Recently, I had the opportunity to get live and get an in-depth overview of Sony’s new ES AV receivers at an event in Austin, Texas, which is often frozen. Luckily, the power stayed on long enough – freezing rains left 120,000 Austin customers without power during my stay – to get a thorough demonstration of these impressive models, the first new Sony receivers in 5 years.
There are five new models in total: four ES receivers for the professional custom installation channel and one for consumer models. All receivers share many of the same features, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X decoding and multiple HDMI 2.1 ports with support for 8K, 4K 120Hz, Dolby Vision HDR, and IMAX Enhanced.
They also support Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM), making them a solid future choice for gamers. Sony TV and PlayStation 5-exclusive perks include switching through Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode, features intended to optimize picture quality for specific PS5 games on a compatible Sony Bravia TV.
The ES models are designed to fully integrate with many of the key whole-home control systems on the market such as Crestron, Savant and Control4. Furthermore, they are certified to Work with Sonos, allowing them to connect to a multi-room wireless Sonos system.
- STR-AZ7000ES: 13.2 channels ($3,299.99)
- STR-AZ5000ES: 11.2 channels ($2,099.99)
- STR-AZ3000ES: 9.2 channels ($1,699.99)
- STR-AZ1000ES: 7.2 channels ($1,099.99)
- STR-AN1000: 7.2 channels ($899.99)
All receivers are now available for pre-sale and are backed by a 5-year warranty.
The ES series power output specifications range from 100 watts per channel on the 7.2 model to 150 watts per channel on the 13.2 model. The 7.2-channel consumer model STR-AN1000 is rated at 165 watts. All of Sony’s new receivers feature a host of design changes aimed at improving both sound quality and reliability, with a new 32-bit DAC, large condenser power transformer, and frame buffer chassis. The ES products have also been enhanced with a 200% thicker bottom panel and 120% thicker side walls than previous models.
A new processing feature for Sony’s 2023 line of receivers is the 360 Spatial Sound Map. Previously used within the company Wireless speaker system HT-A9 this can work to fill the audio “gap” in a typical Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 speaker configuration. 360-degree spatial acoustic mapping enabled through the company’s new Digital Cinema Calibration IX, a feature that uses stereo microphones to take variable height measurements of distance, angle, and pressure the sound of each speaker and create a 3D acoustic map of the room. Once that’s done, press the 360SSM button on the Sony remote and 360 Spatial Sound Mapping creates virtual speakers between the system’s actual speakers for enhanced immersion.
Along with virtual speakers, the new Sony receiver also supports wireless. The company’s SA-RS5 and SA-RS3S wireless speaker models can be additionally optionally used as rear-channel speakers, and the same option applies to the SA-SW5 and SA-SW3 wireless subwoofers.
New sound options
Streaming music to a Sony receiver is made easy with support for ChromeCast, AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect. Working with Sonos also means you can integrate the receiver with a wireless multi-room system in your home and control music playback with the Sonos S2 app when a device like that company’s Gateway is connected.
The new receiver is also the first Sony model to support 360 Reality Audio. You can find music encoded with Sony’s proprietary Spatial Audio mixing format on services like Tidal and Amazon Music Unlimited, and you can stream it to a receiver via Chromecast or stream it from apps on the connected Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K or Apple TV 4K.
Analysis: A/V receiver is finally ready for the future
It’s been a minute since we heard of Sony’s new AV receivers, but these latest models seem well worth the wait. That delay could actually be part of the company’s strategy, as HDMI 2.1 hardware fully supports HDMI 2.1 features such as 8K and 4K 120Hz pass-through that are not available to manufacturers, some some of them pushed half-baked products with the promise of enabling more features in “future firmware updates”.
The best AV receiver now offered with full HDMI 2.1 support, making them the perfect companion for next-gen home theater PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S panel. Sony’s latest models fit exactly into this category, and they offer a whole host of technology-forward expansion options at the top, including Works with Sonos and built-in features suitable for the whole family.
At Sony’s Austin event, I had the opportunity to listen to music encoded with 360 Reality Audio (Go through, by HER and Chris Brown), and an adventure-object-based combination made extensive use of 360-degree space. Two-channel music can also be mixed with Reality 360 Audio, so it’s also a feature that can be applied to legacy sources as well.
The home theater test room where I watched movies and listened to music powered by Sony’s new STR-AZ7000ES player and presentation 9.6.4 – using KEF speakers and subwoofer, nothing more – nothing less – extremely immersed. There are so many speakers on the faucet that there’s no need for the receiver’s 360 Degree Spatial Sound Map!
I’m sure the 360SSM will improve the performance of my own 5.1.2 channel system, and since Sony sent me a STR-AN1000 for testing I’ll be able to report back on that soon.
