Sony HT-S40R 5.1ch Home Theater Soundbar

I went from a wired Samsung HT system to this when I upgraded my TV. I love this system. The rear wireless speakers feature is great. Occasional popping noises and you may have to position your rear speakers in a few places to get the right output – they are a little softer, I have them right behind the sofa. Sounds really great for music. Connects easily to my and minimal wires. Really recommend this one.

Bass and rear speakers fully adjustable. Sounds perfect with movies and also Bluetooth for phone. Really loud top volume and the sub is seriously powerful. Crisp mid and high end also, incredibly happy with my purchase I don’t normally do reviews but felt the need to tell you, it’s worth every penny and any negative reviews are wrong. Sometimes I have to turn down the bass to be kind to the neighbors. Completely enhanced my viewing and listening experience, go buy it.

The soundbar is just a set of center front sounding speakers. The remote speakers were a very low volume. The subwoofer did not deliver a solid base response ( I adjusted to the maximum volume) and it was integrated with a front speaker. In order to hear anything resembling a movie theater, the volume had to be set very loud. The connection concept for this soundbar was very interesting.. I have set up a lot of soundbars that delivered a much better overall sound experience even though this one was rated very high. The voices were precise through the center speakers, but the spatial effects through the remote speakers was very poor. I did an A to B comparison with another soundbar and this one failed miserably. I have another soundbar from Sony and I was very satisfied. I would never buy this particular model again. I gave it away the very next day after I received it.

Really Dolby Atmos sound. Make sure you have HDMI(arc) to get actual audio

Likes mostly. The sound is clear. Good voice and base. Background is what you would expect from a much more expensive system.

Amazing sound quality with deep bass and clear highs. Easy wireless setup and sleek design. Multiple connectivity options, including Bluetooth. Great value for an immersive home theater experience.

Purchased Sony HT-S40R after a lot of research and i have also checked the reviews here on Amazon. Initially i was a bit worried about the few negative reviews that i had seen on this platform, but as the majority of the reviews were positive, went ahead and ordered the Item from Appario Retail limited, Kolkata. I got this item for Rs 25000/- from Appario Retail, where as on the Sony India site the same item was Rs 35000/- so i saved Rs 10000/- straight away by not ordering from Sony. This is one of the big electronic item that i ordered on Amazon, otherwise i usually prefer to buy it from the original Manufacturer.
Pros:
1) Excellent sound for 12 ft X 10 ft living room – connected to a 43 Inch Sony TV (KD43X80K). This TV has HDMI ARC port, so connecting the S40R sound system was very simple with the HDMI cable provided.
2) The Sound system volume can be controlled by the TV remote itself. I have tried out various music, movie YouTube clips – the system gives enough sound from anywhere at 45 volume to 65 to 70 – did not go above this level as then it was too loud for my living room.
3) Some users have complained about Bass being not good or the sound not being 600W – i disagree with this – as mentioned for a Living room of 12 x 10 ft size the Bass especially lower bass was very good.
4) The various modes like – auto, cinema, music, voice & night mode are effective – it depends on the type of the clip or movie or music you are playing, on some high quality clips i could clearly notice the difference between various modes.
5) You can adjust only sub woofer volume by the dedicated buttons given for this on the remote.
6) You can also adjust the Rear speakers distance from the listener.
7) Important – place the rear speakers at slightly above the head height behind the seating position, you can clearly hear sounds from these rear speakers even at 45 volume level – be it normal YouTube music or cricket commentary – ideal distance of the listener from the rear speakers according to me is 3 to 5 feet.
Do not place these rear speakers along with the TV, sub woofer or sound bar – place them behind you.
8) You can also clearly hear the left – right sound separation through these speakers – try out A.R. Rahman music – i tried the the following track among many others – BGM track from Tamil movie “Thiruda Thiruda”, also tired out “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen – it has enough highs and lows, so that you can check out your speakers.
9) I received the Item in original SONY packaging, with a small amazon cardboard covering on one side of the L shaped original packing – the item arrived in excellent condition from Kolkata to A.P.
10) Installation is very easy and took about 10 mins – no need for any Sony technician for installation or demo – incase you have any doubt on the various options & settings – checkout YouTube clips.
11) However, i did call for the Sony tech one day after receiving and installing the item by myself – so that the product is in Sony database for warranty purposes. Sony tech also came with in 7 hours after i sent the e-mail to Sony customer care – this is just to check all O.K and to make sure the product is in Sony database for Warranty purposes.
12) All in all – for most people with normal sized living rooms – this is an excellent product to experience virtual surround sound specially if your TV supports ARC mode, and DTS and Dolby Atmos, as mine does – even though this sound system is not Dolby Atmos, still as the source input is of good quality, your output is also excellent.
13) Going by the reviews – few people had some issues with either connecting the Blue tooth or with the Rear speakers – i did not have any such issues, the rear speakers connected immediately and also the BT connected very quickly.
14) Prior to this i had connected my TV to a Bose Ipod Dock (15 year old and a good outdoor portable speaker) – which used to give much better sound the than the TV alone, once my Ipod dock stopped working recently, i checked out the Bose TV sound bar (cost Rs 30000/-) and rejected it as while it was better than TV speakers itself – there was no bass, no surround etc;.
15) So, within my budget i went for Sony HT S40R which worked out excellent for my living room and budget – honestly most of us do not really need anything much costlier than this for the few hours that we use our TV.
16) Lastly – if you pick up a single party type speaker to connect to your TV, instead of a sound bar as this is supposed to give more bass and sound – remember – party type speakers especially those that are suitable for outdoors – throw sound in all directions – this can end up irritating those that are not watching the TV and are doing the household work nearby or next room – so with Sony HT-S40R – you have sound bar – which has three speakers in it, with the two side speakers angled slightly towards the center, keep the subwoofer pointed in the same direction as your seating position and place the rear speakers behind your seat – this channels the maximum sound to you seating position, with less sound bleeding to the surroundings – do not misunderstand – you will still hear sound to the sides but it wont be as loud and irritating as before with only the TV speakers or a single party type speaker.