Get Them Here: Sony ULT Tower 10: https://amzn.to/3QjVOem
So this is the new Sony ULT Tower 10 and this is Sony’s largest and loudest speaker yet. Now over the last few months Sony has been refining and improving all of their speakers… And now, Sony is launching their new ULT series of speakers which just continue to refine and improve their speakers. Now you have to be crazy if you’re thinking about picking up the Sony ULT Tower 10 for at home use, but lets just say you wont be mad if you did cause this thing is pretty impressive.
Now regarding pricing… the ULT Tower 10 has a retail price of $1,200, not bad given the amount of sound coming out of this speaker. And for comparison sake, the ULT Tower 10 easily out performs the Sony XV900 which retails for $900, the Tower 10 also easily out preforms the JBL Partybox 710 which retails for $800… and it also gives the Partybox Ultimate a real run for its money which retails for $1,700… now if you want to watch this comparison, this is a separate video. But nonetheless, if you want to pick the Sony ULT Tower 10 up it’ll be linked down below, or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker cause the ULT Tower 10 is big. The ULT Tower 10 has a height of 43 inches and it weighs in at 64 pounds. For comparison sake, the ULT Tower 10 is about 2 inches taller than the Partybox Ultimate, but its 23 pounds lighter, which is good. And then theres the 710 which is noticeably smaller coming in at a hight of 36 inches and it weighs in at 61 pounds. Overall, the Tower 10 is tall but its not as dense as JBL’s speakers. However, transporting the ULT Tower 10 is a little easier thanks to the built in wheels so you can always roll this speaker around. And thankfully, these wheels are just large enough to handle uneven surfaces like asphalt relatively well… but I still wish that these wheels were larger and chunkier. Nonetheless, you can roll the ULT tower 10 around… but when it comes to carrying this speakers up stairs or into your car, that is going to be a 2 man job. Now when it comes to durability… this is a speaker that I would recommend that you baby… the ULT Tower 10 has a mostly soft plastic body which can get scratched very easily and it has a thin metal grill on the front which can get dented easily as well. But more importantly, I would avoid getting this speaker wet or rained on cause the seals here aren’t the greatest. Sony says that the Tower 10 is splash proof… but I recommend that you keep it dry. Now continuing on the design of this speaker, the Tower 10 has capacitive buttons up top and these buttons light up as well, which is good if you’re going to use this speaker in a darker room or at night. And quick mention, this speaker also has dual microphone holders where you can store the included wireless microphone which we will talk about more later.
But finally theres the light feature on this speaker. Now the light feature on the ULT Tower 10 is descent and I personally really like the floor light on this speaker. Im a huge sucker for floor lights cause it just gives this speaker a very large presence. And from Sony’s app you can go in and choose from a few different lighting modes and from the separate fiestable app you can customize this light feature. Or you can also press the buttons on the control panel up top. Overall, the light feature on the Tower 10 is decent but I would like to see Sony bring back the illuminated woofers.
But now, this brings us to the battery life of this speaker. The ULT Tower 10 actually doesn’t have a built in battery like the smaller Sony XV900… The ULT Tower 10 can only be used while its plugged in. But in order to plug this speaker in, it uses your standard AC port here.
But with power out of the way lets talk about ports and connectivity. Regarding connectivity, the Tower 10 is using bluetooth 5.2 but more importantly, this speaker can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so that you and a friend can both be DJ, latency is not an issue for this speaker so you can use it to watch videos with on your phone and when it comes to audio codecs, the tower 10 has support for SBC AAC and LDAC which is Sony’s own high res audio codec. Just keep in mind that if you want to use LDAC you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC.
Now when it comes to ports, the Tower 10 still has an USB A port so that you can either plug in and charge your own devices or you can plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it. Now I think its great and all that this speaker has a USB A port… but I still really wish that it had a USB C port so that I can charge my own devices and use it as a wired connection cause most phones these days come with USB C to USB C Charging cables.
But the tower 10 still has your 3.5 millimeter audio jack so you can use it with a wired connection, but unfortunately the Tower 10 doesn’t have an audio out jack so you cant daisy chain it to any other speakers.
However, the tower 10 does have an optical port so you can connect it to your TV and use it as a sound bar. And personally I really like the optical port on Sony’s larger box speakers cause it helps make these speakers more versatile. Cause maybe you already have a sound bar for your TV… but maybe you want something really loud cause either you’re having a house party, or maybe you have friends over watching the game or fight.
But unfortunately, the ULT Tower 10 does not have an XLR input so you cant use it with a mixer. But finally there’s the microphone on this speaker. The ULT Tower 10 comes included with a wireless Sony microphone. Now this microphone is double battery powered and Sony claims that it has a battery life of 25 hours. Now the ULT Tower 10 can only be used with a total of one wireless microphone.
However… the ULT Tower 10 does have a Single quarter inch input so that you can either plug in a second wired microphone or you can plug in a guitar. Now wether youre using the wireless microphone or the wired microphone, you cant adjust the sound of your microphone. However, you can add an echo if you want from the control buttons up top… and with the wireless microphone, you can adjust the gain from the microphone itself.
But something this speaker does have is that you can adjust the key of your music, you can either speed it up and make it sound brighter or you can slow it down and make it sound warmer. Just keep in mind that this key change is only going to affect your music and not your microphone.
Now peronsally I wouldn’t use the Key change function on this speaker, but nonetheless the ULT Tower 10 is a good option for karaoke cause it can be used with 2 microphones. I just wish that this speaker had more quarter inch inputs so that you could plug in more wired microphones… and I wish that you could use this speaker with more than 1 wireless microphone.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set up, the ULT Tower 10 has a single frontward firing woofer with exhaust ports that shoot out the front, it has dual frontward firing mid range drivers and it has a total of tweeters. Two that shoot out the front and two that shoot out the back. Now with this speaker you can go in and adjust its EQ to your liking… however, whats more important here is is Sony’s new ULT button. Now if you use this speaker with its ULT feature turned off you’re going to get a balanced listening experience. However, if you were to press this ULT button, this get interesting. First off theres ULT 1 and ULT 2. With ULT 1 the Tower 10 is basically just going to give you more bass. But with ULT 2… this is the setting that you want to use. With ULT 2 you’re not just getting more Bass… you’re getting more volume and a higher sound pressure. And thanks to this higher sound pressure, you’re going to get stronger and cleaner mids. But so that you can here for yourself we’re going to jump into the sound test. The ULT Tower 10 is playing at 75% volume… and at this volume you would need hearing protecting… and were going to be cycling between ULT Off, ULT 1 and ULT 2.
Sound Test
So simply said, if you want to get the most out of this speaker, you can want to use it while its set to ULT 2. Personally, I exclusively use this speaker while its set to ULT 2 and I suggest that you do too. Now when it comes to the overall sound quality of this speaker… ever since sony started to release their XV family of speakers that have been aiming for a very balanced sound signature, clarity in the mids and good instrument separation. And the ULT Tower 10 has all of that. But then theres the matter of the bass on this speaker. With Sony’s new lineup of speakers, the bass on their speakers is now mostly on the audible side… you can hear the bass on this speaker and you can feel that bass on this speaker… but dont expect the bass on this speaker to be super thunderous and dont expect the bass on this speaker to rearrange the furniture in your house all that much. Sony’s new line up of speakers is mostly focused on details in the mids and balance. Now when it comes to the max volume preformance of this speaker, it get loud, it gets very loud. If you try to use this speaker past 50% volume while indoors you are going to need hearing protection, and anything above 75% volume runs you the risk of getting a visit from the cops. With the ULT Tower 10, not only are your house parties covered, this speaker is going to be suitable for full on events.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker up to other speakers. Now the ULT Tower 10 is using Sony’s party connect. Meaning that if you have 2 of the same speakers you can pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode… or you can pair up your ULT tower 10 to any of Sony’s other box speakers that are also using Party Connect like either and XV900, XV800, XV500 or to an XP700 or to XP500 and you can get them to play in sync and you can connect up to 100 speakers together.
But the cool thing about Sony’s party connect is that you can also connect your larger box speakers to any of Sony’s smaller speakers that are also using Party Connect like either an ULT Filed 7, XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200 or to an XB43, XB33 or XB23.
And in order to pair your speakers up you can do so from Sony’s app and I do have to admit, thanks to some recent firmware updates, connectivity and stability is a lot better now. So overall, Sony’s Party connect is very accommodating and its fairly easy to use.
So with all of that being said, the Sony ULT Tower 10 is the continuation of Sony’s journey of improving and refining the sound quality of their speakers. With the ULT Tower 10, this speaker is giving you lots of details and clarity in the mids and great instrument separation. Now the bass on this speaker isn’t thunderous or wall shaking like with some other speakers out there… but thats okay, Sony is going for a different kind of bass and listening experience here. Overall, the ULT Tower 10 is overkill for at home use, but its a lot of fun, but more realistically, the ULT Tower 10 is going to be better suited for events. But still, the ULT 10 is great for karaoke cause it comes with that wireless mic and you can always plug in another, you can connect this speaker to your TV… and if you have other Sony speakers, you can always connect them to this speaker.