Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is the second Sony Bravia Theater Bar I own. My other one is a Theater Bar 6. The major difference between the two is that the Bar 5 is a 3.1 system and the Bar 6 is a 3.1.2 system (which includes two upfiring speakers that act as reflective Atmos speakers). While the Theater Bar 5 does claim Dolby Atmos/DTS:X, it doesn't include any upfiring dedicated speakers for this purpose, so what you hear with the Sound Field turned on is a more spacial effect, and maybe Sony does use these signals in some way to mimic overhead sounds. Both of these systems are solid performers. When comparing the sound between the two, the Bar 6 has noticeably larger sound, meaning fuller and more spacious. It's geared for a larger room and can fill it with sound easily. The Bar 5 on the other hand still does a remarkable job at filling a smaller room with sound. This is the perfect size for a smaller living room or bedroom. The Theater Bar 5 is a nice looking system. It's a matte black finish on both the bar and wireless subwoofer. It's meant to blend in and not be noticed. The subwoofer is narrow but deeper and provides adequate low end to the system. A great feature of the subwoofer is that it's wireless, meaning you can put it anywhere in the room you like. It is a powered sub so it does need to plug into the wall. The Bar 5 itself is a great sounding speaker system. You get plenty of volume, so you can really turn it up on movie nights. It has enough power for a smaller sized room. It would be perfect in an apartment or a bedroom. I really liked the the eARC/ARC connection. This allowed me to use my TV remote and control the sound bar volume. It also has a TOSLINK fiber connection if you need to connect it that way. If you want you can use the included remote control instead (both the included remote and the TV remote worked well for volume). The soundbar has three speakers inside. A left, right and center setup. The speakers are clear and clean sounding with lots of separation. The subwoofer really rounds out the low end and gives the sound a punchy feel. The included remote gives you extra control over the sound. For example, you can control the subwoofer volume separately, and it has a Sound Field button that widens the... well, soundfield an incredible amount. I actually set the Sound Field to “on”, and never looked back. It just sounds great for movies and shows and gives the illusion of a much larger system. It's pretty cool the way the sound does fill the room and seems to come from more speakers than what's included. Dialog is very clear from the center speaker. I don't have a Sony Bravia TV so I wasn't able to try out the Voice Zoom feature. This system also includes Bluetooth (selected by using the Input button on the remote). This allows you to play music from your phone or other Bluetooth devices (tablets, computers, streaming devices) right to your Theater Bar 5 system. Music sounds good, and takes advantage of all speakers. The system does have a free app that can be used to control the system, but it also includes a fine tuning adjustment for the distance you sit away from your TV. It uses this information to fine tune the sound and tailor it to your primary viewing/seating location. It took several tries for the app to find the Theater Bar 5, but eventually it did find it and I was able to set up the distance correctly. The sub volume and the Sound Field I pretty much just set once and forget it. Which I'm sure is the way most people do it. I have the Sound Field on and the subwoofer all the way up. All in all I'm quite happy with the system. I have it in a bedroom and it does very well in a room that size. The Bluetooth is a nice feature to include, so that you can play music from the same speakers. Great for a bedroom or an apartment. The footprint is relatively compact and will fit in most rooms without any trouble. I feel the price is very fair for the sound quality you get and the addition of a stand alone remote. The app is also a nice feature, and once you get it to connect, it works very well. The sound quality should make most people very happy, especially if you don't currently have a soundbar and you're just using the TV speakers. I like the ease of use with both the Bar 5 and Bar 6 systems. Both sound great and are very easy to use.

Very powerful and smooth sound for a compact unit.

Perfect for us to use the Voice Zoom 3!! We are so happy with this soundbar and woofer!!

Works good with my Sony Bravia tv have it in bedroom and it’s just the right size

So far so good. I currently have the bar 7 with the SW5 subwoofer and RS5 setup in my living room. This is for my bedroom. My expectations for obviously reasons were tamed. Really just wanted better TV sound with some good audio and bass. Out of the box it was disappointing but I expected that where others may not. You have to download the bravia app. This is critical as you customize the placement of the sound bar and subwoofer distance. Without taking the time to set this up you will be disappointed and that is a good thing because once doing that the Sony tuned sound takes over properly. As far as the app goes it is well thought out and very organized. Have a tape measure on hand and you are good to go. I was more impressed with the subwoofer once the positioning was correct. Hits harder and more clean than it has any business doing for it's size. On a negative note it's disappointing we can't update the software via wifi. I get the cost cutting but this is good enough that another $20 would have still justified the cost especially with a sale. Not a deal breaker but worth mentioning. It's better than it should be at this price and everyone should be happy with it as a simple sound enhancement to their TV viewing experience.

The Sony Bravia Theater Bar 5 is a great for anyone looking for a soundbar and subwoofer that gives you amazing sound without breaking the bank! I really love the wireless subwoofer as I live in an apartment and I'm unable, and unwilling, to run cables to the subwoofer and the fact that it pairs wirelessly with the soundbar allows you to place this anywhere that makes sense for your setup. Sound quality is surprisingly good with the caveat that you first need to tune it using Sony's app. After you tune it for the room that you are using it in, the sound quality is great. There is no noticeable lag with the wireless subwoofer so definitely no complaints there. I had no issues using Sony's app to get the initial setup completed, and once that was done I promptly deleted it as I am not a fan of having unnecessary apps installed on my phone. Once setup, there is no need to keep the app on your phone and I saw no need of keeping it. Overall, this is a great option for anyone looking for a simple and great sounding soundbar and subwoofer set and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the market for a soundbar.

It definitely does the job. The subwoofer is a good size and the combo can put out a lot of sound. It would be nice if the bar had an LCD display to indicate what level the volume is at. Connecting the Bravia app to the soundbar does provide the volume level, but that doesn’t help those in the household that don’t have the app, or guests. Aside from volume level, the app also helps with the subwoofer level and different sound modes: night mode, sound field, and voice mode. Night mode is great. When trying the system out for the first time, I was afraid that it would be too loud to watch TV when it got late. The booming bass would keep others awake for sure. Night mode helps to crank the sub back enough where you still have some bass, but you’re not shaking the house. Sound field and voice mode are basically always on. Without sound field, the audio is really flat. You’d almost be better off with the TV default speakers. With voice mode off, dialog is really washed out by background audio. I’m not even sure in which situations I would want this mode turned off. Setting up the system was incredibly easy and intuitive. There is a QR code in the box that directs you to download the Bravia app for setup, but there aren’t any real instructions included. Thankfully, connecting the soundbar to the TV is straightforward and the bar and subwoofer connect to each other automatically, so there’s not much else to do but connect the soundbar and turn it on. Tweak some settings via the app and you should be enjoying TV shows and movies within minutes.