube video with UrAvgConcumer the other day who had this sound bar sent to him by Sony and seemed to be a positive experience
 
Watching youtube reviews of soundbars can be a dangerous business. Must have looked at about 4 or 5 different models in the past few days and no matter what somebody will be trashing the soundbar you are thinking of purchasing.

There's two different (English language) reviews for the new Sharp Atmos soundbar and one reviewer loves it and the other pretty much hates it.

Probably better waiting for professional reviews I think but even then they seem to vary so wildly that you question whether they were listening to the same product.
 
This was the video I watched, he seemed impressed and his 2 mates did too



Biggest problem for me is layout of my room, no walls behind or near to my sofa so nowhere to put any rear wireless speakers and this seems good. Like you say I’ve struggled for any other reviews on this product
 
Just had one of these delivered today. Connected via optical, as this is how I intend to use it with a projector (not tested ARC yet). Very impressed. The sub is the weak-point, being a little underwhelming, but the soundstage of the main speaker is impressive. Definitely got a wide soundstage and good placement of effects. Even overhead sounds a convincing. I put a little video on my Instagram (Geekanoids) just sharing a quick 60 seconds of opinion.
Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Anyone have any idea how this compares or what the biggest difference would be between this and the Sony HT-ZF9?
 
I've ordered one of these as I had vouchers to reduce price to £416. Turns up Tuesday, so will gladly share my "layman" opinions on it once I have it set up. As our living room is long and quite narrow, it's hard to place rear speakers for a good effect to all viewers in the room, so this appeals.
 

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