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1 SONY HT-AX7
£499, sony.co.uk
It is not unlike Sony to monkey with audio form factors in the name of innovation – we’re still reeling that its LSPX-S3, which looks like a glass lantern and includes a candlelight flickering LED, actually sounds brilliant. So the look of the HT-AX7 shouldn’t surprise. And yet, here we are. What a weird little thing.
But just like the glass on the LSPX-S3 provided resonance, there’s a reason for the little cloth-covered hamburgers on (or, alternatively, off) the HT-AX7: it turns out this is a very fancy little personal listening device that supports 360-degree spatial audio. It’s like a hybrid of headphones and a soundbar, which we didn’t know we needed until we heard it.
Place the two satellite speakers behind your head and the effect is something very special, pulling stereo apart and spreading it around to create a truly spectacular amount of separation. That main event listening mode won’t work quite so well if there’s more than one of you, mind – but if that’s the case, you can switch the Sound Field effect off and employ this as three wireless party speakers, or keep the whole bundle combined to act as a regular soundbar.
So well done, Sony. You have once again taken a stab at making something brand new in the audio field, and once again succeeded in creating something brilliant. We can’t wait to see what you think up next.
AUTO SPATIAL
No spatial audio to play back? No problem: Sony has not only gone wild hardware wise, it has cooked up software that upscales your sound, converting a stereo stream to one with full allaround appeal.