BEST Soundbar of 2024 | Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 Review

about a month ago I reviewed the newly released $1,500 LG s95 TR Flagship Soundbar which comes with both a sub and rear speakers and was pretty unimpressed with the results that search has now led me to the Sony Brava Theater bar 9 and while it does not come with a sub or rear speakers comes equipped with 13 built-in speakers and Promises to deliver an immersive audio experience using Sony's 3D spatial sound mapping will it be another disappointment or will this Soundbar shine like a Flagship product should and be worth the current $1,399 price tag let's talk about my experience and find out now Sony did not send me this unit to review I 100% paid for it out of my own Pockets that said if you find this video helpful and want to help support the channel consider not only hitting that subscribe button and notification Bell but using the links in the description so I can afford to make more content like this now I'm going to share my thoughts and opinions on the theater bar 99's performance when it comes to movies music and sports but before that let's go over some of the basics in case you're not familiar with everything the Soundbar has to offer I did mention the $1,399 price tag which covers the Soundbar alone however if you're looking to build a complete package you can add on a sub like the SA sw5 or SAS sw3 and a set of rear speakers like the S RS5 or S rs3s just keep in mind that adding these on could increase your bill up to another $1,300 now for this video we're going to focus on these theater bar 9 alone since the Soundbar is what it comes with it delivers what you'd expect from a modern Soundbar including support for Dolby Atmos and dtsx but is also IMAX enhanced certified something you may not find on competitor Soundbars it also supports 4K and 8K HDR doe vision and since it comes equipped with HDMI 2.1 ports supports variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode so you'll have the smoothest PS5 gaming experience I mentioned the 13 built-in speakers you've got two on the ends to help with surround distribution two upfiring speakers up top that act as height channels two woofers with passive radiators for solid base and along the front you'll find X balance speaker units with a tweeter in the middle are the two outside speakers feature a new two-way design with small outside tweeters which help deliver a wider Sound Stage the bar size also helps deliver a wide sound as it measures about 51 in wide with a depth of about 4 1/2 in and a 2 and 1/2 in height the body feels like it's made of mostly hard plastic with a fabric Grill covering the front and wrapping around the sides there's nothing cheap about the build it's got the Jacob dark seal of approval once connected the first thing you'll want to do is download the Bravia Connect app where you can do a number of things like control the volume increase or decrease the base level change your sound settings update the software and more but you'll want to do an initial calibration using sound field optimization which will calibrate the soundbar to to your room Acoustics so you can be a total novice and not know anything about EQ settings and let the Soundbar do the work a some soundar calibration results leave a lot to be desired but in my opinion the theater bar 99's optimization will set you up pretty well no further adjustments needed depending on what you're watching or listening to should you already own or plan to buy a compatible Bravia TV there are some benefits you get for brand loyalty which include Auto HDR tone mapping and auto genre picture mode for gaming on your PS5 you get voice Zoom 3 which is AI powered and either reduces or amplifies dialogue volume so even the quietest dialogue parts are loud and easy to understand you can control the Soundbar from the TV's menu and probably the best feature acoustic Center sync which uses the TV's built-in speaker in conjunction with the Soundbar speakers so the TV acts as a center speaker enhancing the overall Center image any non- Atmos or stereo content you watch like say coming from a cable box will get upmixed to surround sound using AI sound separation which detects human voices and makes them clear while upmixing that boring two-channel signal into a wider surround image when it comes to music the theater bar 9 supports Spotify connect Apple AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth as well as high-res audio compatibility low resolution upmixing and 360 reality audio using Sony's digital sound enhancement engine ultimate which uses AI to upscale compressed music in real time for a a richer listening experience and finally for those who are buying this primarily to watch movies and Bing your favorite shows 360 spatial sound mapping which once again uses AI to create a cinema style environment by creating five Phantom speakers in front of you and reflect sound off the ceiling and walls for that atome Doby atmo sound enough about the specs and features and all the marketing mumbo jumbo you want to know how it sounds and whether it's worth your hard-earned money now after the initial calibration I started off with my Goto two movies for testing Doby Atmos and Surround Sound which include some of the most immersive audio scores and include movies like Avengers Infinity war and Annihilation after some testing I found keeping it on 360 spatial sound mapping mode delivered the most theater-like experience with dtsx mode sounding too narrow and Dolby speaker virtualizer being the worst of the three setting the high to higher does make dialogue more Audible and clear but I feel like default has a better balanced overall sound and is ultimately my preference Bas sounds good on the Mac setting but depending on the source can sometimes be a bit overwhelming so keeping it on Mid ensures it always sounds good and achieves the best overall experience when it comes to sports I watched a few NBA WNBA and NFL replays and I found I mostly prefer the same settings with 360 spatial sound mapping and base set to Mid but I like to hear the commentators and crowd Above the Rest of whatever's going on so setting the height to higher is my preference for sports or watching anything coming from my cable box and while I keep my movies and sports settings pretty much the same when it comes to music I found the dtsx settings sounds much more open and detailed versus 360 spatial sound mapping which in this case sounds lower and Hollow it's the one area where 360 spatial sound mapping doesn't shine well if you listen to Bass Heavy Music like hip hop and R&B you might find some songs can get distorted at louder volumes if you have the base settings set to Max so once again I prefer mid which continues to be the best overall setting for a variety of sources and finally since you want your music to be loud and clear the higher height setting is the way to go for the best open and detailed sound now if you buy the theater bar 9 try out these settings and let me know if they sound best to you or if you prefer a different setup and when I think back to the excitement of trying out the LG s95 TR with its included rear speakers and sub and the disappointment I felt after getting inconsistent results and poor audio quality well let's just say I haven't been holding my breath in EXP expecting the theater bar 9 to be amazing but to my surprise this Soundbar excels and while it doesn't get as wide as my regular home theater speakers because of placement there are times when I forget I'm using the Soundbar because yes this one does sound that good Infinity War which is IMAX enhanced sounds amazing and if you're going to demo one movie to make up your mind make it that one I would normally be against spending $1,400 on a soundbar without a sub or rear speakers but if this Soundbar sounds this good without them you can probably probably imagine how good the upgrade is my only area of concern would be the total cost which could run up close to three grand for everything and at that point you might be entering a receiver with 5.1 speaker territory but if you know a soundbar is what you want I can absolutely recommend this one and until I hear something better I'm giving the Brava Theater bar 9 the crown as the best Soundbar of 2024 now let me know if there's another Soundbar you'd like me to review and I'll do my best to get my hands on it if you found this video helpful consider you using my links to buy your theater bar 9 and support the channel but that's going to wrap things up for today I'll see you next time

Channel: Jacob Dark

Views: 25,883

Keywords: sony, sony theater bar 9, theater bar 9, sony soundbar, soundbar review, best soundbar, best soundbar 2024

Id: IhBXr7cCi58

Length: 8min 6sec (486 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 07 2024