Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: plug-and-play Dolby Atmos

Not long ago, Sony treated its soundbars like mini AV receivers. They had multiple ports, supported multiple streaming protocols, came with impressive, button-festooned remotes, and when you weren’t gazing at their built-in alphanumeric displays for guidance, their handy on-screen menus made the setup and tweaks a breeze.

Like it or not, those days are gone. Sony’s new lineup has a simplified set of names (Sony Bravia Theater) and a simplified set of features. They’re a lot less like AV receivers and a lot more like an accessory for your TV. The new Bravia Theater Bar 8, Sony’s mid-tier entry, has a smaller footprint, fewer ports, and fewer features than its predecessor, yet it retains its $1,000 price. (Editor’s note: The Theater Bar 8’s street price looks like it’s been cut to $850, but it’s unclear if that is a permanent change.) In many ways, it’s a friendlier, simpler speaker. But is that a good thing? Let’s take a look.

If you’re considering the Theater Bar 8, I strongly recommend that you also read my in-depth review of the Bravia Theater Bar 9. These products are nearly identical in terms of features and functionality. With the exception of some aspects of sound quality, all of my observations hold true for the Bar 8, too.

Bravia Theater Bar 8 specs

Minimalist design

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If soundbars should essentially disappear into your TV console area (which I’d argue they should), the Theater Bar 8 is a triumph. It has a very low and shallow curved profile that’s almost completely wrapped in acoustically transparent black fabric. At 43 inches wide, 2.5 inches tall, and 4.5 inches deep, it can sit comfortably in front of all but the smallest of TVs and likely won’t block the bottom of the TV’s frame. There are no buttons or controls to be seen save for a nearly invisible power button on the right side. It calls no attention to itself at all, and when compared to its predecessor, the HT-A5000, the Theater Bar 8 (aka the HT-A8000) is gorgeous in its simplicity.

However, if you take simplicity too far, you begin to lose utility. With no controls on the soundbar itself, you’re forever beholden to the included remote or an app on your smartphone for basic actions like changing the volume, muting, and being able to play/pause. It’s not compatible with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, but Apple users can add it to Apple Home and control it with Siri.

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This compromise extends to the Theater Bar 8’s visible indicators. The LED that occupies the bottom right corner is very discrete but not very useful. Different colors like blue, white, green, or light blue indicate your current source (Bluetooth, TV, HDMI, and Wi-Fi, respectively), but there are no matching patterns for volume level, the currently playing format (e.g., Dolby Atmos), or sound modes (sound field, voice, or night). You’ll need the Sony Bravia Connect app to check on all of these.

The soundbar’s connections are another area where Sony has mercilessly purged ingredients from its formula. Gone are the handy optical and USB ports, but at least Sony has held onto the one thing that continues to separate the company’s soundbars from alternatives made by Bose and Sonos: a dedicated HDMI input.

If your TV has four HDMI inputs and you own three or fewer external devices, I’m guessing you’re not going to be excited by this, but I know there are those of you with plenty of gadgets — especially gamers with multiple consoles. If that sounds familiar, having an extra HDMI 2.1 port that can passthrough virtually any signal you can throw at it (4K/8K/VRR/ALLM/HDR/etc.) is a very appealing feature. I just wish Sony had carved out a bit more space — getting two HDMI cables into the recess on the back of the bar is tricky.

Speaking of the back of the bar, as you can see in these photos, the power and HDMI connections are on different ends. Without a built-in cable management system, you’ll need to give some thought to how you’ll hide those wires.

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Another bright spot is Sony’s included accessories. In addition to the remote, power cable, center-channel cable, and HDMI cable, you get wall-mount brackets with hardware and two rubber spacers. The spacers are optional but very handy if you own a recent Sony Bravia TV, as they let the soundbar sit just above the TV’s two feet. If you have a recent Sony Bravia TV, you can use the included center-channel cable to push center-channel sound to the TV’s speakers. Sadly, I didn’t have a compatible Sony TV on hand during my review.

Easy set up

Getting the Theater Bar 8 set up is relatively easy. If you don’t care about accessing features like Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, or Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping, you could simply connect the bar and your TV using the included HDMI cable and then plug the bar into a power outlet. You’ll get TV sound right away, but that’s all you’ll get.

I encourage you to download and use the free Sony Bravia Connect app for iOS or Android to do the full set-up procedure. Sony makes you sign in (or sign up), which I dislike when there are no obvious benefits for doing so, but the set-up itself only takes a minute or two.

You’ll be prompted to connect to Wi-Fi, and then the app will ask if you have a subwoofer or surrounds. After taking you through a quick room calibration step for Sony’s Spatial Sound Mapping, you’ll be ready to go. I’m not a big fan of Sony’s decision to use Bluetooth LE for command and control of the Bar 8 from the app. It can mean a sometimes sluggish response time when returning to Bravia Connect from another app, and it also means you need to be within Bluetooth distance of the soundbar.

Slim streaming choices

I need to mention another area where Sony has pruned its soundbar tree, to use an awkward metaphor. Even though the Theater Bar 8 has Wi-Fi, there are only two ways you can use it. And if you’re an Android owner, make that one.

Apple iPhone owners can use Apple AirPlay 2 to wirelessly stream audio to the soundbar from any app. If you have Spotify, you can also use Spotify Connect to do the same thing. Android owners get Spotify Connect or Bluetooth.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, $1,000 is a lot to spend on a soundbar that doesn’t have additional streaming options like Google Cast, Tidal Connect, Alexa Cast, or UPnP/DLNA. Without these streaming protocols, there’s no way to hear wireless lossless or hi-res audio.

Second, the Theater Bar 8’s predecessor had them all, and I’m baffled by Sony’s decision to remove them.

So, unless you have a smart TV or a streaming device like an Apple TV 4K that gives you access to your desired sources of music, you won’t be getting lossless audio on this soundbar. One possible workaround is available if you have an Android phone with Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth codec — it’s not a truly lossless codec, but it’s better than standard codecs and Apple AirPlay 2.

Big, powerful sound

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The main event for any soundbar is TV audio, and the Theater Bar 8 delivers a somewhat uneven performance. Despite having nixed the built-in subwoofer from the HT-A5000, the Bar 8 still manages to deliver emotional levels of bass.

It’s not thunderous, and it won’t hit you right in the chest, but there’s enough weight and resonance to give key sounds real depth. Tom Hardy’s gravelly voiceover as Max Rockatansky in the intro of Mad Max: Fury Road is a great example — you can feel the steely mix of regret and determination.

Roaring machinery also gets the goods. The WWII bombing scene from Unbroken puts you in the cockpit as anti-aircraft flak rocks the crew and their doomed bomber.

There’s plenty of power if you want to make things loud. Even at 60% volume, I risked seriously angering our neighbors. Unfortunately, the Theater Bar 8 gives you almost no control over EQ. In the app (and on the remote), you can adjust the bass level (min, med, max), but there’s no separate control for treble.

Sony’s previous soundbars suffered from the same limitations, but at least they offered a few different sound modes (e.g., music, movie, sports, etc.) for some minor tweaks.

Since Sony’s tuning favors high frequencies, uncomfortably sharp notes creep in as you head north of 50% volume, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Dialogue clarity is good, but there were a few times when I used the optional voice mode to help make things clearer. It works by boosting high frequencies associated with speech while at the same time de-emphasizing mids and bass — which can feel like you’re giving up one set of sounds just to get another set. You’ll get better results if you pair the Bar 8 with a new Sony Bravia TV — this combination enables Sony’s new Voice Zoom 3 AI dialogue enhancement, which works really well.

The Theater Bar 8 is compatible with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. That might be a consideration for Blu-ray fans — movies on disc often use DTS:X, but soundbar support for this format is far from universal.

Pro tip: Make sure Sound Field mode is turned on, or Dolby Atmos content will be processed as 7.1 surround sound.

Both formats can deliver a wider, deeper, and taller soundfield, creating a much more immersive listening experience, and the Bar 8 does a decent job of rendering these details. Decent, but not spectacular.

The soundbar simulates phantom surround and height speakers, but it’s a mild effect — not especially wide or tall, even with the one height setting Sony gives you in the app set to the highest of three levels.

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Maybe it’s because I just finished a review of the new Sonos Arc Ultra, but I just wasn’t as wowed by the Bar 8’s level of immersion. Given that the Arc Ultra is the same price ($1,000), I expected similar levels of detail and precision, but the Arc Ultra is noticeably better.

There’s one sure-fire way to get the Theater Bar 8 to blow you away: Pony up for the SA-SW5 wireless subwoofer and SA-RS5 wireless surround speakers. I think you’ll be thrilled with the result, but at a total system price of $2,400, it’s not a small investment.

My observations about TV sound hold true for music as well. The Bar 8 is no slouch; even when using Bluetooth or AirPlay 2’s lossy delivery, it drives punchy, lively sound. And yet, I prefer the Arc Ultra’s warmer tuning (and I really appreciate its bass/treble adjustments).  If there’s one area where the Bar 8 manages to differentiate itself, it’s Sony’s Sound Field mode. When applied to stereo tracks, it creates a much more expansive presentation. Purists will likely find it sounds over-processed, and I wouldn’t advise using it for critical listening sessions. But if you’re having a get-together or you simply want your music to command a greater amount of space, it can be a fun option.

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One of the many baffling decisions Sony has made on both the Theater Bar 8 and 9 is to relegate support for its own 360 Reality Audio (360 RA) format to HDMI-only connections. Even more baffling is that the only streaming devices capable of delivering 360 RA via HDMI are Amazon’s Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen), Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen), or Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen).

It’s yet another case of oversimplification: The HT-A5000 and HT-A7000 could both play 360 RA wirelessly from any smartphone that had a 360 RA-compatible app like Amazon Music.

I agree with many of the Bravia Theater Bar 8 reviews from other publications. This soundbar delivers big, bold TV sound with respectable, if not stellar, 3D audio when playing Dolby Atmos sources. It’s a good speaker for listening to music, and if you need an extra HDMI input, it has that too.

In its drive to create a simplified product, though, Sony has removed too many of the features that made the Bar 8’s predecessor such an easy soundbar to recommend. In an increasingly competitive space, moving backward is simply not an option.