Sound quality: Sony's HT-S2000 has acceptable overall sound quality - this model reproduces music and dialog reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. With the various sound modes turned off and the bass tone control set to provide the most even tonal balance the bass has decent impact but is a bit subdued and a touch boomy, and doesn't go deep. The midrange is fairly even, but is somewhat grainy, a bit hazy and echoey, and a touch thin and plasticky. The treble is fairly extended, but is a bit prominent, somewhat harsh and sizzly, and a bit smeared. This model does a decent job of recovering room ambience but the slightly echoey quality of the midrange adds artificial reverberation, and the overall sound is somewhat congested. With stereo program material the two channel sound field extends a bit above and not much to the sides of the speaker array, and lacks depth. With 5.1-channel material the sound field is wider and taller than with stereo program material, but depth was still lacking and there was no rear surround effect - sounds that should have been in the rear come from the front. When playing Dolby Atmos or DTS:X material, the width and height of the sound field expands somewhat depending on the program material; the sound field can extend up and above into the ceiling, however, there was no rear surround effect. The soundbar has various sound mode settings which have a noticeable effect on the sound field and/or tonal balance and/or volume regardless of the type of program material that is being played. There was no significant difference in sound quality between the HDMI, optical, and Bluetooth inputs. Dolby Atmos and/or DTS:X program material can only be played when the sound bar is connected to a TV via an HDMI ARC connection that supports Dolby Digital+ and/or DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, or an HDMI eARC connection that supports Dolby Digital+ or Dolby Digital TrueHD and/or DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS-HD High Resolution Audio.
TV ease of use: Very good overall.
Features ease of use: Acceptable overall.
