Sony Theater System 6: https://geni.us/GC-SonyTheaterSystem6
Sony Bravia 5 TV: https://geni.us/GC-SonyBravia5TV
So this is the Sony Theater System 6, not to be confused with the Sony Theater Bar 6, which doesn’t come included with rear satellite speakers and it has a smaller subwoofer. Now the Sony Theater System 6 is a good system to consider if you’re looking for something that comes included with both rear speakers and an external subwoofer… but there are some very big connectivity details that you need to know about this system. Nonetheless today we’re going to check out the Sony Theater System 6 and lets see if it right for you.
Now regarding pricing the Theater System 6 has a retail price of $800 but it does like to go on sale for $700. Now I feel that this is a good mid sized soundbar for a mid sized living room. Now keep in mind that this soundbar does come included with a wireless subwoofer, which I feel is fine for living rooms, but personally I wouldn’t recommend it for bedrooms, but that’s just me. And you do get rear satellite speakers as well. Nonetheless if you want to pick this soundbar up it'll be linked down below or you can always click on the YouTube shopping button, and if you want to further support the channel then you can always watch some of the related videos in the description down below.
Now first we need to talk about the design and connectivity of this system. With the System 6 you get a surround sound system, so you’ve got your soundbar for your three front channels, you get 2 rear speakers and you get an external subwoofer for your bass. However with this system, you plug in your subwoofer into power… and you plug in your soundbar into the subwoofer. So with one power outlet you’re going to power these two main components, which I think is good… however this is going to limit your subwoofer placement cause also your HDMI port that goes into your TV is located on the subwoofer… not the soundbar. So before getting this system you have to plan your subwoofer placement. And in this case if you have a sony tv, can you place your subwoofer to the left of your tv.
And then there are the rear speakers, now there is a wireless hub that you plug into power… and into this wireless hub you can plug in your rear speakers, so with one power outlet you can plug in these three components. So the Sony Theater System 6 has its big pros and cons. A big pro about this system is that with just two power outlets you’re going to be able to power this whole system. Cause if we were to look at a similar surround system from Sonos, Bose, Samsung or LG… if you wanted to power these 5 components you’re going to need 5 power outlets… but with sony you just need one for the front and one for the rear. But the Major con here is, this system is limited by your Sub placement. Your Subwoofer has to be at the front and left to the tv if you have a Sony TV cause you also need to plug in your HDMI cable which goes into the Sub. So you’re not going to be able to hide the Sub behind the couch like I usually do.
Now when it comes to overall connecvity, this system only has a single HDMI port, unfortuanly you can’t plug in at PS5 or blue ray player to it. However this soundbar does come included with an HDMI cable in the box, and no you don’t need to go out and buy ultra high speed, gold plated and Dimond encrusted HDMI cables… Now this system is going to work well with any TV out there… but if you have a Sony Bravia 5 TV or higher… keep in mind that this system does not have acoustic center sync. So you are not going to be able to use you’re TV’s built in speakers as a center channel. So if you do have a Sony TV then youll might want to look at the Bar 8.
Now like I said, this system is going to work well with any TV out there, but for the best experience you still want to use it with a Sony TV cause this way you’ll be able to adjust the bass, the sound field settings the voice settings and the night mode setting all directly from your Sony TV using your Sony remote… or if you’re not going to use this soundbar with a Sony tv, you’ll still be able to adjust all of these settings either from the included remote… or you can also just use the Sony Bravia connect app, which I do prefer. Now just keep in mind that this soundbar does not have Airplay 2 support, which personally I really don’t care cause if you’re going to stream to your soundbar you can just stream to your tv which most likely does have Airplay 2 support… but this soundbar does have bluetooth so you can share this soundbar with a guest without having to share your wifi password.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. When it comes to speaker set ups the soundbar itself has 3 frontward firing speakers and dual frontward firing tweeters. But unfortunately this soundbar doesn’t have any upwards firing speakers like with the Bar 6. Now the rear speakers also have a driver and a tweeter each and then we have the subwoofer which has a frontward firing XX diameter subwoofer with a frontward firing exhaust port which is going to give you very balanced bass. Now like I mentioned earlier, this soundbar is going to work well with any tv out there… but keep in mind, if you have a Sony TV, the Theater Bar 6 does not have acoustic center sync like with either the Bar 8, Bar 9 or the Bravia Theater Quad, which means you can’t use your TV’s built in speakers like a center channel. Which matters if you’re using a Sony Bravia 5 and up like we have here. But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest, the Sony Bravia 5 is playing at max volume where as both the Theater bar 6 and Theater system 6 are playing at 70% volume with sound field turned on and their bass set to 5.
Sound Test
So first off, obviously any soundbar is going to sound better than your tv’s built in speakers. Your TV most likely has a pair of downward firing speakers that bounce sound off of the table, they don’t get all that loud, and when the bass gets going then it can become a rattling mess. However if you were to go with a more premium TV like lets say the Bravia 5 like we have here, distortion isn’t a problem… however you are going to be better off getting a soundbar cause these built in speakers are going to be mainly for hearing dialog with.
But when it comes to the Sony Theater System 6… with this system, it sounds open cause it does have those stability speakers and unlike the Bar 6, this system does have tweeters, so it does have better definition in the highs. But unlike the Bar 6, the System 6 doesn’t have any upwards firing drivers, so sure not going to have true dolby atmos support and you’re not going to have any verticality to your audio. Now yes this System does sound better than the Bar 6 specifically cause it has tweeters so there’s better definition in the highs and you have those rear speakers… but I find it so odd that sony didn’t include a pair of upwards firing drivers into the soundbar itself so that it can sound more open.
And when it comes to the bass on this system… for starters this system does have more bass than the Bar 6 cause this subwoofer is larger and heavier… but more importantly this bass isn’t over whelming. Since this is a frontward firing subwoofer your bass is going to be very smooth… it still going to have a good amount of physicality, so you’re still going to be able to feel what’s happening… but the bass on this system isn’t overwhelming or over thunderous like the bass that you’ll find on a downward firing subwoofer like with what you would get in a JBL system.
And finally when it comes to max volume performance, the Theater System 6 is going to have no problem filling a medium sized living room with sound, its going to be good for house parties if you have guests over and its going to be over kill if you plan on using it in your bedroom. And when compared to the Bar 6, the system 6 does get a little louder thanks to the additional satellite speakers, and it does have noticeably more bas thanks to the large and heavier subwoofer.
But with all of that being said, the Sony Theater System 6 is good surround sound system to consider, however there are some major pros and cons to keep in mind here. This system sounds good, however it does lack upwards firing drivers so you’re not going to get a sense of verticality from it and you’re not going to have true dolby atmos support. However this system does get loud and it has a lot of clean bass. But if you’re someone that has a Sony Bravia 5 tv or up, you’re not goin to be Abel to use acoustic center sync, so your tv’s built in speakers will go unused. But the biggest thing to keep in mind with this system is power and connectivity. I like that to power this whole system, you just need two power outlets. However you are going to have to hide your rear speaker cables under the rug… and you’re going to have to plan for your subwoofer placement. You’re subwoofer is going to have to be near your tv cause not only does it need to be plugged into power, your subwoofer goes plugged into your TV’s HDMI port.