With the advancement in sound bar, there is really no reason to clutter your home with multiple speakers, and if you concur with our views, you may want to know the still-striving Japanese electronic giant, Sony, has served up two handsome examples at this year’s CES. The first being the world’s Dolby Atmos sound bar, HT-ZF9, and the second is the super compact HT-SF200. Lets start with the small one first, shall we? So here goes…
The HT-SF200 is a 2.1ch, 80W one-bar solution, boasting built-in subwoofer, S-Force PRO Front Surround that promised deep bass and wide surround sound field from an uber stylish and compact sound bar measures just 58 cm (22.83″) long. With a thickness of just 6.4 cm (2.52″) it should fit right in front of most flat screen TV without blocking the branding and the IR unit.
Other notable features include Dolby Digital codec support, S-Master amplifier built-in, HDMI ARC port, optical input, a USB-A port for playing back from USB devices, Bluetooth 4.2 for wireless audio streaming, multiple sound modes, plus sound effects including night mode and voice-enhancing voice mode. The HT-SF200 2.1ch compact sound bar is expected to hit the market in Spring 2018 with with a $199.99 sticker.
Up next is the world’s first 3.1ch Dolby Atmos sound bar, the HT-ZF9, that is designed to produce virtual, 3D room-filling surround sound from a three-speaker sound bar and subwoofer setup. Thanks to Sony’s Vertical Surround Engine, it is said that you can hear sound from above without the ceiling reflection or additional speakers. In addition to Dolby Atmos, HT-ZF9 also touts DTS:X support for an even more immersive cinematic experience in the comfort of your own home.
Other notables include S-Force Pro Front Surround, the ability to up-mix 2ch stereo content to 7.1.2ch, option of pairing with SA-Z9R rear speakers, supports 4K HDR and Dolby Vision pass-through, S-Master HX amplifier, supports High-Resolution Audio formats, dual band WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, Chromecast built-in, supports Google Assistant, Spotify Connect, DLNA, two HDMI inputs, plus one HDMI ARC output, USB-A, Ethernet, and last but not least, each HT-ZF9 comes with a wireless subwoofer. All told, the HT-ZF9 offers a total of 300W power output.
At the same time, Sony is also debuting the HT-9000F that has two front-facing speakers, but with the same cinematic surround sound features of Dolby Atmos and Vertical Surround Engine. Both the HT-ZF9 and the HT-9000F will be available in Spring 2018, priced at $899.99 and $599.99, respectively.
Images: Sony.
