Sony SRS-RA5000 360 Reality Audio Premium Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Wireless Speaker, Works with Alexa and Google Assistant, Black

The design of the RA-5000 was what initially caught my eye. Looking like a contemporary sculpture with its upturned mini speakers encircled in beautiful copper. Giving it the appearance of an art sculpture or piece of furniture. The setup: The RA-5000 requires the use of the Sony Music Center application (android only) to install the speaker for use and audio configuration. The RA-5000 utilizes Bluetooth to make the initial connection. You can use NFC to make a quick connection. The unit supports both 2.4 and 5ghz WiFi networks. Google’s Chromecast is built-in, so think of a name for your speaker. This name is how you will request your audio for playback. After the speaker is installed. Click on it within the the Sony Connect app and navigate to ‘settings’, ‘sound’. Under “Equalizer” select ‘custom’. You will be presented with a graphical equalizer to tailor the sound to your particular taste. (Extremely important the default settings are horrible!) note. – remember to set the “Immersive Audio Enhancement” and the “Auto Volume” to {ON}. Here you can the set the “Level” for the up firing speakers on top. Under "Settings", "System" - make sure the "network standby" box is checked. Here you can also check the firmware version. The current version is 1.70 as of 12/23/24. If you are running an older version of the firmware the speaker will not perform correctly! The SRS-5000 can be added to Google Home or Amazon Alexa to enable voice control and add it to your smart home. The SRS-5000 unit does not contain an internal microphone. It can only be accessed by voice via an external smart speaker with a microphone like the Google Home mini or Amazon Alexa speaker. This speaker supports music encoded in Sony’s 360 Reality audio. I tried three music services that supported this audio format. Amazon Music Unlimited is only provider offering full voice integration for the play back of Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format. The audio format when played back through the SRS-5000 unit is superb! It is like having a front row seat to a live performance. The main selling point for me was the Hi Resolution audio playback. Spotify is popular but it does not support high resolution tracks. I signed up for Deezer because it was supported by my Google connected smart 🏠 I loved this speaker so much that bought 3 and am thinking of purchasing a fourth. The unit is comprised of 7 individual speakers. Three tweeters on top 3 mid-range and a subwoofer wrapped with a cloth covering. Only pick up the unit with 2 hands from the bottom.

As I have all my music on a Mac, and had sold my whole Sony system - Receiver/Amp, CD player and two excellent Sony speakers - I needed a wifi enabled, Blue Tooth capable speaker. This speaker does a magnificent job in delivering impressive sound quality, being very easy to use and access my library. In addition, the grandkids can hook up their iPhones and play their music through it as well. Really great, but though pricey, it’s worth every penny.

I was told that I could hook up this speaker to my Sony HT-5000 sound bar by Sony.ca. I got it linked but it took me a couple of hours. When Telus updated my Optik TV it disconnected my speakers and I could never get it back. Too much trouble. It sounded great for a couple of days. Will return: it's too much trouble to re-hook-up the speaker to the sound bar.

I rarely had any disappointment on Sony products as I've been a fan for years, but I'm compelled to speak out on this speaker today. Given much anticipation, I received it. The initial setup is super easy and the unit does look elegant and very compact footprint. However, when it comes down to sound, I have a lot of issues with it. * The bass is just not there. Granted that if you play loud enough, you will get the decent bass but it will also make the mid and high way too loud to enjoy the music * I listen to this unit on Tidal mainly. I noticed that the 360 audio, as Sony claims, is hardly noticeable. I have had 3 family members to confirm it, and they all tell me the same. * The only way to get 360, or MQA (Master) streamed properly, is to alternate between bluetooth and wireless, you cannot have BOTH on the same connection method. * When unit is close to a desktop computer (less than 5 feet away), I experienced bluetooth disconnection randomly. So, this unit cannot be sitting close to a desktop computer which has Bluetooth enabled, or you will run into connectivity issues at times. I never had this issues with other much cheaper wireless speakers which has similar issues. Given more than $700 with tax on this new speaker, I expect more, a lot more from Sony. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a huge disappointment. Sorry Sony, you have to, and should do better than this.

Very stylish and very powerful sound.