Sony Brings Dolby Atmos With Their 9.2 Channel Receiver (STR-ZA5000ES)

by Sohrab Osati | May 6, 2016 | 0 comments
Sohrab Osati

A lot has been said about a lack of support for Dolby Atmos from Sony at CES. Despite introducing new receivers and sound bars, Sony unveiled no new products that would allow for Atmos playback, a new format that Dolby has been pushing for, especially in theaters. Even the STR-DN1070 receiver with 4K HDR support and a whole host of streaming services lacks support for Atmos but the reason might be a good one – price.

Excluding the 930D and 940D 4K HDR TVs, a majority of home theater products shown off at CES by Sony were mid-range. For example, Sony announced the new HT-NT5 sound bar ($799) but didn’t update their flagship HT-ST9 ($1,499). The same goes for receivers; the DN1070 enjoys a modest $599 price tag – a truly fantastic price for how much tech Sony has crammed in but well short of flagship status.

Which brings us to Dolby Atmos, a bleeding edge standard that’s still not supported on most Blu-ray films and one that isn’t even offered on streaming, be it iTunes or Netflix. Chances are that if you’re designing a home theater system with Dolby Atmos in mind, you’re either dream building it in your head or are spending thousands upon thousands of dollars with all flagship equipment. Luckily if the latter is you, Sony has a monster 9.2 channel receiver for you with Dolby Atmos support.

More after the jump.

Meet the 9.2 channel Sony STR-ZA5000ES receiver. Apparently unveiled at CEDIA in October, this high-end machine is designed specifically with installers in mind though once on sale, anybody is welcome to buy it. Besides 9.2 channels (because everybody needs two subs) with 130 watts per channel, the ZA5000ES also comes with an 8-port ethernet switch and other goodies like 4K HDR and 3D.

If you’re a custom installer or custom home theater geek, SGNL is giving you an exclusive first look at the STR-ZA3000ES 9 Channel Receiver . The new high powered (The new high powered (130 watts x 9 channel) flagship model supports the latest 4K Ultra HD applications,) flagship model supports the latest 4K Ultra HD applications.

If big boy features are what you want, prepare to pay a big boy price as the STR-ZA5000ES receiver costs $2,799 and will launch later this year. As somebody who has paid a premium on Denon receivers in the past, I can tell you that you’re getting a lot of machine. Now, whether you need that much machine or not is entirely up to you. This is also a likely indication that, as Atmos tech becomes cheaper and support for it expands, we’ll like see more Sony products with support for it.

However, seeing how little Dolby Atmos content exists, I’m not really surprised that Sony for the most part has decided to exclude it from their 2016 line that was unveiled at CES.

Thanks to reader @Philbz for pointing me towards this machine!

Discuss:

Is Dolby Atmos a must-have feature when purchasing a receiver or sound bar?