We’ve reviewed a TON of soundbars throughout the years here at Audio Advice. And while soundbars are a great option for people with limited space, they won’t get you that incredibly immersive “home theater” sound that so many people are after. Now, don’t get us wrong, there are some really incredible Dolby Atmos soundbars with subwoofers and satellite speakers that sound fantastic, and in fact, you can check out our favorite ones here. But Sony has set out to change the game for someone with limited space and wants an easy all-in-one surround sound alternative that offers more than most soundbars can deliver.

Enter the Sony Bravia Theater Quad. This new speaker system is a direct update to their extremely popular HT-A9 home theater system, which we were pretty impressed with when we first reviewed it. While we didn’t mind the white cylindrical speaker shapes, they did stand out a bit and didn’t always blend in with every decor. The new Sony Bravia Theatre Quad has updated its wireless connection technology, changed the speaker shape and color, and made many more updates that will have you questioning if you really need big bulky speakers in your room to get that cinema-like experience at home.

Features & Technology

The Bravia Theater Quad includes four three-way speakers: a three-and-three-eighths woofer, a two-and-three-eighths mid-bass driver, a three-fourth-inch tweeter, all facing forward, and an upward-firing three-and-one-eighth Atmos driver on the top. These speakers combine for a total of 504 watts, which is quite impressive considering they are only approximately 12 inches tall, 11 inches wide, and 2 inches deep. This new rectangular shape they take on is much more streamlined, and instead of the metal grille on the HT-A9, the Bravia Quad speakers are wrapped in a grey fabric. This overall design update allows the speakers to blend in with your environment even more and can even placed on a credenza, on speaker stands or wall-mounted with the included mounts to be entirely out of the way. Similar to the HT-A9, this system does not come with a subwoofer, but you can connect a Sony SA-SW3 or SA-SW5 wireless sub, which should most definitely be budgeted into your purchase. We’ll touch more on that topic in just a bit.

Also included is the control box, which supports 8K HDR, 4K 120, Dolby Vision, 360 Reality Audio, Dolby Atmos, IMAX Enhanced, DTS:X, and Hi-Res Audio. It even supports VRR, ALLM, and SBTM for gaming when using a PS5. You’ll also be able to connect wirelessly with Spotify Connect, Apple Airplay, and Bluetooth. The box connects to your TV via HDMI eARC or ARC only. There is no optical or 3.5mm input, so you must ensure your TV supports HDMI eARC or ARC before getting this system. If you use an Apple TV like we did in our testing, you can plug that or any other source component directly into the HDMI IN on the back of the control box. You also get an ethernet port and the S-Center Out port if you wish to use the acoustic center sync feature with a compatible Sony TV as your center channel. However, we got similar results as the original HT-A9 when we tested our Sony TV as the center channel and wouldn’t recommend using this feature for most people. The system itself creates a really incredible phantom center channel, and we feel the TV speakers just aren’t quite up to par with the rest of the system. However, we have not yet tried them with any of the new BRAVIA TVs that Sony has just released.

Sony has made the setup for the Bravia Theatre Quad easy enough for anyone to do. Each speaker is marked as front left or right or rear left or right, so you know where to place them. We were happy to see they’ve also included a longer, almost 10-foot power cable for each speaker. Once you plug in the control box and each speaker, they will automatically connect and go into setup mode. The updated Bravia Connect app walks you through the setup process to ensure everything is in working order and that each speaker is connected and in the right location in your room.

For this new system, Sony has enhanced the radio output power by 2.5 times and included a new switchable dual antenna and frequency hopping system to ensure a stable connection between the control box and all the speakers. During our testing, we did not experience a single interruption in connection, and we don’t expect this to be an issue with this new system as it does the switching automatically to find the best frequency in your room.

One of our favorite features on the HT-A9 was the ability to place the four speakers pretty much anywhere in your room without having to worry about each speaker being in the perfect location. Not everyone can put their speakers in the most ideal locations, so having that flexibility can be pretty attractive. This is where Sony’s Sound Field Optimization tech comes in. When we reviewed Sony’s latest home theater receivers, we loved how well they are able to map out a room and deliver an immersive experience. Sony’s engineers have made it so that it doesn’t matter what your room looks like or your room’s acoustic characteristics are. Heck, it doesn’t even really care where you place your speakers. During the setup in the app, the system will play a series of test tones and use your phone mic to listen and calibrate based on your speaker position, your room's acoustics, and your listening position. Once done, you can even toggle the Sound Field Optimization profile on and off in real-time and hear how much of a difference the calibration makes in your room. And let us tell you, it’s astounding just how much better this system sounds after you calibrate it.

After you’ve gone through the app setup, you will get control of some pretty useful features. You can turn on and off night mode, lowering the bass in your system so as to not disturb your partner or neighbors late at night. You can turn the sound field calibration on or off and enable and disable the voice mode. The voice mode is Sony’s new Voice Zoom 3 technology that actively recognizes human voices and amplifies or reduces their volume so that even the quietest dialogue is loud and clear. We are big fans of this feature for shows or movies that aren’t always mixed the best and can be difficult to hear vocals easily. In the app, you can also adjust the volume of your system or the rear speaker volume if you want to boost those surround sound effects. You can also adjust the bass from low, mid, or high. You can even experiment with the Sound Field Setting and change it from 360 spatial sound mapping to Dolby Virtulizer or DTS Neural: X. You can also adjust if you want the height effects to be higher or lower based on your seating position. For our testing, we kept it on the 360 spatial mapping and the height effects at the default position, but feel free to experiment to see what you like the best in your room. Additionally, if you have a newer Sony TV, you can control the sound settings with your Bravia TV remote in the quick settings menu, so you don’t even need to get out your app or dedicated remote to make any changes.

We set up the Sony Bravia Theatre Quad in an open-concept living room and one of our testing labs. We experimented with speaker placement and tried a few locations to see how good the calibration was. Each time, it sounded just as good no matter where we placed them. This is a testament to just how good Sony’s Sound Field Mapping truly is. So, there is no need to completely remodel your entire room for these speakers. Simply place them where they work best for you and let the calibration do the rest. Of course, if you can get them equidistant from each other and at the same height, go for it, but don’t stress if you can’t.

When we reviewed the HT-A9, we recommended adding a subwoofer. We wish we could say that the new Bravia theatre quad didn’t need one. But it most certainly does. We really wish Sony had included this with this system, as it greatly improves the overall sound. Luckily, adding a sub like the SA-SW3 is super easy and takes the sound to a new level. We also wish we could pair up two Sony subs, but for now, just one gets the job done. Now, it will be important to get this subwoofer in the most optimal location of your room to get the best sound. To do this, we recommend you watch our video on where to place your subwoofer here.

Performance

We tested a few movies with the Bravia Theatre Quad, such as 6Underground and The Adam Project. These are some great movies to really put to test just how immersive your setup can be. The intro race scene in 6Underground is fast-paced, with different sound effects swirling all around you. With the right system, you are completely transported into this movie and feel like you’re right in the middle of the action. This Theatre Quad system, paired up with the SA-SW3 subwoofer, made us completely forget just how small these speakers really are. Sony’s 360 sound mapping is so powerful that it’s able to completely envelop you in a bubble of sound. It honestly feels like there are more than just four speakers in the room. We were also impressed with just how good the phantom center was when it came to vocals. When it comes to watching movies, the center channel is extremely important as it usually plays most of the character's voices. Even without a dedicated center channel speaker, vocals floated right in the middle and felt like they were coming from the actor on the screen. We were really impressed with how well the HT-A9 was able to do this, and the Bravia Theatre Quad has followed suit, making sure that vocals are crystal clear and in the dead center. We also experimented with the Voice Zoom 3 feature and found that if you are having trouble hearing voices in a movie, it works really well to boost them and make them even clearer.

Next, we tested a few songs from multiple genres. Again, the Bravia Theatre Quad was a joy to listen to music to when using the sub. Without the sub, the low end was lacking and wasn’t very enjoyable to listen to. Even songs that weren’t in Dolby Atmos were up-mixed really well and sounded fantastic. Sony does a great job of not overdoing the up-mixing, and the rear speakers just fill in the gaps in the music and make it enjoyable to listen to. Songs like Senorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello in Dolby Atmos on Apple Music were really fun to listen to on this system. Vocals go from in front of you to behind you and then blend throughout the system. It’s a great way to really feel the sound all around you in the room. Overall, we enjoyed music on this system as long as you add a subwoofer to it.

Overall Recommendation

So, is this system for you? Well, we can see so many use cases for a system like the Bravia Theatre Quad. If you are space-constrained, want a system that completely disappears in your room, and want sound that is better than just about any soundbar at this price point, then this system is for you. Add a sub to the system, and it will give you a really solid home theater experience for movies and be an awesome way to enjoy music, too. Will it beat an AVR with box speakers and dedicated atmos speakers? Probably not, but it comes remarkably close, which is extremely impressive.

We know many people might dismiss this system as a gimmick or think it's not powerful enough for a great home theater experience. However, we encourage you to give it a listen if you can before making a judgment. While it might not be for everyone, Sony has crafted an outstanding product for those it suits. It's exciting to see Sony and the home theater industry continue to innovate, providing more people the opportunity to enjoy music and movies with enhanced sound quality at home with friends and family.

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