SonyHT-SF150 2ch Soundbar for TV with Bluetooth

After trying two other cheap soundbars "2.1" and being disappointed with both I thought I would give it one more go and go with a well established brand.Specifically the entry level Sony soundbar :-"Sony HT-SF150 2ch Single Soundbar with Bluetooth and S-Force, Front Surround - Black" [120w]I didn't want a separate active subwoofer as its only for my bedroom and I tend to watch movies as I fall asleep so this seemed ideal.Compared to the previous two I bought this one was lacking in the connection/input side of things (RCA connection) but was far superior when it came to features namely Dolby signals/multiplex audio.F. Surround sounds good when the soundbar receives a Dolby signal, it has DRC (Dynamic Range Compression) which makes dialog/vocals easier to hear in Dolby enabled movies in the event they sound quiet,It has a separate vocal mode which works well, movie/music mode for a more punchy bass, The usual standard mode and an auto-select mode, which swaps it around (EQ-Modes) depending on the media you are playing.Each one is interchangeable and the mode is highlighted by the LED.For instance press the vocal button once and the led on the bar will light up once, press it again and it will blink twice (one blink = off, two = on)So on a night I tend to put both nightmode and vocal on, this limits gun shots / explosions but enhances dialog.ARC works fantastic (TV remote controls volume and standby/power) and the bar remembers your EQ settings/volume after coming out of standby unlike the cheaper bars.(With the exception of 'nightmode' that disables and goes back to normal after bringing the bar out of standby).When viewing a movie with a Dolby signal the bar can be set to play the front channels (with f.surround) / just the sub channel (both speakers dedicated to bass) or the front and sub channel, when you select the latter it will play the front channel through the left speaker and the sub channel is played through the right speaker, quite clever really. These are enabled with the remote.Too be honest though I've not needed to use that, this may not be a 2.1 speaker and a lot of reviewers say it has no bass but that hasn't been my experience at all, The reflex bass can be quite punchy especially with action movies (guns explosions) when viewing films from my PC the volume has never been higher than halfway, most of the time it's a few steps past quarter (and a few steps below when I'm trying to sleep).Let's be realistic though it's never going to be in your face bass rattling windows, vibrating under your feet... (making the neighbors hate you), You are going to need to buy a unit with an active sub for that .... and spend the extra coin to pay for it.Movie explosions/music sequences can still be heard downstairs a lot of the time during the day (small two bed house)Finally, in the event you have your speaker in front of your TV and it blocks the sensor, this bar has a iR repeater built into the back, when enabled it picks up your remote commands and duplicates them at the back of the soundbar, sending it to your TV sensor. I've not needed to use it even though the bar is in front of my TV my signal still reaches... But a very handy feature in the event you need to use it.Plus standard features, USB for music/podcast playback, Bluetooth mobile / tablet audio streaming (prob some other odds and ends I've forgot to mention)The only conclusion I can come too (in regards to some of the negative reviews) is a lot of reviewers didn't read the included instruction book and thought they activated modes when they infact turned them off (one light blink).I tried both the :-AZATOM 2.1 180WTOPVISION 2.1 120WThe latter being in the top ten Amazon rank for soundbars (due to a sly free gift offer)Both of those offered big claims in regards to performance but they are greatly inferior to this soundbar in more ways then I've mentioned here.Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this bar is perfect, but for the money it is a lot better than my previous purchases and I'm happy with it overall. (It's fit for purpose).I paid £87.97 for this bar and it's worth every penny, A much better sound presence then the standard downward facing speakers built into my LG-SmartTV.> July 2021 edit:This review was originally written with my LG smart TV paired to the Sony bar.I thought it was only fair to add, I have just linked it to my Philips ambilight smart TV via arc input and the audio is very low compared to the LG and the volume does not display on screen as was the case with the LG setup.(After playing around with this problem further, I can restore volume levels by going into the TV settings and selecting, Settings|All settings|sound|advanced|delta volume -and moving the slider up, As for the volume being displayed on the screen I've still not figured that out)Just wanted to add this information for full transparency.I hope this review helps.

After some getting used to from years of 5.1 channels, I have come to appreciate the more realistic 2 channel sound and subtle bass.

This is the second one I buy. I've has one in the master bedroom for years and this second one has gone in the spare room where I have my workstation, mostly used to stream Bluetooth music when I work from home and also connected to small Sony TV for when guests stay over.Excellent build quality and comes with a small handy remote. Compatibility with a Sony TV through Bravia Link using an HDMI plugged to the ARC port is seamless.This is perfect for a bedroom but for a living room with a large TV I would probably recommend a 5.1 system with more power.

After trying a couple of dissapointing models, this works perfect and the better option for our New Sony TV system

I did this review years ago, now it's 2023 and I'm still rocking this sound bar. No issues or audio degrading from the speakers. Been a great match for my Series X, PS5 and Legion laptop. This thing will outlive me.Another minor update. So I've recently purchased a new TV, since my old LG had unfortunately broke (cracked screen).That means it is now residing on my wall, directly under my Samsung 55 7500 curved TV. Gone have the soundbar mounting arms, that hanged above my TV. I found my old Sony wall guide, marked the holes and drilled it with my Ryobi impact driver. Still works perfect and is working with no hitches on my 7500 Samsung using the arc function. Smart remote fluidly controls the volume +- and mute and the nifty feature when my TV wakes up the soundbar is not far behind with the ARC function.So a 2019 small update and this soundbar is still going strong, I wasn’t going to come back and edit this review but the overall thumbs ups persuaded me. I initially payed £150 for this and now the price has dropped to around £81 on Amazon and to me that is a stellar bargain for anyone wanting a simple but effective upgrade to their sound. Straight off the bat this will never be a 5.1 or complete surround sound killer. I’ve recently installed mine above my 43 inch 4K TV with a soundbar vesa mount, keep in mind this needs a mount that allows for wall mountable bolts/screws for the TV VESA Mount and you will be golden. Many mounts come with black little bolts but some strong bolts with nuts can solve this as well.—-I can actually hear my movies! Using this in ARC mode on my 43inch 4K LG tv and it has saved me so much hassle in controlling the volume and not searching for a plethora of boxes. Bluetooth works perfectly so I can listen to my music/audiobook playlist.The first film I watched when I set this up was Jurassic Park on Blu-Ray and the sound was so much better than my 43 inch 4K TV speakers by miles. You are in that moment, it’s late but you can’t hear anything being said, you turn it up and you go much better; then WHAM, bomb goes off and your heart drops. No more of that with voice/night mode. Plus the games also benefit and too I can hear the actual voices.Even low sounding films like Dark was the night was vastly improved. I had an old Bose solo tv base and sadly the sound has been lacking for years and one of the worst purchases I made, so I set myself a budget and wanted the bass inside the speaker as I didn’t want a sub woofer on the floor to be kicked around or annoy my neighbours as they make a right racket.This just fits me perfectly, it will never beat a true surround setup, but it’s easy to use. Simple setup and no long wires for 5.1/7.1 setups.