Sony's new ULT speakers promise to turn any situation into a party
With wireless party Chain, you can sync music and lighting to up to 100 speakers - that's going to be a loud party!
I used to think that party speakers were just portable speakers with flashing lights, and maybe some wireless microphones for some karaoke, like the BlueAnt X5i speaker I reviewed last year.
But Sony's new ULT party speakers have me thinking that there's more to this category than I used to think.
There are a few new speakers as part of the lineup, led by the ULT TOWER 9AC. This tower offers the 360 degree lighting you might be familiar with on party speakers, but also supports Sony's Wireless Party Chain functions.
This promises to let you sync both the music and the lights across 100 compatible speakers. 100. One. Hundred.
The list of compatible speakers is bigger than I expected too. It includes the SRS-XB43, XB33, XB23, XP700, XP500, XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200, XV800, XV900, XV500, ULT30, ULT50, ULT70, ULT900, ULT900AC, and ULT1000.
I really want to try this out - but I don't think Sony is going to want to give me 100 speakers to test at once, unfortunately. Still, if you are at a party with even a dozen friends with compatible speakers, things are going to get wild.
The 9AC tower also offers inputs for karaoke microphones and a guitar. It's powered by four tweeters delivering clear sound to both the front and rear of the speaker, with two mid-range speakers for vocal clarity.
The 9AC also includes Sony’s X-Balanced Speaker Unit, and two dedicated bass modes: ULT1 for deeper, lower frequency bass and ULT2 for powerful punchy bass.
If the ULT 9 is maybe a bit bigger than your needs, Sony has also launched the smaller FIELD 5 and FIELD 3 ULT speakers.
The FIELD 5 offers the two bass boosting modes as well as an IP66 dust and water resistance rating, as well as 360º lighting.
The FIELD 3, meanwhile, is more compact, and only has a single bass boost mode. But with a dedicated woofer and tweeter, it's been designed to not compromise on the bass sound quality, while still offering an IP67 dust and water resistance rating.
Sony has also launched a pair of wireless microphones for an easier karaoke experience. You just plug in the supplied dongle to the mic ports on the speaker and sing away.
Pricing and availability
- ULT TOWER 9AC is available from July 2025 with a suggested retail price of $1,099
- ULT FIELD 5 is available from May 2025 with a suggested retail price of $449
- ULT FIELD 3 is available from May 2025 with a suggested retail price of $329
- ULTMIC1 is available from July 2025 with a suggested retail price of $229
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