When a truly great product comes out, I find myself straddling two opposing schools of thought. On one hand: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. On the other: Let’s take what’s great, and make it even better. So when Sony updated its wildly popular HT-A9 home theater audio system, I had mixed feelings. When I first saw it, I had concerns. Then I heard it, and those concerns disappeared. This is the Bravia Theatre Quad. THEATRE. The box features the British spelling of theatre, but strangely enough, it’s spelled both ways on Sony’s own website. Go figure. Anyway, as I’m not British and my accent is quite poor (despite having lived in the UK for a whole three whirlwind months when I was much younger), I shall further refer to it as most Yanks will: Theater Quad. You may also find this system listed as the Sony HT-A9M2. That’s relevant because the Sony HT-A9 was so wildly popular and so outstandingly good, it’s impossible to do this review of the Theater Quad without referring to the model it replaces. My goal here is to make this the only review you need. Part of that will include a little personal story, but I’m leaving that for the end, because there’s a lot I need to share with you about this system.
The original Sony HT-A9 was an awesome system. Groundbreaking, as a matter of fact. What made it so exciting and desirable is that it could do things that soundbar-based systems couldn’t — like provide real stereo separation while also providing very clear dialogue, despite not having a center speaker. And it could provide an extremely immersive spatial audio sound field despite using just four speakers. It was also awesome that the system could be driven by one tiny little box that you could easily hide. As far as I’m concerned, the HT-A9 only had 2.5 things going against it. One: The system was prone to wireless signal dropouts — sometimes you’d lose sound from one of the speakers. Two: the speakers, while not massive by any stretch, were still somehow larger than one might expect from a one-box home theater audio system. And 0.5: it was expensive.
With the Bravia Theatre Quad, Sony has addressed two of those issues. The speakers have taken on a new shape, and the wireless audio signal system has been vastly improved. That 0.5 strike against, though? Well, the price has actually gone up. The HT-A9 came out at $1,800. The new Theatre Quad costs $2,500. And that price does not include a subwoofer (more on that in a bit). The good news is that while the Theatre Quad is more expensive, you get a lot more for your money here. That extra $700 gets you rock-solid wireless stability, significantly improved performance, and far more flexible and decor-friendly speakers.
What’s here, and what’s missing
In the box, you get not only attractive and stable stands for the speakers, but also wall-mounting hardware. The speakers are easier to place — both functionally and practically — which makes this a much more versatile and user-friendly system (perhaps the most user-friendly audio system on the market right now). You can place the speakers almost anywhere and the system is going to sound tremendous. If it seems like I’m underselling that point right now, I’ll come back to it.
Bravia Connect is a required component for setting up this system. While I do have complaints about the app, I must admit it is vastly improved over the previous version. And it offers Sonos-like simplicity and functionality. That’s a big compliment — or at least it was before Sonos went and screwed up its app. The Bravia Connect app is essential because it is what allows the Theater Quad to be calibrated and tuned to offer an almost otherworldly sonic experience in your home, while also enabling you more flexibility over where you put the speakers than any other one-box solution on the market. That capability is thanks to Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology.
Now you might have noticed I’ve called the Theater Quad, and the HT-A9 predecessor, a one-box solution. But let me be very clear here — this system does not come with a subwoofer. Some folks believe that is a mistake, because (and this is true) you really do need a subwoofer with the Theatre Quad. But I’m on Sony’s side regarding its choice not to bundle a subwoofer in the box, because, first of all, there are some folks who will want to use this system without one, even though they’ll miss out on a big piece what the Quad can do. But more important, Sony makes two subwoofers you can mate with the Quad (or any of its other soundbars, for that matter), and if I’m Sony, I don’t want to dictate which subwoofer my customers get. There’s the smaller, less powerful, and less expensive SW3, and the larger, more powerful, and more expensive SW5. Finally, some folks already are going to have one of those Sony subwoofers, and there’s no reason they should be forced into buying another. For this review, I pulled in the SW5 because it is the superior subwoofer and I know I like it very much. That said, there are plenty of reviews that include the SW3 and praise it for being a very capable subwoofer in its own right.
What it’s like …
So, with all of that out of the way now, let’s talk about what kind of experience you can expect from the Theater Quad system, and why I think this is the most capable, versatile, user-friendly, mostly-one-box home theater sound system you can buy. As I already wrote, you’ll need the Bravia Connect app on your phone. The app is going to walk you through every step needed to get the best out of this system. It asks about where the TV is located relative to the speakers and how far away the subwoofer is, it tests your HDMI-ARC connection, and it uses the microphone in your phone to measure speaker distance, set speaker levels, and set up the 360 Spatial Sound Mapping that makes this system sound so astonishing.
For as improved as the app is, it still frustrates me at times. As I was testing, I repeatedly got just a blank white screen as I was trying to access the product. Also, there are important settings in here that are buried or just not presented front and center like I think they should be. Like the sound-mapping option, for example. Or what lets you toggle between Sony’s 360 mapping, Dolby’s version, or the DTS version. And if you’re a tinkerer — one who loves to play around and optimize things — you may find that you want to reset the control box and start fresh. You can do that, but you must go into your Bluetooth settings and delete the Theater Quad from the list of devices. If you don’t, you will not be able to set up the system anew. I will not pair to the box and you’ll be dead in the water. That’s a problem, and one I’ve asked Sony to fix.
The good news is that’s really all I have to complain about. I mean, the enthusiast in me wishes you could pair more than one subwoofer to the system — but I also admit that the folks who want multiple subwoofers are probably not facing the challenges this system aims to address. It would be nice, but I’m not going to ding Sony points for that.
I figured the most valuable thing I could do for this review was test the system with the speakers placed in as many locations as I could. So I did that. I placed the main speakers well above ear height. I placed them on the same cabinet as the TV. I even placed one right next to the TV and one well off to the other side. I placed the surrounds in a traditional surround speaker location. I placed them behind me as if they were mounted on a wall. And I placed them at drastically different distances and heights from each other. No matter where I placed the speakers, I got a remarkably immersive, contiguous surround sound experience. Sure, some placement options sounded slightly better than others, but the key takeaway here is that the Theater Quad was able to calibrate itself so well that it could pull off great sound with challenging speaker placements in a way that no other system I’ve tested ever has. And that includes handling the sound-absorbing ceiling in our review space. I hope that hammers home just how incredibly flexible this system is.
If you have a challenging room, the Theater Quad is not only going to be a top choice in terms of a one-box solution, but it will perform better than nearly any other system in its price class — unless you use a Sony A/V receiver with Sony’s 360 spatial sound mapping tech. But it isn’t just flexible sound — it’s really great sound. The fidelity of this speaker system is open, poignant, punchy, dynamic, and exciting. It’s got grit and grunt, but it’s never harsh, nor did I never find it fatiguing. It’s definitely best for movies, but it’s also great for music — whether it’s Dolby Atmos music or standard stereo music.
The Theater Quad will always use all four speakers. But rather than do the all-channel stereo thing or try to force some kind of fake-sounding digital signal processing (DSP) surround on you — like “Hall” or “Stadium” or whatever — it uses the rear speakers to lightly enhance the front-of-room soundstage. This way, the surrounds aren’t a distraction. They’re a simple and tasteful enhancement.
Perhaps the Theater Quad’s most valuable trick, though, is its ability to create a phantom center channel through which dialogue and voices are exceptionally clear. The system does a great job of making it seem like voices are coming from the screen. And that’s true even if you have the screen well above or below the speaker plane. Sony has a setting for the height of the sound field, which does a great job matching the sound to the screen location. It does alter the sound in other ways, but I think it is a net positive.
Sony’s special sauce
That brings me to some of the exclusive features that some Sony TV owners can enjoy if they get the Quad. When paired to a Sony Bravia TV, many of the controls for the Quad will be accessed through the quick-settings menu on the TV screen. That includes Voice Zoom, which makes even the most difficult-to-hear dialogue clearly audible. (Note, however, that if your Sony TV doesn’t support Voice Zoom, you’ll see it as an option, but you won’t be able to engage it.) There’s also Sony’s acoustic center sync. This allows you to connect what is basically a headphone cable from the Theater Quad control box to compatible Sony TVs and use the TV speakers to enhance the center sound. Now, on Sony TVs that are outfitted with a robust onboard speaker system, like the Bravia 9 and A95L OLED, it works nicely. But I think the Quad does better without the aid of the TV, no matter how good the TV’s speakers are. I’d just skip that connection, if I were you. But feel free to try it out. You’ll just have to spend some time experimenting.
You don’t need a Sony TV to enjoy the best capabilities of the Quad. In fact, the Quad can help you enjoy DTS sound if you own a Samsung TV. At one point, I connected my Magnetar 4K Blu-ray player directly to the Quad’s HDMI input so that I could get DTS sound, since Samsung TV’s don’t support it through their ARC connections. Speaking of that HDMI input, it’s HDMI 2.1-friendly, so 4K, 120Hz, variable refresh rate (VRR), and auto low latency mode (ALLM) are all options. Feel free to connect your game console to the Quad control box if you like. (And obviously, Sony would prefer if it was a PlayStation 5.)
Expensive, but worth it
I just can’t say enough great things about this system. But perhaps the best endorsement is that I wish I could give one to so many of my friends and family. For my brother, who has nightmarish wireless signal dropouts with all of the soundbar-based surround systems he’s tried, the Quad would work and sound better than anything he’s tried. I have several friends who have been wanting better sound systems, but just can’t do the big-system thing in their home. The Theater Quad is the perfect solution for them.
That brings up the price. The Theater Quad is expensive. I wish it cost a little less so that more people could afford it. But I think Sony has every right to charge as much as it does because this system brings that big-system sound. And you’d pay just as much — maybe more — for a capable receiver, speakers, and subwoofer. But it brings it to folks who will never be able to put a big system in their homes. And it brings that sound to folks who can’t put conventional speakers where those conventional speakers need to be to get that kind of sound. That’s where the value of the Theater Quad comes in — big system sound for folks who otherwise simply could not have it. The Bravia Theater Quad makes home theater dreams come true.
