The Sony HT-CT800 is a sub-par sounding soundbar that doesn’t perform well for most uses. Its sound profile is noticeably bright and lacks a lot of bass, even if this 2.1 setup has a wireless subwoofer. It can get decently loud, but you’ll get audible compression artifacts, especially in the bass range. There are also rattles coming from the sub when listening to it at a normal listening volume, which becomes even worse at a higher volume. On the upside, its angled design helps widen the vertical size of the soundstage and it's very well-built. It also has great connectivity options, both wired and wireless.
Our Verdict
Sub-par for mixed usage. The Sony HTCT800 doesn’t sound very good overall and doesn’t have a specific use where it performs very well. Its sound profile is bright and lacks a lot of bass, even if it has a subwoofer. On the upside, there are a few features to help you get a better sound with stereo content, but it won’t be the best option for movies as it lacks height channels. However, the bar sits at an angle, firing towards the ceiling, which gives a feel of a vertically larger soundstage.
- Well-built design.
- Vertically larger soundstage due to angled design.
- Great connectivity options.
- Sub-par stereo audio quality.
- Noticeable distortion, especially at high volume.
- Bad surround sound performance.
Mediocre for dialogue and TV shows. The Sony HTCT800 has a very bright sound profile and doesn’t sound that great overall. On the upside, it has a decent mid-range performance and can get fairly loud. You can also easily play content like podcasts and audiobooks wirelessly thanks to its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi compatibility. It also has a dialogue enhancement and auto-volume features to make your overall experience slightly better.
Mediocre for music. The Sony HTCT800's stereo frequency response performance is sub-par, as it lacks a lot of bass. This soundbar won’t be great for bass-heavy music genres as its sound profile is noticeably bright. On the upside, the soundstage is decently wide, but when pushed at high volumes, the bar compresses and distorts a lot, which isn’t good.
The Sony HTCT800 is sub-par for movies. Although this bar sits at an angle and fires toward the ceiling, resulting in a vertically larger soundstage, it still lacks a proper frequency response and height channels. This soundbar sounds very thin, bright, and lacks a lot of bass, which isn’t good for movies. While it gets decently loud, you won’t be able to push the soundbar to high volumes as it distorts and you get compression, especially in the bass range.
Changelog
- Updated Apr 09, 2021: Updated Sound Enhancement Features to reflect that this bar doesn't have bass and treble adjustments.
- Updated Apr 09, 2021: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Mar 05, 2021: Updated Dolby Digital Plus support via ARC from 'NO' to 'YES'.
- Updated Sep 27, 2019: Review published.
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Popular Soundbar Comparisons
The Sony HTCT800 is a soundbar system with disappointing sound performance. However, it has a unique angled design that makes it sounds a bit wider vertically as it fires sounds towards the ceiling when sitting on its feet. See our recommendations for the best soundbars, the best budget soundbars, and the best soundbars with a subwoofer.
The Samsung HW-N450 is a better 2.1 soundbar system than the Sony HT-CT800. Its sound profile is noticeably better and it performs quite well as max volume. The Sony compresses a lot when it gets louder, especially in the bass range. On the other hand, the Sony has better connectivity options and is slightly better built than the Samsung, but not by much.
The Sonos Beam is a much better soundbar than the Sony HT-CT800. The Sonos has a more balanced sound profile, and its soundstage is noticeably larger. It's also a 3.0 setup, with a dedicated center channel for clearer reproduction of voices and dialogue. On the other hand, the Sony soundbar has a dedicated subwoofer, although you can buy a separate sub for the Sonos. The Sony also has many Full HDMI In ports and supports Bluetooth.
The Samsung HW-Q80R is better than the Sony HT-CT800 by a pretty big margin. The Samsung is a 5.1.2 setup with great audio performance, regardless of the content you listen to. It has a good and neutral sound profile, gets way louder than the Sony, and it supports Atmos as well, which the Sony doesn't do. It also has a dedicated center channel which makes voices clearer and easier to understand. Based on performance only, there is no reason to get the Sony over the Samsung.
The Sony HT-G700 is better than the Sony HT-CT800. The HT-G700 is a 3.1 setup that supports Dolby Atmos content. It offers better center and surround performances, and it can reproduce a more extended low-bass. That said, the 2.1 HT-CT800 is better-built with more wireless playback options. It also has a better stereo soundstage.
Test Results
