Sony - BRAVIA Theater Bar 5, 3.1ch with wireless subwoofer, Dolby Atmos/DTS:X - Black

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.

The Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 5 is an all-in-one soundbar and wireless subwoofer combo. Having the more advanced Bar 8, I was interested in what essentially is a value-priced soundbar system with Dolby Atmos and DTS-X digital capabilities. I was impressed with the sound field from a basic setup of three speakers (left/right and center) along with a wireless subwoofer that performed arguably betting than the optional add on I had to buy with my Bar 8 Sony Bravia soundbar. Although this bar does not have Wi-Fi (which means no Airplay 2 or Chromecast music casting), Bluetooth is an option. For a basic tier soundbar it sounds impressive with an effective Dolby Atmos sound field, sounding more immersive then I expected. Since this soundbar also has an optical input, you can also connect to your TV via fiber, which will utilize Dolby Digital 5.1, just not Dolby Atmos (which requires an HDMI eARC connection from your TV. The Optical Input handles: Dolby Digital, Dolby Dual mono, DTS, LPCM 2ch, LPCM fs: 96kHz/24bit. The more advanced HDMI eARC handles: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Dual mono, DTS, DTS HD High Resolution Audio, DTS HD Master Audio, DTS ES, DTS 96/24, DTS:X, LPCM: 2ch/5.1ch/7.1ch, LPCM fs: 192kHz/24bit. So for the price point there are some good decoding options. For my use case, the Bar 5 works perfectly as my A/V Receiver is primarily for advanced formats such as Atmos or DTS X and when I want a loud movie house like experience using multiple specific use standalone speakers, a subwoofer and Atmos surrounds. For general TV usage the Bar 5 is a competent substitute as the default sound solution. Setup isn’t overly difficult using the BRAVIA Connect mobile app, but you can also “just plug things in”. The performance of the soundbar is impressive, when decoding a Dolby Atmos stream. In addition, the soundbar has a few settings which really are useful, including a late night mode which reduces the dynamic range (also good for apartment dwellers), a woofer volume setting, a Sound field and dialog enhancer feature. Some of these can be accessed by the provided remote control. However, the Bravia app is best to adjust these settings, and I found the remote control mostly unnecessary to control the soundbar.. Overall, this is a very good soundbar and provides a rich audio experience in an integrated all-in-one package which includes an effective wireless subwoofer. Pros >>> Good immersive surround experience, Dolby Atmos and DTS-X compatible, Good bass and low end with the dedicated subwoofer. Easy setup process via the BRAVIA Connect mobile app, Has an optical port for some digital connectivity. <<< Cons << No indicator lights other than power on the soundbar.

The Sony Bravia Theater Bar 5 is good as an entry-level soundbar for a small room you want to add a little more sound to. Given that it’s a 3.1 system, the soundbar’s speakers are small, and therefore couldn’t fill the larger room I wanted it in. The subwoofer is front-firing and wireless and requires no additional setup other than to plug it in and turn on the power. The soundbar has both eARC and optical connectivity for Dolby Atmos and DTS surround sound, but if you mostly stream content like I do, you’re probably not going to notice any difference in sound quality using eArc. The included AI-powered Voice Zoom 3 software does seem to work to raise voice levels somewhat, and sound quality can be improved slightly by adjusting the settings using the remote or Sony’s app. I don’t like that the soundbar itself has no physical buttons so the only way to control it is with the remote or app. And it doesn’t have any operation status indicators other than a barely visible LED light for power and one that blinks when the volume or bass is being adjusted. The app is needed to take fully control all of the sound settings. If you have a small room or are looking for a first-time soundbar, then the Sony Bravia 5 may work for you. But if you’re looking for true immersive sound, this would not be one I’d recommend.

Very powerful and smooth sound for a compact unit.

An excellent sound I am very satisfied I recommend it 100%