Get Them Here: Sony Bravia Theater Quad: https://amzn.to/45eytkz

Sony SW5: https://amzn.to/4c82Sn8

Sony HT-A5000: https://amzn.to/4bFWxzg

Sony X90L TV: https://amzn.to/4c6HbUs

Sony RS5S: https://amzn.to/4bRaMl6

Sony SW3: https://amzn.to/45cFFh7

Sony RS3S: https://amzn.to/3VsPu7y

So this is the Sony Bravia Theater Quad, and this is a very interesting Home theater set up cause you have these 4 individual speakers that are fairly compact, and they give you the flexibility to place them anywhere in your home theater set up, and they offer you a very impressive surround sound experience. And this is actually Sony’s second attempt at making a system like this one.

Now overall, I do feel that this system is very impressive given its size and the amount of flexibility that you have regarding where you can place these four speakers. So in this video we’re going to checkout the Bravia Quad by itself, we’re also going to use it with an optional subwoofer, in this case the Sony SW5, and we’re also going to see how it compares to using one of Sony’s premium surround sound systems consisting of the Sony HT-A5000, the Sony SW5 subwoofer, and the Sony RS5 rear satellite speakers. And we’re also going to be using the Sony X90L TV today so that we can take advantage of Acoustic Center Sync.

Now regarding pricing, even though the Sony Bravia Quad is very impressive, you are going to have to pay a premium for its added flexibility. The Sony Bravia Quad has a retail price of $2,500, thats up there… and if you want to add a sub you can either add an SW3 which retails for $400, or you can add an SW5 which retails for $700. Where as if you were to go with a soundbar, today’s HT-A5000 retails for $1000 but it likes to go on sale for $750. You can add rear satellite speakers like the RS3S for $350, but they go on sale for $270. Or you can add the RS5S $600 but they go on sale for $500… and you can also add either the SW3 or SW5 subwoofers that I mentioned earlier. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.

So first lets talk about the design of this system. Now the Braiva Quad is made up of these 4 units. They’re very slim, and they come with a stand. Overall these speakers have a very small foot print and you can place them anywhere in the room. Just keep in mind that each speaker does have a specific channel, so you have to put these units in their corresponding channels. Now you can also wall mount these speakers and these speakers are completely wireless, you only have to worry about wiring these speakers up to power. And all of these speakers come included with a relatively long double barrel AC cable and theres no external power brick that you have to worry about hiding. So overall you have a lot of flexibility as to where you can place these speakers which I feel is one of the main selling points of this system. Just keep in ming that you shouldn’t place these speakers in a cabinet cause there are upwards firing speakers… and also these speakers only come in gray… unfortunately there is no black color option.

now in order for all four of these speakers to wirelessly connect to one another, there is a central hub. And this central hub is what connects to your TV via an HDMI cable… and if you have a sony tv with acoustic center sync, then your TV’s built in speakers will work in conjunction with the Bravia quad and its going to give you an even stronger center channel, and theres also an HDMI in port with 8K HDR and 4K 120 hertz pass through so you can plug in a blue ray player or a PlayStation 5. And theres also an ethernet port on this central hub so if you want you can plug it in physically into your home network.

Now regarding the connectivity of the central hub to the speaker units… one off the issue with the first generation of this system was that there were constant connectivity issues where the speakers would constantly drop out. However, for Sony’s new generation of Soundbars and the Bravia Quad… they have updated the radios in these speakers. And from my experience, after using this system in my home theater set up for the last month, I have had zero connectivity issues. And my home slash studio has a lot of network traffic cause im using an Asus mesh network with 3 access points, and I have upwards of 40 client devices at any given time ranging from cell phones, tablets, laptops, computers, other smart tvs, other soundbars and home theater systems, and unnecessary dumb smart home appliances all connected to my network at any time. So what im saying is, I have a lot of network traffic and radio interface in my place, and the Bravia Quad has had no issues with that.

But when it comes to general connectivity, the Bravia quad has support for Airplay 2 and Chromcast, so whether you’re an iPhone user or an android user, if your connected to the the same wifi network as this system, then you can stream music to it. But also, it does have bluetooth support which is good cause this way you can easily let someone else play music without having to share your wifi password.

Now the Bravia Quad is also using Sony’s new Bravia connect app, and this is feel is very important cause this app is a lot nicer and sleeker than Sony’s previous music center app. And from here you can do things like adjust the settings of this system, you can adjust the sound of this system and you can go through the calibration process as well. And this calibration process has also been updated cause its now using your phones built in microphone and you can also calibrate this system for where people are going to be sitting in the room. Overall, this app it much nicer and sleeker than before. But also if you use this system with a Sony TV, then you’ll might not have to use this app all that much cause you can very easily and quickly adjust the sound of these system from the TV it self. And personally I really like this cause if im going to watch an action movie than I want to crank the bass up, but if I'm going to watch the game, then I don't want all that much bass but I want the rear speakers to be cranked up. Oh and also, there is an included remote, but I never even took it out the box.

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But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Now all of these speakers in the Bravia quad are the same. They all have a frontward firing woofer for the bass, they all have a frontward firing mid range driver for the mids, they have a frontward firing tweeter for the highs and they all have an upwards firing driver for your verticality. Now you can use the Bravia quad completely by its self as it comes out of the box. And even though these speakers are small and slim they still deliver lots of bass. But if you want you can also add an external subwoofer if you want that wall shaking effect.

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Now in today’s sound test we’re going to be using this system by itself and we’re also going to use it with the SW5. And for comparisons sake, we’re going to be including the Sony HT-A5000 which has 3 frontward firing speakers, dual upwards firing speakers, and it has dual tweeters that shoot out the sides, and there are dual subwoofers that shoot out the front and it has exhaust ports that shoot out the sides, and we are going to be using the HT-5000 by itself… and we’re also going to build it out with the RS5S for our rear speakers which has and upwards  firing driver, a frontward firing tweeter, a frontward firing mid range driver and dual passive radiators. And we’re also going to be using the same SW5 for our bass. And finally, were also going to be using the built in speakers on the Sony Bravia X90L at max volume. And these home theater systems are running at 70% volume, voice up turned on and with their bass set to 8.

Sound test

So first off, your tv most likely just has a pair of downward firing speakers that bounce sound off of the table. They dont get all that loud and at high volumes the bass becomes a rattling mess. And since tv’s are getting slimmer and slimmer, these speakers need to get smaller and smaller.

However, if you have a more premium TV like the Sony X90L like we’re using today, the built in speakers on this tv sound and preform better. The bass doesn’t get as distorted and they get decently loud. However the built in speakers on this tv are going to be better suited for hearing dialog with, and if you want to get a better movie watching experience then you do want to invest in a soundbar at least.

So first theres the max volume performance of this system. Now personally I was skeptical that the Bravia quad was going to be able to get as loud as a fully integrated soundbar just given the overall size of these individual speakers. But the Bravia quad has no problem getting just as loud as the sony HT-A5000 when its paired to the RS5S. And In general, the Bravia Quad is going to have no problem filling a large living room with sound even though these speakers are super thin.

But another thing that really surprised me about the Bravia quad when its running by itself is the bass. Since with the Bravia Quad, all four speakers are putting out bass, so you’re getting hit by that bass from the front and from the rear, giving you an immersive listening experience and you feel that bass no matter where you’re sitting in the room. Where as with the HT-A5000… this soundbar also has a ton of bass all on its own thanks to its built in subwoofers. However, since the bass is only coming from the front… the bass on the HT-A5000 isn’t as strong or immersive as the bass thats coming from the Quad’s 4 speaker units.

However, if you really want that movie theater experience and you if you really want that wall shacking bass, then you do want to add an external subwoofer. And with either the SW3 or SW5, you’re really going to be able to feel whats happening on the screen. However, whether you add an external subwoofer to the Bravia quad or to any of Sony’s soundbars, all of the bass is going to be handled by the external subwoofer and the woofers found in both the Quad and soundbars are going to be deactivated.

But finally when it comes to comparing the Bravia Quad with the SW5 subwoofer to a fully built out sony home theater system consisting of the HT-A5000, the RS5S rear speakers and SW5 Subwoofer… the main defining the characteristic is going to be openness and balance. The Bravia quad just does a better job of giving you that instrument separation and it does a batter job of putting you in the center of what you’re watching cause I feel the rear channels are a lot more prominent. And also, combined with the fact that both of these home theater systems were taking advantage of Acoustic Center sync, to the TV itself was acting as out center channel, the Bravia quad just did a better job of delivering sound from the center, the front left and the front right, more similar to what you would experience while in a movie theater… where the front channels on the HT-A5000 just sounded more narrow by comparison.

But with all of that being said, the Bravia Theater Quad is a very impressive system on all on its own that delivers a very spacious home theater listening experience thanks to its 4 speaker units. And since bass is coming from both the front and rear, the bass on the Bravia quad in more impactful and its more immersive than the bass found on one of Sony’s soundbars which I have always praised for having a lot of bass without needing an external subwoofer. Personally, I prefer the Bravia Quad with SW5 subwoofer versus the Sony HT-A5000, plus RS5S and SW5 set up that I have been using for the last few months. However, I do recognize that the Sony Bravia Quad is an expensive set up. And with the premium that you’re paying you’re basically getting better instrument separation and you’re also getting added flexibility as to where you can place your speaker units.