When you think of a soundbar, you think of a bar-shaped speaker that reproduces the sound of your television. The Sony HT-MT500 meets that definition, but the soundbar of the Japanese tech giant can also do a lot more. We were allowed to provide the television with company with the Sony HT-MT500.
Sony HT-MT500
Price450 euros
Assets
155 Watt
Amplifier 2.1ch S-Force Pro Front Surround with A/V sync
Connectivity
USB, Analog, Optical, Ethernet, HDMI-ARC, NFC
Streaming
Bluetooth with LDAC, AAC and SBC, Chromecast, Spotify Connect
Dimensions
Sound bar: 500 x 64 x 110 mm, Subwoofer: 95 x 383 x 380 mm (W x H x D)
Weight
Sound bar: 2 kg, Subwoofer: 6.6 kg
Colour
Black
Other
Sound profiles, remote control, touch sensitive buttons
Website
Sony.nl 7 Score 70
- Pros
- Sound Field
- Compact with wireless subwoofer
- Many connection and streaming options
- Negatives
- HDMI cable not supplied
- Too much bass
The Sony HT-MT500 is a compact soundbar with a separate wireless subwoofer. This means that the subwoofer connects wirelessly to the soundbar the moment you plug in the plug. The subwoofer is compact enough to place under the couch or next to the television furniture, the soundbar itself is flat enough to place in front of most televisions without blocking the infrared signal. If this is the case, you can always activate the IR repeater in the settings.
Installation
By connecting the soundbar to your television via the supplied optical cable, you can use the HT-MT500 directly. In this mode, you use the remote control to control the soundbar's volume. The speakers and the volume control of the television are in many cases turned off when you select the optical output as the audio output in the settings of your television. You can switch between the different sound modes that the soundbar has to offer via the remote control and the touch-sensitive buttons on the soundbar. As long as the soundbar is not connected to your home network, you are limited to Bluetooth and the optical connection to the television.
To get the most out of the Sony HT-MT500, you need to connect the soundbar to your home network. You do this by connecting the soundbar to your television via HDMI. By switching to the HDMI input to which the soundbar is connected, you will see a settings menu on the screen of your television. The menu guides you through the procedure to connect the soundbar to your home network. You just need to choose the right WiFi network and enter the password. If you have done that, you can use Spotify Connect and the built-in Google Chromecast. The Chromecast in the HT-MT500 can be paired with other Chromecasts to create groups for multi-room audio. In this way, the soundbar becomes part of your multi-room system and you can use the ability of the Sony HT-MT500 to fill the entire living room with your favorite music.
If your television supports HDMI-ARC, you have the option to send the sound from your television to the soundbar via an HDMI cable. With this connection you can simply use the remote control of your television to determine the volume. The moment you use HDMI-ARC, the soundbar also automatically switches to TV mode when you switch on the television. Unfortunately, Sony does not supply an HDMI cable with the soundbar, so you cannot immediately get everything out of the soundbar if you do not have an extra HDMI cable within reach.
Sound Field
A nice function of the Sony HT-MT500 is the possibility to adjust the sound profile of the soundbar. This is possible when playing the sound from your television and when using Spotify Connect. You can choose between Standard (suitable for most programs), Clear (ideal for emphasizing vocals), Movie (lots of bass and a very wide sound reproduction), Music (balanced with a stronger mid and low range), Sport (especially the commentary and audience sound gets a boost) and Game (a sultry sound with lots of bass).
The Standard, Clear and Sport profiles do not differ much and are especially suitable for talk shows and other talk programs. The Movie and Game mode gave the bass such a boost that the voice sounds almost disappeared while the television cabinet almost moved thanks to the subwoofer. When using the built-in Google Chromecast, the soundbar switches to Music mode, which lives up to its name thanks to a balanced reproduction with a strong midrange. The moment you send the music from Spotify to the Sony MT-HT500 via the Chromecast, it provides more information on the television than when using Spotify Connect. This way you get to see the album artwork and Behind the Lyrics.
With the remote control you can switch between the profiles mentioned and you can determine the presence of the subwoofer. Because even the Standard mode still contained quite a lot of bass, we eagerly took advantage of this opportunity to make regular television intelligible. You can also choose Clear Audio+, where the soundbar chooses the right profile based on the audio. Switching between the inputs can be done with the remote control, but also via the accompanying Sony Music Center app for Android and iOS. Fortunately, the soundbar is smart enough to not need both the remote and app very often. When selecting the Sony HT-MT500 in the list of Spotify Connect devices, the soundbar switches directly to Spotify Connect, while the soundbar switches to TV mode with the same ease when you switch on the television. The app also allows you to play local music, where the music fanatic will be pleased to hear that the Sony HT-MT500 also supports hi-res audio.
Attention
In the settings of the soundbar, the option to upscale the audio to hi-res audio was enabled by default. This caused some delay, causing the audio and video to become out of sync. If it is not possible to correct this delay with your television, switch this function off. After we turned this feature off, we noticed that the excess bass in Standard mode almost completely disappeared and the sound image as a whole became a lot more balanced.
Conclusion
The Sony HT-MT500 offers many connection options and, despite its size, has enough sound for the average living room. Due to the presence of Spotify Connect, a Google Chromecast and the support of hi-res audio, the soundbar will also appeal to music fanatics. Do you want to make your soundbar part of your music installation and do you not think a fairly present bass is a negative? Then the Sony HT-M500 is definitely worth considering.
