Cinema is coming home: Sony Electronics introduces brand-new range of BRAVIA® Theater home audio products

The BRAVIA Theater Line-up offers new soundbars, a home theater system, and a neckband speaker for immersive cinematic sound – all made to seamlessly integrate with the new BRAVIA TVs

SAN DIEGO, April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics Inc. today introduced a new line of home audio products under the new BRAVIA Theater name with the redefining of BRAVIA as a brand for watching movies to provide the ultimate home cinema experience. The new BRAVIA Theater line-up includes the BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 and BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 soundbars, BRAVIA Theater Quad surround system, and the BRAVIA Theater U neckband speaker. With BRAVIA Theater, users can experience exceptional acoustic performance and precise room filling audio to bring cinematic sound to their homes.

BRAVIA is designed to enhance the authenticity of cinematic content, delivering impressive picture and sound at home as the filmmakers intended. By unifying TVs, soundbars, and other home audio technologies under the single brand, BRAVIA, Sony aims for customers to have a simplified home theater setup to enjoy the ultimate cinematic experience of immersive picture and sound. The matching features and design of BRAVIA TVs and BRAVIA Theater home audio products make it easier for consumers to choose their ideal combination of products to complete their home theater.

"Sony has been operating at the heart of the film industry for decades and has unique positioning with their experience in film creation, professional production equipment, and distribution. We want to bring that expertise to consumer's homes by integrating it into our new BRAVIA TVs and BRAVIA Theater home audio devices," said Yoshihiro Ono, Head of Home Entertainment Business Unit, Sony Corporation. "We are excited to launch these new products and for consumers to have an upgraded cinematic experience in their homes."

Key technologies and features of the BRAVIA Home Audio Products:

The BRAVIA Theater Quad is Sony's flagship home theater surround sound system that brings movies to life. It hosts a revolutionary design that compliments any space, 16 total speakers and heart pounding bass with an optional wireless subwoofer. Sony's new soundbars BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 with 13 total speakers and BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 with 11 total speakers, will transform any space into a movie theater. For a personal audio experience, BRAVIA Theater U provides immersive surround sound with freedom for users to adjust the volume to their individually preferred level.

BRAVIA Theater Bar 9, BRAVIA Theater Bar 8, and BRAVIA Theater Quad host Sony's proprietary 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology¹, generating multiple phantom speakers in locations even when no physical speakers are present. 360 spatial sound experience is optimized for a specific home setting, with a wide sound field that surrounds listeners with audio from various directions mirroring the cinema experience, no installation needed. BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 and BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 you can enjoy 360 Spatial Sound Mapping using just a single soundbar, while BRAVIA Theater Quad can realize wider surround sound with four slim speakers. 

BRAVIA Theater Bar 9, BRAVIA Theater 8 and BRAVIA Theater Quad are compatible with the Sound Field Optimization,² which automatically adjusts and tunes each speaker based on the layout of the room to help find the optimum location to place the system to feel the impact of cinematic sound at home. Additionally, when users combine BRAVIA TVs³ and BRAVIA Theater products⁴, the Acoustic Center Sync function fuses the sound of the TV's speakers and the soundbar seamlessly, creating a cinema-like experience where the sound appears to come directly from the TV screen.

BRAVIA Theater home audio products⁵ are compatible with the 2024 BRAVIA TVs new Voice Zoom 3 ™ ⁶ feature that recognizes human dialogue through an AI algorithm and amplifies or reduces its volume so even small dialogue sounds loud and clear.⁷ Settings for Voice Zoom 3 and the BRAVIA Theater audio product line connected to BRAVIA TVs can be operated using the new BRAVIA Connect App (formerly Home Entertainment Connect App)⁸.

Sony's new BRAVIA Theater U neckband speaker delivers immersive sound that surrounds your ears for open-air yet personal listening. Users can experience immersive cinema at a high volume without having to worry about their surroundings and enjoy enveloping Dolby Atmos® sound when paired with Sony's compatible BRAVIA TVs⁹ with 360 Spatial Sound. Connect two BRAVIA Theater U speakers to a single TV or other devices using the Speaker Add function.

Compatible with IMAX Enhanced¹⁰ and Dolby Atmos®:

BRAVIA Theater Bar 9, Bar 8, and Quad not only support industry-standard audio technologies including Dolby Atmos® immersive audio and DTS:X®, but also have IMAX® Enhanced certification^{10, 11}.

"We're excited to bring audiences an unrivaled cinematic experience in the home and beyond with Sony's new BRAVIA IMAX Enhanced certified TVs and BRAVIA Theater home audio products," said Vikram Arumilli, SVP and GM, Streaming and Consumer Technology at IMAX. "IMAX Enhanced is designed to preserve and enhance filmmaker's vision and intent, and Sony's expanded device offering adds more ways for fans to experience the power of IMAX through some of the most iconic films hosted on the platform."

"Storytelling is at the heart of everything we do at Dolby," said Mahesh Balakrishnan, Vice President of Consumer Entertainment, Dolby Laboratories. "With Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, creatives have a wider set of tools to work with so audiences can experience their stories exactly as they envisioned. Through the combination of Sony best-in-class engineering and Dolby's industry leading innovations, consumers can enjoy truly cinematic Dolby experiences on their favorite Sony BRAVIA TVs and BRAVIA Theater devices." 

Additional Key BRAVIA Theater Bar and Quad features:

• Sound straight from cinema: Supports industry-standard formats including Dolby Atmos®, DTS:X®, and IMAX® Enhanced.^{11 12}
• Surround sound: Expand the cinematic experience with optional wireless subwoofer (SW3/SA-SW5) and rear speakers (RS3R/RS5).
• BRAVIA Theater and TV, the perfect pair: Control the soundbar from the TV menu and hear elevated audio with Acoustic Center Sync when paired with compatible BRAVIA TV models.^{2 3}
• BRAVIA Connect app: Use BRAVIA Connect app to easily control BRAVIA Theater from your smartphone and change volume, sound profiles, and advanced settings.⁸
• Supports the latest video and gaming features: Supports video formats 4K HDR, 8K HDR, Dolby Vision®, and HDMI 2.1 gaming features 4K120, VRR, and ALLM.^{8, 10, 13}
• Exclusive features for PS5®: Level-up with compatibility for BRAVIA TV exclusive features for PS5® – Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode.¹⁴
• Wireless music streaming: Wirelessly stream music with support for Spotify Connect™, Apple® AirPlay® 2, and Bluetooth®.^{15 16 17}
• Supreme music quality: Bring music to life with support for high-res audio, low-res upmixing, and 360 Reality Audio.¹⁸

BRAVIA Theater U key features:

• Best with BRAVIA: The BRAVIA Theater U features 360 Spatial Sound Personalizer technology that delivers a personalized surround sound experience with compatible BRAVIA TVs¹⁹.
• X-Balanced Speaker Unit: Optimum speaker size in a compact body increases sound pressure and reduces distortion for clear audio.
• Gaming Compatible: Enjoy low latency single player gaming with a wired connection²⁰.
• Built-in microphone for hands-free communication: Precisely placed built-in microphone placement provides clear, hands-free calling. Sony's Precise Voice Pickup Technology utilizes AI signal processing technology to reduce surrounding noise so callers can hear their voice loud and clear, even among busier environments.
• Comfortable design: Adjustable design allows for a comfortable fit for long listening sessions.
• Multi-point connection: Connect the BRAVIA Theater U to two devices at the same time and easily switch between them using multi-point connection.¹⁵

Pricing and Availability:

BRAVIA Theater Quad has a suggested retail price of $2,499.99 USD/ $2,999.99 CA and is available for presale Spring 2024 at Amazon and other retailers. For a full list of specs and information, please visit: https://www.electronics.sony.com/Quad (US) and https://www.sony.ca/en/home-theatre-sound-bars (CA)

BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 has a suggested retail price of $1,399.99 USD/ $1,899.99 CA and is available for presale Spring 2024 at Amazon and other retailers. For a full list of specs and information, please visit: https://www.electronics.sony.com/Bar9 (US) and https://www.sony.ca/en/home-theatre-sound-bars (CA)

BRAVIA Theater Bar 8 has a suggested retail price of $999.99 USD/ $1,499.99 CA and is available for presale Spring 2024 at Amazon and other retailers. For a full list of specs and information, please visit: https://www.electronics.sony.com/Bar8 (US) and https://www.sony.ca/en/home-theatre-sound-bars (CA)

BRAVIA Theater U has a suggested retail price of $299.99 USD/ $399.99 CA and is available for presale Spring 2024 at Amazon and other retailers. For a full list of specs and information, please visit: www.electronics.sony.com/U (US) and https://www.sony.ca/en/home-theatre-sound-bars (CA)  

Environmental initiatives:

Sony has set forth an environmental plan called Road to Zero, which aims to achieve zero environmental impact through its business activities and product life cycles by 2050. To contribute to this vision, Sony will pursue innovations for its BRAVIA products that provide the best viewing experience with high picture and sound quality and a premium design all the while contributing to reducing its environmental impact.

Reducing virgin plastic usage:

The choice of material affects sound quality in particular. Sony has spent years developing a unique recycled plastic that is both environmentally conscious and conducive to creating high-quality audio products. BRAVIA Theater home audio products use unique recycled plastic²¹, enabling Sony to reproduce superb acoustic performance while reducing the use of virgin plastics. The fabric used in the BRAVIA Theater home audio products is recycled from PET²² bottles. The material was carefully selected for optimum sound quality, design, texture, and color.

Commitment to accessibility

Sony aims to contribute to an inclusive society through its business, increasing accessibility to enable those with diverse needs to use its products. BRAVIA and BRAVIA Theater develops products with accessibility in mind so that all customers can enjoy the movie experience.

To help visually impaired set up BRAVIA Theater home audio products²³, a raised square frame on the package indicates a QR code²⁴ for the BRAVIA Connect app²⁵, which offers screen reader support. Tactile dots on the back panel of BRAVIA Theater Bar 9 and 8 indicate the eARC HDMI terminal for connecting to a TV.

About Sony Electronics Inc.

Sony Electronics is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America and an affiliate of Sony Group Corporation, one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world, with a portfolio that encompasses electronics, music, motion pictures, mobile, gaming, robotics and financial services. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Sony Electronics is a leader in electronics for the consumer and professional markets. Operations include research and development, engineering, sales, marketing, distribution and customer service. Sony Electronics creates products that innovate and inspire generations, such as the award-winning Alpha Interchangeable Lens Cameras and revolutionary high-resolution audio products. Sony is also a leading manufacturer of end-to-end solutions from 4K professional broadcast and A/V equipment to industry leading 4K and 8K Ultra HD TVs. Visit http://www.sony.com/news for more information.

About Sony Corporation

Sony Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business in the Sony Group. With the vision to "continue to deliver Kando and Anshin* to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges," Sony Corporation supports the Sony Group with technology to create the entertainment of the future together with creators. For more information, visit: www.sony.net. 

*Both Japanese words, Kando means emotion and Anshin has various meanings such as peace of mind, reassurance, reliability, and trust. 

¹ Not available in BRAVIA Theater U. The number of phantom speakers differs depending on rear speaker combination.

² Download app at Google Play and the App Store. Network services, content, and operating system and software subject to terms and conditions and may be changed, interrupted or discontinued at any time and may require fees, registration and credit card information. Acoustic Center Sync works with compatible BRAVIA TVs. For full compatibility list: https://www.sony.net/hav_faq. Acoustic Center Sync feature will be available via firmware update by about Summer 2024.

³ Acoustic Center Sync works with compatible BRAVIA TVs. For full compatibility list: https://www.sony.net/hav_faq. Acoustic Center Sync feature will be available via firmware update by about Summer 2024.

⁴ Except BRAVIA Theater U.

⁵ Except BRAVIA Theater U.

⁶ Available via a future firmware update by about Summer 2024.

⁷ BRAVIA 9 series, BRAVIA 8 series, BRAVIA 7 series, and BRAVIA 3 series models, as well as other compatible older Sony TV models. More information: https://www.sony.net/hav_faq.

⁸ Compatibility feature of the BRAVIA Connect app requires a forthcoming software update for the TV unit. BRAVIA Connect app must be installed on a smartphone. The smartphone and the product must be connected to the same home network. Download app at Google Play and the App Store. Network services, content, and operating system and software subject to terms and conditions and may be changed, interrupted or discontinued at any time and may require fees, registration and credit card information.

⁹ 360 Spatial Sound experience requires Bluetooth connection and a compatible BRAVIA XR TV model (sold sep). BRAVIA 9 series, BRAVIA 8 series, BRAVIA 7 series, and BRAVIA 3 series models, as well as other older Sony TV models. For a personalized Dolby Atmos® experience, a compatible BRAVIA TV is needed. Some BRAVIA TV series may require a transmitter. More information: https://www.sony.net/hav_faq.

¹⁰ IMAX Enhanced will be available via a future firmware update. and requires SA-RS5 or SA-RS3S (For BRAVIA Theater 9/8) as rear speakers and SA-SW5 or SA-SW3 as a subwoofer.

¹¹ Dolby Vision and Atmos content compatible with streaming services or compatible content device connected via HDMI input (sold separately).

¹² IMAX® Enhanced feature will be available via a future software update. IMAX® Enhanced certification is obtained when used in combination with SA-RS5 or SA-RS3S rear speakers and SA-SW5 or SA-SW3 subwoofer.

¹³ 4K: 3840 x 2160. 8K: 7680 x 4320 pixels. Requires HDR compatible content from supported streaming services or HDR compatible content device connected via HDMI input (sold separately).

¹⁴ Game title supporting 4K/120fps and/or VRR required.

¹⁵ Interoperability and compatibility among Bluetooth® devices vary.

¹⁶ Apple ID account required. Subscriptions may be required to access certain content.

¹⁷ Download Spotify app at Google Play and the App Store. Network services, content, and operating system and software subject to terms and conditions and may be changed, interrupted, or discontinued at any time and may require fees, registration, and credit card information.

¹⁸ Visit https://www.sony.net/360RA/ to check compatible hardware, application, and 360 Reality Audio streaming service. 360 Reality Audio requires subscription to compatible online music service and third-party terms, conditions, account, and fees may apply. Network services, content, and operating system and software subject to terms and conditions and may be changed, interrupted, or discontinued at any time and may require fees, registration, and credit card information.

¹⁹ 360 Spatial Sound experience requires Bluetooth connection and a compatible BRAVIA TV model (sold sep).

²⁰ When the dedicated audio adaptor (supplied) and the dedicated audio cable (supplied) are connected to the BRAVIA Theater U, then the Bluetooth function and the call function cannot be used.

²¹ Usage of recycled plastic：BRAVIA Theater Quad / BRAVIA Theater Bar 9：approximately 55%, Bar 8：approximately 50%, BRAVIA Theater U：approximately 40%.

²² Polyethylene terephthalate.

²³ Except BRAVIA Theater U.

²⁴ QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED in Japan and in other countries/regions.

²⁵ Updating the mobile app to the latest version is required. There may be instances where the voiceover does not correctly read out content due to certain features or screen elements. Download app at Google Play and the App Store. Network services, content, and operating system and software subject to terms and conditions and may be changed, interrupted, or discontinued at any time and may require fees, registration and credit card information.

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SOURCE Sony Electronics, Inc.