Sound quality: Sony's HT-X8500 delivers sound quality that falls in the Fair range, meaning that it has sonic shortcomings that leave a lot to be desired when listening to music but don't rule it out for dialog and movie effects. In the Music sound field mode the bass is slightly prominent and boomy, but is indistinct (has blunted impact) and doesn't go deep. The midrange is fairly even, but is a bit muffled, somewhat grainy, and has a bit of an echoey quality. Treble is fairly extended, but is slightly subdued, smeared. Sounds somewhat congested and does a so-so job of recovering actual room ambience; the echoey sound quality of the midrange obscures the actual room ambience recovered from recordings. When playing back stereo program material in the Music mode the sound field extends slightly above and beyond the sides of speaker array, and there is no sense of depth. The other sound modes have noticeable effects which may include making the sound field wider and taller, and to varying degrees also may make the sound metallic, harsh, more echoey, or somewhat telephone-like. The Voice sound mode makes the vocal range sound a bit edgy and rough. When Dolby Digital or DTS multi-channel program material was played back in the Music mode the width and height of the sound field expands, and depending on the program material can extend well beyond the sides and well above the top of the soundbar. The other sound modes and the Voice mode had a similar effect to what was heard with stereo program material, but they did not have the echoey, harsh, metallic, or telephone-like character. When Dolby Atmos, or DTS:X program material was played back in the various sound modes their sound fields were not significantly different than what was heard with 5.1 channel program material. There was no significant difference between the HDMI, optical, and Bluetooth inputs. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV ease of use: Acceptable overall.
Features ease of use: Acceptable overall.
