Sony HT-Z9F Owners and Discussion Thread

the sony has no up-firing speakers, it has 3 speakers that point forwards.
you would also need to buy the rear speakers if you wanted surround sound, which would be an extra £200 i believe.

I have no problem with spending extra on those if the sound itself is better.

That's why I can't make up my mind because I don't have the chance to listen them both in person.
 
Guys just a quick question. I got my soundbar yesterday and have mounted it. Does it matter the distance from the tv to the soundbar for sound quality? Like is it better to have a gap or to keep them close together. Or is it purely on preference of how it looks? I have uploaded a picture. Please excuse the cabling, just waiting on trunking


Do you try to play some movies already? How is it sounds? Do you "feel" the vertical surround?
 
Hey guys,

I can get this soundbar with the SAZ9 rears for £300 (second hand but in good condition) - would this represent good value or should I hold out or spend a little more for a better soundbar?

Thanks in advance for any advice
 
I'd say that was a bargain providing you're happy with condition and seller. You're not going to be able to find anything better (new) unless you spend substantially more imo
 
I have no problem with spending extra on those if the sound itself is better.

That's why I can't make up my mind because I don't have the chance to listen them both in person.
If the prices are the same and the Samsung has up-firing speakers and rears then I'd go for that one personally. I have to admit that I have never really noticed any "vertical" sound. that may be down to my hearing or the physical layout of our room (high ceilings) I'm not sure but I suspect the it is down to the lack of up-firing speakers.
 
It is about expectation management. The Sony tries to add the height dimensions of 'vertical' sound from Atmos and DTX with sophisticated DSP. That is no match for a physical driver bouncing sound off the ceiling, nor is bouncing a signal as effective as a dedicated height speaker installed in the ceiling. I think the HTZ9 does a good job of adding a sense of expansion to the sound, but it does not provide true overhead effects, in the same way it does not provide a sense of a true wraparound suround experience without adding the rear speakers (in common with virtually all soundbars without physical rear speakers; Yamaha sound projectors and, it would appear, the Sennheiser Ambeo beast, which use beam bouncing techniques to give a better impression of surround than DSP alone).

I bought the Sony as my current TV does not really allow a soundbar to be placed in front of it, so I needed something which would work from an enclosed cabinet which has an acoustically transparent centre speaker/soundbar shelf, but, of course, upward firing drivers would not work in this situation (they would bounce off the top of the cabinet) I am very happy with the sound quality on offer and the fact that the Sony has no problem passing HLG and Dolby Vision signals to my current, 2016 OLED. I'm sure a dedicated soundbar like the Samsung, with upwards firing drivers on the bar and rear speakers will sound much better, but it does not meet my usage requirements.

An interesting alternative to Sony would appear to be Denon's latest soundbar. This product (yet to be released but available for preorder) have gone the Sony route of using DSP to simulate height, albeit using the HEOS system to facilitate rear speakers or a dedicated sub (the Denon appearing to use passive bass radiators to give low end heft in the bar itself). Will be interesting to see if it has the same manual control over speaker distances and volumes, which I think is a very underrated feature of the HZ9 in making it sound so good in a variety of setup situations.
 
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Hey guys,

I can get this soundbar with the SAZ9 rears for £300 (second hand but in good condition) - would this represent good value or should I hold out or spend a little more for a better soundbar?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Thats a good price, considering whats available for £300.
It is about expectation management. The Sony tries to add the height dimensions of 'vertical' sound from Atmos and DTX with sophisticated DSP. That is no match for a physical driver bouncing sound off the ceiling, nor is bouncing a signal as effective as a dedicated height speaker installed in the ceiling. I think the HZ9 does a good job of adding a sense of expansion to the sound, but it does not provide true overhead effects, in the same way it does not provide a sense of a true wraparound suround experience without adding the rear speakers (in common with virtually all soundbars without physical rear speakers; Yamaha sound projectors and, it would appear, the Sennheiser Ambeo beast, which use beam bouncing techniques to give a better impression of surround than DSP alone).

I bought the Sony as my current TV does not really allow a soundbar to be placed in front of it, so I needed something which would work from an enclosed cabinet which has an acoustically transparent centre speaker/soundbar shelf, but which would allow upward firing drivers to work. I am very happy with the sound quality on offer and the fact that the Sony has no problem passing HLG and Dolby Vision signals to my current, 2016 OLED. I'm sure a dedicated soundbar like the Samsung, with upwards firing drivers on the bar and rear speakers will sound much better, but it does not meet my usage requirements.

An interesting alternative to Sony would appear to be Denon's latest soundbar. This product (yet to be released but available for preorder) have gone the Sony route of using DSP to simulate height, albeit using the HEOS system to facilitate rear speakers or a dedicated sub (the Denon appearing to use passive bass radiators to give low end heft in the bar itself). Will be interesting to see if it has the same manual control over speaker distances and volumes, which I think is a very underrated feature of the HZ9 in making it sound so good in a variety of setup situations.

I would agree and that atmos does not necessarily mean overhead.
The sony when set up properly envelopes you in a bubble of sound, having previously had a sony davs surround 5.1 system it is for me an improvement over 5.1.

And the only true atmos if overhead is what your after would need a seperates via a suutable amp with sub, front, side, rear and roof mounted speakers.

But not all of us even if we can afford it can do that to the main room in the house.

The sony is a decent compromise and is the most compact system that does vertical sound with rears. It blends into the room.
 
Agree re the sense of surround from the Sony. I 'downgraded' from a Denon AV amp with a cheap and cheerful Atmos speaker package (from Onkyo), due to a rearrangement of the living room and the presence of a new Labrador puppy. Bar some loss of overhead effects, I don't at all regret the move and find the Sony just as immersive in terms of surround more generally.

The wireless sub and rears really help in getting good placement from this system, albeit I think it was a very strange decision on Sony's part to have hard wired rear speaker power cables, rather than a kettle lead plug, as the latter would have allowed for replacement leads and even more flexible placement opportunities. I appreciate that many owners have had real issues with drop-outs on the wireless speakers, but I've not had that experience and so am very happy with the soundbar. However, as I noted in comments earlier in this thread, the apparent lack of support from Sony in resolving issues that owners are having would give me pause about buying a Sony product in the future, despite being very satisfied with the HTZ9.
 
First, thank you so much for this post. This was driving me absolutely insane when my Sub keeps checking out randomly.

Questions on this...

1. Do I need to do ALL 3 speakers for this to work? or if I do the SUB with a wire and leave the rears to WIRELESS would that work? or is it all or nothing.

2. Do I need to change any settings to let the system know to use the wire instead of wireless?


The system can be set up using a wired connection, as per my previous post.

To clarify - the hidden ports are behind sticker covers.
This is NOT the thin paper stickers with the model numbers on.
They are plastic black sticker port covers. You may need to use a knife or sharp edge to lift the sides of the plastic sticker up - the one on the main unit was toughest for me.


Please see the below picture with the port cover on the back of the subwoofer just below the power button & link button.

The cable type is 2 ring aux connections
(Like the ones on your standard 3.5mm headphone cables)

The rears also have these and the main soundbar has the ports labels SW RL and RR (Subwoofer, Rear-left & Rear-right)
(See pics below. The port is on the back near the HDMI ports. It's a hard plastic sticker with 2 screws next to it - you don't need to remove any screws)
The rears are harder to remove because they're recessed but has a tiny hole on the edge to help pry off. I used a very thin bent needle to lift it off (see photos)

View attachment 1229026View attachment 1229027View attachment 1229039View attachment 1229042View attachment 1229045View attachment 1229046
 
First, thank you so much for this post. This was driving me absolutely insane when my Sub keeps checking out randomly.

Questions on this...

1. Do I need to do ALL 3 speakers for this to work? or if I do the SUB with a wire and leave the rears to WIRELESS would that work? or is it all or nothing.

2. Do I need to change any settings to let the system know to use the wire instead of wireless?

i only have the sub wired up, the rears remain wireless.

you don't need to change any settings. simply power off the sounbard and sub (ie kill the power), connect the wire, turn both back on.
 
i only have the sub wired up, the rears remain wireless.

you don't need to change any settings. simply power off the sounbard and sub (ie kill the power), connect the wire, turn both back on.
Was your sub connected wireless before doing this? Does it still show "connected" in the wireless settings now even though wired?

Mine was. I plugged in the cable. turned both off and back on and it was still behaving with breaking up of signal... wireless still showed connected. I disabled the wireless so just cable... and then no Bass at all.

I am wondering if I am missing something.
 
Was your sub connected wireless before doing this? Does it still show "connected" in the wireless settings now even though wired?

Mine was. I plugged in the cable. turned both off and back on and it was still behaving with breaking up of signal... wireless still showed connected. I disabled the wireless so just cable... and then no Bass at all.

I am wondering if I am missing something.
Does your SW led indicator colour turns to white/orange instead of the normal green when you wired it?
 
the sub doesn't shows as "connected" when it's wired, as that screen is for wireless connection.
if it's showing as connected on that screen then it's not using a wired connection.
 
Was your sub connected wireless before doing this? Does it still show "connected" in the wireless settings now even though wired?

Mine was. I plugged in the cable. turned both off and back on and it was still behaving with breaking up of signal... wireless still showed connected. I disabled the wireless so just cable... and then no Bass at all.

I am wondering if I am missing something.
I get the same as you, the cable is connected properly and I unplugged the system however the sub light is still green and shows as connected in settings.

The cable I'm using has 3 rings on the jack and I read that can be incompatible with some older equipment. Could that be the case here?
 
i'm using a standard stereo 3.5mm jack cable.
this one
Amazon product ASIN B004I6OFKS

are you sure you have the cable connected to the SW socket on the soundbar? there are 3 jack plugs and only 1 is for the sub.
 
also should note, that you need to physically kill the power to both the sub and the sb - not just put it into standby.
 
the sub doesn't shows as "connected" when it's wired, as that screen is for wireless connection.
if it's showing as connected on that screen then it's not using a wired connection.

Very interesting. Do you know if you could use your own subwoofer instead of the Sony sub with a 3.5mm to RCA adapter?
 
No idea, but doubt it would work well if you did manage it. That are no settings to configure sub other than the distance and a basic volume level.
 
Just tried with a stereo (2 ring) cable and it works! The sub light now appears white and it shows as not connected under wireless settings.

So I guess try a different cable if you're having problems.
 
Hi guys!
I want to read some opinions here about the "Virtual-Surround" option.
Do your guys enable that options to enjoy some 5.1 Action movies or do you "hear" it better if it's not enabled?
 
Hi guys!
I want to read some opinions here about the "Virtual-Surround" option.
Do your guys enable that options to enjoy some 5.1 Action movies or do you "hear" it better if it's not enabled?

Depends on you.

The virtual surround engine did indeed create an effect but also found it warped the sound beyond what I could enjoy.
 
Depends on you.

The virtual surround engine did indeed create an effect but also found it warped the sound beyond what I could enjoy.
I get the same feeling. Enabling the "Virtual-Surround" i feel a small 3d effect but sometimes it feels like an echo.
 
I get the same feeling. Enabling the "Virtual-Surround" i feel a small 3d effect but sometimes it feels like an echo.

I leave it on, for nas content and disney, prime and netflix and find it works well.

Tv will depend on source content.

And volume levels make a difference, along with if you calibrated your sb with a sound meter.

But its a personal preference.
 

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