SonyHTX8500 2.1ch Dolby Atmos/DTS:X Soundbar with Built-in subwoofer, Black

I had an OLD Sony soundbar with an external subwoofer, and finally realized it was time to upgrade due to being unhappy with the sound balance. After doing some research online, I settled on this soundbar as a balance between quality and value. Very happy!! Setup was quick and easy, no troubleshooting required. The bass is even better than it was with the external subwoofer and the audio is crisp and clear. The simulated surround sound is pretty cool, of course not as good as if you had an actual surround sound system but this is to be expected. I’d absolutely recommend this soundbar bar, very pleased especially for the price.

Buy it nice or buy it twice is the saying. Feel like this is right in the sweet spot. Sure there is nicer/more expensive...but this is totally legit and will enhance your TV experience from the jump. Super easy to set up. Sounds great for a refurbished item and delivered super quick. Makes my TV in the living room so much more enjoyable to listen to. Easy bluetooth to play music off my phone. Great quality, HDMI to HDMI is the way I went and zero issues.

As a preface to this review, I'll say that I've been working with surround home audio equipment since the earliest days of the first Dolby units for VHS started appearing on the market.Like many people, I'm in a position where I really wanted far better sound than was available through my TV, but not really willing or able to spend half or more than what I had already plunked down for the TV. I settled on a budget of $200-300 for a soundbar and began my research. Since I'm an apartment dweller at this point in my life, I did consider bars with external subwoofers, but focused mostly on those with subwoofers built-in.The HTX8500 is the third soundbar that I've purchased for my Sony 950G on this quest (the first two being a Yamaha and a Polk Audio), and so far, the best at doing what I wanted the bar primarily for in the first place, movies.You aren't going to get true surround out of any stand alone soundbar, but, in the case of the 8500, you CAN get a sonic experience that draws you more into the film without drawing attention to the soundbar itself.The good:Sony has done its homework pretty well on the 8500. As with most stand alone pieces, it does its job best when you are seated nearly directly in front of it, and about eight feet or closer. When watching the Dolby Atmos encoded movie Midway (2019), the soundstage was amazingly large, with it sounding like Japanese aircraft were zipping by your head during the Pearl Harbor sequence. Moving to a DTS feature, I tried Independence Day, a film that had a great surround track even on DVD, and things got even better. Sony's proprietary vertical sound engine once again was quite impressive. That said, the Yamaha 1080, with its DTS Virtual X did this job as well or better than the 8500, but because of the Yamaha's poorer ability to bring dialog to the foreground, the 8500 is, in my opinion, the better choice.The not so good:Like most soundbars, the 8500 takes a stab at trying to keep dialog more intelligible through internal processing. It does a decent job of this about 70-75% of the time, which is a far better percentage than either the Polk Audio or Yamaha soundbars that I tried before it.The bad:Sony offers a mere 3 settings for the bass on the 8500, -1, 0, +1, and those aren't nearly enough. More often than not, I found the 0 setting to be not quite enough, but the +1 setting to be enough to clearly be overwhelming the built-in subwoofers. This was an area where the Yamaha, with a far more adjustable level for its built in subwoofers, to be the better choice - that said, the Sony's ability to create a nearly as large soundstage and better at dialog enhancement still make it the better choice.The ugly:Although I really don't plan on using the soundbar for music, I thought it only fair to include it in my review. The 8500, while producing a nice soundstage, is absolutely dreadful in comparison to both the Yamaha and Polk Audio bars. The Yamaha in particular, while naturally lacking in bottom end due to the small size of its subwoofers, actually produced a smooth soundstage fairly close to that of my 25+ year old Infinity towers driven by a Onkyo receiver. If you're looking for a soundbar that covers both bases, the 8500 is clearly not for you.Positives+ Wide soundstage+ Decent dialog enhancement+ Amazing surround-like effects+ HDR10 and Dolby Vision passthroughNegatives- Limited adjustment for bass levels- Not great at music reproduction- Need to be 8 feet or less away for the best "surround"My quest is still not quite over. I'm going to be trying a Denon model with built-in subwoofers and DTS Virtual X in the very near future, and will be updating this review to take it into consideration as well.Thanks for reading, and happy viewing.

The media could not be loaded. My Sony HTX8500 sound bar came today and I'm pretty happy with it. I got a new Sony Bravia 3 65 inch TV a few days ago and while the TV speakers are nice having this bar really elevated the experience. It obviously is not the best of the best sound bar out there but for me this is enough. It's louder than the video I posted gives it credit for, much better in person. I found that the medium base level in cinema mode is the best setting to me. Really my only gripe would be that it doesn't have a digital display that shows you the settings your in so you have to rely on the blinking pattern of the lights on the top of the bar to know but for the price it's something I'm willing to deal with. I will update if anything changes but for now I'm happy I picked this up.

The Sony HTX8500 soundbar has completely transformed my home theater experience. The Dolby Atmos and DTS:X compatibility deliver an immersive, cinematic sound that fills the room. The built-in subwoofer eliminates the need for additional speakers, yet it still provides deep, punchy bass that truly enhances movies, music, and games.Setup was a breeze, and the compact design fits perfectly under my TV without taking up much space. Despite its size, it packs a powerful punch. Whether it’s action-packed scenes or subtle dialogue, the sound quality is crystal clear and balanced.If you’re looking for an affordable, all-in-one soundbar solution with premium features, the Sony HTX8500 is a fantastic choice. Highly recommend!

Very happy with this soundbar -- I'm not an audiophile but I do appreciate the performance in our room. It helps to hear the dialog in movies (sometimes a challenge), and it enhances the sports experience when watching an event. This Sony sound bar is connected to a Sony Bravia 3 TV.Setup was especially easy -- we used the HDMI cable provided in the speaker box, and supplemented it with a fiber optic cable as well. I'm not sure whether that's a bit redundant, but it certainly doesn't hurt. I had this mounted (directly beneath the TV on an articulating wall mount) and connected and performing within an hour working alone. Using the attachment to the TV means if we move the TV based upon my viewing position in the room, the speaker moves with it and delivers the sound to our seating position. No need to pay for installation.I would definitely buy again.