Customer Ratings & Reviews

If you are buying these only for the upfirinf speakers then I would say don't buy them. The pair is really expensive and you are mostly paying for the rechargeable battery in them which I will never use. If these didnt have the battery then I am guessing the price would be similar to their cheaper surround sound speakers. Considering the cost and the fact my Sonos surrounds don't have upward firing speakers ana tbh, I think the Sonos sounds just as good I would save skip the Sony and go all in on Sonos. Also they are very heavy so finding a stand was difficult.

Even though these are supposed to be the latest and greatest I ultimately went back to the store to exchange for the less SA-RS3's which I am far more pleased with my HT-7000a and SW3 sub. Here's why: 1) One of the speakers was experiencing interference, likely from my wifi router being nearby. Tried different optimization settings and changing connections but nothing worked. Note: the RS3's did NOT have this problem in the same location. 2) These things are big and heavy. Take note of the dimensions. Also thought the design didn't really match the rectangle soundbar. 3) Found the volume to be too uneven. Sometimes a little too much bass, other times can barely hear. Price to performance was not worth it to me. 4) You can't use these as standalone stereo speakers which may have justified the additional cost to take into another room or increase music throughout the home. I would point out these rears are only useful in 5.1 channel (or higher) audio source. They will work with stereo music if you use the "Immersive Audio" function but I found the sound to be too altered from the main soundbar (very airy and echo-y) so usually just keep it off. Very satsified with the RS3's at half the price for adding surround which makes for a fuller movie experience. I find the atmos upfiring feature to be pretty overrated overall, but do enjoy the Sony combination for multiuse in the living room.

I'm not sure why these cost $600, but they certainly aren't $600 speakers. To start, when paired with an A7000, at max volume, they barely create any volume. Like the A7000, the complete lack of user-facing control over sound and sound quality is a shame. Having a battery on these that lasts 6-10 hours is the most pointless design flaw I've ever seen. These are stationary bookshelf speakers intended to be used in the home. Why in the world did somebody think adding a battery that needs to be plugged in and recharged every three days was a good idea? Seems like a half-baked way to make the price go up. You can always leave them plugged in all the time, which I do, but because the battery loses a little bit of juice every time the speakers get powered off, you have to deal with the lights blinking for the first 15-30 minutes the speakers are on. I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to add a battery to a non-portable device, but it makes the whole thing more cumbersome than it needs to be and doesn't add anything to the standard, intended use of this product. Between the lacking volume and the nonsensical design of the product, these are not $600 speakers. I can't speak to the cheaper RS3's, but I'd wager the actual volume and sound quality between the RS3's and RS5's are identical. Weak effort from Sony, especially given the otherworldly sound quality of the A7000. Hard to fathom these came from the same product line and the same manufacturers.

The right rear speaker no longer holds a charge after just 3 weeks and will be returned (tested the power cable on the other speaker to make sure it was not a defective cable). The sound is nice when I hear them, which is seldom. Nice speaker, but probably not worth the price for many.

Got my hands on the Sony HT-A7000 flagship soundbar. To complete the home theater, I then purchased the SA-RS5 rears and SW5 sub (expensive setup). After setting everything up (which was a very easy experience) was completely let down by the anemic low sound produced at the rears. I found myself placing my ears up to the speakers assuming they were off! Checked multiple online chats and found I’m not alone. Sony needs to put out a firmware correcting this issue IMMEDIATELY!