Alongside Sony’s latest TV lineup, a range of new home cinema products from the Japanese giants have been announced.
As well as two new soundbars, including a replacement for the mighty HT-A7000, this range features the Theatre Quad speaker system, which comprises four identical speakers, much like the package it replaces – the HT-A9.
Each of the four newly designed units in the Quad system contains four drivers configured in a three-way design. There’s an up-firing X-balanced driver, alongside a tweeter, midrange driver, and an X-balanced woofer. The package offers 16 drivers in total, which is an increase from the 12 in the A9 system.
We gave the A9 a five-star review a few years ago, praising its immersive sound and how it addresses a void in the market between soundbars and complete surround speaker packages.
The A9 encouraged users to position the speakers arbitrarily around the room, promising an even soundfield regardless of how symmetrically they were placed. During testing, we were initially sceptical of how effective this would be, however, the system proved to be incredibly forgiving in its placement. This was thanks in part to the 360 spatial sound mapping feature (still present in the Theatre Quad) which aims to create the effect of extra phantom speakers around the room.
One small criticism we had of the A9 related to the appearance of the four speakers. Sony seems to have remedied this somewhat as its new Quad units feature a sleeker, flatter design than their predecessors. Each new speaker measures 275mm in height, 289mm in width, and just 55mm in depth. This redesign could mean they are easier to place around the room, especially if you plan to wall-mount the speakers where they won’t stick out as much as the A9 speakers.
Sony’s new TV and home cinema products, including the Theatre soundbars, can be controlled using the Bravia Connect app. This is where you will find in-depth settings and playback options, including Sound Field Optimisation which Sony says is more accurate than previous versions. This feature aims to tune any Theatre products to perform at their best in your listening environment.
The new Sony Theatre Quad is priced at £2499 / $2499 and is set to be available from May.
MORE:
Read our full Sony HT-A9 review
Check out the new Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9, which replaces the mighty HT-7000
And here's Sony's new TV range
