I listened to Sony's new modular Bravia theater system, and 'Dune' never sounded so real

2 hours ago 5
Sony Bravia Bar 5 Trio
Kerry Wan/ZDNET

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

  • Sony debuts the Bravia Theater Trio arsenic its latest flagship location theatre talker system.
  • It features dedicated left, right, and halfway channels.
  • At $2,199, it's geared toward enthusiasts.

Shortly aft adding respective caller additions to its Bravia location theatre lineup, Sony reappeared with an all-new flagship merchandise to pb the pack. The Bravia Theater Trio serves arsenic an audio companion for ultra-large at-home screens, catering to those who privation a faithful theatre acquisition astatine home.

Also: Sony's caller theatre strategy lets you upgrade your TV setup gradually - however it works

Just past month, I visited Sony successful New York City and demoed the Trio, on with immoderate of the brand's different Bravia TV companions. Here's the lowdown.

The three-speaker experience

The Bravia Theater Trio strategy is simply a three-speaker strategy with dedicated left, right, and halfway channels. This strategy forgoes the emblematic soundbar physique, alternatively opting for 3 abstracted bodies for allocated sound. 

During my demo, we watched the country from Dune: Part Two successful which Paul Atreides assumes his relation arsenic the Fremen's messiah. The scene's ominous, heavy philharmonic tones acceptable the temper for the tense, puzzling country ahead.

Sony Bravia Bar 5 Trio
Kerry Wan/ZDNET

The Trio expertly layered this portion of the score, intelligibly reproducing the sinister sounds of the cello that people the film. There were moments erstwhile I could astir consciousness tingles arsenic the rear speakers emulated the rustling of cloth, sand, and metals successful the background.

Sony developed the Bravia Trio with the assistance of Andrew DeCristofaro, dependable technologist astatine Sony Pictures Entertainment. In our speech astir location audio, helium stressed the value of the halfway transmission and called it his favourite constituent of the Trio system.

Also: How Sony astir ruled spatial audio - until Apple changed euphony forever

The Trio's halfway transmission spared nary portion of dialogue, which is often a situation to execute erstwhile watching movies astatine home. Atredies's distorted dependable was bold and menacing, and nary AI-powered dialog upscaling was needed to marque it clear.

My demo paired Sony's flagship Bravia Sub 9 with the Trio, which added a indispensable furniture of depth, arsenic astir outer subwoofers do. This operation made maine consciousness similar I was successful the theater, to the constituent wherever I wasn't conscionable proceeding the movie but feeling it, which enhanced immersion.

The bundle tricks

The Bravia Trio features Sony's 360 Sound Mapping, which uses microphones to representation your abstraction and simulate much speakers passim the room. This diagnostic should destruct the request for further rear speakers, making the Trio the lone acquisition you'll request to marque to make an immersive soundscape.

For further immersion, the Bravia Trio besides supports respective spatial audio formats, including Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and IMAX Enhanced. Still, if you'd similar to grow the Bravia Trio, it is compatible with respective Sony Bravia location theatre products.

Also: Sony vs. Samsung: My buying proposal aft investigating some location theatre systems

Though my demo was short, the Bravia Trio was an awesome location theatre experience, and it should be, for its whopping $2,199 terms tag. Given its precocious terms and precocious performance, its people assemblage is movie and location theatre enthusiasts consenting to wage a premium for a premium experience. 

ZDNET volition person a reappraisal portion of the Sony Bravia Trio successful the coming weeks, truthful enactment tuned for deeper, much informed findings.

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