Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 with 11 speakers, Dolby Atmos®/DTS:X®

First let’s start with the goods. The system looks very good, it’s thin, it can easily be wall mounted, high quality all around. Bravia app experience was good, and installation was straight forward. Edit: I have an iPhone, can’t comment on Android experience.

The demo sounds, and anything with the spatial 360 sounds amazing. All 4 speakers are identical meaning the rear speakers should be as powerful as the front ones.

However the reality – 4K Dolby content from Disney, Netflix, and Prime video (the ones we use the most) is … good? Given the price range good does not cut it.
For reference I have the Q990C (Samsung high end soundbar, rear speakers and sub). That system usually runs less than half of what this is. Attached pictures shows the size of these speakers in relation to the 990C sub, and one of the rear speakers.

The 360 audio demos and music sound better with the Bravia Quad. It’s more immersive and really shows what having real full size back speakers deliver. It is surprising how loud they get despite being so thin..

What I tried:
– Disney: Avengers End Game (various action scenes)
– Netflix: Rebel Moon (20 minutes different places)
– Amazon: Wheel of Time (action)

In general terms even if we exclude the sub (which I don’t have for Sony) the Q990C gave me a better movie viewing experience. The biggest disappointment for me with movie content is the rear speakers. I had a lot of hope for the full size speakers being used in the rear, and how noises from the back would come alive with this system. This is not the case. In fact there was virtually no difference in listening experience (I placed them in the same location as the Samsung ones) between them.

Noises from left and right front have more separation than the soundbar. But the soundbar does better center channel…

Even the rears when there is racing or fast moving objects, it seems like Samsung does a better job at making that experience more immersive and moving the sound from rear to front.

Other weird things about Bravia Quad:
– Sound varies greatly by content type. While a movie in Disney Plus requires audio at level 50-60 for an enjoyable experience, that volume level is super loud on their demo music and TV interface (I have a Sony tv) , which means I’m constantly having to adjust the volume level between applications. I’ve never had to do this for the Q990C.
– listening to music from Spotify and Apple Music was a pleasant experience, but the rear speakers were muddled, singers voice and most sounds come from the front speakers. This seems like it could be fixed via software as this is not the experience you want for your music. This experience is much better with the Sony music one which brings me to why it’s 3 stars and not say 2 stars or 4-5 stars.

This system is great with the 360 audio and other Sony demos, but common movies, common music from popular third party services, is good… but not great and in my opinion worse than competitors provide at less than half the cost.

As it stands unless you have a space constraint, want a really good looking sound system, or love and are deep involved in Sony 360 sound sources, there are better alternatives to this.

FINAL SUMMARY

After a week with the system and dozens of hours both using… and trouble shooting… I hope you find the review to be helpful. It is recommended to read everything if you want to understand the entire experience.

GOOD for you if: you have a new SONY Bravia TV that will function as a center channel, do not want to run wires all over your home, prioritize a minimalist, ‘clean’ look, are okay with spending another $600 for proper bass, are not looking for ‘reference sound’ – just something that sounds good**. (The speakers sound great, but this is partly achieved by creating data that isn’t there in the source and amplifying the rear speakers for a more noticeable effect. Christopher Nolan movies, for example, are mixed in 5.1 and DO NOT have height sounds… but this system can fake it for you. In my opinion this sounds good, but it is not the data the director put on the disc.)

BAD for you if: you want the best sound for the money, you want a center channel and don’t have a new Sony TV, you want to integrate existing subwoofers or any other equipment, your TV doesn’t support HDR, Dolby Vision, or ATMOS return via the eARC output, your TV doesn’t have multiple HDMI inputs, you use a projector (due to limited inputs), you want to use for gaming.

5.7.24 UPDATE:

The system is now working again. No rhyme or reason – just started working again.

Tested with a gaming PC. GSync does not work if connected directly to the Hub from graphics card (not surprising). Therefore, if your display doesn’t have an ARC HDMI return (or one that supports HDR/ATMOS for those features) you will not be able to use variable refresh rate. I didn’t test Free Sync or regular VSYNC – but the results would be the same.

The system does support 120hz, and I didn’t notice any lag or video degradation if you want to pass through the HUB to your display. BUT… some games will recognize the hub as a small TV and not allow you to make the appropriate selection in the Audio menu (in fact this may also happen even if you are using eARC…). Also, as a general note about ATMOS and Windows 10/11… it can be difficult to get this to work properly; for non-video game ATMOS output you will need to buy a $15 program from DOLBY and it is a pain even with this program.

Tested with an HDMI splitter/audio extractor and 3rd party subwoofer. This worked – just run a RCA cable from the audio-extraction output to your powered subwoofer! From my perspective this is the biggest win for the system, and the reason I will be keeping it. But… you don’t have any controls over the sub: you can’t fine tune it as part of the overall system and are limited to using the crossover knob on the sub itself, and adjusting the volume with the subwoofer gain knob. ***You should be able to run the audio extract to a preamp and then the sub, which would give you some more control – but that is getting a little crazy.

Main take-away from the HDMI sound extractor device: if you have a bunch of Subwoofers and “Butt-kickers” it IS possible to utilize them with this system. Big bonus.

Music: Not good. But maybe good enough for what you need. Better than a blue tooth speaker or TV.

No Center Channel: big disappointment. Sony does a good job of ‘faking it’ with movies, but if you’re watching someone speak (news for example) it just sounds off. And you lose the ability to adjust the volume of dialogue specifically.

Limitations if your TV doesn’t have multiple HDMI inputs and an fully functional ARC output: in this situation you’re stuck with 1 input via the Sony hub. Even casting from a phone won’t work correctly if your ARC doesn’t support all features. Using a receiver as a HDMI switching device (though silly and expensive and not recommended) did not work for me. It is possible you could plug your devices (Disc Player, Streaming Device, Xbox, etc.) into a HDMI selector, and then change your output to the Sony hub as needed… but to get such a device that supports ATMOS, HDR, 120hz, etc. AND has more than 2 HDMI inputs can be very expensive.

****I’m going to keep the system.**** People really prefer the sound of Sony’s processing over traditional multi-speaker ATMOS systems, and the ability to run subwoofers (though limited) is what convinced me.

Good luck!

5.6.24 UPDATE:

I received this product free of charge as part of Amazon’s VINE review program. And I will likely be returning it. I’ve left 2 stars because it sounded amazing for the 20ish hours it worked.

The system has had ongoing problems after the first day. It stopped turning on with the TV. It stopped playing sound from the TV. It randomly started, and got stuck with no resolution, on “Pairing.”

NOTHING has changed with my TV, and there are no other devices involved – this is purely a problem with the BRAVIA system. It cannot connect to the speakers, the APP, etc.

As the product comes with no instructions, I have had to go through all the steps directed by a SONY rep on the first day of setup: everything from simply pushing the ‘pair’ button on the speakers, to resetting the device and speakers, to removing power. I’ve uninstalled/reinstalled the Android APP. I even used the special code (that is written nowhere) the SONY rep told me to ensure the antenna is on. NOTHING IS WORKING.

At this point I have spent more time setting up/ trouble shooting this product than actually using it. It sounded better than anything I’ve ever heard during the 18ish hour period it worked — but I am going to return it if I cannot resolve this by the end of the day.

I recommend holding off on purchase at this point. See below for my initial impressions on day 1.

5.1.24 – there are no reviews out on this product, and many people are interested. I have only spent a day with the system so far, so consider these my first impressions to help you make a choice. I will update this review with more information as I spend more time with it – but I wanted to get this data to everyone ASAP!

When considering this product you need to consider what you are looking for: do you want a simple, elegant system that will give you incredible sound with minimal* hassle; or, are you looking for components that can be integrated to your existing audiophile system?

Are you okay with a proprietary, closed ecosystem that requires setting up a Sony account and a smartphone App –as long as it works… or do you want to connect your very expensive subwoofers, transducers, etc for.the best possible experience?

What this system does: once you get everything setup* the sound produced is unbelievable. Not just for the tiny size of the speakers — in general, across all systems I’ve tested. It just works; you are in a dome of sound and it doesn’t even make sense to me how this is possible???

This is tested in a wood floored room with average height drywall ceilings: about 15′ by 24′. The speakers were mounted on top (see pics) of the existing system speakers, so they are a little above ear level for some people. The mounting height is about perfect: they aren’t just sitting on a TV console 3′ from the ground, so keep that in mind. However, with Sonny’s claimed processing this shouldn’t matter anyway.

The majority of testing this far has been with a Sony 4k BluRay player connected directly to the hub. To summarize, I watched Alita: Battle Angel with Atmos. 3 minutes in my wife turned to me with a grin and said “don’t get mad… but this sounds way better than any setup we’ve ever had.”. She doesn’t lie.

Now why would I be mad? Because I’ve spent countless hours over the years researching components, assembling systems… and drilling through walls, ceilings, floors to run high gauge wire to high power speakers.

We currently have a higher-end Onyko receiver in the basement powering higher end dual 8″ + horn Klipsch mains, and marching center, surrounds, ceiling firing, 2 300 watt Klipsch subs, and ‘Butt Kicker’ transducers for a 150″ projector screen. This is my pride and joy.

Upstairs we have a mid-grade Onyko receiver paired with a mid-range 5 speaker Jamo system and a 15″ $300 sub. No Atmos in this system, but it sounds great. At least it did…

Regarding the Sony Quad system: it makes you feel like you are in a bubble of sound (her words). You don’t necessarily hear sound specifically coming from a point in the ceiling – but you do hear things flying overhead. Watching the Godzilla remake had 2 cats and 1 dog looking all over the room – including at the ceiling – to try to find out where those sounds were coming from. First time they’ve looked around like that. People who say up-firing Atmos speakers don’t work haven’t experienced Sony’s magic!!!

The sound itself: gets very loud – wouldn’t want to play over 80/100 volume. Never distorts. Feels incredibly crisp and clear. And loud. Other systems seem to overwhelm you with powerful but inferior sound: the Sony system just cuts through with perfect clarity.

The bass/mids are on one hand very impressive. At 70 volume an ottoman was vibrating – not from sound transfered through the floor but through the air. The sound is full: you will not be disappointed…

Unless, that is, you are doing A/B testing with a big subwoofer. The Sony system is indeed magical – but it cannot reproduce the deep mid-lows and deep lows of a traditional tower/sub setup. It just cannot… despite all Sony’s processing power, physics gets in the way. The sound never falls apart or distorts, but you will never feel like you’re being punched in the chest, that there is pressure on your ear drums; you won’t feel Godzilla’s steps on your floor.

It is what it is. The SO, always honest, prefers the Sony approach to the “sound you can feel.”

But, objectively, from a home theater perspective, you are missing out on some content/data.

If you are moving up from a soundBAR etc. you will never know the difference: this will be the most incredible experience you have ever heard. But those who know … well they know.

Sony sells a 300 watt subwoofer, from last year, to go with this system: $600. Now, the tech employed in the Quad system itself may warrant its $2,500 USD price tag. But the tech involved in a subwoofer does not – there is no magic processing going on there, it is simply handling the sub 100hz frequencies like a normal sub.

To really get a theater experience with this system you need a sub. I refuse to spend $600 on what Sony is offering: enter the closed system dilemma. I am going to attempt to get a signal to my existing subs and will report back if I achieve success.

Sony could have made it easy to add a sub. They could.have made it easy to add a center speaker – they did not. The only way to get a center channel is to buy a Sony Bravia TV!!! Closed system!! How is that going to work with a projector?

Expanding on th closed nature of this system, the setup, which is supposed to be a piece of cake, was the most frustrating audio gear experience of my 25+ years in the space.

I almost returned the system.

1. There are directions on mounting. There are NO DIRECTIONS on how to setup, tune, etc. apparently you are supposed to notice a tiny barcode-url that brings you to download the “Official Bravia App.”

2. The App is the only way to set up the system. To use the app you need to provide a bunch of personal information, confirm your email, and (probably) consent to unlimited data collection. This is where I expected many of you will “Nope Out” and look elsewhere.

–Unlike every other piece of equipment you have ever used, you can’t just hook up the cables and go. I wasted an hour and a half trying that.

3. Once you’ve resigned to signing over your life, you are at the mercy of the APP. When you get stuck during setup with the app… you’re screwed. There are no directions anywhere else; the app will only tell you to “press the link button on the speaker” again and again and again. I wasted another hour struggling with this.

4. I finally had to call Sony customer support. This was a terrible experience, but at least the people were nice. They had me do things like reset the device — this isn’t documented anywhere, if it was it is something I might have been able.to.resolve hours ago – but the only way to gain this info is to spend an hour on the phone with a tech. We finally got to a point where the color of the speaker LED had changed, but the APP wouldn’t progress any further. Enter customer support level 2 with Sony Japan…

5. Nice people. But “tell me the model number, it is.on the bottom of the hub” resulted in 5-10 minutes of back and forth about what is actually written on the bottom of the hub. It says “Model No. YYXXetc” very clearly – I can read – but I was instructed over and over again to find a non existent number that started with H.

– At lvl 2 we tried all sorts of things that are not written down anywhere (so take note). The nice rep was clearly winging it – often trying my suggestions. At the end of the day she was really trying to diagnose a problem with the Android APP by resetting etc etc the speaker system – this was never going to work. And there was no way to advance, NOTHING outside the app to get it working.

6. Finally we.got disconnected and I decided to try restarting my phone and starting over. I did this 2x, then, somehow, it worked.

7. Now, to calibrate the system you need use your cellphone. Hopefully the microphone works well…

8. After an HOURS it works. But, you still need to use the APP if you want to make any adjustments/fine tune/etc (the remote has volume and bass levels tho). What happens if I’m out of town? Does my wife download the app? And then sign in with MY Sony account??? I don’t even want to think about this.

As far as.setup, the desire to create a cool, seamless, modern process was an absolute disaster. It depends on Apple/Android – and Sony is in no position to diagnose problems with Android or iOS. Mine started working by chance.

The rep even called me.back after the disconnect and gave me.this advice “press input, volume down, then mute – in that order, and it will change.the wireless on/off. You can do this in the future to check the wireless is on – if there are problems…”. Thanks, I guess? I suppose I’ll write that down? For $2,500 USD + tax, this product should come.with a leather-bound, glossy manual with all of this info. Using a cellphone WITH a Sony account should NOT be necessary to use the product.

I was very close to sending this back. I had to take time off work to resolve this… Time is also money.

At the end of the day the sound is unreal. It the setup stuff is okay with you, if the style is okay with you, if the price is okay with you, if the lack of a subwoofer is also okay with you — you will love this system. It is literally magic.

Look back for update attaching a separate subwoofer, v-sync g-sync pass through for gaming, music evaluation, and more.

I hope this first look was helpful!!

I’ll start this off by saying that I’m not a true audiophile. I’ve had different speaker systems over the years but this is by far the most expensive set I’ve ever owned. Unsurprisingly, the sound quality on these is amazing. Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of a move so my ARC TV is in a box so I tested this with their demo tracks, via Bluetooth, and by hooking up my laptop directly to the hub using an HDMI cord. I figure with the relative lack of reviews, this is still of value for consumers looking to get this product.

I’ll get into my setup pains later, but once the system is setup, the sound is incredible. With their default track, I feel like I’m in a movie theater with speakers all around me. The sound is crisp with no distortion and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Using both Bluetooth and my laptop, I only got sound out of one of the speakers. Now that was more than enough but was obviously not nearly as good as all four speakers. After a bunch of research, I figured out this was because my audio source wasn’t configured for 360 audio. This would seem obvious, but that brings me to my most negative part of this product, the setup and instructions absolutely suck.

It’s incredibly strange to me that Sony provided detailed instructions on how to attach a stand to the individual speakers, but did not give a setup guide or user manual for the app. This is especially annoying because you HAVE to use the app to setup and use this product. As another annoyance, you have to sign up for a Sony account and accept their terms and conditions. There are several steps for setup including connecting the hub to your Wifi network. This would seem like a trivial step that many IoT devices require but it took me nearly 45 minutes of hitting the same connect button over and over again for this to work. It was incredibly frustrating and because there was no user guide or anything, I had no idea if this was typical or my fault. A setup that could have been completed under 30 mins took me north of 2 hours in totality.

From a packaging perspective, you can see my picture, but each speaker was individually wrapped and all of the components were easily accessible. Usually packaging doesn’t affect my reviews, but I was genuinely happy with this. The speakers themselves are a pretty small form factor for the quality of sound that they produce. I have zero complaints here.

From a price perspective, I do feel like these speakers are expensive. I don’t think that they’re overwhelmingly expensive, but the lack of customizability and long setup time made me wish for a discount. This is especially true because you have to purchase the sub separately, which while not strictly necessary is another annoyance. For the record, I still haven’t done it and its around 600$.

TLDR: 4 stars, -1 for the setup. If you’re good with a self-contained system and don’t mind a painful setup process, the payoff is awesome. The sound quality is good and the app is easy to use (without setup). It might be a little overpriced, but you absolutely get what you pay for.

Sony is nailing its virtual speaker technology at the moment. The calibration process and sound that these provide is nothing short of stunning.

You have to ensure the speakers are in their designated position, even though they all look identical, they’re each assigned a location (front left, rear right etc). Apart from, that you are free to place them either on a stand or mount them on a wall and not have them symmetrical if your space doesn’t allow for that.

The virtual center speaker and dialogue is amazing and the surround effects are stunning. Music and movies both sound great – and well mixed Atmos content will have you looking around the room for more sound sources.

I do find that this lacks a little bit of punch and rumble in the low end – bass sounds more like low mids rather than bass and sub bass. So if you want any actual impact below 30Hz – you will need a sub. A Sony sub. And you can only have one of these paired at the moment.

So overall – if you want something that isn’t a pedestrian system – and provides more stereo separation than any soundbar system could provide and have some cash burning a hole in your pocket – you will not be disappointed with this system.

I read a bunch of reviews on this soundbar so I bought ,let me say it really sounds incredible. Let’s start on the packaging very nicely done 5 star on that. The setup,they could have done way better on this I didn’t get any instructions with it so that sucked but an hour later figured it out. Sony makes you do all kinds of connecting thru their App which you have to do ,it’s definitely not a plug and play. So it’s all connected and it does sound incredible. Follow the app steps and the soundbar will send out different sounds to learn the room for optimum performance..and you can reset it for different rooms if needed. It’s pricy for sure but we’ll worth it. Enjoy. Update ..so I mounted this with no wires being shown but what a pain,you woukd think when they made this all the wires would be on 1 side ,not the case. So beware if your going to mount this your going to be making extra holes in the wall. Good luck.

This comes with 11 speakers and is a good product that might need a separate sub-woofer to really elevate your audio experience.

Some important pros:

Exceptional audio quality with Dolby Atmos and DTS
support. The clarity is awesome and the mid-tones are crisp. Atmos effect can be felt easily.

Sleek design that blends well with modern home decor.

Easy setup and user-friendly interface.

Versatile connectivity options including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The Bravia Connect app works seamlessly and you will need it to make it work.

The spatial sound mapping is true and enhances the experience. The room mapping feature is good.

The Voice enhancement feature is crisp and helps if you are watching sports and other specific events. You can toggle through these features using the remote.

Cons:

A little too pricey.

The built-in sub-woofer is good but for a better experience a stand-alone sub-woofer is recommended. The bass is adequate but could have a bigger footprint depending on the needs of the specific consumer.

In my testing the sound dropped a few times across a couple of televisions. It happened once every hour and I had to pause the program and unpause it again to make it work. Quite simple but this should be remedied with a software update.

Overall, this is a solid buy. The high fidelity sound along with the sleek design makes this a wonderful product for any home. I have to say that if you have never ventured beyond Bose and Sonos, you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality Sony has been offering over the years in their sleek sound bars. I have tried a few of them over the years and apart from the price factor, these have all been top notch. My HT-7000 is still one of my favorites. This one, the Theater Bar 8, is a nice replacement.

I got the Bravia 9 Sound Bar along with the SA-RS5 and SA-SW5 for a new setup for my Sony Bravia A80L. I was upgrading it from the Samsung Q990C. The sound quality from this soundbar is unmatched. I did not use the previous Sony model, the AT-7000 or whatever it’s called, but figured the Bravia 9 Bar had to be at least as good. The 360 Spatial Mapping is amazing and really fills the room with enveloping sound. I’m also using it with Sony’s ‘Acoustic Center Sync’ feature which adds the TV’s built-in speaker to the mix. At first it sounded way to high-frequency, so adjust the settings to your liking. It’s better than any other soundbar I’ve personally experienced but of course that comes with Sony’s typical premium price-tag. This soundbar costs the same as other company’s entire surround sound setup. But I think you get what you pay for in this case. The soundbar is punchy, clear and can get incredibly loud. Biggest issue with this thing is difficulty using the Bravia Connect app which loses connection with the soundbar constantly. I have to keep resetting the soundbar to factory settings to get connectivity with the app. The remote is okay but lacks feedback since there is no screen on the soundbar that tells me what’s going on. For example having no idea what bass level I’m set to. Also don’t mess around with the ‘dynamic range’ settings. Leave the dynamic range compression off, you can do this in the app assuming you can get it to connect, otherwise the sound lacks punch. Overall the reason you buy this is for the sound quality and this is one of the best sounding soundbars you can get. For this price-point I just wish they put in the effort on the app connectivity too.

Edit: Issues with Bravia Connect app have been fixed.

I first want to say that when it comes to home theatre sound, I’m pretty picky. I have my own “home brew” setup for home theatre with KEF speakers and subwoofer driven by an Emotiva AV Receiver and other such gear. A few years back I tried one of these sound bars (different brand) and was pretty disappointed. However, since I got my Sony Bravia TV last year, I wanted to give one of these Sony sound bars a try. Why because in as much as I enjoy my current HT system, it really takes quite a bit of space and have to be careful with cabling, wiring, etc. So, let’s call it a want for convenience. After trying it for over a week (including a 48h break-in period) below are my thoughts:

* Sound fidelity: one of the informal tests I run with all my audio equipment is sound fidelity. I want to hear, before all equalization and any spatial effects, how the audio compares with my reference monitors. In this regard the sound bar does well, though I wasn’t expecting much because it’s not the “job” of a HT bar to be clinical or reference. But again, all things considered, did pretty well.

* Another thing I like to test on these small-format speakers is the low range/bass. This is challenging for these because at certain point physics will limit how low a speaker of that size can go. However, this bar did very well. Full-body, chest pumping lows could definitely be felt. Again, you can’t compare with a 10 or 12” dedicated subwoofer, but for the size, it’s pretty fantastic.

* Immersion. A key aspect of any HT system is the sense of immersion/spatial effects. This unit is impressive in this respect. While watching Dune 2, my wife and I kept looking at each other because this sound bar had us impressed. We felt truly the sounds were coming from the right direction and those lows and special sound effects came through amazingly. I also tried it with Elden Ring — which, btw, has possibly the best purpose-made music of any RPG out there — and was very pleased with how well the sound effects and the music came through. Spatial sound was especially helpful for PvP.

* Misc: Sony recommends you install an app on your phone to control and setup this sound bar. This is wholly unnecessary step. You can just hook your ARC/eARC into it and presto! Ready to go. We’re still undecided whether we want to go through the process of hanging the TV and bar of our wall. We like it in the little shelf and our PS5 and other players hook easily into it.

Overall, I’m very impressed with this sound bar. It certainly punches far above its weight and far above my expectations. Unreservedly recommend it.