Sony BRAVIA Theater Bar 6 Soundbar at $548.00 for TV Audio

A spatial soundbar for film nights and streaming

Amazon price

$548.00

Customer rating

4.4

Customer reviews

167

Typical price over 90 days

$578.94

Difference

$30.94 (5 percent)

If your TV speakers leave you straining during quiet dialogue, this Sony soundbar puts a dedicated center channel in front of you instead. That center speaker handles voices, while three front-firing drivers and two up-firing drivers spread effects around the room.

The included wireless subwoofer uses a 160mm speaker unit, so low-end rumble from action scenes and soundtracks arrives without a cable run across your floor. Its layout covers three front channels, one subwoofer channel and two height channels, which is why Dolby Atmos and DTS:X content has somewhere to send overhead effects.

At $548.00 it sits about $30.94 below the typical price over the last 90 days, around 5 percent less. We'd consider it a sensible starting point for a first proper soundbar if your TV's built-in audio has become the weak link in movie night.

How the bar connects to your TV and phone

The signal path starts at your TV and ends at the bar. You'll want to check which audio outputs your TV offers before buying, because the bar's connection options are not listed here. If your TV supports Dolby Atmos or DTS:X passthrough, the two up-firing drivers can make use of it.

Pairing with a compatible BRAVIA TV adds control from the TV menu and Voice Zoom 3 for dialogue enhancement. With other TVs you control the bar its own way, so confirm the remote or app situation that applies to your set.

For music, Bluetooth streaming lets you send audio from a phone without extra gear, and the bar up-mixes that stereo signal across its channels. The BRAVIA Connect app handles volume, sound profiles and advanced settings from a smartphone.

Which room this soundbar suits and when to pass

This bar fits a living room or media room where you want clearer dialogue and more low-end weight than a flat panel can deliver. Its arrangement rewards a seating position roughly centered on the screen, since the center channel is doing the dialogue work.

Skip it if you already own a multi-speaker surround system with discrete rear channels, because this bar stops short of that and won't replace true rears. Also pass if you need a confirmed HDMI eARC or optical input for your specific TV, since those details aren't spelled out here.

Before ordering, measure your TV's footprint and check that the wireless sub has a nearby outlet. If your TV lacks a compatible audio output or the bar won't fit, this purchase won't solve your sound problem.

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