So Sony’s sound bars have always been a good option for someone that wants a self
contained sound bar but also has a ton of bass to it.
But Sony’s Sound Bars were always very big and their app was lack luster.
But now there’s the Sony HT-S2000, and I feel that this is the start of Sony’s new
generation of sound bars that are sleeker and they have a much better app now.
Regarding pricing, the Sony S2000 has a retail price of $500 but just knowing sony I do expect
this sound bar to go on sale on a regular basis.
But overall, this is a good preforming sound bar and it has an impressive amount of bass
to it.
So if you want to pick this sound bar up.
It’ll be linked down below.
Now first, I do have to point out that in this review we will only be looking at the
sound bar by itself.
Because if you wanted to, you can always build out this sound bar with a wireless subwoofer
and or satellite speakers.
But in this review, we will only be looking at the sound bar it self.
And also, the S2000 does not have Sony’s Acoustic Center Sync, So if you have a sony
Bravia TV, your TV’s built in speakers won’t work in conjunction with this sound bar.
But now lets talk about the design of this soundbar.
Now the S2000 is relatively compact with a length of 32 inches, a width of 5 inches a
hight of 2.6 inches and it weighs in at 8.3 pounds.
Now I feel the S2000 is still relatively chunky, but I do feel that it looks a lot sleeker
and more elegant than Sony’s older sound bars like lets say the A3000.
Now the S2000 is using matte black plastic on the top and it does a really good job of
not causing any reflections, so the S2000 does a good job of disappearing when you’re
watching a movie.
And it has an elegant looking metal grill on the front.
There are also capacitive buttons up top and there is a built in screen as well.
The only thing that I have to point out is that by default this screen is set to always
on, which I feel can be very distracting.
But you can go into the app and set it to turn off after a few seconds.
Now the S2000 also comes included with screws so that you can wall mount it.
But I feel that wall mounting this soundbar can be a little difficult.
Like I mentioned earlier it is a little heavy weighing in at 8.3 pounds… but also, the
S2000 does have an external power brick that you have to worry about… so if you want
to wall mount this sound bar, you’re going to have to hide the power brick behind your
TV.
And in general, I wish the S2000 didn’t have a power brick, cause there are plenty
of other soundbars out there of this size that don’t have external power bricks.
But next up lets talk about the ports… now ports on this sound bar a pretty minimal.
You have your HDMI eARC port that goes connected to your TV and the S2000 comes included with
a decent HDMI cable.
There’s also an optical port just in case you tv doesn’t have an ARC port… and that’s
pretty much it.
Now when it comes to wireless connectivity, the S2000 only has bluetooth… now bluetooth
is perfectly fine and its going to get the job done…
but the S2000 does not have AirPlay or Chrome Cast Support.
Which I do feel is unfortunate cause this is a rather standard feature now for sound
bars in this price range.
So if you want to stream music to your soundbar over wifi… then you’re going to have to
stream music to your TV.
Now along side the soundbar it self just being sleeker than Sony’s previous soundbars,
the S2000 also has a sleeker looking remote control now.
Cause Sony’s previous remotes just looked super clunky.
And from here you can adjust the volume, adjust the bass, and toggle your sound field and
voice settings as well.
But personally I never use the remotes on my sound bar and instead I just prefer to
use their app…
And the S2000 has a new app as well.
This app also looks much sleeker than Sony’s older app, it runs smoother and from here
you have more settings to adjust than what’s found on the remote.
But in general I am just super happy to see that sony is finally improving their apps
for their different speakers.
But also, if you were to use the S2000 with a compatible sony Bravia TV… you might not
even have to open the app or use the remote that comes included with this soundbar cause
a lot of your settings can get toggled directly from the TV.
Now for the best overall experience you want to use a Sony soundbar with a sony tv… but
you can still use the S2000 with any other tv and not have to worry about missing out
on any features.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound.
Regarding speaker set up, the S2000 has 3 frontward firing drivers and it also has 2
frontward firing subwoofers with exhaust ports that shoot out the sides.
Now something that I noticed about this soundbar is that if you want to get the most performance
out of it… as in have it get as loud as possible…
you want to set it to DTS Virtual X…
But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, the S2000 is playing at 75% volume and
we’re going to be toggling between having DTS turned on and off and the bass is set
to max… and we’re also going to be using the built in speaker found in the 2023 Sony
Bravia X90L and they’re going to be playing at max volume.
So like you may have just heard, obviously a sound bar is just going to sound better
than your TV’s built in speakers.
Your TV most likely just has a pair of drivers that shoot sound downwards, they don’t get
all that loud and when the bass really gets going they’re just going to be a distorted
mess.
Now the speakers on the Sony X90L’s get decently loud and distortion isn’t a problem
for them like with some more affordable TV’s… but with the Sony X90L you’re still going
to want to upgrade to a sound bar if you want to truly enjoy your movies.
Now as with Sony’s past sound bars… the S2000’s stand out characteristic is that
it has a lot of bass.
Now this soundbar by itself isn’t going to furiously rattle any walls but you’re
definitely going to be able to feel what’s happening on
the screen.
Now its great and all that the S2000 has a lot of bass to it all by itself…
but in sony fashion the S2000 does lean towards a warmer sound signature.
So I’ve noticed that with the S2000 if you want to hear what people are saying, you’re
going to have to use this sound bar at a higher volume.
Now you can always go in and turn on the voice mode on this soundbar… and it does help…
but I just wish the S2000 had a manual EQ where
I can manually increase the mids and treble to my liking… cause even with the voice
mode turn on… you still gotta crank the volume up on this sound bar so that you can
hear people’s voices.
But with that aside, if you want to use this soundbar at a higher volume…
the S2000’s warmer sound signature gives you a very balanced and immersive listening
experience with bass that you can feel.
But it also sounds surprisingly open, there were instances where I thought that I connected
the satellite speakers, but I didn’t.
But when it comes to the max volume performance of this soundbar, the S2000 is going to be
best suited for a small or medium sized living room.
The S2000 does an okay job of filling a larger living room with sound… but its still going
to leave you wanting more.
So with all of that being said, I feel that the Sony S2000 is the start of a new generation
of soundbars for sony.
From a design standpoint, the S2000 looks sleeker and elegant and its a little more
compact.
And from a software standpoint, the S2000 has a new and more elegant app to use, so
even if you’re not using the S2000 with a Sony TV, adjusting the settings on it is
a lot easier.
But from a sound standpoint, the S2000 has a warmer sound signature to it, and it has
a lot of bass.
Bass that you can hear and bass that you can feel.
Now at louder volumes, the S2000 gives you a very balanced and immersive listening experience.
But at lower volumes, some times it can be a little hard to hear the dialog.
Now voice mode feature does help, but I still wish that the S2000 would let me manually
adjust the mids and treble cause sometimes, you gotta crank up the mids depending on the
mix of whatever movie you’re watching.