🔊 Sony announces a new flagship Ult Tower Max party speaker
🫨 Three subwoofers deliver powerful, distortion-free bass
💡 100 LEDs expand RGB lighting effects add a helpful volume indicator
💽 New XLR and RCA support professional DJ setups.
📦 Sony Ult Tower Maxx launches in September for $1,499
🏷️ Smaller, but still powerful $649 Ult Tower 7 and $449 Ult Tower 5 also release this September
Sony has announced a new trio of Ult speakers that promise ground-shaking bass and all the lights you need to kick off any party.
First up, Sony’s new Ult Tower Max now takes the top-flagship slot even above the previous Ult Tower 10 we tested last year. It features three 280mm subwoofers paired with two midrange drivers and four tweeters.
We heard it in person in NYC, and Sony’s largest party easily filled a hotel ballroom with its base sound profile alone. Like other Ult speakers, Sony’s sound profiles add more bass with Ult 1 and then add a high-pressure bass boost with Ult 2. With the Ult 2 sound profile, the Sony Ult Tower Max hit us in the chest with high-pressure bass without adding distortion or sacrificing the rest of its sound profile for a harder thump of low-end resonance.
Sony has also added two new sound profiles, including Flat, that promise a true-to-source sound reproduction, and Live, which claims to recreate the spacious feel of a live performance.
The other most immediate thing you’ll notice about the Ult Tower Max is its new ring of LED lights on the front of the speaker. It features four times as many LEDs as the previous Tower 10, which only came with 25. The Sony Ult Tower Max puts its 100 LEDs to good use, adding more strobing RGB effects while also using them practically to show the volume level so you don’t inadvertently blast yourself at max volume.
The Sony Ult Tower Max also comes better outfitted for professional DJ setups with newly added XLR and RCA inputs. This lets users physically connect their equipment to one Ult Tower Max speaker and sync sound to other Ult speakers by pressing the sync button.
The Sony Ult Tower Max will be available in September for $1,499.
Sony Ult Tower 7 & Ult Tower 5
Sony also announced a new pair of smaller party speakers, the Ult Tower 7 and Ult Tower 5, that replace the SRS-XV800 and SRS-XV500. I was particularly impressed by the Ult Tower 5 since it could create a wider soundstage and was louder than some speakers I’ve heard that were twice its size.
Both speakers offer all of Sony’s modern Ult Tower features, including Ult 1 and Ult 2 sound modes, RGB ring lights at the front, XLR in/out, RCA, and quick stereo pairing. Both units also come with built-in batteries, offering 30 hours on the Ult Tower 7 and 20 hours on the Ult Tower 5.
The Sony Ult Tower 7 and Ult Tower 5 will also be available in September for $649 and $449, respectively.
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam