Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Theater Trio was supposed to offer Theater Quad like stereo separation without its main flaw - lack of center channel. However, the resulting product was quite underwhelming. Pros: - Extremely wide soundstage. - Very good for Dolby Atmos / DTS:X movies - Very accurate room calibration with its included USB-C calibration mic - Center channel offers extremely clear dialogue once you turn off "movie theater acoustics" - Easy to setup. Every speaker was found almost immediately and I didn't notice any dropout issues. Cons: - Tremble was genuinely too much for me. It hurts. - If you enable movie theater acoustics, dialogue clarity suffers tremendously. - If you disable movie theater acoustics, the system could be quite silent for some Dolby Atmos or DTS:X movies. I literally had to turn the volume up to like 70 or 80 for the same level of volume the Trio system produces for a stereo contents. - The center speaker is ported but the bass level is pathetic. There is genuinely no bass or even mid to low range. Even with the sub 9 which is a seriously impressive sub at its price, the overall sound from the Trio feels empty (lack of mid to low end) and shouty (too much tremble) at the same time. This isn't obvious in movies but is extremely obvious when you listen to stereo music. - (?) No Acoustic Center Sync. I understand Sony might feel like the Trio's dedicated center can beat any TV, which is valid, but the Bar 9 / 8 also came with a dedicated center speaker, and enabling Acoustic Center Sync on a Sony OLED TV can improve dialogue clarity. Not sure why they removed a feature that many people use. Bugs: - Even a Sony TV with the latest firmware from 6/23/2026 often has CEC issues with this sound system. Both Trio and the TV can be connected and controlled separately from the Bravia Connect app, but they can't be controlled together because the TV fails to setup the sound system. This can only be solved by unplugging and replugging the HDMI eARC cable. I don't think at the current state of firmware and tuning, you should be purchasing this product. Sony seriously fumbled the ball here that made a more advanced system sound worse than its own soundbars, let alone the Theater Quad.

The BRAVIA Theater Trio is a great representation of Sony's craftsmanship. There have been a few quirks with the soundbar that I am confident can be fixed with some firmware updates since the system starts out with a solid foundation. The unit does ship with a very basic remote, but pretty much all setup and functionality of the system is controlled through the BRAVIA Connect app which has not been too much of a hassle to use. The setup process is simple you plug everything in and the app walks you through the setup and calibration process. There is a usb-c mic that is included to assist with the 360 Spatial Sound mapping. After calibration you are ready to go and the system sounds great the demo provided after calibration really showcases the 360 Spatial Sound, the rainforest come alive in your living room. While all-in-one bars do a great job at mimicking different sound fields, nothing can really replicate physical speaker placement. The unit works good on its own but it is missing something. That something is the rears and sub which are sold separately. The three pieces of this system are beautifully aesthetic to look at. Photos of the left and right speakers do not really prepare you for there size. Speakers measure 13" tall and 6" in diameter and are very well designed. The speakers are fabric covered so be aware of pet hair and dust accumulations. The center/control box measures 23" wide so it is much smaller than a standard soundbar. That's because this is not a standard soundbar but in my opinion a slight nod back to a component based system where the speakers are separate. Overall the Theater Trio is a great starting point but really misses the rears and sub that makes it the complete package.

This is part I of a three-part review for the Sony Bravia Theater series of products. Please see my reviews for the Bravia Theater Sub 9 and Bravia Theater Rear 9 for my complete review. Initial impressions: The Sony Bravia Theater Trio, and by extension the Bravia Theater system, is not a sound bar and it is not a traditional component home theater system. It is a hybrid solution that combines the ease of a sound bar with the flexibility and improved sonic performance of a component home theater. The Trio is comprised of separate center, left, and right speakers. The center channel is a two-way, dual ported box that is the shape and size of a small sound bar. The left and right speakers are two-way, single ported cylinders that are about the size of an average bookshelf speaker. The Bravia Theater Trio is for anyone who does not want a Soundbar but is not ready to move up to a larger, and more complex, home theater system but want some of the benefits of a larger component system. Finally, the Sony Bravia app gave me a lot of issues during setup and during operation which degraded my appreciation for this otherwise great system. This is reason for the three stars and not the full five. Setup: Sony did an exceptional job of packing the Trio and ensuring the easiest unboxing possible. Packaging is 99% cardboard. The speakers were wrapped in protective fabric socks. Placement around the room was easy to figure out. The center channel goes under the TV, the dedicated left speaker goes to the listener’s left, and the right speaker goes to the listener’s right. All speakers are wall mountable. In my case, I placed the center on the my entertainment stand and the left/right speakers on sound isolation on my room’s subwoofers. My room would not support wall mounting the speakers due to how I have the existing theater configured. The center channel is the brains of the entire Bravia Theater system. It has an HDMI eARC for TV connectivity and an HDMI input for an Xbox, 4k player, or other HDMI devices. Each speaker has a dedicated power cable. In my case, I had the Trio connected to a single Panamax M5300-PM. This cleans the power, protects, and provides plenty of outlets. The center channel connected to the left and right speakers automatically when powered. The configuration and control app, Bravia Connect, is where the setup process soured for me. First, I tried to setup and perform a mandatory firmware update using my iPad. This failed over and over and over again. Finally, I used my iPhone and the setup, sync, and firmware update process went swimmingly. Why? No idea. But this is just the first of a long string of frustrating moments I had with the Bravia Connect application. I was forced to perform room calibration with my iPhone’s microphone since my phone does not have a USB C port for the included calibration mic. Long story short. Use the included microphone. Luckily, once the firmware was updated for all of my Bravia Theater products, I was able to switch back to my iPad to calibrate the system with the USB calibration mic. Unfortunately, this back and forth between devices and firmware update time outs turned a 20 minute process into hours. Once everything was powered, calibrated, and all connections confirmed, I was ready for some home theater action! Movie performance and modes: The Theater Trio, on its own, is anemic. I started off with Pacific Rim, scene 2, where Gypsy Danger is fighting a Kaiju in a hurricane. The center channel sounded like a sound bar and the left/right channels struggled to provide weight and emotion to the battle, weather, and that very strange air horn that Gypsy Danger uses. The male voices were high and lacked authority. And the overall sound scape was simply unconvincing. Adding the Bravia Sub 9 solved 90% of my issues. The Sub 9 is a proper, compact, subwoofer. It provided the weight and presence I was looking for to immerse me in the movie. Second, the Bravio Connect app automatically sets “Voice” mode to on. Which is probably great for the evening news but terrible for movies. I turned this off and the movie finally came alive. TV Performance and modes: From Pacific Rim I switched to the World Cup Finals. And the Trio’s volume level went from acceptable to blowing me out of my seat. The Sub 9 and Rear 9 volumes were also elevated, muddy, and simply unacceptable. This is another theme throughout my time with the Bravio Theater system. After “recalibrating” the master volume, the sub volume, and then the Rear 9 speaker volume, I enjoyed the entirety of the game. The Trio’s center channel did an excellent job of conveying the commentators’ voices. I even enabled the “Voice” mode here to boost the speakers so that the master volume control would not drown me in crowd and background sounds. In Voice Mode, male voices were boosted in volume, boosted on the top end, and the normal lower frequency weight of the voices were removed. Female voices sound boosted but without much change. This is mostly because female voices are naturally higher than male voices. The halftime show flowed naturally from the game. And even the few commercials behaved themselves. Console Gaming and modes: After the game, I switched to my Xbox to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Again, I was forced to “recalibrate” the systems volume controls. Seriously, Sony! I shouldn’t have to readjust the entire system every time I change inputs or move from one content type to another. Once I dialed in the system, again, the overall experience was a lot of fun. The Trio by itself did a good job with voices and effects that did not require subwoofer support. And the Atmos speakers did a decent job of filling the soundscape. However, it was clear that the Sub 9 was required to drive home the gunshots, explosions, and low frequency audio artifacts. The Sub 9 was also able to fill the room with a low-level hum that added the atmosphere that the Trio itself is simply too small to provide. It was also clear that the Rear 9’s were need to fill the 360 sound scape with positional audio queues such as foot steps coming from behind, gunshots to my left, or bombs falling on my head from above behind me. Software: The software interface is clean and poorly organized. There are also no presets such as Sports, Video Game, Movie or Cinema, or other quick settings. The system does not remember settings and preferences for TV, 4K Player, or Game Console which I found very frustrating. And even though there are settings for things like IMAX and Theater Reverb, they are buried in the menu system. The included remote control is marginally useful. There is no on-screen TV display to illustrate settings of volume levels. And the center does not have an information display. Overall, I think Sony whiffed on the software of an otherwise capable system. Music Streaming: Connecting the Bravia Trio to a phone was as easy as selecting it as a Bluetooth device on my iPad. I streamed multiple music genres from Apple Music. The Trio, by itself, can playback via all three speakers or stereo. The two-channel stereo option is buried in the Bravia Connect app. This is one of the only Bravia Connect app settings that are persistent. Overall, I found the stereo playback to be very good. I found the Center Channel less than ideal. I think this is mostly because the center significantly smaller and optimized for voice. Adding the Sub 9 provided the low end support the Trio needed for full range music reproduction. Overall, both the Trio and the Sub 9 blended well together. Adding the Rear 9’s further enhanced my enjoyment. They did a great job of filling in the rear. I did try the surround features. I ultimately turned them off. I found the Stereo setting sounded fuller, focused, imaged well, and was generally more enjoyable than anything the 360, DTS, or Atmos was able to provide. Final thoughts: The Sony Theater Trio speakers sound ok by themselves but really need something like the Sub 9 to support the entire system. Physical setup and placement, either standing on an entertainment center or mounted to the wall, is straightforward and easy to understand. The real tragedy of this story is the Bravia Connect app. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should be expected to ride the subwoofer volume, rear/surround sound volume, and the best surround format options when changing channels, inputs, or content. I have setup and own several systems and at worst I adjust the master volume. The Sony Bravia Trio should be the same way. Sonically, the system is a joy to listen to with most content. It does not match my bigger home theater. Though, a friend of mine did comment that he enjoyed the Sony Bravia Trio more than my regular, larger, and more expensive system. Thank you for reading my review.

I was in need of a surround sound that added the bass for my movies and music I played. After watching the ads and reading the bullet points of this new Sony system, I believe this is what I need in my living room. The complete set was delivered in 3 separate boxes. It made sense because it can all be purchased separately depending on the need of sound people are going for. I was looking for the movie experience sounding system. Setting this up was easy for me because I already was using the Bravia Quad. I uninstalled the Bravia Quad and placed the Bravia Theatre 9 in its place. I must say the Bravia Theatre 9 really had some weight to it, especially the Bravia Theatre Sub 9. Nothing was damaged and the packaging came with enough padding to keep the contents from moving around during transit. I want to start with a con. The sound bar should have come with digital display. If it’s not a wanted feature for most maybe have it so it can be disabled in the settings. It really bothers me that it’s not available. I understand that it looks better with having less lights when you are watching tv but technology can have those lights go off in seconds after making a selection. After doing the optimization I played music and later watched some tv. To me the sound was too much in vocal range and I couldn’t really hear the rear speakers. I decided to do the optimization again and input the exact measurements of distance between the speakers. It helped the sound a lot in my opinion. As of now I don’t see much wrong with the Sony Bravia 9. I usually have rattling from speakers and this set is not doing any of it.

The Theater trio by itself is a beautiful thing to own they are definitely better than TV speakers but what really set this product apart is the sound stage. With the up front speakers being at the left, center, & right of the tv a normal sound bars between the ranges of $0-$800 simply can not meet up with the dynamics of the trio, with that said I'd definitely purchase this product on sale as you also have options like the Sonos arc ultra, Samsung 990 series, Bose out there that gives you more value for money. But none of those can ever have that upfront sound stage like the trio.

I bought this after I saw the Sony reps in Best Buy and I wanted a real center channel speaker. Even bought two subs for it. 6 weeks in and this thing has wasted more time than it is worth. The App, which basically runs it only connect maybe 5% of the time. The remote is 90% worthless. It does run on automatically for movies and the sound is good. But anytime you want to switch sources... good luck.... Bluetooth hooks up maybe 10% of the time and cuts out like crazy. It has modes to try and fix those issues but they do nothing. I have tried removing from the App, unplugging, blah , blah. This item is just not ready for prime time. I had a nice Yamaha home theatre but I was the only one who could really run it. Now this POJ can be run by just turning on your tv.... if all you want is a $2000 home theatre system and NEVER want to listen to bluetooth or any other media. I will try to return, but the time window has expired of course.

bought the Sony trio, sub 9 and rears 9’s together, sound is very good setup was fairly easy, took me roughly an hour not including any mounting of the speakers, center channel get overwhelmed by the other speakers occasionally would be nice to have control of the left and right speaker volume. Sub is a must, gives the system the punch it needs. Cons: I have had to unplug the center channel twice to reset it because the app or the remote would not work to control anything, once I plugged it back in then everything worked fine, have also had some issues with the rear speakers cutting out for a second at a time and will do this on a regular basis and is very annoying, hopefully there will be a software update that will fix this. As far as recommendation I am kind of in between, after having this system I am somewhat regretting no going with the quads instead of this system, it definitely has a couple issues that I hope get fixed with future software updates

These had great sound but unfortunately had some pretty bad interference when paired with the rear 9s. Ended up returning the whole system and went with the quads. Might be better in time with more software updates. The interference mostly was in the rear 9s only.

This system, paired with RS-9 rears and dual SW-9 subwoofers is the best wireless home theater system I’ve experienced. Surround and atmos effects are very impressive and you feel completely wrapped in a bubble of sound. The center channel keeps dialogue grounded to the TV and clear. I primarily use 360 Spatial Sound Mapping with Movie Theater Acoustics enabled for most content. With adjustments made for stereo music and atmos music. The system was very easy to setup, and calibration by plugging the included microphone into my iPhone during setup was easy. The one negative is I experience very occasional dropouts for a brief second, but they are rare enough (seems like once or twice per several hour long listening session and is always just one dropout and very short). I am confident this is something that sony can fix in the future via firmware update. Lastly, I have really appreciated the DTS-HD and DTS:NeuralX support. It has brought new life to many blu-rays that I enjoy.

This 3 speaker is a real home theater experience, this is the most powerful speaker ive ever had . I own bose lifestyle 48 lll and compare the two to find out which one is the king of sound . The answer is the sony bravia trio this speaker is siper powerful feels like you are in the middle of the action that you haven’t experienced.

I compare these to other surround sound speakers and these are much more superior. Obviously there’s some higher ones that cost more and that will perform better but for this price range these things really sound good.

Awesome system, but you really need to pair it with the sub9 and rear 9s for the serious epic sound that this system is capable of creating

This new system from the Bravia lineup rivals the Quad. I had the associate test everything on a James Bond clip and I was blown away. If you use this surround system every day I’d say the high price tag is worth it.

Coming from also owning the quad, the center speaker is greatly appreciated for dialogue clarity.

The wireless connection was so easy and provides excellent sound

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved watching movies in surround sound. Growing up in the 90’s my mom had a Sony TV with an All-In-One Sony Speaker towers that blew me away as a kid. Watching movies downstairs in our basement like it was a mini move theatre was one of my favorite childhood memories. As I got older and moved out on my own my first “big boy” purchase was financing an Infiniti surround sound setup with a center channel, L&R and rear speakers with a monstrous subwoofer. Movie nights continued at my college apartment, and it became somewhat of a ritual for me and my friends. Fast forward to getting married and not having enough space for my speaker setup, they now find themselves in the attic of my mom’s house. They just take up way too much space and the amount of speaker wired needed to fit our family room setup would be insane, not to mention little kids under 5 pulling and knocking them over would not be ideal. But I really wanted to find something that would work for our lifestyle, and with movies being such a core memory for me, I wanted my kids to feel the same movie magic in our home too. So, when I heard about the Sony BRAVIA Theatre Trio and their wireless speaker setup, I was intrigued to see if this could be a replacement for a traditional surround sound system! Read on to find out what I thought! The BRAVIA Theatre Trio is their newest iteration of a surround sound system from Sony. It ditches the traditional receiver and wired setup for a sleek wireless 3 piece that is the starting point for your home theatre with the ability to add Rear speakers and Subs which we will touch on later. The trio comes with a center channel style speaker that holds the guts of the operation that makes it function wireless along with a Right and Left front speaker that has additional speakers that fire up to the ceiling to create an immersive surround sound experience. The fact that it doesn’t have the traditional receiver make set up an absolute breeze. Just download the BRAVIA connect app and turn the speakers on, and you go through the steps to get started. My experience with the app was relatively painless. I pushed a few buttons to get it connected, plugged in the included USB-C microphone to my iPhone, sat on the couch and the app adjusts your setup using 360 spatial sound mapping to create a sound field optimization that is calibrated perfectly to your room. All in all, the installation and setup probably took less than 10-15 minutes with zero hiccups, so to say this product is user friendly to someone who has limited experience in surround sound setup is an understatement. The BRAVIA Theatre trio out the box sounded great in my opinion. I don’t know if it’s been a while since I’ve felt how much of a difference good speakers make to a movie setup, but as soon as they came on and I did some testing with certain movies and action sequences it was like meeting up with an old friend. Good sound just makes the movie experience much better. The BRAVIA App acts as your remote, allowing you to adjust settings through your phone. They have different settings like Night Mode, Sound Field which turns off Sound Optimization and Voice Mode to bring crisp clear dialogue if the show/movie has heavy dialogue. Now it’s worth pointing out that because you don’t have a real receiver the adjustments are somewhat limited. Maybe that will be something they flesh out more as time goes on through the app, but it doesn’t take away from the experience. Action sequences sound amazing and the overhead sounds from the left and right speakers are impressive and create an immersive experience. The one thing the Trio is lacking on its own though is low end bass. Luckily you can add additional speakers to this setup in the form of Rears and 2 Subwoofers. I have the setup with 2 Rear 9’s and a Sub, but if you aren’t going for the complete setup, I would pair the Trio with one of Sony’s subwoofer options as it does help round out the experience. I chose to pair the Trio with Sony’s New BRAVIA Theater Sub 9 and that thing is a MONSTER. I brought my son into the room to test out the new Doomsday trailer and as soon as the bass kicked in and the couch vibrated, he said, “Wow Daddy!!” mission accomplished, and a smile crept over my face as I was able to give him the same memories I experienced as a kid. With the new surround sound setup in our upstairs room, we’ve now found ourselves having nightly movie nights which has warmed my heart, and I hope will continue and make him as big of a movie lover as I am. The BRAVIA Theater Trio is a pricey endeavor, at $2200 for the three speakers with the sub costing $900 and the rears an additional $750 you can easily get into the $3500 range for a surround sound setup, which is a big pill to swallow. But I think the value is there because this product has a place for someone who wants movie theater quality but wants simplicity and functionality without all the hassle and wires. Yes, each speaker needs to be plugged in, but not having speaker wire everywhere and being able to place the rears in random places behind me that can be mapped using the 360 spatial technology I felt like it was much easier to make this setup work in our room compared to the old clunky speaker setup I had previously. My wife who wasn’t entirely thrilled when I told her we were getting this setup has now come around and really enjoys the added immersion when we watch House of Dragons! And with traditional movie theaters becoming a little less relevant these days I’m all about having movie night in our home and showing my kiddos the classics! I highly recommend the BRAVIA Theater Trio. While I do think it works best with the full package or at least an additional subwoofer I won’t take away from the fact that Sony has created a seamless user-friendly surround sound setup that is not only functional but high performing. I see this setup working best for the homeowner that wants that immersive movie theatre experience but doesn’t want the hassle of fiddling with all the complicated settings. Just plug in and play and experience movie magic! I can’t wait to enjoy these speakers in my home for years to come!

Coming from the Theater Bar 9, this is a very unique proposition. Not quite a full surround setup like the A9 or Quads but also more than a soundbar. I think this is the first in a line of products soon to come offering a full distinct LCR speaker setup. Design-wise, the center speaker can easily fit between and underneath a tv but the left and right speakers may pose a challenge depending on the size of your TVs and the width of your tv console if not wall mounting. Moving onto the setup, calibration with the Bravia Connect app was a breeze. New for this product, Sony has included a USB-C microphone to connect to your phone to ensure that no matter what device you're using, it’s able to get precise measurements to accurately tune the system to your room. There's a wide range of flexibility too, with the app accounting for the placement of the left and right speakers individually being closer or further away from the center, further back or ahead, as well as lower or higher, which somehow magically still somehow allows speakers even in non-ideal placements to still come across and a unified and complete front soundstage. Hidden within the Bravia Connect app is a new sound feature "movie theater acoustics" which I'll touch more on later but I think is a massive benefit that should be added to all future products and back ported to previous offerings if possible. For the audio, there are a lot of interesting things to be gathered especially coming from a sounder like the Theater Bar 9. Firstly, the surprising thing to me is that there is no acoustic center sync support at all for allowing a Bravia tv to use its internal speakers in concert with the Trio. At first, dialogue sounded leaner and not quite as full compared to the Bar 9 with acoustic center sync, but after a short time, that was forgotten as the naturalness of the sound comes in, not least in part due to the fact that each speaker is equal in tone to the others. The left and right speakers can be placed as close or as far apart (within reason) as desired, and this has a very good impact on the soundstage for sheer width as well as presence and naturalness. Things pan across the scene in such a convincing and organic way that it truly feels like you are hearing the scene as they intended every time. Spatial audio in particular is an upgrade from bar systems. Even very good soundbars like the Theater Bar 9, while very good sounding and powerful, tend to create more of a wall of sound rather than a bubble, and while you can pinpoint objects and height and panning motion within that wall, it always felt like it was more of a thing happening in front of you. Not so with the Trio; here, you are the center of the sound stage, and overhead effects that move across the room are actually audible from directly above you in their proper depth in the scene, which has truly been a first for me. Part of the secret sauce that enables this performance is the movie theater acoustic setting, which Sony says simulates direct and reflected sound to capture the acoustics of a movie theater, and they have very much succeeded in this endeavor. Those acoustics are the primary driver of what makes this system sound so good, particularly with its handling of overhead pans, and I'd love to see this feature improve even more going forward. Adding the rears and a sub completely transforms the Trio into a full home theater system that I think even the most die-hard AV receiver and components fan would need to admit sounds very good. Now, however, there is a slight con, which is somewhat ironic. Dialogue, while very good, can at times feel slightly less intelligible compared to the Theater Bar 9, likely due to the fact that the soundbar is likely using more drivers in closer proximity to boost the power and clearness of dialogue, but this one con is easily cleaned up by activating voice mode, and I think the package on offer here vastly outweighs the slight con of dialogue clarity. Overall, I think the Trio is a wonderful new option that I hope inspires a whole new category of home theater going forward. While I won't necessarily say that you need to upgrade if you have a full setup already, such as with the Theater Bar 9, I think anyone that's looking to step up into higher-end sound needs to give this a solid look first.

A three-piece front stage looks strange if you're used to one bar sitting under the TV. You get a center unit that handles the HDMI connections and does most of the thinking, plus left and right speakers with drivers that fire forward and angle up toward the ceiling. Those side units are chunkier than photos suggest, a bit over 13 inches tall and just under 8 pounds each, so measure your console before you commit. Nine speaker units across the three cabinets in a 3.0.2 layout, 405 watts total. Build quality is what you'd hope for at this level, with a fabric wrap and enough weight in the hand that doesn’t feel hollow. Setup is where the system earns some early goodwill. Download BRAVIA Connect, power everything on, and the app pairs the center first and then the two fronts. Pairing itself was quick and painless. You tell the app roughly where each speaker sits, distance and height, and it's far more forgiving about that than I expected. Left and right can be closer together or spread wide, higher or lower, pushed forward or set back, and the app accounts for all of it instead of demanding a textbook layout. Then you plug the included USB-C microphone into your phone, sit in your normal seat, and let it play its tones. That pass is Sound Field Optimization measuring your actual room, walls and furniture and all. Call it an hour from opening boxes to sitting down satisfied, though most of that was physical placement and cable management rather than anything the app made difficult. That measurement is what feeds 360 Spatial Sound Mapping, and the mapping is the whole reason the system behaves the way it does. Sony takes your room data and synthesizes phantom speakers around your seating position, up to 24 of them in a cinema layout, simulating both direct sound and the reflections you'd get inside a real cinema. Sounds like marketing copy. Isn't. Spreading the left and right speakers wide opens the front stage well past the edges of the screen, and pans travel in a smooth continuous arc rather than hopping from one driver to the next. Coming off a previous generation bar, which is a solid unit in its own right, the soundstage here is unmistakably wider. On a bar, height effects read as a tall wall of sound in front of you. Here they come from above you. Dialogue sits locked in the center and stays clear without me reaching for the remote during quiet scenes, which is the test I care about most. Worth understanding before you buy: three cabinets this size can only move so much air, and the bottom end is where they run out. Sony built the system to expand for that exact reason, with support for rear speakers and up to two subwoofers, and adding rears in particular gives the spatial mapping considerably more to work with. Add a sub too. With both in the mix everything sounds complete. A few practical notes. All three boxes need their own wall outlet even though they talk to each other wirelessly, so check your setup before unboxing. There's a single HDMI input alongside the eARC output, which means multiple sources get switched through the TV instead of through the audio system. No ethernet port either, so everything rides on wi-fi and the app. Tuning options are narrower than what anyone coming from separates will expect, essentially night mode, voice mode, and sound field toggles rather than real EQ control. Doesn't ruin anything. Just know the ceiling is lower if you like to tinker. So who's this for? Anyone with a big screen who wants a front stage that matches the scale of the picture and has zero interest in running speaker wire or owning a receiver. Three separated speakers do something a single bar physically cannot, and 360 Spatial Sound Mapping is what turns that separation into a room full of sound instead of three loud boxes. Plan on adding rears and a subwoofer and treat these as the foundation of a larger system. On that basis it's an easy recommendation.

The Sony BRAVIA Theater Trio, is a great way to start a surround sound system or stand by itself. This unit has 3 parts, the center channel, and a left and right speaker. All need outlet power, but connect to each other wirelessly. This unit can then connect to other rear speakers and subwoofers as you grow your system. Along with the 3 speakers, you get three power cords, a mic for calibration, a high speed HDMI cable, and mounting hardware for the center speaker. The left and right speakers can be wall mounted on a screw with a keyhole on the back. The side speakers are about 12”x6” and the center channel is ~24”x!2.5”. The units are easy to move and mount as needed. The side speakers have forward and upward firing speakers in them. All come in a nice black color. The side speakers have a single light red/white that is not to bright. The center channel has white and blue lights to indicate status and receipt of commands. The remote control is infrared. To fully use the system and make any additions you need to use the Bravia app. The system will also work with Spotify by default. Getting started and setup is not hard if all the connections work. I found the 4K HDMI cable I had been using was not good enough for the connection from my TV to the soundbar. The included HDMI cable solved the connection issue. There is no ethernet connection, everything is done wirelessly and through the Bravia app. I had some issues with on my first attempt at setting up the system with my phone. It couldn’t find devices and if it did they would not setup properly. I waited a few hours and tried again, then everything went without a hitch. The app connects to the center channel and then adds the speakers and any other devices you have. It will ask for speaker distances and heights. Once connected it checks the HDMI connection, and then then syncs with the TV. Once all of the devices are connected you can run the sound optimizer. Connect the supplied USB-C mic to your phone, position yourself in a normal viewing position and let the system calibrate. Whether 3 speakers or 7 (you can additionally have 2 rear and 2 subwoofers on this system), it will adjust them all. Now you ae ready to listen. By itself the 3 speaker system sounds good, and simulates a surround sound experience. The clarity is good, and everything sounds crisp. Sound is rich and whether movies or music will fill a room. You won’t get the extreme bottoms or punch or bass since it’s just smaller speakers, but you can add them. Using the system is simple, the remote controls all the functions you need including separate bass and volume loudness. Fire TV could recognize the soundbar automatically, and for universal remotes, I found adding the Sont HT-A9 IR codes worked for controlling all the features needed. This system sounds great, adding rear speakers and subwoofer make it amazing. You may be thinking, but for the total cost of 6 speakers, I could get components instead. True. However, if you don’t have the space to run cables all over, or the know how to do it, this simplifies the process and still sounds great. You just need power outlets for the devices and the app. Then everything syncs and you’re done. Whether on a table or the wall, you have flexibility in mounting speakers where you want, and can easily move them as needed. The Trio can get you started or stand alone by itself. Getting the rest of the bundle, rears and subwoofer, will fill out the system and give you a fantastic surround sound system.

If you want to move away from a cramped, standard soundbar setup but don’t want a mess of speaker wires trailing across your living room floor, this three-piece front system is a fantastic option. We set it up looking for something that would give us a much wider, more natural listening area right under the TV screen. It absolutely delivers on that front. When you spread the left and right speakers out, it instantly opens up the room. I love how it handles voices; dialogue sounds incredibly crisp and clear, so you aren't constantly adjusting the volume just to hear people talking during quiet scenes. The setup app does a fantasitc job of configuring the soundscape to fit your room configuration. It plays a series of tone to calibrate itself, and then it has you use your phone as a mic to fine tune the sound right at your listening level. It's a premium, sleek choice. Here are my likes/dislikes... What I Like: Voices sound perfectly centered and super easy to understand. Spreading the units out makes the front stage feel massive. The phone app balances everything nicely to fit your room shape. Clean, modern look that doesn't clutter up the entertainment stand. What I dislike: It sounds a bit thin on its own since there's no real bass punch. Every single one of the three front blocks requires its own wall outlet. The price tag is pretty steep compared to a standard one-piece soundbar. The Bigger Picture: On its own, this system is strictly front-heavy and leaves a pretty noticeable gap in the deep, rumbling sounds. Adding the Sub 9 completely fills in that missing low-end power, while tossing in the Rear 9 speakers completes a bubble of sound so you feel like you're sitting in the middle of a movie theater.