Sony Bravia Theater Bar 5 Review: Basic Bar, Big Sound

Dialog sounds wide and detailed. Provides an awesome bass response. The equilibrium betwixt the subwoofer and barroom is seamless. Virtual situation dependable is solid, and the setup and usability is simplified connected this model.

Has a super-basic plan and ocular display. No Wi-Fi oregon astute features. No EQ oregon dependable calibration. No upfiring drivers for Dolby Atmos. No included transportation cables.

Sony’s soundbar revamp implicit the past fewer years has brought a cleaner, much streamlined aesthetic to the lineup, but besides an unfortunate nonaccomplishment of transportation options and extras, adjacent successful premium models, similar the flagship Bravia Theater Bar 9. There’s surely thing superfluous successful the much affordable Bravia Theater 5, with a layout and diagnostic acceptable that marque it consciousness much similar a fund exemplary than a mid-tier option.

In signature Sony fashion, the Theater Bar 5’s dependable show does a batch to marque up for its shortcomings, pairing a amazingly almighty subwoofer with a well-balanced three-foot barroom for much cinematic thrills than its size suggests. A dedicated halfway talker ensures wide dialog crossed content, portion virtual situation bundle positive enactment for precocious dependable formats, similar Dolby Atmos, efficaciously zhuzh up action-packed films and TV shows.

At $350, you’re not precisely getting disconnected casual here, but if each you privation is simply a plug-and-play strategy to upgrade your TV and watercourse immoderate music, the Bravia Theater Bar 5 is simply a coagulated enactment with much spunk than you’d expect.

One, Two, Go

The Theater Bar 5’s elemental two-piece plan and constricted transportation options marque it remarkably casual to acceptable up, adjacent for tech novices. Inside the L-shaped container you’ll find a matte-black barroom and rectangular wireless subwoofer tower, powerfulness cables for each, and a stubby distant for basal playback controls. The minimalist bundle frustratingly does not see transportation cables, truthful you’ll person to proviso your ain HDMI oregon optical cable to link to your TV.

Most folks volition privation to link via the HDMI port, which syncs up with your TV’s HDMI eARC/ARC input for high-quality dependable transference and the quality to power powerfulness and measurement with your TV remote. The optical input is simply a backup for (much) older TVs, oregon adjacent a CD player, but there’s nary spare HDMI larboard for connecting a Blu-ray subordinate oregon crippled console directly, fto unsocial an analog input for bequest audio cogwheel similar a turntable.

You won’t privation to spell overmuch further without downloading the Bravia Connect app, which walks you done the afloat setup process and is the lone mode to entree to settings similar Bluetooth pairing truthful you tin watercourse euphony from your phone. A azygous powerfulness fastener astatine the bar’s near flank is the sole onboard power key, portion a two-dot LED strategy up beforehand provides a basal ocular display.

The Bar Necessities

Sony’s app picks up wherever the hardware leaves off, including a useful relation that identifies your existent dependable format and solution quality. The app's uncluttered layout makes it casual to swap betwixt the constricted input options, set the bass, oregon adjacent powerfulness up the barroom from slumber mode to watercourse music. The Twix-shaped distant is fundamentally redundant, but it’s bully to person a backup erstwhile your telephone is retired of reach.

The barroom offers a fewer dependable mode options, including dependable mode, which I ne'er felt the request to employ; nighttime mode to chill retired the bass for late-night listening; and dependable tract mode, which uses Sony’s virtual situation bundle to heighten situation dependable and 3D audio formats.

Speaking of audio formats, that’s 1 spot wherever the Theater Bar 5 doesn’t skimp, supporting each the apical high-resolution options from Dolby and DTS, including Dolby Atmos spatial audio and its rival, DTS:X. The bar’s 3.1-channel configuration means you don’t get situation speakers oregon the benignant of upfiring drivers recovered successful the best Dolby Atmos soundbars that supply overhead dependable immersion. Even so, the bar's virtual audio trickery impressed maine with its quality to grow dependable from its sides.

For each of its stengths, the Bar 5 leaves plentifulness of options connected the table. Its deficiency of Wi-Fi enactment means nary astute adjunct oregon voice-control options, constricted streaming prime implicit Bluetooth, and nary fancy features similar the quality to sync with different speakers successful a radical à la Sonos and Bose soundbars. Apart from the bass controls, there’s nary due EQ (equalization) to futz with and nary calibration capableness to set the dependable to your room. Luckily, the soundbar is truthful well-tuned, you astir apt won't consciousness the request to set things overmuch anyway.

Sony Sound

Over the archetypal week of investigating the Theater Bar 5 by watching TV each day, I was mostly satisfied with the audio performance. It did a coagulated occupation providing adjacent parts keen item and other oomph to sitcoms, drama, and sports, easy outdoing your mean TV speakers.

Throwing connected immoderate enactment films truly ramped up the experience, acknowledgment successful ample portion to the mighty thump of that 16-inch-tall subwoofer. The space-chase country successful Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 sounded appropriately rambunctious, giving muscle-car bravado to the Guardians' starship, the Milano, arsenic it blasts done the quantum asteroid tract portion Star-Lord and Rocket bicker. Similarly, the ungraded bikes ripping done the bazaar successful the intro of Skyfall emitted capable gravelly buzz to marque maine astir consciousness similar I was smelling the fumes. The equilibrium betwixt the barroom and sub is cardinal to the immersion, arsenic the sub’s precocious bass hands disconnected seamlessly to the bar’s little midrange truthful you hardly announcement the transition.

With the dependable tract mode engaged, you’ll get immoderate awesome side-to-side expansion, particularly noticeable successful swirling Dolby Atmos content, similar the archetypal shrink country successful Ant-Man. The swirling vortex of the antique vacuum successful which our leader clumsily finds himself trapped is peculiarly engaging, with dependable spilling retired good past the bar’s framework arsenic he’s tossed astir successful circles.

I usually kept dependable tract engaged, adjacent for much basal content. While it's not ever additive, it expands the soundstage wherever it's needed, without muddying the waters with the benignant of hollow oregon echoed effect communal successful integer situation processing from astir cheaper bars.

The objection was erstwhile streaming stereo music. When I archetypal started jamming to my cautiously curated yacht stone playlist, I was amazed astatine however squishy and muffled everything sounded. Turning dependable tract disconnected was similar lifting an invisible veil, tightening the stereo representation portion exposing instruments and vocals with overmuch much clarity and precision. The downside is you’ll request to retrieve to crook it disconnected erstwhile switching inputs, but considering however hands-off the Theater Bar 5 is successful astir different ways, I’ll springiness it a walk there. You whitethorn besides privation to spell into the settings and toggle connected Sony’s DSEE codec, which tin amended clarity for lower-quality audio tracks.

The Theater Bar 5 seems a small chintzy connected paper, lacking galore of the conveniences we’ve travel to expect from a soundbar astatine this price. On the different hand, its hefty subwoofer provides plentifulness of punch, thing you won’t find successful adjacent pricier rivals similar Bose’s feature-rich Smart Soundbar. If you’re aft a stripped-down barroom that puts each its marbles into punchy performance, the Bravia Bar Theater 5 is simply a large choice.

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