Customer Ratings & Reviews

Very excellent sound quality. Fits perfectly under the Sony TV.

The sound and vibe are behond my expectations. To sit back and enjoy this speaker system is fabulous!

Soundbar is AMAZING! Sounds, Music fills the room accurately, it’s like being at the theater, to me BETTER!

Great sound quality from a sound bar you would think you are in a major Home theater room

Sounds sooo good.it makes my house like a theater.Sony is the best

Sounds great. Pairs great with the Sony A95L TV. Good for movies, TV, and gaming.

Loved my TV Sony top of the line and I tought buying top of the line center speaker from sony as well i would have a perfect system, but I was wrong

Feel like it should be way louder for the price honestly, no offense to Sony

Inside the post consumer recycled box and packaging, is everything you need to interface the new Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 to your eARC capable TV; AC power cable, remote & batteries, optional feet, wall mount bracket, template, and of course the soundbar. Coming from an existing Sony hime theater system (comprised of at HTA-5000, SA-SW5, and a pair of SA-RS5), I had high expectations for Sony’s nee flagship sound bar. On paper, the BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 is a nice upgrade to my existing system, packing in more drivers and higher watt amplifiers into a package that manages to be a slightly smaller footprint compared to the HTA-7000 this soundbar seems to replace. Though slightly larger than my HTA-5000, it isn’t monstrous and looks at home in front of my modest 65” TV. The 13 speaker system is wrapped in acoustic fabric, providing a clean look without having a reflective surface or being a fingerprint magnet. Time will tell if the fabric holds up to wear and tear. Following a minimal design the information screen is gone, replaced with a status LED. The remote is a welcome improvement over the previous design, which had a dated and cluttered feel. The Bravia Connect app is required to setup the soundbar, but Sony has really refined the app and setup process with the new BRAVIA branded soundbars. The BRAVIA app is polished with a clean, intuitive interface while simplifying setup by finding and connecting to the soundbar with little interaction. After entering my wifi details, it also automatically detected my existing rear speakers and prompted to update the firmware. I had to manually pair the sub with the sync button on SA-SW5, but for the most part the setup seemed quicker using the BRAVIA app. Sony also utilizes your phone during the sound optimization, quickly tuning the system to your space without the need to walk around waving your phone. I tested the BRAVIA theater bar 9 on its own and it sounds pretty good. Sound is sharp and crisp even at lower volumes. Though I didn’t feel the height effects were well pronounced, the soundstage is nice and wide. Dialog is clear and the bubble effect of Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping is a great experience for a moderately sized living room or studio. The lows are punchy but I found myself missing the lower frequencies with the bar on its own, but I am used to having a sub in the mix. Listening to music via Airplay is a breeze and provides a nice rich sound, but switch the sound to the DTS: Neural X and it really opens up stereo music. Paired with a set of compatible rears and a sub to lift the low end off the soundbar, the BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 transforms your space in achieving what the marketing promises. Watching Atmos content or similar, that takes advantage of the upper channels, does a convincing job of overhead audio. Previously, I always felt my rears could be louder but when paired with the BRAVIA bar 9 they are more pronounced. I am not sure if it is a combination of the new calibration, firmware, and the bar 9 helping shape the audio but the 360 effects are really good now. The room filling sound does a convincing job of simulating optimal speaker placement, providing an amazing 3D audio experience. I also found music playback far better now, especially when playing through the Apple TV with Neural X. My only gripe is I wish there was an easier way to toggle between the sound field operating modes without needing my phone. I also miss some sort of display that could be used to indicate volume, sound field mode, or even input. The BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 is an outstanding soundbar when paired with a sub and rears, but on its own it I felt the low end was a little thin. As soundbar only it still has great sound, wide presence, and a clean design while also capable of expansion if needs change, making it easy to recommend to those existing and new to Sony home theater products.

This is a very nice soundbar. It is really long (designed for 65 inch televisions at the very smallest), but super slim and elegant. The sound is a mixed bag - on the one hand it is detailed and wonderful with good bass. On the other hand, when pushed past about mid level, bass completely disappears, and on standard television programs, the sound is way over-processed so dialog develops an annoying echo. Cost-wise, this is not a great value (more below). Sound I directly compared this to a similarly priced Bang and Olufsen (Stage) soundbar. The two are comparable at low to medium volume, good bass, good voice localization, good soundstage. Except the B&O sounds far more natural - I never notice that system trying to add echo or effects. When pushed past mid volume, the B&O is a million times better, including up to ear bleeding sound levels. The Sony completely loses bass - no bass is output. It's physics working, there just isn't enough space for the bass speaker to output enough bass, and the system protects itself by dropping bass altogether. Setup - the Sony was probably one of the easiest soundbars I have ever setup. I basically plugged it in, and it worked, right out of the box. But, I was moving the HDMI connection from a television with a soundbar already connected via eARC HDMI. The Sony app spends a long time setting up speaker optimization. And, honestly, after I went through all that, I didn't hear a lot of difference. But the app allows you to set sound fields and a few other options that are worthwhile. Once setup, the app isn't necessary. My Apple TV remote worked flawlessly with the soundbar. Value Well here's where things get a bit strange. As is, this is about the same price as many other soundbars, and is just about exactly the price point of the B&O. And the Sony sounds far better than anything by Vizio or Samsung. Here's the rub. In order to get bass out of the Sony, you have to add the wireless subwoofer (and only two Sony subwoofer models can be used - no RCA output for a standard sub). Then to get real surround sound effects, you have to add two wireless speakers. The SA-SW5 subwoofer and the pair of SA-RS5 speakers, total up to about the same price as the soundbar (so for really great sound, double the price of the soundbar). Sadly, now you are into a range where a discrete real surround system is a better purchase. And that will sound far better than a soundbar. Granted, it will be bulkier and less seamless to use - but it is a far better value. Now in a small to medium sized room, the Sony is a good choice. In a larger room, it isn't exactly a great idea. Mounting This is where things go really wrong - like seriously bad wrong. Two metal L brackets are included for wall mounting. That's very nice, they're heavy duty and well made. What is a major mistake, as in virtually a fatal mistake, is the spacing. The brackets screw into one single hole in the soundbar. The spacing is nowhere near 16 inch centers - it cannot be mounted on studs. And the brackets have to positioned virtually perfectly on the wall to allow those screw holes to mate up. To work properly, the brackets would need to be mounted in a rail with independent spacing. If you are using a universal soundbar mount hanging from the television, the mounting holes will work. Included in the box are two well made feet to lift the soundbar up off a table top if you are just setting it on an AV center. The inputs are perpendicular to the soundbar, so you have to use the included 90 degree angle connectors. Overall I like this soundbar. But I don't like that the price is really twice as much to get really good sound. I do love the look - subtle elegance. And I don't like the mounting options.

This is a terrible product, it stopped working after 3 months. There is absolutely no support from Best Buy based on the short time since purchase. I’m currently working with Sony to resolve connection issues. I would not recommend this product.

Great soundbar, but setup requires mobile phone software that requires a sony account login to use. First of all, I am coming to this review from owning a previous Sony soundbar, the HT-A7000, which has and continues to be a fantastic soundbar. This new soundbar, in my same medium size living room area, definitely sounds better. Not by leaps and bounds, but it does sound better to me. However, you now have to set up everything in an app via your phone. The app unfortunately requires a sony account login. Should you already have a PlayStation account, you can use that same Sony account to log in, but there truly should be no real reason you need to have to be logged in to use the app. Sony has a history of trying to force its customers to make a Sony account, and has had many recent controversies with their PC published games forcing users to create Sony accounts. Unfortunately this feels like the same thing PC gamers have been grumbling about in recent weeks. It makes no sense to me as to why they need you to do this. While you can use the soundbar right out of the gate without the app, and it does sound great out of the box, the only way to access some of the features is via the app, including calibrating for your room. The app itself at least is pretty robust, but all of this was previously done on their previous HT-A7000 directly on the soundbar via on TV screen menus. I really wish they had just made using the app optional, and left everything totally usable without an app like the previous models. Once setup via the app however, everything does sound fantastic!! Now, the only other issue I have with this soundbar is that they increased the price for this soundbar, yet took away 1 HDMI input. So you can only have 1 HDMI input on this soundbar versus the previous HT-A7000 that had 2 HDMI 2.1 inputs which was fantastic. Most major TV manufacturers only have 2 HDMI 2.1 inputs on their TVs, and if you have let’s say a PlayStation 5 and an Xbox Series X, you will lose one of those HDMI 2.1 ports on your TV with this soundbar. Because of the high price point on this soundbar, I am disappointed they didn’t leave it with 2 HDMI 2.1 ports on the soundbar, this just feels like a step back and not forward at this price point. Ok, so now, now all setup, I do have to say, this soundbar is a CHAMP! It really sounds fantastic, and a setup from my previous HT-A7000 in terms of sound, and even bass. It really gets loud, and most people will not even feel like they need to get the optional external wireless subwoofer, especially in a smaller viewing room. This thing just sounds great with Dolby Atmos 7.1 and DTS-X movies!! Before I was a soundbar user, I only had AV receivers with 5.1 speakers setup, but this is one of those products that I would say I wouldn’t even bother considering any more. It sounds better than every traditional wired speaker setups that I have had! There are 13 speakers in the soundbar if you do not add in any optional rear channel speakers, or wireless subwoofer. I recommend that you connect your main HDMI 2.1 device directly to the sound bar for best performance (though I cannot say I had any issues with any HDMI 2.1 devices I tried regardless). In my usage case, I fed my Nvidia Shield directly to the soundbar input, leaving consoles plugged into the TV, and also be sure if your TV has an eARC port to be sure you go from there to the soundbar output port. This is the only way your TV will “pass thru” Dolby Atmos and DTS-X surround audio to your soundbar. So the question then I guess comes down to what you might be coming from if this is an upgrade. If I were coming directly from a HT-A7000, I would stay there, this isn’t quite enough of an upgrade to justify moving to this soundbar. While the sound is better, I think the HT-A7000 sound bar is better as you can customize everything on the TV screen via menus, and doesn’t require this BRAVIA app, plus you have 2 HDMI 2.1 inputs. If you are however coming from an older soundbar, or even a lower end one, even though it is a little frustrating to have to do everything via the app, the sheer quality of the sound, and surround track handling makes it very worth the couple minutes of setup, and I would absolutely get this soundbar. Most people likely will not need to go to the app very often after initial setup and can use the included physical remote control for most things afterwards. I would love to have given this a five star rating, but have to take off 1 star for the use of the app for configuration. Otherwise, this thing is an absolutely stellar sound performer!

TL;DR If you are looking for a truly immersive, adaptive spatial sound system, this Sony Theater Bar 8 soundbar, this one might be the one you have been looking for. It beautifully complements a Sony Bravia TV by providing a real cinematic experience for Dolby 2.0, Dolby 5.1, Dolby Atmos, DTS, and more. The 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology works stunningly and awesomely well for TV/ movie enjoyment and Audio. It’s amazing to hear what this soundbar does for stereo sources, from Dolby 2.0 sources, to lossy MP3s, to lossless HiRes 192kHz/24-bit [FLAC] sources. The soundbar’s bass truly provides an immersive movie and audio experience even without an external subwoofer (select “Max” in the Bravia Connect app’s “Bass Level” setting), though this soundbar supports the addition of an external wireless subwoofer as well as a set of wireless rear speakers. In my opinion, however, these are not really necessary to add. My spoiled ears loved the sound as is. Verdict: This soundbar is simply perfect. Very highly recommended. UNPACKING The well-built and designed soundbar ships in a very well-organized box. Apart from the soundbar itself, it ships with all needed accessories, such as a remote control with batteries, a 3.5 mm-plug speaker mode cable (for using Sony Bravia TV speakers as a center speaker), an HDMI cable, a power cord, two feet for the soundbar, wall-mounting brackets, and a wall-mounting template. INSTALL/SETUP Ideally, you want to set up the soundbar using an Android-based smartphone or an iPhone. You will be prompted to download and install the BRAVIA Connect app. What a genius idea to use the smartphone’s microphone to measure the room for an optimal sound experience. Note that part of the setup process is creating (or signing in to an existing) Sony account. If you have an existing one, double-check you can log in to it with your ID and password to achieve a smooth setup experience. Place the soundbar in front of your TV and connect the supplied HDMI cable to the TV’s eARC HDMI output. If you plan on using the TV’s speaker as a center speaker in addition to the soundbar (highly recommended when you have a Sony BRAVIA-compatible TV), also connect the supplied speaker cable (you may do that later too as you will be prompted in the setup routine whether or not you want to use the TV’s speaker as a center speaker and will then be given time to install the cable), and connect the supplied power cord. After powering up the soundbar, best connect it to your home Wi-Fi network so the soundbar can download software updates before setup starts. Once the setup begins the app walks you through various sound tests. The entire easy and flawless setup takes about 10 minutes, and the app gives good on-screen feedback and time estimates for each step. DAY-TO-DAY USE The soundbar powers up (and down) together with the TV. Though I enjoy Google TV, I prefer to use an external Apple TV 4K box for all my streaming needs, which works perfectly well with the soundbar, too. I use the BRAVIA app to double-check on video streaming quality (e.g., Dolby 2.0 vs. Dolby 5.1 vs. Dolby Atmos, etc.) to ensure I receive maximum enjoyment. The soundbar switches to the best decoding mode automatically always, but sometimes it’s the streaming source which you need to force to send, for example, the Dolby Atmos stream. As for audio sound, I use DNLA (media server, connected to an ASUS wireless router) which I access through the VLC for Android App (see screen capture). I love the new spatial experience allowing me to enjoy my music in a way I could never do before. The spatial stereo effects are truly immersive and stunning. There are new details I did not hear before, especially when I play my lossless High-Resolution sources. Bob Marley’s Legend in 192 kHz / 24-bit sounds amazing including the bass, wow! In summary, this soundbar is simply perfect in all aspects, from its design, and its immersive sound without the addition of subwoofers and rear speakers, to the easy setup, to everyday use. As such, I very highly recommend this soundbar to friends and family.

Pros: • Sleek and thin with big sound • Great bass • App is robust Cons: • No display or any volume buttons on the soundbar • Needs app to fully unlock all the benefits • Sound Field is a hit or miss on content. More on this later. A soundbar is a fantastic upgrade to any TV without bulky tower speakers ruining your living room aesthetics and décor. This soundbar I’m reviewing today is Sony’s 2024 latest and flagship soundbar called Bravia Theater Bar 9 with 13 speakers. The Bravia holds a very thin profile yet still sounds very nice with good amount of bass. 2 of the 13 speakers in the soundbar are upward firing “atmos” speakers that’s meant to reflect sound off your ceiling down to your ears. In a true home theater setup, you would have actual speakers above your left and right tower speakers to produce the “atmos” sounds. With this soundbar, the Atmos is replicated by upward firing speakers to reflect the sound back to the listener replicating real height speakers without the need for actual height speakers. While this works, it only works to a certain extent. Don’t expect miracles but it does ultimately raise the soundstage a bit and is better than soundbars without the upward firing speakers. Initial setup is easy via the app. Just need power and HDMI from the TV to the soundbar. If your TV supports it, turning off the TV will also turn on and off your soundbar in unison. The app is robust and walks you through firmware updates and even room calibration. The entire calibration only takes a minute and all through your smartphone using the phone’s microphone. There is also an option to easily calibrate the system based on your seating preference. I have 2 spots I sit on my sectional couch and it’s easy enough to open the app to run a quick calibration on where I decided to sit that day. My content streamer is an Apple 4k TV box and music, especially Spatial Audio, sounds fantastic on the soundbar with “Sound Field” turned on. Sound Field is Sony’s way of digitally upmixing utilizing all 13 speakers even if the content was recorded in 2 channels. While the soundbar sounded great listening to music mixed with Atmos/Spatial Audio, it was a hit or miss with standard YouTube TV’s live TV. I find that I would need to turn off “Sound Field” via the provided remote or phone app if I watched the nightly news. Sony’s upmixing made the voices forced and sounded harsh and disconnected. Watching movies mixed in Dolby 5.1 sounded better in “Sound Field” than movies mixed in Atmos. Which is very bazaar to me and hence why I can’t give this soundbar a perfect score. In summary, I do recommend this soundbar if you’re looking for great sound and bass without taking up much room. I would especially recommend this soundbar to pair with folks with the latest Sony Bravia TVs as that would unlock all the features including using the actual TV as a center channel. But I can’t give it a perfect score because I find myself constantly turning on and off the “Sound Field” feature based on the content im watching. It’s too hands on for me to make it perfect. I want a soundbar to set-and-forget and dynamically change the settings based on the content via AI. This Bravia soundbar doesn’t do it and will require adjustments based on the content. This soundbar is nearly perfect only if a future firmware update can fix the “Sound Field” to work flawless across all content.

I love this sound bar! I was not sure what to expect at first sight as I am used to most sound bars having so many attachments and other speakers to go with it to achieve the "full theater experience". Installation and set up were wonderfully simple with everything being summed up to just one HDMI cable and one power cable, which makes it extremely easy to hide and organize. Even the initial setup is completely simplified with the Bravia app on your mobile device which pretty much walks you through every step with it's very intuitive and easy user interface. The way it automatically detects and programs itself to any rooms layout and size is so very satisfying. After no more than twenty to thirty minutes from unboxing to completely set up I was very eager to hear the sound bar in action. I started by testing it with the shows my kids watch most since they'll be the ones getting the most use of it. At first I was a bit underwhelmed because it didn't seem very loud, but as I continued to raise the volume I was pleased because the bar was spreading the voices and songs across the room with such clarity without reaching an obnoxious level of sound that makes you feel like you have to yell to be heard. Next I moved on to my personal favorite movies to test sound systems, Star Wars! The difference was incredible! I wasn't ready for what came next. The intro gave me a bit of a jump, since I forgot to turn the volume down from my initial test, but I was very pleased. Then I jumped immediately into a space battle scene which always push any sound system to it's limits. I was instantly amazed! Even without the extra speakers, I was immediately surrounded with crisp, clear sounds from the smallest details in the movies such as wires zapping, laser bolts or other ships whizzing by, and of course my favorite sound is the seismic charges going off. The 360 spatial sound feature is amazing. You can tell when something is coming from behind or off to the side, above, below. Before I finish I have to mention that one of my favorite features isn't even sound related. I love how the bar itself isn't very heavy and the included wall mount brackets are super easy to install. This has been an issue for me in the past because some of the bars I've had felt like they would just fall at the slightest touch which always made me nervous for my little ones. So thank you for removing that fear and providing a wonderful auditory experience.

Presentation – The Sony Theater Bar 9 arrives in a diminutive, plain brown box. Included is a HDMI cable, a token and virtually limited remote, wall mount brackets, table-top feet to allow for a touch of height in front of a television’s stand/legs and the power cord. Once unboxed, the Bar 9 is a big departure from the previous generations of Sony sound bars. No longer are there robust cases & grilles but instead, we are presented with a sleeker design – mostly covered in cloth – with no capacitive touch buttons, no display and a noticeably “lighter on its feet” monolith. The build quality of the Bar 9 and the stripped-down remote control is the beginning of where the disappointments start. One word sums up the included remote: meager Aesthetics are highly subjective but are indicative of cost cutting – so keep that in mind. Personally, I prefer the build quality & functional features of the HT-S (previous generation) of Sony sound bars. I will cover the smattering of disappointments later in the review but suffice it say, a bar covered in cloth is much harder to keep clean vs. hard & smooth grilles & surrounding surfaces and will likely succumb to looking more tattered with age. There is only 1 HDMI in and 1 HDMI out. Considering the high price for just the bar with no included rears or subwoofer, a second input should have been provided. Initial Setup – The setup process reveals even more of my dissatisfaction with this new line of Bravia Theater sound bars. New owners are required to set up a Sony Cloud account and initialize the sound bars use via a mobile app. Yuck. I do understand the draw to have more & more devices deemed IoT capable but having no choice is a deal killer in my book. It would have been one thing to provide additional comprehensive device setup & configuration via a handy mobile app, but Sony’s choice to completely obliterate onscreen configuration pages and functional feedback – like resorting to only LED indicator lights instead of a verbose display & on-screen displays – is a huge mistake. Obviously, some people will be excited to see App control and convenience but that way of controlling something as simple as a sound bar won’t appeal to everyone. Even if Sony had only opted to eliminate the front facing led display, the convenience of the on-screen display confirmations of content formatting and source selection is super handy. The Bravia Theater sound bars no longer provide this essential functionality. Curious what the volume level is per a number value, you have to use a mobile app… More yuck! We prefer to enjoy our home theater experience in a very relaxing & immersive way… not tethered once again to our phones. Preferences aside, setting up was relatively easy until the step that focuses in on calibrating the 360 sound-field Mapping. This is the area that really ticked me off as the mobile app-based process kept throwing errors that the measurements were too low and left me lacking any confidence that the onboard DSP was providing optimal sound staging. Even more annoying is the way the App reminded me that I needed to complete the calibration steps. No matter if I made the measurements with or without my Galaxy S device’s protective case, the measurements never completed. The previous HT-A series didn’t have these issues. I had the exact same issues even using my Sony Xperia phone. I’d like to mention that I have experience with all three primary sound bars of the HT-A series (3000, 5000, 7000) and our main home theater setup includes both the SA-RS5 up-firing rear wireless speakers and the SA-SW3 wireless subwoofer. This is important because it provides a “system ecosystem” whereby all I had to do was to replace the sound bar positioned below our OLED television. This arrangement should have provided a quick & painless setup upgrade experience that, quite simply, didn’t happen. During the App’s guided setup, the syncing of the rears & subwoofer failed at two attempts and required starting the entire setup process over again each time. Not a good customer experience, plain & simple. Some will ask about how the wireless connectivity maintains a stable and quality connection between the bar and rears/sub but I cannot honestly assess any longer-term performance, having owned the Bar 9 for such a short time. Only time will tell. But during the course of one week, the mobile App (LOL) never alerted us to a disconnection issue nor did we hear the rears drop out. That’s all I can really say. Performance – I also cannot attest to any improvement in sound staging with respect to width or distortion vs. the previous generation, HT-A series of Sony sound bars but what I do know is that with this new platform shift, Sony has finally fell prey to DSP sound mapping functionality problems. The competitors have issues with providing good performance across the board and is an easy thing to test, especially with Object Based Dolby Atmos and DT-X audio content. What I can easily demonstrate, in a hugely frustrating way, is that critical Dialogue sound objects easily become squashed or smothered by the sound track and/or active environmental Objects – like the sounds of cars, explosions, background music or movie score and crowd noise. Both the mobile App and the remote provide a “Voice” function that can compensate for and lift voice Objects but it is far from perfect, and ends up changing the overall fidelity of everything else in the sound field and is typically a function intended for those with hearing disabilities or for lowered listening level situations. A properly configured Object-oriented sound field should not rely on this type of functionality for typical, everyday listening in a properly sized system. Again, in comparison to the prior HT-A series (or competitor offerings...), the voicing of the Bravia Theater bars is messed up. My personal experience with there types of issues has been that these types of flaws are baked into the DSP hardware and cannot be remedied with firmware updates (many have tried…) and this is the primary reason I cannot recommend this new line of Sony sound bars. There are very dynamic scenes in shows like Game of Thrones, Vikings and then a bunch of movies that clearly demonstrate how poorly the Bravia Theater Bar 9 mishandles the dialogue Objects. Both the Voice function and Auto-leveling functions available are ways to try to mitigate the issue but both are not primarily designed to fix problems with DSP issues. So, in other words, don’t settle. Loudness or dynamic range compressing algorithms have useful & intended purposes but shouldn’t be used a crutch when the actual Object handling process(es) aren’t correct. Summary - For first time Sony sound bar customers, the Bravia Theater Bar 9 will provide a sleek looking, system that works – but does it work up to the high “bar” actually set by Sony on their previous offerings? Absolutely not. With Sony killing off the onscreen display functionality, removing the front-facing display & capacitive-touch ‘top’ controls and taking on a Visio like design character or theme with the cloth covering and status LED only functionality, the cost reduction focus is glaringly obvious. When you couple these huge changes in usability/functionality with the bar’s inability to always present dialogue, clearly and properly – this bar is a no go. Pros: Lightweight, diminutive design that will appeal to many It’s nice that Sony included table-top stand offs for those setting their bar in front of their TV Cons: App only ecosystem Clunky pairing experience with Sony’s own rear & sub wireless speakers Horrible sound field calibration functionality No more onscreen display functionality No more touch control on the top of the bar No more front facing display 1 HDMI In and 1 HDMI Out Cloth covered Combined with the aforementioned functionality omissions, the included token remote is nearly useless The Bravia Theater Bar 9 simply offers very little for how much it costs and I would recommend the prior ‘vintage’ of sound bars Sony offers. They rock!

I had the previous version of this soundbar with the surrounds and subwoofer, but always felt like it was missing something. I believe it may have been a software issue, but it was still a fantastic speaker and system. I was really excited to swap it out for the brand new Theater Bar 9 and I am really glad I did! Bravo to Sony on this one; from the easy packaging, more simplified remote and much improved app, this is by far the best soundbar I have ever experienced. The setup is super easy; it has one HDMI in for my PS5 and an output to my TV. It has HDMI 2.1 which is what you want for the PS5 or XBOX. For the size of it, it's fairly light and thin. I used the mounting template and included brackets to mount it under my TV. I downloaded the new app, set up the seating position and ran the sound measurements (much more like Sonos now, which is a good thing). Now I was ready to go! I started by testing it with a Marvel movie on Disney+ so I could put the Dolby Atmos to the test. I was immediately blown away by the clarity, power, and complete immersion in the movie. I heard every sound loud and clear and felt every boom. The app is a big improvement over the previous version. It's easier to use and offers better sound customization. I know this is a pricey soundbar, but it is completely worth it once you hear the shear magnitude of the power and clarity. I am blown away!

The Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 is one of Sony’s latest premium sound bar offerings with 13 speakers, Dolby Atmos & IMAX® Enhanced certification (coming soon), HDMI 2.1 with 4k and 8k support, and tons more. This sound bar is truly a speaker that will benefit your TV experience with whatever type of content you are watching. In the Box: - Sound Bar - Power Cable (No brick!) - HDMI Cable - Remote - Wall Mount/Rubber Feet - Manuals Setup: This will be done via the Sony app which requires a Sony account login. You can partially use a PlayStation account if you have one or create a new one. The system was giving me issues given I had an account from way back in the PS3 days but wasn’t working so I had to use a new email. After that hurdle, it was very easy to go through the process. It will ask you to pair to Wi-fi and do some quick sound stage tests using your phone’s microphone to help set the sound environment for which you will use your speaker. This should help give you the best experience out of the box but of course you can adjust this later if you wish. I am currently using this with a 55” TV (non-Sony) which doesn’t exactly look correct given the sound bar is roughly 60” long but if you plan on using this with any TV larger than 65”, it should be perfect. The bar itself is not small by any means but it certainly not the bulkiest I’ve used. There is no additional power supply as it is built into the bar, which makes cord management better given you will likely have just one HDMI and one power going into the bar. Optional subwoofers and rear speakers are all wireless. Sound Quality: WOW! After streaming several movies and regular pieces of YouTube content, I am very impressed. It truly gives the lister the feel that you have many speakers in front of you outside of just one sound bar. You can tweak the vocal “height” which changes how the voices are portrayed in front of you along with some other traditional EQ settings all through the app. I found the settings out of the box about right although I would like a little more low-end punch which you can add via the app. I will likely end up buying one of the wireless subwoofers eventually. Outside of this, Dolby content sounds fantastic and it’s above and beyond most other sound bars I’ve ever used. It's awesome that it supports all the latest video passthrough and sound certifications including up to 8k video or 4k video at 120fps. Usage: Like most sound bars, there is a little display on the right side of the unit that will turn off when in use. My only small complaint is that the volume increments are somewhat slow to adjust both up and down. I would prefer if these went more quickly or had slightly more difference between each number (i.e 25 -> 26). Overall, small complaint but something worth noting. This sound bar does support Spotify Connect™, Apple® AirPlay® 2 and Bluetooth® if you want to stream music or connect other devices with that method. LDAC is listed as supported. Overall: This is by far the best soundbar I have used but it is also the most expensive. With a great design, amazing sound quality, future proof feature set, and expansion capability with wireless subwoofer and speakers, I would highly recommend this soundbar to anyone interested. If you have a newer Sony TV and/or PS5, this sound bar will offer even more capability and integration potential. If anyone from Sony is reading this and would like to supply more of the available speakers, I would absolutely love to hear what this system is capable of! :) Pros: - Sound Quality - Supports HDMI 2.1 with 4k/8k video - No Power Supply Brick - Available Expansion with Wireless Sub/Rear Speakers - App Integration/Setup - HDMI Input/Output Cons: - Volume Increments Slow/Small

TL:DR - It changed me, I love it. It even incentivized me to upgrade my TV to complete the experience more than I would have with my 55” TV. The auto tone-mapping with the PS5 is a nice feature to have and the sound… the sound surprised me! I didn’t know you could have such convincing 3D sound from a bar sitting in front of you! Features, Sound, Ease of Use... HIGHLY recommended! — If you can’t tell from the title, I’m super happy with this. From the setup, to the ease of adding an additional sub, to simply using the product and the sound… The sound is so good! I seriously love this and for me it’s darn near perfect! First and foremost I didn’t get any eARC sound delays from my Xbox Series X or PS5 that I normally would from other soundbars! The frustrating thing about this though is you NEED a Sony account to use the app! Luckily for me, I have one as a PS5 owner so I was able to use that to get started. I immediately hooked up the soundbar before using the app and the app expands the features of the soundbar significantly. So many different things to tinker with. Once I fired up the app and performed the sound scape setup, it essentially changed my life and how I feel about soundbars. I know it’s not a receiver with a ton of subwoofers, and surround sound speakers in every corner of my viewing space, but it might as well be! The sound in my experience while gaming, watching movies and shows, listening to music was just plain amazing! The 3D sound is so convincing in my basement! The sound bounces off the walls giving me the impression things are around me instead of simply in front of me. I’m in the basement and I’m watching some shows and I swear there was something behind me, just to find out it was a sound from whatever I was watching! The smile on my face after that realization was like a kid in a candy store! There’s also a “Voice” mode that helps make the dialog of movies more clear! Have you ever watched an action movie and stuff is happening and you just can’t make out what the heck people are saying? Well that mode clears it right up! Or Podcasts, where the sound gets a bit too bass-y and you can’t quite make out what they’re saying from a distance, it’s an easy fix! The size is quite bigger than I anticipated, it fits in my entertainment center quite well, but having only a 55” TV at the time kind of made it look weird! For me it warranted a change! If you have a 55” TV you may want to upgrade the TV like I did, if you have the means to! Playing games, and not having to wear headsets to get that simulated 3D sound was a very nice change! Without the sub, it does lack some punchy bass, but it’s not bad! If you’re wanting more punch to the sound experience, there’s a couple of subs you can add, as well as additional speakers. I added the subwoofer to my experience and adding it was incredibly easy! There’s no perceptible latency between the two devices! I like the fact you can expand the system later down the road if you feel compelled to! But with the advertised 13 speakers, you’re likely fine with what it has! I loved the fact it includes a mounting kit for your wall in the box. I think that’s a nice touch. It also has a passthrough port and if you own a PS5, I highly recommend using it there to get the auto-tone mapping for HDR content! It’s great! It supports all the auto standards it seems. So much so I wasn’t sure which to use. I just ended up testing them all and seeing which I preferred most. The remote is kind of a “put it in a drawer” situation. I don’t see the need for it if you have the app! The app takes care of everything the remote does and then some! The only downsides are requirement of an account to use the app and get the most out of it, only having 1 HDMI source port! I wish it had two, for my Xbox and PS5 to be connected to it and only using one HDMI 2.1 port on the TV. And the size! I don't know what all goes into the engineering and physics behind it, but I do wish it was smaller. Overall, this is hands down the best audio experience I’ve ever had with a soundbar! I love this product! Sony really knocked it out of the park with this one!

Maybe this would work better with a Sony TV but I was using it with an LGOLED. Did it sound good yes. Did it need a separate subwoofer, yes absolutely. The controls are silly. You cannot tell what volume you’re on really cause there’s no display. It’s extremely wide, which gives it a nice wide sound, and it’s not too high so it should fit if you’re using a TV stand for your TV I just don’t feel it was worth the high price tag, I got it open box and ended up returning it because I felt it wasn’t worth even that discounted price. I paired it with a subwoofer 500 from Sony and together they did provide a great sound, but I ended up with a Samsung bar and subwoofer for less than half the price that I enjoyed more.