The Sony SRS-RA3000 is an elegant home speaker with a 360-degree design and an incredible natural-sounding soundstage. It comes with 'Auto Volume' feature that adjusts its volume according to your tracks to play them at similar levels. It supports Sony's '360 Reality Audio' format, and you can use its 'Immersive Audio Enhancement' feature to enable a virtual soundstage when '360 Reality Audio' is unavailable, though we don't test currently test these functions. It also has a room correction feature that adjusts the speaker's sound to the acoustics of your room and recalibrates when it's moved. Unfortunately, it doesn't get very loud, and it isn't very portable due to its wired design.
Our Verdict
The Sony SRS-RA3000 is decent for music. Thanks to its 360-degree design, it has a fantastic soundstage that can be perceived as wide and spacious. It has a balanced mid-range that ensures vocals and lead instruments sound present in the mix. That said, it lacks a thumpy and rumbling low-bass, and the slight underemphasis in the treble range can make higher-pitched voices and instruments sound dull and veiled. Fortunately, its companion app features a graphic EQ and presets you can use to customize its sound to your liking.
- Graphic EQ and presets.
- Outstanding soundstage.
- Doesn't get very loud, with compression artifacts at max volume.
- Lacks low-bass.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 is okay for watching videos and movies. Its relatively balanced mid-range should ensure dialogue in movies and videos sound clear, though they can also be a bit dark. It lacks some low-bass which can make it hard to feel the thump and rumble in action-packed scenes. That said, you can use its graphic EQ to tweak its sound to your liking. It also has a fantastic soundstage, so you can feel immersed in your audio from all angles. Additionally, it has low latency with iOS and Android devices, making it suitable for watching movies.
- Graphic EQ and presets.
- Low latency with iOS and Android devices.
- Doesn't get very loud, with compression artifacts at max volume.
- Lacks low-bass.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 is passable for podcasts. Its somewhat balanced mid-range makes voices and dialogue sound clear. However, its slightly underemphasized treble range can make higher-pitched voices sound veiled. That said, it comes with a graphic EQ you can use to tweak its sound to your liking. It also has amazing directivity, so your audio should sound clear from all angles. Unfortunately, it has some compression artifacts at max volume, so your audio may not sound as clean at louder volumes.
- Graphic EQ and presets.
- Outstanding soundstage.
- Doesn't get very loud, with compression artifacts at max volume.
- Poor portability.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 doesn't support voice assistants.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 isn't designed for outdoor use because it's a wired-only speaker.
Changelog
- Updated Jul 19, 2021: Updated the text to provide more information regarding Sony's '360 Reality Audio' and 'Immersive Audio Enhancement' features.
- Updated May 07, 2021: Review published.
- Updated May 05, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Apr 23, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Sony SRS-RA3000 comes in two color variants, 'Black' and 'Light Grey'. We tested the 'Black' variant, and you can find its label here. We expect both variants to perform similarly.
If you come across any other variants, let us know in the discussions so we can update our review.
Popular Speaker Comparisons
The Sony SRS-RA3000 is an elegant-looking, wired home speaker with an exceptional soundstage that can be perceived as open and natural. It comes with a graphic EQ and presets you can use to tweak its sound to your liking. Its room correction feature adjusts its sound to the acoustics of your room and recalibrates when the speaker is moved. Also, it supports Sony's '360 Reality Audio' surround format, and it also has an 'Immersive Audio Enhancement' feature to enable a virtual soundstage, though we don't test currently test this. That said, unlike most home speakers we've tested, it doesn't have built-in voice assistant support. This means you need to connect it to another device with built-in Alexa or Google Assistant over the Google Home or Amazon Alexa apps to access the voice assistant.
See our recommendations for the best home speakers, the best Bluetooth speakers, and the best speaker brands.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 and the Amazon Echo Studio (1st generation) have different strengths. The Amazon has excellent voice assistant performance, with Alexa built-in. It has a built-in Zigbee hub to control other smart home devices like lightbulbs or thermostats. The Sony has a much better soundstage performance and features a graphic EQ and presets, making it more customizable than the Amazon.
The JBL PartyBox 310 is a better speaker than the Sony SRS-RA3000, though they're designed for different uses. The JBL is a party speaker that can get louder than the Sony and produce more low bass. It's battery-powered and has a built-in handle and wheels, making it more portable than the Sony. It also has multiple inputs to connect a microphone or a guitar. That said, the Sony is designed to be used at home. It has fantastic directivity, resulting in a wider and more spacious-sounding soundstage.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 and the Sony SRS-XB43 have different strengths. While the SRS-RA3000 has a more natural and open-sounding soundstage, the SRS-XB43 is better-built, with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance certifying it to be fully dust-tight and immersible in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes. It's battery-powered, making it more portable, and also supports voice assistants through your smartphone.
The Sony SRS-RA3000 is a better speaker than the Sony SRS-XB23, though they have different strengths. The SRS-RA3000 is a wired speaker designed for home use, with a better-balanced sound profile out-of-the-box and an incredible soundstage performance. It can also get louder than the SRS-XB23, with fewer compression artifacts at max volume. That said, the SRS-XB23 is battery-powered, making it more portable than the SRS-RA3000. It also is better-built, with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.
Test Results
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