Which Sony Bravia Theater Is Right For You? Quad Vs Bar 9 Vs Bar 8

September 2, 2024 Alexis Herrera

Get Them Here:
Sony Bravia Theater Quad: https://amzn.to/4g6cQbq

Sony Bravia Theater 9: https://amzn.to/4702vJF

Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8: https://amzn.to/470hzXM

So recently Sony overhauled their whole TV and soundbar line up, and their new soundbars are smaller and sleeker than their predecessors, and they have much better openess and they do a better job of bringing people’s voices out. Now Sony’s soundbars work with any tv out there, but they work best with a Sony tv, especially if it has acoustic center sync like the Bravia 9, 8, 7, or X90L. Nonetheless, if youre looking for a new Soundbar to compliment your new sony TV, here are the performance differences between the Bravia Theater Quad, the Bar 9 and the Bar 8.

Now all of these systems are self-contained systems. As in they dont have an external subwoofer cause they produce their own bass, which can be good depending on your setup. But with all of these systems you can always add an external subwoofer from sony like either the SW3 or the SW5… and with either the Bar 9 and Bar 8 you can also add rear satellite speakers like either the RS3 or the RS5’s. Now in this video we’re going to see how these systems performs by themselves, but while connected to a Sony X90L which has acoustic center sync, cause with acoustic center sync your tv’s built in speakers will work in conjunction with your sound bar and give you a stronger center channel… but we’re also going to see how these systems perform when they’re full built out with the SW5 subwoofer and with the bar 9 and 8 we’re also going to add RS5 rear satellite speakers. Cause with the Quad you cant add an extra pair of rear speakers… even though I think it would be pretty cool. Now if you want to pick any of these products up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.

So first theres the design of these systems. Now all of these systems have a very minimal design to them and they have a mostly fabric wrapped body which doesn’t reflect any light so all of these systems do a great job of disappearing. However I do have to point out that the quad only comes in grey and the bars only come in black. Now the soundbars are much sleeker than their predecessors, they both have a hight of 2 and half inches and they both have the same thickness of 4 and a half inches. But when it comes to length the Bar 9 is 51 inches long where as the Bar 8 is 43 and a half inches long. And they weigh in at a little over 12 pounds and 10 and a half pounds respectively. Where as with the Quad, you get four individual speakers that are 11 and a half inches by 11 inches and they’re 2 and a quarter inches thick. And theres also the wireless transmitter that connects to your tv and wirelessly connects to all four speakers. And if done right, you’ll actually forget that this thing even exists like I almost just didi. And with the Quad, you have a lot of flexibility of where you can place them, but each speaker does have their designated channel. Now with the Quad you can place all of these speakers on your tables cause they have a built in stand similar to the Bars… or with all of these systems you can always wall mount them cause the bars comes with a wall mounting kit, and the stands on the Quad also double for wall mounting. The only thing that I feel that you should be ready for is that with the Quad you’re going to have a total of 5 different units that you’re going to have to wire to power, where as with the Bars you only have one plug to worry about if you dont plan on building them out.

Now when it comes to ports, things are very similar here, all of these systems have a single HDMI out and a Single HDMI IN port and we have support for 8K HDR but more importantly 4K at 120. And we also have our audio cable input for acoustic center sync. And thats pretty much it, there are no optical inputs here and there are no other analog inputs either… however the Quad’s base does have an ethernet port where as the Bars dont.

But when it comes to general connectivity, both of these soundbars have support for Airplay 2 and Chromcast, so whether you’re an iPhone user or an android user, if you’re connected to the the same wifi network as this system, then you can stream music to it. But also, they do 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 these systems are also using Sony’s new Bravia Connect app, and this I 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. And like I mentioned earlier, these systems come included with a remote… but if you’re going to use these systems with a Sony TV then you can just use your TV’s remote or you can always just use the App.

But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set up, The Bar 8 has a total of 8 speakers, 4 that shoot out the front, 2 that shoot out the sides and two that shoot upwards which are going to give you that verticality affect and for your dolby atmos. And we have a total of 3 frontward firing tweeters. Now the Bar 9 also has a total of 8 speakers, 4 that shoot out the front, 2 that shoot out the sides and two that shoot upwards. And the bar 9 also have a total of 3 frontward firing tweeters. But what makes the Bar 9 different from the Bar 8 if that it also has dual beam forming tweeters that shoot out the sides and it has dual passive radiators for more kick in your bass.

Where as with the quad, each speaker has 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 like I mentioned earlier, all of these systems are self contained systems, as in they don’t need an external subwoofer, but if you want you can add an external subwoofer from Sony to any of these systems, and you can also add rear satiate speakers to either the Bar 9 or Bar 8. And with all of these systems, if you use them with a compatible Sony TV then you can use Acoustic Center sync where your tv’s built in speakers will work with your soundbar and give you stronger center channel. But now we’re going to jump into the Soundtest, all of these systems are going to be playing at 60% volume and they are all using Acoustic Center Sync with our Sony X90L. We’re also going to be using these systems with the SW5 subwoofer Set to 5 and the RS5’s set to Max. And we’re also going to be using the Sony X90L’s built in speakers set to max.

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 we have to talk about the max volume performance on these systems… simply said, the Quad gets significantly louder than both the Bar 9 and Bar 8. Now dont get me wrong, both the Bar 9 and bar 8 get more than loud enough to fill a large room with sound, however I am shocked to see just how much louder the Quad gets than these other two soundbars, the Quad is basically in a different league.

Now when it comes to the physicality in the bass on these systems, I kind of feel that the kick in the bass in both the Quad and Bar 9 are very close, all of the speakers on the quad has a downward firing exhaust port which is amplified if they’re on a table… plus you have that bass coming at you from the front and rear. Where as with the Bar 9, it also has a good kick in its bass thanks to the built in passive radiators, but its only coming from the front. So from an immersivness standpoint, the quad also has the best bass here. And then theres the Bar 8, now with the bar 8 you can still feel what’s happening on the screen… but the bass is lacking compared to both the Bar 9 and especially the Quad.

But the main selling point of Sony’s new generation of soundbars is instrument separation and openness. And without a doubt I can say that the Bar 9 and Bar 8 sound a lot more open than their predesccors, the HT-A5000 and HT-A7000, however when comparing the openness between the Bar 9 and Bar 8, the Bar 9 does a very good job of throwing sounds behind and around you thanks to those side shooting beam forming tweeters. The Bar 9 does a really good job of fooling you into thinking that there are rear speakers when there aren’t.

But then theres the Quad, and the Quad simply sounds a lot more open than the Bar 9 cause you can physically place these speakers farther away from one another and you also get those rear satellite speakers by default. And keep in mind, with all of these systems we’re using acoustic center sync, so the center channel is being handled by the TV’s built in speakers.

But then, if we fully build out these systems, again the Quad is still going to get noticeably louder than both the Bar 9 and Bar 8 even if they have the help from the RS5’s… and the Quad is still going to sound more open than either a Fully built out Bar 9 or Bar 8 cause you can physically place the 2 front speakers father away from one another, and even though the RS5’s are powerfull in their own right, the Quad’s rear speakers are just more powerful.

However, just keep in mind that with all of these systems, if you use them with an external subwoofer like the SW5 like we did here, then all of the bass is going to be handled by the subwoofer, meaning that the passive radiators in the Bar 9 are going to be deactivated and the Quad’s speakers aren’t going to have as much bass.

So with all of that being said, all of these systems can be used with any TV out there, however, these systems work best when use with a Sony TV with acoustic center sync cause your TV’s built in speakers will work in conjunction with your soundbar and give you a stronger center channel. Now if you want the best overall experience the Bravia Theater Quad is not just going to give you the best openness and immersivness cause you have 4 separate speakers… you’re also going to get better bass by default and surprisingly the QUAD gets significantly louder then either the Bar 9 or Bar 8.

But if you want a more affordable solution, or a simpler solution, cause with the quad you’re going to have to power 5 units… then you’ll might want to go with the Bar 9 cause the Bar 9 has almost as much bass as the Quad and the beam forming tweeters do a great job of fooling you into thinking that you have rear speakers.

But if you plan on having a fully built out system with front and rear speakers and an external sub, than you still want to go with the Quad cause the Quad is still going to give you that better openness. But if you’re trying to choose between the Bar 9 and Bar 8, I think you should just get the Bar 8 cause if you use these systems with an external sub, all of the bass is going to be handled by the sub… and having rear speakers are better than beam forming tweeters that bounce sound off of the walls.