Sony HTX8500 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.

Product was ordered used like new. Works and sounds amazing. Only negative is the remote was not included in box, was missing but Amazon honored and gave a nice worth while credit to compensate. Very happy with this product. First I ordered the sound bar which was lower than this model. Was not happy. Then ordered this model. You can feel the bass from the soundbar. Great sound.

Our both our surround sound theater and our TV have "aged out", the equipment is fine, but the software cannot upgrade any longer, as the chips are too old and no longer supported by our streaming subscriptions. Therefore neither can work as our streaming source with our TV 😫. Since the industry is "stuck" with the chip shortages yada yada, it is not a good time to be replacing the entire system, so we need to limp along until the industry gets their act together. A new Roku box solved the streaming issue, but it won't send the sound through to the theater - again, age-compatibility issues - so, we needed something better for sound than the TV sound, which is pretty awful. The "promises" for sound bars is that they produce Surround Sound, without the wires and speakers everywhere, so this seemed a reasonable priced option to test that claim, and to get us by until the new system we plan to purchase is available.This came as expected, easy to install, and works. On installation, it claims that you only need the HDMI it comes with if you have an ARC HDMI on the TV. Ours did not work that way, possibly because the Roku is a separate box. If you have built in streaming on the TV, it may work, but with our configuration, even with the ARC port on the TV, it was necessary to install both the HDMI and the optic cable from the TV and HDMI from the Roku box to the speaker to get the streaming sound to the speaker. Since this only came with 1 HDMI cable, we needed to obtain an additional HDMI and an optic cable to make this work, but this configuration was shown in the instructions, and once we acquired the additional cables, it works as promised.The sound is better than the TV sound, specifically, with the TV, speech was difficult to hear and understand speech at low levels, but when we turned the sound up enough to hear the speech, the background sound was unbearably loud. The sound bar fixed that. We were able to tinker with the sound settings and now we can hear the speech without going deaf from the background sound, Yea!Is it surround sound? No. Not even close. If you are sitting VERY close, it tries, but in a normal living room setting, if you are used to 5-1 or 7-1/2 surround sound, you will be disappointed if you expect the same from this sound bar. I did not really expect that it would, so I am happy with this. It is better than the TV sound, and provides additional control for custom sound settings that the TV alone did not have, so it is a step up, which is a realistic expectation. I would buy this again.

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!

I absolutely love this! Soundbar

I bought a Sony OLED TV and a Yamaha 4K Dolby Atmos receiver. Surround sound worked with the cable box but wouldn't work when streaming. I could not get the TV to pair with the receiver while streaming. My son gave me a Toshiba sound bar and I couldn't get that sound bar to pair with the TV either. I couldn't stand the poor sound quality of the TV so I decided to get a Sony sound bar and hope that I could get the TV to pair with the sound bar. I have a small fortune invested in the Yamaha receiver and Bose speakers. I was looking for a sound bar that gave me value for my money so I selected the Sony HT-X8500. I read some good reviews on Amazon. I have a small TV room and the sound quality is excellent. It was very easy to install. In ten minutes I had it hooked up and paired to the TV. The sound bar has the sub woofers built in so there is no need to find a location for a sub woofer. The remote is great. I like the news and voice function when I'm not using the cinema function. The only thing that I didn't like was that it takes about 15 seconds for the speaker to switch from streaming to cable. If you want a sound bar for a small room you can't go wrong with the Sony HT- X85OO.