Review: Sony Bravia Theater System 6

Of all Sony’s Bravia home theater gear for 2025, the new Theater System 6 (not to be confused with the new Theater Bar 6) is the strangest. Part soundbar, part home theater in a box (HTB), the System 6 eschews the status quo of single-bar solutions with fancy Dolby Atmos speakers and networking features for a callback to budget home theaters of yesteryear.

The system’s collection of 5.1 surround components includes a beefy subwoofer, two tall and musical surround speakers, and a small center soundbar that performs much better than you’d expect based on its thin frame and mundane design. The whole setup runs through the tubby sub, including all inputs and an amplifier box that acts as a bridge for the wired surround speakers.

The mostly wired configuration feels more Vizio than Sony, while its layout evokes ’90s A/V vibes. Without Wi-Fi, the System 6 is a pain to update and misses out on modern extras like smart assistants and Apple AirPlay, but features like Sony’s virtual 3D surround engine and controller app give you more to work with than vintage plug-and-play solutions. Most importantly, the System 6’s cinematic oomph is a blast for movies, gaming, and everything in between.

Home Theater in a (Big) Box

The System 6 may be all-in-one, but it's still something of a bear to set up, starting with lugging the massive L-shaped box into your TV room. Flipping open the side reveals a sprawling collection of components, including five main pieces, dual power cables, and flat-wire cables for connecting the surrounds and main bar. It’s all pretty intuitive, but you’ll want to block out some solid setup time. Props to Sony for including the same attachable soundbar feet found in its flagship Bravia Theater 9 to help it sit above TV stands

Running everything through the 25-pound subwoofer is one of the System 6’s big quirks, but it makes sense in the grander scheme. The sub is the system’s anchor in more ways than one, offering serious thunder from its 15-inch tall cabinet, the lone LED display, and an input hub for optical, 3.5-mm analog (a rarity these days), and HDMI eARC. Unfortunately, there’s no spare HDMI input to connect a game console or other video sources directly.

The Bravia Connect app walks you through the main setup, including ensuring the system properly reads your TV over HDMI eARC to control power and volume with your TV remote. Newer Bravia TV owners can also control some settings from the TV directly. The System 6 has its own remote, but the twix-like wand is only good for basic adjustments, with the app offering deeper settings like adjusting the velocity and distance of each component based on your sitting position.

The surround speakers are agnostic until plugged into the little amp box (which connects to the sub wirelessly), and they've plenty of wire for most rooms. While running cables seems less convenient than wireless surrounds, the need for only one power input for the amp box made things simpler for my room, which doesn't have ideal plug placement for powered surrounds. The app makes it easy to balance the well-matched components, adjust settings, or swap to Bluetooth streaming once you've paired your phone.

I wish I could say the same for updating the firmware, but Sony makes it oddly difficult. Not long after setup, the app notified me of an update to fix a short audio delay when starting a show or movie and minor lip sync issues (which I didn’t notice). Instead of an app-based update, Sony continues the old-school theme, making you download a zip file onto a USB drive and follow multiple steps. After three unsuccessful tries, I gave up. Newer units will ship with the latest software, but this doesn’t exactly bode well for future updates.

Cinematic Throwback

Setting aside the frustrations of firmware failure, the System 6 was mostly a joy. It has taut detail, foundational bass, and surprisingly adept surround speakers. Even as 3D audio formats like Dolby Atmos increasingly monopolize the home theater conversation, the System 6 affirms the importance of real surround speakers over virtual ones. While upfiring speakers can be very effective with the right content, most effects remain at the front, sides, and back of the theater, or home theater, as the case may be.

The System 6 does a bang-up job immersing you in sound with fluid handoff between the bar and surrounds, and burly power from the sub that brings every explosion, gunshot, roaring engine, or rhythmic soundtrack home. The sub is the de facto leader and most impressive puzzle piece. It’s not as musical or articulate as the fancy Sonos Sub 4, sometimes getting too boomy, but turning it down a few notches worked wonders in my room.

The sub blends well with the bar, which takes on the upper register with notable panache for its size. You’ll hear some excellent touch to dialog and subtler effects, especially in the middle of the sound. The bar isn’t particularly lyrical or precise toward the top of the frequency spectrum, but it's well tuned and serves its job admirably at the system’s center.

The System 6 doesn’t fully eschew 3D audio. It supports virtually every major sound format, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and clicking the Soundfield button on the remote or app with supported content notably changes the vibe. The surround speakers push the sound forward to virtually mimic “sound objects” for a more spherical sound. You won’t hear pointed overhead effects like with true upfiring speakers, but it’s a nice option. You can even see the format change from 5.1 or 7.1 to Dolby Atmos or DTS:X with Soundfield engaged.

I don’t recommend using it for regular surround or stereo content, especially music, which is the System 6’s weak point. Streaming from your phone sounds good for most genres, but like a lot of surround configurations, the system is at its best when fed cinematic content, even if it’s just the laugh track in a sitcom or a well-mixed sporting event.

While watching a golf tournament in 5.1, I was almost shocked at the near visceral recreation of the course's atmospheric din, especially the singing bird near the production microphones that seemed to take up residency behind my couch. I had a similarly transportative experience playing the new co-op game Split Fiction, which served up a feast of potent effects, immersive environments, and traceable enemies to help my wife and me navigate the landscape.

Sony’s System 6 is more of a hassle than many of the best soundbars, and I’m still annoyed by my firmware failures. Conversely, for its nearly $800 cost, you could get a more traditional home theater setup, like this one from Klipsch. Still, the System 6 is more convenient and compact than multi-speaker setups, filling its own niche with thrilling cinematics in a fun and approachable package. Sometimes it pays to zig when everybody else zags. If you are after an aesthetic and great-sounding system for your living room, it's worth considering.