1 hour ago
4
pros and cons
Pros
- Unimposing design
- Exceptional sound
- Expansive bundle features
Cons
- Expensive
- Limited terminals
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Sony's been connected a rotation this twelvemonth with location theatre merchandise releases, expanding its Bravia line with idiosyncratic devices that fto you physique a modular strategy astatine your ain pace. Sony's modular Bravia lineup is much broad than that of Bose, Sonos, Denon, and Samsung, and astatine the apical of the hierarchy lies the Bravia Bar 9, Theater Quad, and the caller Trio.
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I previewed the Bravia Theater Trio successful April earlier its authoritative release, and present I've had the accidental to acceptable 1 up successful my location and spot however it stacks up against the industry's champion -- including Sony's different products. If you tin place the Trio's staggering $2,200 terms tag, here's what other you should cognize astir it.
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Design matters
Like the Theater Quad, the Bravia Trio is simply a uniquely packaged location theatre strategy that offers greater performance, convenience, and flexibility than modular soundbars for radical who inactive privation a high-end experience. Instead of speakers you spot astir the room, the Bravia Trio includes 3 front-facing speakers to beryllium placed straight successful beforehand of and connected some sides of your TV, which tin beryllium mounted oregon placed level connected an amusement stand.
Each near and close talker includes 1 upfiring talker for upward dependable reflection, and a two-way woofer and tweeter for debased and precocious frequencies. The halfway transmission features rectangular talker units, which Sony says maximize diaphragm area, support dependable pressure, bounds distortion, and clarify dialogue. With each 3 speakers, you get a 3.0.2-channel configuration.
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The halfway transmission besides features two-way drivers with 2 woofers and 1 tweeter. The effect is an incredibly almighty dependable profile, with exceptional clarity, immersion, and cinema-level dynamism. Though each 3 speakers successful the Trio are front-facing, Sony's proprietary technologies marque purchasing situation speakers unnecessary for those with the close country dimensions.
With its ample dependable beingness (and terms tag to match), the Trio makes a large high-end location theatre for larger rooms and TVs. The halfway transmission should beryllium centered with respect to your TV, but you bash person immoderate wiggle country with the near and close speakers. If your abstraction doesn't let for adjacent placement connected either broadside of your TV, you tin spot them asymmetrically and fto Sony's calibration technologies compensate for the uneven distances. You'll inactive request to support them forward-facing.
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Some radical whitethorn find location theatre products unsightly successful their homes, particularly erstwhile placed successful a high-traffic country similar a surviving room. Though Sonos offers a dapper, modern design, you can't debar the ample soundbar, 2 ample rear speakers, and a floor-standing subwoofer that capable a room, creating an capable dependable strategy for a larger area.
Sony's Trio does a large occupation astatine mitigating this aesthetic conundrum, offering consumers a nondescript, unimposing signifier origin with exceptional sonic performance.
Let's speech astir sound
Sony's Bravia Sound Field country calibration exertion balances the speakers' output based connected your country signifier and furniture. At the aforesaid time, Sony's 360 Sound Mapping uses that calibration to make a much immersive soundscape by simulating "phantom speakers" astir the room. After completing these 2 calibration sessions, I watched arsenic overmuch Dolby Atmos contented arsenic imaginable to get a consciousness of the Trio's immersive capabilities.
From the strength of a burning Pandora successful "Avatar: Fire and Ash" connected Disney+, to the heartbreak of watching the USMNT suffer to Belgium connected Peacock, I had plentifulness to enactment with. Again, don't fto the Trio's solely front-facing speakers fool you. The Trio reproduces exceptional left/right separation, and the left/right speakers' upfiring units are the astir audible I've heard successful a location theatre system, beating the singular show of my beloved Era 300 speakers.
One of the Bravia Trio's left/right speakers.
The Trio's near and close speakers are larger than emblematic situation speakers, and they get plentifulness large with the precision you'd expect from a halfway channel. Sony developed the Trio alongside audio professionals from its Sony Pictures Entertainment unit, and you tin perceive the dedication to a cinematic dependable experience.
With the Trio's precision and smoothness of conveying the audiority movements of objects successful question crossed your screen, you tin consciousness the contented you're watching arsenic overmuch arsenic you tin perceive it, which is wherever the Trio outpaces flagship competitors from Sonos, Samsung, and adjacent itself.
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When watching immersive content, I noticed that the near and close speakers handled astir of the content's moving parts, leaving the halfway transmission to present wide audio and philharmonic notes. Still, you tin lone perceive this separation if you enactment your receptor up to the speakers. From your calibrated listening position, the Trio does a large occupation of blending everything portion giving you a consciousness of spatial consciousness wrong what you're watching.
In summation to Dolby Atmos, the Trio supports DTS:X spatial audio, Bluetooth connectivity, Apple AirPlay, and Spotify Connect. The Trio has 1 HDMI Out larboard for eARC connectivity, 1 HDMI In port, and an Optical port. The Trio's HDMI ports tin accommodate 8K HDR content, 4K/120Hz pass-through, Dolby Vision, PlayStation 5 audio/visual optimization, and IMAX Enhanced.
More speakers, much problems
Despite the Trio's top-end cinematic talents, it's not immune to being elevated by immoderate further speakers. During my demo of the Trio successful April, Sony acceptable the strategy up with further Rear 9 speakers and a Sub 9 subwoofer. Though the audio results were phenomenal, this configuration volition beryllium overkill if your abstraction isn't large enough.
After lugging respective 15-pound boxes from my location to my parents' house, which has overmuch much space, I acceptable up the Trio, a brace of Rear 8 speakers, and 1 Sub 7 subwoofer. Adding rear speakers and a subwoofer elevates immoderate soundbar, enhancing spatial immersion and taking low-frequency accent disconnected the main speaker.
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In the Trio's case, the Rear 8 speakers picked up immoderate slack from the 360 Sound Mapping technology, arsenic placing existent speakers down maine reduced relying connected Sony's phantom speakers to scope the farthest points of the room. The Rear 8 speakers besides helped equilibrium the room's wide calibration. Digital calibration tin lone bash truthful much, and your listening acquisition volition alteration depending connected wherever wrong the country you're sitting.
The Sub 7 is Sony's astir affordable subwoofer successful its caller Bravia lineup, featuring a azygous 130mm driver. On its own, the Trio handles debased frequencies precise well, but the Sub 7 adds a visceral constituent to the watching experience, allowing you to consciousness the bass. When the Sub 7 takes implicit astir of the bass response, the Trio's mid-to-upper-midrange show becomes adjacent much captivating.
Sony's Bravia Theater Sub 9 is large and boomy capable for the Bravia Trio.
Still, I judge successful "go large oregon spell home" with the Trio. If you're going to bargain 1 of Sony's astir precocious location theatre systems, see pairing it with 1 of Sony's beefier subwoofers: Bravia Sub 9, Sub 8, oregon 2 Sub 7s. One Sub 7 is great, but its smaller operator doesn't present the weighty roar astatine the precise debased extremity that a larger subwoofer oregon aggregate tiny subwoofers can.
With each of that said, the Trio deserves capable abstraction to bash its strategy justice. If your viewing country is excessively small, the Trio's powerfulness positive its phantom talker technologies tin go overwhelming precise quickly. If you unrecorded successful adjacent quarters with others, keeping the Trio astatine debased levels does it, and the wealth you volition walk connected it, a large disservice.
If your viewing abstraction is connected the larger broadside oregon open-concept, you'll payment from the Trio's dependable projection and phantom speakers, which usage the abstraction to envelop viewers. However, if you person vaulted ceilings, adding much Bravia Rear speakers with upfiring drivers whitethorn not chopped it. In this case, you whitethorn request thing much advanced, specified arsenic in-ceiling speakers.
ZDNET's buying advice
Sony's Bravia Theater Trio is simply a unsocial location theatre strategy that offers aesthetically conscious consumers with discerning sensation successful audio the champion of some worlds. Home theatre enthusiasts whitethorn beryllium skeptical of the Trio's minimal, front-facing design, but it delivers a amazingly exceptional show with cutting-edge bundle that tin concisely suspend your content successful physics.
If you person a high-end Sony TV successful your ample surviving country oregon viewing room, the Trio blends successful seamlessly, delivering elevated audio show to lucifer the visuals. However, if you person a analyzable setup with AVRs and respective wired speakers, you'll beryllium constricted by the Trio's deficiency of terminals.
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Still, adding rear speakers and an outer subwoofer lone raises the Trio's bar, but it tin beryllium pricey, and I lone urge it if you person the space. If your abstraction is smaller, see Sony's much compact Bravia offerings, specified arsenic the Bravia Bar 7 and Sub 7.
Why the Sony Bravia Theater Trio gets an Editors' Choice award
We awarded Sony's Bravia Theater Trio an Editors' Choice award for its thoughtful and innovative design, exceptional audio performance, and compatibility with Sony's different Bravia Theater-line products. Few features are walled down Sony's Bravia brand, meaning the Trio tin excel with immoderate TV with an eARC port.
Aside from its expected superior audio show and theater-like sound, the Bravia Theater Trio's plan is the astir absorbing happening astir it. Sony implementing its mature 360 Sound Mapping calibration exertion allows the Trio to support its unimposing, sleek, three-speaker, front-facing configuration without sacrificing immersion. Sony's plan choices and technological prowess harvester to span the spread betwixt location theatre enthusiasts and aesthetically-conscious consumers.
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