PLAY GAME
Member
Three boxes instead of one long bar is the right answer for an 85 or 98 inch screen, and the first proper review of Sony's HT-A8 mostly agrees with that. The centre unit is only 589mm wide and 64mm tall, so it tucks under a big panel without blocking the bottom of the picture, and the left and right cabinets go wherever the room lets them, including on the wall.
The part I find interesting is how much of the result is processing rather than drivers. Physically you get left, centre, right and up-firing channels. Sony's 360 Spatial Sound Mapping then builds up to 24 virtual channels on top, calibrated with a mic dongle that plugs into your phone. The reviewer deliberately put the speakers and the optional Rear 9s in bad spots and says the stage still held together. That is a strong claim, and it is also exactly where the listed weakness comes in: the sweet spot is described as rather limited. Virtual channels always live or die on where your head is, so a wide sofa is a different test from a single chair.
Connectivity is where I would pause at 1,999. One HDMI passthrough (4K/120, Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, no HDR10+), eARC out, a USB port that is only for updates, and no optical. If your TV has spare HDMI ports for the console and the streamer, fine. If you have an older set or a disc player that needs its own input, you are buying a switch as well.
There is no front display either, so the volume number lives in the Bravia Connect app or the TV overlay. My honest take: this belongs on a shortlist next to a centre, two bookshelf speakers and a small AVR, and the AVR route still wins on inputs and on upgrades.
The part I find interesting is how much of the result is processing rather than drivers. Physically you get left, centre, right and up-firing channels. Sony's 360 Spatial Sound Mapping then builds up to 24 virtual channels on top, calibrated with a mic dongle that plugs into your phone. The reviewer deliberately put the speakers and the optional Rear 9s in bad spots and says the stage still held together. That is a strong claim, and it is also exactly where the listed weakness comes in: the sweet spot is described as rather limited. Virtual channels always live or die on where your head is, so a wide sofa is a different test from a single chair.
Connectivity is where I would pause at 1,999. One HDMI passthrough (4K/120, Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, no HDR10+), eARC out, a USB port that is only for updates, and no optical. If your TV has spare HDMI ports for the console and the streamer, fine. If you have an older set or a disc player that needs its own input, you are buying a switch as well.
There is no front display either, so the volume number lives in the Bravia Connect app or the TV overlay. My honest take: this belongs on a shortlist next to a centre, two bookshelf speakers and a small AVR, and the AVR route still wins on inputs and on upgrades.
