Sony SRS-RA5000 Wireless Speaker

The Sony SRS-RA5000 doesn’t blend into a room, and neither does the 360 Reality Audio music its oddball design is all in aid of. The promise is intriguing: immersive music just as the artists and producers intended it to sound, and all from one – expensive – speaker.

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  360 Reality Audio has an impressive soundstage, Room-filling party speaker, Multiple options for wired and wireless sound

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  Very expensive, 360 audio tracks are in short supply, Regular music lacks precision compared to rival speakers, No AirPlay 2 support, No battery and the power supply is big

“An intriguing but pricey speaker that doesn't quite live up to the hype.”

Sony has finally released speakers that bring the immersive audio platform it has been promoting for over two years to your home. With the SRS-RA5000, the company has a powerful and pricey unit that does a solid job with 360 Reality Audio while also upgrading regular content to sound more immersive.

I first listened to Sony’s 360 Reality Audio demo at CES 2019 , so when I heard that new speakers sporting the immersive audio technology, such as the SRS-RA5000, are coming to Singapore , I couldn’t wait to see them.

The Sony SRS-RA5000 is one of the first 360 Reality Audio speakers on the market, bringing spatial audio to a compact Bluetooth speaker form factor. The speaker can turn your living room into a concert fairground – replete with boomy bass and echo-y vocals – but lacks clarity and tonal balance...

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  360 Reality Audio speaker, 360-degree sound, Chromecast built-in

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  Mixed audio performance, Music Center app is rough, 3D audio library is limited

Sounds very good. The bass is tighter than I thought it would be given the size of the driver. The array of six tweeters pointed in six different directions harkens back to the old Bose 901's method of bouncing the sound off the walls.

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  Sounds as good as it looks.

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  Plays with Alexa, but can not be grouped with Echo speakers.

Great sounding speakers, The sound and quality is way more than expected. Compared to other Bluetooth devices I have used in the past there are the best by fare. The way the speakers are spaced really make for a full range sound that is clear and enjoyable.

The shape of the speaker is unusual and makes a nice feature in the room without being too overpowering. It is heavy and solid giving the feeling that it is well built. After plugging it into the mains the Bluetooth setup was straightforward and worked perfectly.

I haven't had a chance to try the volume at the max but has easily been enough to fill the room with an incredibly clear and crisp sound, even at low volume. Very easy to hook up devices via Bluetooth, thought the sound when paired with my blu ray player was every bit as good as my 4k speaker, found...

I own and use Bose and Apple Bluetooth speakers and am very happy with the sound quality so was curious how this speaker would sound.The sound quality is excellent, very precise, well balanced and you get the impression it’s the way the artist would want you to hear it.

A giant shaver?A strange looking toadstool?Those were my initial impressions when I first saw images of the SRS-RA5000! It's definitely different in terms of looks, but is it different enough to other wireless speakers in the most important area - sound quality?

On opening the SRS-RA5000 packaging, loved the look of it design and colour. It has a nice new modern shape, distinctive in its black and copper colour, together with the size of the unit gives a real presence in the room so to be noticed.

Sony said that ambient room-filling sound is the perfect way to listen to music or add that extra dimension to a film. And I must say I agree fully with this. This speaker is amazing. Even at really low volume it delivers on a full spectrum and the bass is rich.