Are you looking for a top - tier Dolby Atmos surround audio system that gets as close as possible to a full - on pass catcher and speakers ? I have two favorites . Let ’s scar them against each other .
First , on the Sonos side , there is theArc Ultrawith its raise freshwater bass carrying into action , the newSonos Sub 4 , and two Dolby Atmos - capableEra 300speakers . On the Sony side it ’s theBravia Theater Quadsystem equate up to Sony ’s serious subwoofer , the SW5 .
When break down the system costs , it ’s a small foxy . Because you’re able to still bribe a system parcel with the original Sonos Arc and the Sonos Sub 3 — and , in the linguistic context of this full organisation frame-up , get similar results to a organization that includes the more expensive Arc Ultra and Sub 4 — the Sonos organization has a price range of about $ 2,200 to $ 2,500 .
The Sony Bravia Theater Quad with the SW5 subwoofer — which is not only the dear apparatus from Sony , but also the more competitory apparatus for this comparison — comes in at between $ 2,400 and $ 2,800 , depending on who you corrupt it from , and whether it is on cut-rate sale ( Walmart is currently betray it for $ 2,400 while Amazon has it for $ 2,800 ) . calculate on the deal , there ’s an norm of $ 200 difference between the two .
Sound production differences
When it come to how these organisation make sound , you’re able to tell just by look that they have different approaches . The Sonos organisation uses a soundbar as its ground tackle and in theArc Ultra Soundbar , there are 14 drivers — that ’s seven tweeter , six midrange drivers , and a dedicated woofer for what Sonos calls a 9.1.4 audio recording experience from the soundbar alone . On its own , the Arc Ultra is a formidable soundbar — arguably the best brook - alone soundbar you’re able to grease one’s palms without going into crazy expensive , high - end territory like theSennheiser Ambeo .
However , we are n’t judging the Arc Ultra on its own . While its standalone bass performance is impressive , most of the bass voice in this system is cover by the Sub 4 , which expend two 5 x 8 - inch elliptical drivers in a plastered storage locker design to cancel out distortion and resonance . The Era 300 speakers have four tweeters : one firing out the front , one give notice out each side , and one firing out the top — the woofers are side - firing . Sonos does n’t disclose the driver sizes , but you could estimate by taking a peek .
The Sony system takes a different approach . There are four low - visibility solid speakers that are easy to put on on the rampart — either affluent or on a conventional articulating riding horse . In each of these square utterer there is a three - agency forrader - firing speaker array with a 0.75 - inch tweeter , a 2.38 - inch midbass driver , and a 3.38 - inch woofer . Out of the top fires a 3.13 - inch ample Atmos driver .
esthetics side note : the Sonos power train is available in black or white , while the Quad system comes only in grey .
Calibration and connections
Both organisation have fairly sophisticated motorcar standardization system . Sonos calls its process Tru - Play , while Sony , which does n’t name the calibration physical process itself , utilise what it calls 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology . The objective in both grammatical case : Once you execute the app - based calibration processes , not only do you get a custom EQ for the speaker singular to your room , you also get optimized channel horizontal surface and spatial audio sound processing . Both organization claim to leave some flexibility around where you place your speakers , but the Sony Bravia Theater Quad birth a more convincing Atmos display across an regalia of likely speaker position options .
When it come to how sound is delivered from these systems , some meaning differences and remarkable limitations emerge . Both the Sonos organization and the Theater Quad haveHDMI eARCinputs , which means you may broadcast sound recording from the television receiver ’s eARC port out to either one . One major difference is that the Theater Quad has an extra HDMI input , so you’re able to link a twist directly to the Quad system without running it through your TV .
For wireless audio , however , we bulge to see some differences . The Bravia Theater Quad patronise Bluetooth 5.2 , Apple AirPlay , and Spotify Connect . It also supports Sony ’s ownLDAC codec . If you have a mobile twist that also supports LDAC , you could send Hawai’i - res sound recording to the Theater Quad that way : If you ’re an Apple user , use AirPlay , and if you ’re on Android , use Bluetooth unless you ’re using Spotify — you could stream directly from Spotify via Wi - Fi . The Sonos system back all the same wireless options , but does n’t support Sony ’s LDAC . For picture show soundtrack , the Bravia Theater Quad has a slight advantage in that it supports advanced DTS formats like DTS :X , DTS - Master Audio , and DTS - HD eminent - solving audio . The Sonos scheme does not .
Where matter get really interesting : How Sonos decides to deal music depending on whether it comes in through the HDMI port wine or wirelessly . Sonos assumes that anything amount through the HDMI port wine is “ video ” relate , and presuming that it ’s all video recording depicted object , it does n’t reserve you to do much with the surroundings speaker if you are feeding it a stereophonic audio signaling via HDMI . That ’s fine if it is a stereophonic TV signal . For stereophonic music I ’d care to be able-bodied to use the surroundings verbaliser however I want . Wireless euphony lets you get a full environs speaker effect , whereas with telecasting , they are locked into “ ambient . ” ( This is frustrating , because I do a lot of music take heed with my Apple TV , and sometimes even with YouTube or YouTube Music , and I dislike ingest my hand tied in this path . )
The Sony Bravia Theater Quad , however , takes just one approach to using the surround talker for stereo music and that is to enhance the overall soundstage . you could turn them up and down in volume , but what comes out of the speakers is not adjustable . ( Sony has its direction and that ’s what it does . I like what it does with stereo signals , but if I ’m going to fall down on Sonos for restrict options , I should point that out with Sony as well . )
As for environment sound — Atmos music or TV or motion-picture show soundtrack — both organization do what they are say to by the content , so there are no issues except for the lack of more advanced DTS support on the Sonos system .
But how do they sound?
Now the fun part : comparing the level-headed experience .
Given the Sonos ’ weird treatment of stereophonic sound via HDMI , I did most of my music playback via AirPlay 2 using my iPhone 16 Pro Max on both systems . Because I could , I also used an Apple TV through various television receiver on my test bench for both stereo and Atmos music playback . I also primarily used Apple Music , along with some Tidal contentedness . For the most part , I did not use Sonos ’ app for pullulate music because it just was n’t necessary and it was extremely light to bounce back and forth between the systems using AirPlay from the Apple Music app .
My operation had a band to do with the experience I ended up having . Some background : I spend month listen to the Bravia Theater Quad before getting the Sonos system — I built up a heap of experience with the Quad . When it was time to set up the Sonos organisation and get it up and running , I drop a substantial amount of clock time play around with placement of the Era 300s and project out that weird music playback issue . Then I spend a lot of time just listening to the Sonos scheme , much of it associated with a television rating I was working on . By the time I had really broken in the Sonos system and had some solid experience with it , it had been almost two month since I had hear to the Quad .
What I noticed while listening to medicine with the Sonos organisation : How well the Sub 4 integrated with the Arc Ultra and epoch 300s — it was near unlined . The in effect subwoofer experience happen when you do n’t know where the Italian sandwich is and it never call attention to itself — you just get the experience of full , deep , punchy bass — and that ’s exactly what I got with the Sonos organisation . Sonos seems to be keeping the crossover voter point between the soundbar and planet low enough that the subwoofer does n’t have to play too gamy up into the frequency range of mountains such that it ’s putting out directive speech sound and give away its locating .
Something else remarkable about the Sonos system : Regardless of whether the Era 300s were play “ full ” or “ ambient , ” they did n’t just take out the back of the room with sound , they also enhanced the breadth of the front soundstage . ( For model , when I listened to a Sonny Stitt book , Stitt ’s Adolphe Sax is positioned toward the left side of the elbow room and I find out it well outside of the border of the soundbar . On the Arc Ultra alone , the stereo legal separation is n’t anything to get frantic about , but with the Era 300s playing in concert with the Arc Ultra , you could get some really amazing implemental emplacement around the room — and this is from a stereophonic source . There was even an impressive amount of altitude to the soundstage upfront . It was really pleasurable , even for a hard-core two - channel purist like myself . )
The Bravia Theater Quad , however , shift my integral view . By comparison , the Sonos system sounded pretty thin . The Quad bring a signified of fondness and fertility that was painfully missing from the Sonos arrangement . Also , the two freestanding Quad front speaker had much better centre imaging than the Sonos scheme , even with the Arc Ultra really positioned dead center in the way . The Theater Quad ’s ability to put out a phantom eye channel is unpaired , even by soundbars with an factual center speaker .
It turns out that some of the disparity between the two system was due to Sonos Trueplay which , for the first time since I ’ve been prove Sonos products , did more harm to the audio fidelity than good . ( I ’m still vex by that . ) Even with Trueplay incapacitate , the Theater Quad sounds more naturalistic , haptic , and full - bodied — much close-fitting to what I desire from an audio system than what the Sonos ever put out .
The Sony subwoofer does n’t integrate quite as seamlessly with the Quad speakers as the Sub 4 does with its Sonos counterparts — it ’s not as if the Theater Quad was better at dead every notable aspect of the medicine performance . However , on proportion , if I ’m ram to choose between the two systems , I ’ll pick the Quad every time because medicine playback is super crucial to me — even more authoritative than surround soundtrack performance .
Versatility vs. playback
From an Atmos surround event perspective , the difference between the two was negligible . The Sonos spring up in overall faithfulness since the surround speaker system were being used nearer to their full potential , but in the remainder , even with Atmos music , the Quad won out for me .
It ’s important to point out that the Sonos system is designed to bid a much more comprehensive , whole home music listening solution . you could total Sonos verbalizer to multiple rooms , link up them all together , and use some of them or all of them . There ’s no doubt the Sonos products are more versatile from that perspective . However , if we ’re utter about serving one elbow room — providing home amusement for a single space — from a music playback perspective , the Quad come through .
When it come to movie and TV watching , the difference in fidelity are less stern . Some of the processing tricks Sonos pulls off make it a compelling alternative . If I wanted to expend the organisation almost exclusively for movies and TV and have speakers elsewhere in my home , Sonos would be the way to go . It ’s awing at all sort of surround formats from all kinds of root : streaming , DVD , blu - ray , 4 K Blu - ray , etc .
Also , the Sonos system allows for threefold subwoofers . The sea bass went from excellent to awful when I tot up the Sub 3 in the mixing . It was more effortless and even throughout the room , which is a welfare of having subwoofers in multiple locations . Even with just the one Sub 4 , the Sonos system had superior bass voice turnout for movies and TV . Sony ’s SW5 is not a slouchy pigboat , but Sonos ’ subs are just next storey . In my room , they were tighter , faster , and just more pleasant to mind to . With that say , I know that some folks will wish the beefier or woofier feeler Sony ’s sub take . If you are listen in anything other than a cavernous , undetermined space , the SW 5 will do just ticket .
The Bravia Theater Quad is also much more absolvitory with speaker placement . If you have to put your environment speakers at varying heights or at different distance from your seating area place , or if you need to put one front speaker closer to the TV than the other , Sony ’s Spatial Sound Mapping tech is the truth , and will provide a more consistently fantabulous stereoscopic picture or surround reasoned experience than the Sonos .
With the Theater Quad loudspeaker , I sometimes need to place the surrounds under objective — like a shelf or steps — and still have a sense of Atmos effect . ( FYI : My space is gainsay for Atmos because very short sound can be reflect off the high , sound - process cap . Perhaps that ’s why the Atmos bean impression I got from the Theater Quad tend to be superscript more often than not — it seems to rely a little less on ceiling - reflected sound . )
The Sonos scheme was consistently more adjacent with its front - to - back motion on the horizontal axis , which I owe to side - firing gadget driver in the earned run average 300 speakers . As for dialog lucidity and intelligibility , they are both great : I ’m still marveling over the Theater Quad ’s ability to pull off a phantom mall .
The verdict
When it comes down to it , the competition between the Sonos Arc Ultra organization and Sony Bravia Theater Quad is extremely tightlipped , and it really calculate what your individual needs are in a levelheaded system . If home base theater is your precedency and you‘re able-bodied to put the speaker system in their idealistic place and you do n’t care about Sonos ’ multi - way audio frequency option , it will be a problematical choice between the two systems .
If you do have multi - room audio ambition , Sonos is the clear winner . But multi - elbow room sound recording is a “ gracious to have ” for most hoi polloi and not always the decide factor in a verbaliser set up .
If you are a big - prison term euphony listener and a little snobby about audio fidelity , or if you take to put your Speaker in unlawful spaces , the Bravia Theater Quad is the clear selection . It ’s a more flexible system — both with its extra HDMI input and its ability for better Atmos across multiple apparatus placement — and the Sony supports more effectual data formatting , such as LDAC and advance DTS format . Sonically , it is stunning how well it creates a phantom center communication channel and dextrously handles atmospheric movies and medicine .
In the destruction , if I ’m not listening to vinyl on schematic utterer like theGoldenEar T66or theSVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle , the Sony Bravia Theater Quad is the system I ’m run low to use in my studio apartment .
Winner : Sony Bravia Theater Quad
