Sony’s Bravia Theatre soundbars could be the easiest way to upgrade your home cinema
Joined by bass-bringing wireless subwoofers and rear speakers
The latest batch of Sony Bravia Theatre soundbars aren’t just one-and-done upgrades for your home cinema setup – they’re a starting point for a multi-channel, Dolby Atmos-ready surround sound installation, courtesy of optional wireless soundbars and rear speakers.
The Bravia Theatre Bar 7 leads the new lineup with a healthy nine speaker drivers, split between two X-balanced woofers, two tweeters, an X-balanced full-range centgre speaker, and two full-range side-firing speakers.
As well as Atmos support it has Sony’s own 360 Spatial Sound Mapping (360SSM) upmixing to fill your room with convincing surround effects, and can use a compatible Bravia TV’s built-in speakers to add vocal clarity courtesy of the firm’s Voice Zoom 3 tech. There’s also DTS X support, plus Spotify Connect and Apple AirPlay connectivity onboard.
It’s designed to slot neatly underneath the latest batch of Bravia TVs using the included foot stand, but Sony also puts a bracket in the box for anyone that prefers to wall mount their soundbar. You’ll find both HDMI 2.1 in, and HDMI eARC out connections on the back, meaning it’ll play nicely with any game consoles you might want to hook up.
Sony is selling the Theatre Bar 7 as a standalone soundbar and as a +S bundle, complete with wireless subwoofer. Whichever you go for, it’ll also let you hook up one of the firm’s new beefier wireless subs. The Sub 8 has a single 200m driver, while the Sub 9 has two of ’em in a dual opposing arrangement to reduce distortion. If you really want to bring the bass, Sony has also added dual subwoofer support to its higher-end soundbar models.
For the full Atmos effect, the Bravia Theatre Rear 9 (pictured with the Bravia Theatre Bar 7 +S above) add a pair of dedicated rear channels to your system. Each speaker has 80mm up-firing drivers that use 360 Spatial Sound to give the impression of multiple virtual speakers.
The new Theatre Bar 5 sits a bit further down the range. It’s a 3.1 channel soundbar with included wireless subwoofer. Most of the Theatre Bar 7’s software smarts stick around, including smartphone playback controls through the Bravia Connect companion app.
Finally Sony has two new budget-minded TVs also on the way. The Bravia 3 II will hit Europe first, with the UK still TBC while Sony irons out certification for the various catch-up services. It’s a direct LED 4K HDR panel with 120Hz refresh rate, Google TV smarts, and Sony’s XR Processor handling the image. The flush surface bezel and two-way T-shape blade stand borrow from further up the Bravia range, so it should look a little snazzier than price suggests. You’ll be able to snap one up in 43, 50, 55, 65, 75, 85 and 100in screen sizes.
The Bravia 2 II will see a wider release as Sony’s 2026 entry-grade 4K HDR panel for the UK and Europe. It’s coming in 43, 50, 55, 65 and 75in screen sizes, with a 50/60Hz direct LED panel, X1 image processor and Sony’s familiar Google-based smart TV system.
It’ll be up for pre-order, directly from Sony, from the 14th of May. The Bravia Theatre soundbar and wireless subwoofer range lands a lot sooner: pre-orders are open right now, with units expected to ship fairly soon. There was no word on exact pricing at the time of writing.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
