Sony has released more details on the specification and the UK release date for its 360 Reality Audio speakers. The speakers, which will herald a new era for Sony’s 360 Reality Audio technology, are a part of a two-fold plan to expand the technology and make it available for more people.
Sony previously said it would start shipping the speakers in Spring but the company’s UK website already has more information about the speakers. According to the website, the SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000 wireless speakers will have a total of seven and five drivers respectively.
Three of the drivers in the SRS-RA5000 face upwards, another three occupy its three sides and fire in three different directions. The last driver in the speaker is a woofer mounted in its center. For the SRS-RA3000, there are two tweeters, two passive radiators, and a full-range driver. Both speakers have cloth covers with accents and grilles.
According to the pictures on the website, the SRS-RA3000, which looks slightly smaller, will come in two colors. The first is black with bronze accents while the other is gray-colored with silver accents. It is still uncertain if the SRS-RA5000 will have another color, but the pictures show its sides cover in black while the top-firing speakers are covered in gold, Engadget reports.
The two speakers will give a 360 Reality Audio projection by firing in all directions in a room. This is to project the feeling of being in a live concert and not just listening to music on an ordinary speaker which beams in one direction only. Sony stated that the speakers come with an immersive Audio Enhancement algorithm that will convert audio files that are not in the 360 formats to give a similar experience to users.
The speakers are Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Google Cast, and Spotify Connect enabled. They can also be used with the Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa applications to create a multi-room sound system. Both of the speakers can be controlled using Google Assistant or Alexa. According to Sony, the speakers have been designed to automatically modify audio volume, meaning that even if a track is louder than other tracks, the speakers will modify the content until it normalizes.
According to the website, the SRS-RA3000 can be used in the bathroom or kitchen as a result of its inbuilt humidity resistance. The speakers have also been designed to activate standby mode after 15 minutes of inactivity, according to the tech company.
The features listed on the UK website might be limited to products that will be sold in the region, according to reports. Sony also told reporters in an email, that it would release more details about the speakers for North American users later this spring.
In the UK, the speakers will be released next month. SRS-RA3000 will be sold for £280/€359 and SRS-RA5000 will be sold for £500/€599.
Source: theverge.com
