Sony 5.1 home theatre review: This is simply the best way to 'feel' music

The two new 5.1 channel Soundbar home theatre systems released by Japanese electronics giant Sony recently – the Sony HT-S700RF and HT-S500RF – went to sale India from August 10. Priced respectively at Rs 37,990 and Rs 29,990, these home theatres come with a mind-blowing 1,000-watt audio output. This makes them capable of delivering incredible audio output.

The home theatres, strong enough to surround your full house with music, also come with tweeters to let you indulge in every minute note and sound of the softest musical instrument. Both devices come with a premium design, featuring metal grills on all front and rear speakers.

Business Standard reviewed the HT-S700RF version. Here are our observations on how the set fares on various key parameters:

The Sony HT-S700RF home theatre system delivers a whopping audio output, thanks to its high volume boxes equipped with tweeters. The Japanese electronics giant claims to produce 'stunning surround sound'. Well, real 5.1 speakers, coupled with two front and rear tweeters, ensure that the sound produced is massive. For connectivity, they are equipped with Bluetooth 4.2, HDMI, optical-in ports, analogue audio input, and a USB port. The Bluetooth version is quite impressive, too. The 2.1v that many other companies provide disconnects the moment you get out of range. Overall, the system is a clean set-up that will enhance your room's feel.

Why sliding - and not walking - is the future of VR

Now a virtual reality game lets you go into the painting and move around for a closer look at objects from different angles.
Most people would do this by wearing headsets while seated or standing. This can cause motion sickness after a while because of a mismatch between what you’re seeing through the headset and what your body is experiencing in its relatively static state. And this is one reason for VR failing to live up to its promise.”

Why slide and not walk
Walking involves lifting a foot for the next step. And that requires balancing momentarily on one foot, which is an unstable state. That’s why we topple over as toddlers before we learn how to balance ourselves while walking.

Will this be the year of VR?
Virtual reality remains on the periphery of the consumer market despite the attention it has received since Facebook’s acquisition of VR headset maker Oculus in 2014. IDC data shows 9.6 million VR headsets were shipped in 2017. Most of them were low-power ones, like Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s Daydream, that work with mobile phones but can’t provide full-blown VR experiences like those you get from headsets linked to PCs or game consoles.

What's exciting about the Asian tech scene in 2018
The number of high-end headsets like those from Sony, HTC, and Oculus was just 3.4 million. To put that into perspective, Nintendo alone sold over 10 million of its new Switch video game consoles last year.
But what will really give VR a boost is a better experience. And that’s where innovations like a more realistic and less sickening way of moving about in the VR world will play a vital part.