Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

TL;DR Version -- Yes, it's worth every penny. Buy the rear speakers, too. This is my favorite thing. You don't even know what you're missing. BEST FOR -- People who appreciate audio but aren't building dedicated theaters, people with reasonably-sized rooms and apartments, those that love "that movie sound". Great for the everyday person who appreciates fantastic sound but just wants an easy living room setup. NOT BEST FOR -- Large spaces, those who want huge amounts of volume, those expecting tower-level performance out of a soundbar The Long Story First, about me. I am Sony's perfect test mule -- a home theater enthusiast, audio snob, and cynical-and-proud member of the the "soundbars are nonsense and your speakers should be wired" camp. When this popped up replete with all the buzzwords -- Atmos, 'virtual 7.1.2' (but runs 3.1??), Google Assistant, Chromecast-casting, wireless, Bluetooth, and pasta maker -- you can bet your sweet little behind I was going to jump on it. I'm a bit of a crazy person insofar as I actively seek out things to prove me wrong and learn. This could be my opus, and boy was it ever. Overall, you will be hard-pressed to find this much bang for this little buck. "Little" is relative, you're still staring down a sound system that clocks in at nearly $1200 (at time of writing) with the rear channels. However, unless you're willing to go down the dark rabbit hole of dedicated theaters with the right speakers in the right places (and let's be honest, you aren't looking at soundbars), I can't imagine you'll find a better experience. SETUP Setup is fairly straightforward but did require a few visits to the manual. I have a 4K TV which requires a few changes in advanced settings, but it's nothing the manual doesn't walk you through. Beyond that, it's pretty plug-and-play. Speakers pair themselves when you plug them in and the "easy setup" wizards require no additional thought. Stupid-simple. Love it. MUSIC As soon as it was setup, I wanted to check its ability to actually cast audio. I fired up Spotify on my phone and -- sure enough -- there it was. I chose a live recording to see what this could do in terms of soundstage...and quit doing anything for the next hour. I know it's the most generic description ever...but you're there. This is genuinely an immersive experience. Listening to live recordings feels like you are at the show. It's beautiful, magical, and intoxicating. Which leads us to the next question...what does that mean for movies and the like? VIDEO AND ATMOS The soundbar features a demo mode so I figured I should test that and HOLY BANANAS IS THIS INCREDIBLE! Remember that line about the dog? In this demo, there are fireworks. I look over at the dog, who is looking at the ceiling, and I can think of no better example. If a dog is confused, they're doing something right. The level of immersion in these speakers is magical. They're so good at it, actually, that it makes me mad at all of the things that print "immersive sound" these days because they're doing an injustice to these. Sound from TV to movies is balances and dead-simple to setup. Watching a few other TV shows and movies had the dog over at the speakers enjoying a saxophone and made everything come to life. One of the big gaps in higher-end audio is that it can be hard to balance unless you're really into that kind of thing. This balances voices and sounds easily and didn't require any additional tuning on my part. Next up -- God of War in Video Game mode. This should be the pinnacle of all things Sony -- a Sony TV running a Sony game on a Sony PS4 through a Sony soundbar tuned by Sony Playstation engineers. This isn't the first time I have played video games in a theater setting but it is the first time I was able to pinpoint sounds. Some sounds fall flat but I don't think it's the speakers' fault -- I think they aren't rendered with authentic sound and speakers can only replicate what they "hear". Smaller sounds like voices sound incredible. Sound effects are a bit flatter. As for 3.1 equating to 7.1.2, I think that's a bit harder of a stretch. However, I would argue that it's not the speakers fault. These seem to already bend the laws of physics to create an immersive sound and you need to at least meet physics halfway by picking up the rear channels. There's a very noticeable difference with or without the rears (as you'd probably expect). However, this sound system doesn't truly shine without those rear channels. It's "very good" still -- don't get me wrong -- but for the full-on blown-away experience, just throw down the extra dough. NO ONE IS PERFECT I only have a few (very minor) gripes about this thing and none of them would deter me from purchasing it . First, if you have a smart TV and use its smart features, you still need to maintain two remotes. You can't use the soundbar in a traditional "receiver format" if you use the smart apps on your TV. However, not a big deal. I have probably have 2+ remotes since I was old enough to use them. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Sony change this in the future. Second, it could use a little more wattage. Your mileage will vary with this one and it's perfect for my space. The room it's in has 16' ceilings and is about 20' x 30'. It provides plenty of punch and I feel this is really it's sweet spot. If you're looking to fill something bigger, this may not be the system for you. However, that's a pretty big room, so be honest with yourself. Personally, I think a lot of people get caught up in the wattage game without asking themselves "how often do I have this thing cranked up to 11?". Third, and this kind of goes with the remote thing, auto-switching can be kludgy at times when using a smart TV, switching from streaming Spotify to Netflix, etc. These are all software issues, however, and Sony could fix them in time. Even so, it's a bit of an edge case and doesn't take away from the overall experience. CONCLUSION In the end, I set out expecting this system to be half marketing hype and it blew me away in every way possible. It has changed my mind about just how much 'sound engines' can change the dynamic and made me a believer. It targets a specific buyer -- those who really appreciate sound but don't want to spend ridiculous money, ridiculous time, and ridiculous effort recreating it -- and knocks it wildly out of the park. I am humbled. I received this through the Amazon Vine program. If you have found it helpful, please let me know!