The 2024 Sony Bravia Theater Bar 9 evidence with render spacers that let it model on top of a Bravia TV ’s stand feet . Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Sony is understandably on a mission to simplify its mathematical product marque and gens . Today , the company has foretell the amalgamation of its flagship telly and soundbars under the Sony Bravia sword . New 2024 Bravia TVsinclude the Bravia 9 , Bravia 8 , Bravia 7 , and Bravia 3 . Its fresh 2024 soundbars will now live under the Sony Bravia Theater name . These admit the Bravia Theater Bar 9 , Theater Bar 8 , Theater Quad , plus a neckband speaker called the Theater U.

This is a continuance of a trend that started earlier in April with the company ’s newULT Power Sound brand , a family of phone , portable speaker , and party verbalizer united by their emphasis on big bass audio .

Along with the new Sony Bravia Theater name comes novel designs , raw features , and new ( and more expensive ) pricing . All four mathematical product will be usable for preorder this spring , but Sony has n’t show when it will ship the new product to buyers .

While almost all of the updates to Sony ’s soundbars are welcome improvements , we ’ve noted one big step back for fans ofhi - res audio : the Bar 9 , Bar 8 , and Quad no longer supportChromecastaudio , a feature that was included on their forerunner . For iPhone and Android users alike , Chromecast offered up to 24 - bit/96kHz lossless streaming , a crowing loss consider all three products are hi - res sound recording up to .

Apple AirPlay 2is still underpin , as is Spotify Connect , but neither of these Wi - Fi based options are true substitute . AirPlay is CD - quality only , ( and only available to Apple equipment ) , and since Spotify has yet to foretell even a lossless tier , Spotify Connect is only a little better than Bluetooth in terms of timbre .

Digital Trends had the chance to see and pick up the new products at an invite - only outcome in Culver City , California , at Sony Pictures Studios . Here ’s a stoolpigeon peek at the 2024 Sony Bravia Theater card .

Sony Bravia Theater Quad, $2,500

One of the most interesting soundbar construct from the past few years barely resembles a soundbar at all . I ’m talk about theSony HT - A9 , a exercise set of four cylindric wireless speakers that connect to your TV via a small breakout box that acts as a miniatureAV receiver .

Sony has officially sunset the HT - A9 model , but the conception live on in the newSony Bravia Theater Quad . It ’s a reimagined version of the HT - A9 that replaces the four unbending plastic cylinder with thin , matte , fabric - grille squares . The fresh speakers have a much soft and lower profile physique , which should be much easier to wall - mount than their predecessors . The new design is a welcome change ; the new $ 2,500 price , however , is a shock : Sonyannounced the HT - A9 in 2021at $ 1,800 and it ’s presently discounted to $ 1,500 .

Each Quad loudspeaker contain four driver — a tweeter , a midrange , a woofer , and an up - firing tiptop effects unit of measurement — for a total of 16 drivers . That ’s a footstep up from the HT - A9 ’s triple - driver design . As with the HT - A9 , the system is calibrated with Sony ’s Sound Field Optimization technology , which mechanically amount and compensates for a multifariousness of acoustic factor like loudspeaker position , listening position , and way conditions .

In combining with Sony ’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping algorithms , the party says the Quad creates 16 phantom audio channel arranged around your hearing space . Like the HT - A9 , the Quad works with Sony ’s Acoustic Center Sync feature film ( which uses a TV ’s speakers as a center duct ) on compatible Sony TVs , though Sony say it ’s been amend on the Quad . you’re able to also augment the Quad ’s bass with either of Sony ’s existing wireless subwoofers , which are unchanged from 2023 ( SA - SW5orSA - SW3 ) .

In addition to Sony ’s already excellent support for hi - ray and spacial audio formats likeDolby Atmos , Sony 360 Reality Audio , and DTS :X , Sony says thatIMAX Enhancedcompatibility will be usable with a future firmware update — provided you also have one of those Sony subwoofer .

Our Sony Bravia Theater Quad demo include a scene from Denis Villeneuve’sDune . It was a great reminder of how efficacious Sony ’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping can be . Unfortunately , the HT - A9 was n’t on - hired man for comparison , so it ’s gruelling to say just how much of an advance Sony has managed to reach from one genesis to the next .

The Bravia Theater Bar 8 , 9 , and Quad all have a unmarried HDMI input and an HDMI ARC / eARC output , with passthrough support for 4 K HDR , 8 K HDR , Dolby Vision , and HDMI 2.1 gambling feature such as 4K120 , VRR , and ALLM .   However , I ’m a bit disappointed that Sony did n’t take the chance to bestow a second or even a third HDMI input to the Quad ’s prisonbreak box . For anyone who take to wall - mount their TV ( thereby making the boob tube ’s HDMI ports more hard to access ) , more input on the Quad would have been really useful .

Sony Bravia Theater Bar 9, $1,400

Sony ’s HT - A7000is a brilliant single - speaker home theater of operations system , and Sony say it has oversee to improve on that operation while simultaneously slimming down the soundbar ’s proportions by 36 % , resulting in the newBravia Theater Bar 9 . Gone is the brawny mixture of glass , plastic , and metal , put back instead by a slim , fabric - wrapped Browning automatic rifle with refined bender at either end . One look at the photos and you may see how radically the Bar 9 dissent from the A7000 .

Under that minimalist pretence sit around 13 discrete driver ( versus the A7000 ’s 11 drivers ) — most of which are young to the Bar 9 — admit three tweeter , four woofer , two side - fire units , two up - give the axe drivers , and two beam tweeter . On top of that are four peaceful radiator to serve with low-toned - oddment bass response . It ’s a very different layout than the A7000 , which admit a single built - in subwoofer .

To maximise duologue clarity , Sony borrowed the Bar 9 ’s cardinal tweeter from it$8,000 SA - Z1 Hawaii - rhenium near - sphere speaker .

Sound Field Optimization technology takes aid of calibration , and the Bar 9 also tender 360 Spatial Sound Mapping . However , new for 2024 is the ability for the Bar 9 to perform 360 Spatial Sound Mapping without requiring Sony ’s optional wireless surroundings speaker ( the unchanged - for-2024SA - RS5andSA - RS3S ) .

As with the Bravia Theater Quad , Sony says that IMAX Enhanced compatibility will be useable with a future microcode update — but with the Bravia 9 , you ’ll need wireless surrounds and a subwoofer .

From the get - go , the Bar 9 will be compatible with majorHDMI 2.1features like variable refresh rate ( VRR ) , something that the A7000 did n’t get until two year after it launched . However , Sony has decide to pare back the ports on the Bar 9 — it only offers a undivided HDMI input signal in addition to the standard HDMI output .

Sony ’s demonstration of the Bravia Theater Bar 9 featured a cartridge holder fromVenom . unluckily , the soundbar was configured with a subwoofer and hem in loudspeaker system , so I could n’t get a mother wit of how the Bar 9 perform on its own . That order , it utterly lived up to my expectation for an immersive sound experience .

Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8, $1,000

Sony ’s midrange soundbar , the HT - A5000 is also getting a face lift ( and a name change ) to the newBravia Theater Bar 8 . It gets the same minimalist cosmetics as its large sib , the Bar 9 , but with a different inner layout of driver and a smaller , place - preservation stage set of measurements .

Sony says the Bar 8 has 11 drivers : three tweeters , four woofer , two up - firing unit , and two side - fire units . That ’s one more than the A5000 , but as with the move from the A7000 to the Bar 9 , Sony has egest the single build - in subwoofer in favour of the four built - in woofer .

Despite these slimly crushed specs , the Bar 8 has almost every feature you ’ll find on the Bar 9 , including support for Dolby Atmos , DTS :X , Sony 360 Reality Audio , and the microcode - updatable IMAX Enhanced when you apply surrounds a sub .

But , like the Bar 9 , you wo n’t necessitate either of those accessories to savor Sony ’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping .

Our Bravia Theater Bar 8 demonstration included an representative of Sony ’s new Voice Zoom 3 AI dialog enhancement . It ’s built into Sony ’s Modern 2024 Bravia 7 , 8 , and 9 TVs , but to hear it full , you ’ll necessitate one of the new Bravia Theater phone system like the Quad , the Bar 9 , or the Bar 8 . When Voice Zoom was engaged , I heard an clamant improvement in speech clearness as backcloth sounds were reduced .

Entry-level models

For 2024 , Sony is keeping some of its early entry - spirit level models around . The expandable , Wi - Fi enabledHT - A3000remains , as does theHT - S2000and theHT - S400 .

Sony Bravia Theater U, $300

ultimately , Sony also bring in a new interlingual rendition of itsneckband personal speaker system . TheBravia Theater Uis the next - gen version of the SRS - NS7 Wireless Neckband Speaker , a Dolby Atmos - compatible personal sound system that uses Sony ’s 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer tech to create convincing , 3D - corresponding sound effect .

You ’ll be able to utilize the Theater U without any extra accessories when paired with Sony ’s A95L , Bravia 7 , 8 , or 9 TVs , but an optional wireless transmitter will still be needed for older Sony poser ( or non - Sony TVs ) .

The U is a bit of niche machine to say the least . It ’s personal , like a Seth of headphones , but it does n’t fully check the phone the way headphones do . That means you may stay cognizant of your surroundings while still hearing all of the action .

In my demonstration , I was really impressed by the surround effects — audio seem to float , touch - like all around your chief . But depending on the subject matter you ’re listening to , you’re able to expect some of those sound to be heard by others . The journalist pose next to me was engaged in a first - person shooter on the PlayStation 5 , and I was quite cognisant of the phone of simple machine - shooter fervency coming from his Bravia Theater U. Speaking of the PlayStation 5 , you’re able to sync the Theater U to a PS5 controller .

The Theater U affirm stereo and of class Sony ’s 360 Reality Audio data format , but if you want to hear Dolby Atmos content , it needs to be relate to a compatible Sony Bravia TV .