Sony's first 360 Reality Audio speakers were the highlight of CES 2021, but now they have a price and release date

Sony's SRS-RA3000 and SRS-RA5000 will cost $299 and $699, respectively, and can be pre-ordered on Amazon ahead of the March 29 release date

Not only did the SRS-RA5000's distinctive triple-driver design draw attention at CES, but these speakers are Sony's first attempt to bring 360 Reality Audio technology to non-headphone audio hardware

For those unfamiliar, 360 Reality Audio maps each component of a music track (various instruments, vocals, crowd noise in a live recording, etc) into a simulated 3D space that surrounds the listener The result is a more immersive, music-specific 3D surround sound effect This sets it apart from similar systems for adding 3D sound to video content, such as Apple's Spatial Audio and Samsung's 360 Audio

The SRS-RA3000 and SRS-RA5000 do not deliver sound directly to the listener's ears at close range Instead, these speakers bounce sound off the walls and ceiling, creating room-scale 3D sound Although I haven't tried it yet, this iteration of 360 Reality Audio is a technology quite similar to Dolby Atmos

The SRS-RA3000 and SRS-RA5000 are also smart speakers, with a choice of Alexa or Google Assistant, each complete with voice commands and smart home controls

Chromecast and Spotify are also built in, and like the recently announced Sonos Roam, both Sony speakers can adjust their sound output to their surroundings to optimize acoustics Unlike the Roam, however, these are wired speakers for indoor use only

Sony also revealed that starting April 6, both speakers will support Amazon Music HD's Alexa Cast feature, and Amazon Music itself will more clearly display 360 Reality Audio-enabled content Currently, 360 Reality Audio songs are marked with the same "3D" symbol as Dolby Atmos, which is not cross-compatible

Pricing is cheaper than we had expected, given the already announced UK prices, but the SRS-RA5000 in particular remains a very premium investment However, it has a much larger vertical driver than the SRS-RA3000, which enhances the 3D effect, and the SRS-RA5000 is the only one of the two to receive high-res audio certification

We hope to test the SRS-RA3000 and SRS-RA5000 in the near future